Beretta 92F

[haybaler]

I have a 1988 vintage Beretta 92F, not FS. Is it safe to shoot or should I worry about the slide breaking and hitting me in the face. It's a beautiful gun and I want to enjoy shooting it but I wonder if I shouldn't upgrade to the FS or maybe a PX4 Storm.

 

[Chicken-Farmer]

I believe you would have to fire many rounds through your pistol before you need to worry. The guns that blew up were shot heavily. I would not worry. Just keep an eye on things when you are cleaning.

 

[Fiv3r]

I wouldn't worry about it at all. The FS came about in order to continue to secure a meaty contract. It would probably be a nonissue for 99% of shooters.

The 92 series is a beautiful pistol. Elegant and robust. Enjoy it.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Maybe....

Trade in your 1988 92F 9x19mm & offer a discounted price on a NIB PX4 Storm.
Be ready to haggle. Most gun dealers & pawn shop owners will scam you because they can buy NIB handguns at lower prices.
You can try to sell it on your own, but you'll have to deal with people wanting to nag you with a 1000 questions or get their mitts all over the pistol.
I packed a 92F/M9 for 24mo in the US Army. It was okay but a bit off balance for me. I owned a PX4 C(constant action) 9x19mm in 2009. The weapon was nice & had 0 problems. If you buy a PX4 model, get 3 dot Trijicon HD sights, www.trijicon.com & maybe have it treated with Robar NP3 + or Metalife. Get the Beretta magazines treated too. It's about $10.00 per mag with Metalife, www.MahovskysMetalife.com . The upper can be done for about $78.00 USD.
Robar is good but may take a few months due to high demand. www.Robarguns.com

RS

 

[Schwing]

My preference would be to keep it, shoot it, and not give it a second thought. Those slide failures were very rare and almost always included shooting max loads or guns with extremely high round counts.

I would keep it since, to me, the older 92's are just classics. I own a PX4 as well and love it too but there is just something extra cool about the older 92s.

 

[d'zaster]

Keep it. Shoot it.

 

[tarosean]

I have a 1988 vintage Beretta 92F, not FS. Is it safe to shoot or should I worry about the slide breaking and hitting me in the face.

Shoot it and shoot it some more... There is not a gun out there that will not break parts with enough rounds through it.

 

[Big Shrek]

As Long As you inspect the slide stops during the cleaning after every range visit/hunting trip, you will be fine.
Mind you, that should be done with EVERY semi-auto pistol that has a slide...
(Calico's are the exception...lol)

Some of those failures were not very high round count pistols...
however, some also hadn't been maintained properly either...
so they didn't know the cracks were forming...this is why Inspection & Cleaning is so very important!

Do Not Use ammo you can't trust...meaning someone else's non-factory reloads...
or if you suck at reloading...one does need to be rather OCD about reloading ammo...
one double-powder load can ruin your entire day...

Probably smart to avoid "Hot" loads as well...why chance it?

 

[1KPerDay]

I'd shoot it without concern. Weren't most/all of the breaks from military situations on pistols with a billion rounds of hot rounds fired through them?

 

[RustyShackelford]

Long story.....

In short, most common stories(reports, statements, memories, web searches, etc) say the US Navy SpecWar branch was T&Eing a few M9s with +P 9mmNATO rounds & a few slides started to crack.

note; this wasn't GI issue & the SEALs/spec boat units(SWCC) pushed for SIG P226s.

Beretta USA had 02 series of M9 tests/selections. They passed both T&Es & were mainly selected based on unit price(lower than the SIG Sauer P226 9x19mm).

Interesting that SIG later did win the DoD M11 compact pistol contract with the P228 9x19mm.

 

[briansmithwins]

Depends on what you're doing or intend to do with the pistol. How many years would it take you to get to 5000 rounds? If the answer is decades, I wouldn't worry. If you're shooting a whole lot, you'll hit the life of the slide much faster.

Some info about the 92 failures: http://thegunzone.com/m9-a.html

That commentary noted:
…the Beretta M92 (was) built to U.S. Army specifications. One should understand that these specifications were:
Only the frame has a specified service life.
That service life is 5,000 rounds.
The slide is a disposable part.
99% of the military pistols will fire only 80 rounds per year.

BSW

 

[Big Shrek]

Out of the pistols that were tested back in 1980's for the DOD, the Beretta M9 didn't do well, but was PLACED well...
if you get the difference...its why the Army originally contested the results...
but the Beretta was lowest in price...so the Gov't picked it, which is backwards from everything else the Gov't does...
If nothing else, the Gov't can be guaranteed to Overspend on almost Anything, except on weapons for the ground troops.

Bet nobody remembers that S&W and Star were two of the top finishers...
Can anyone name the Star model that was tested? Or the S&W, for that matter?
(yes, I know, just wondering if anyone else is OLD too...lol)

And yeah, the Italian Airbase thing probably had a lot to do with it as well...politics is an ugly biz.

 

[jamal28]

Hey bigshrek it was the s&w 469 that competed in the xm9 trials

 

[RustyShackelford]

5904?.....

I can't say about the Spanish Star pistol but the XM9 pistol Smith & Wesson sent in was a 5904 format(I may be wrong but I remember a 1980s era gun mag article).
S&W pushed the R&D of the "third generation" line in 1988 based partly on obtaining the sweet GI contract(M9).
If I recall, the S&W 9mm did okay but none of the service branches really liked it or wanted the design.
Walther(P88) & HK(P7m13) also did well early on but the P88 had problems with the advanced T&E.
In the early 1990s, I went to a exhibit in the Smithsonian(DC) that had several displays of the DoD XM9 tests. The Bianchi UM84 holsters, the spare parts, the field tests, etc.

Rusty
PS; Ruger put out the alloy frame P85 15 shot 9x19mm too but that was just a long-shot. The WI State Police expressed a interest but it didn't last.

 

[5-SHOTS]

Keep it and shot it without fear. Slide breaking reports were on military guns intentionally abused with hot loads (like rounds made for sub-machine pistols).
Not 100% sure but if I remember well Beretta can retrofit your 92F and turn it to a 92FS.
A friend of mine had a slide breakage after at least 90000 rounds of questionable rounds (it was a rental range gun) and too few recoil spring replacements (he also fired the gun with the recoil spring broken in two parts at first and then in three parts just to test function and the Beretta never let him down). The breakage interested only one side of the slide and was discovered after a routine inspection. The gun, which was a 92FS, was still able to shoot.
I don't recommend to abuse a gun that way, it's only to tell you how strong the gun is.
An every 3000/5000 rounds recoil spring replacement and a poor diet of +P and +P+ rounds and the Beretta will go very far.