BerettaNut92
Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2002
- Messages
- 9,723
1. When disengaging the safety, don't flip up, push out.
Here's a tip if you are forced to carry this way or simply prefer to. I've seen some people unacquainted with the Beretta 92 and Smith autos try to disengage the safety flipping the safety up by cocking their thumb down then pushing up against the safety. The faster way to do this is pushing forward against it. When drawing, lay your thumb gown along your belt or mouth of your holster, and as the safety clears leather, your thumb will push down against the safety. This is similar to the forward and down sweeping stroke on the 1911 safety. The advantage to this is if you carry both slide and frame mounted safetied guns, your drawstroke is the same. Heck I draw my P7 with the same thumb motion just for consistency--but it works whether you have a Smith, Beretta, USP or 1911. Pushing forward also brings you almost into a shooting grip once the safety is disengaged so you don't have to flip your thumb up then bring it back down.
2. Racking the slide
When grabbing the slide, don't put all of your hand on the gun like you would with a 1911, USP, Sig or anything else with a slick slide. Reason being is you end up grabbing the safety and not the serrations. I've read accounts of folks engaging the safety as they were racking the slide, but this is hearsay; this has never happened to me as the decock only models which I carry have stronger springs on the safety. Instead, curve your hand so instead of it being rested on the slide as you would normally work it, the heel of your hand and your fingertips are on the serrations. It feels unnatural, but the safety is there so you're forced deal with it one way or another but it becomes second nature after a while, trust me. Most of the force exerted by your hand should be on the serrations; it is almost inevitable your hand will contact the slide, but the force exerted backwards should be on the serrations. If you have an Elite model, you'll find the front cocking serrations don't help for anything but presschecks since the barrel gets hot
3. Keeping your thumb off that slide release.
If your Beretta fails to lock back, chances are you're hitting the slide release when the gun flips. One way is to cock your thumb back at an angle instead of resting it on your support hand against the gun. This puts your thumbtip farther back but if you have long joints, I guess the safety could skin the top of your thumb. Ouch. Another method that 9mmepiphany showed me was to rest your thumb over the thumb of your other hand. It works well but what I don't like is your other hand has to be in position then you have to readjust--disclaimer being I haven't given this style a fair shake as I only tried it once or twice. Try it out and see if it feels natural for you. Of course, using the traditional thumbs down on top of each other around the mag release won't cause the problem in the first place. Thanks c00l9mm, I was thinking about it but neglected to add it.
4. (Un)natural pointability
If you're a stickler for pointability, you may find that if you have small paws, your 92 will point to the right. This is because of the large heel, so probably won't apply to you Vertec shooters. If you dont' already, try using a modified isoceles stance. When you swing your gun in to the centerline, the gun will point forward, since your arm is pointing slightly left because you're bringing it to the center.
5. Presschecks
Because the spring on the slide is so light, if you do a presscheck you may kick out a round. You could cock the hammer back then work the slide, but there's another way. Make a peace sign with your support hand. Grab both sides of the safety with your middle and index finger, and the beavertail with your thumb like a syringe and pull back that way. This is my preferred method. It's not THE way, it's just A way.
Well, hope this makes sense without pictures. I'm on lunchbreak at work so don't have access to my camera (or gun ) If you're forced to carry the gun by department policy, hopefully this will make your life easier, and if you carry one because you like it, hopefully it'll help you shoot more efficiently.
Here's a tip if you are forced to carry this way or simply prefer to. I've seen some people unacquainted with the Beretta 92 and Smith autos try to disengage the safety flipping the safety up by cocking their thumb down then pushing up against the safety. The faster way to do this is pushing forward against it. When drawing, lay your thumb gown along your belt or mouth of your holster, and as the safety clears leather, your thumb will push down against the safety. This is similar to the forward and down sweeping stroke on the 1911 safety. The advantage to this is if you carry both slide and frame mounted safetied guns, your drawstroke is the same. Heck I draw my P7 with the same thumb motion just for consistency--but it works whether you have a Smith, Beretta, USP or 1911. Pushing forward also brings you almost into a shooting grip once the safety is disengaged so you don't have to flip your thumb up then bring it back down.
2. Racking the slide
When grabbing the slide, don't put all of your hand on the gun like you would with a 1911, USP, Sig or anything else with a slick slide. Reason being is you end up grabbing the safety and not the serrations. I've read accounts of folks engaging the safety as they were racking the slide, but this is hearsay; this has never happened to me as the decock only models which I carry have stronger springs on the safety. Instead, curve your hand so instead of it being rested on the slide as you would normally work it, the heel of your hand and your fingertips are on the serrations. It feels unnatural, but the safety is there so you're forced deal with it one way or another but it becomes second nature after a while, trust me. Most of the force exerted by your hand should be on the serrations; it is almost inevitable your hand will contact the slide, but the force exerted backwards should be on the serrations. If you have an Elite model, you'll find the front cocking serrations don't help for anything but presschecks since the barrel gets hot
3. Keeping your thumb off that slide release.
If your Beretta fails to lock back, chances are you're hitting the slide release when the gun flips. One way is to cock your thumb back at an angle instead of resting it on your support hand against the gun. This puts your thumbtip farther back but if you have long joints, I guess the safety could skin the top of your thumb. Ouch. Another method that 9mmepiphany showed me was to rest your thumb over the thumb of your other hand. It works well but what I don't like is your other hand has to be in position then you have to readjust--disclaimer being I haven't given this style a fair shake as I only tried it once or twice. Try it out and see if it feels natural for you. Of course, using the traditional thumbs down on top of each other around the mag release won't cause the problem in the first place. Thanks c00l9mm, I was thinking about it but neglected to add it.
4. (Un)natural pointability
If you're a stickler for pointability, you may find that if you have small paws, your 92 will point to the right. This is because of the large heel, so probably won't apply to you Vertec shooters. If you dont' already, try using a modified isoceles stance. When you swing your gun in to the centerline, the gun will point forward, since your arm is pointing slightly left because you're bringing it to the center.
5. Presschecks
Because the spring on the slide is so light, if you do a presscheck you may kick out a round. You could cock the hammer back then work the slide, but there's another way. Make a peace sign with your support hand. Grab both sides of the safety with your middle and index finger, and the beavertail with your thumb like a syringe and pull back that way. This is my preferred method. It's not THE way, it's just A way.
Well, hope this makes sense without pictures. I'm on lunchbreak at work so don't have access to my camera (or gun
) If you're forced to carry the gun by department policy, hopefully this will make your life easier, and if you carry one because you like it, hopefully it'll help you shoot more efficiently.
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