Beretta M9/92FS - Ready to GO?

[Timradcliffe345]

Beretta 92-series owners: How do you CCW carry your Beretta? One in the chamber uncocked - safety on? What is the best way to carry the Beretta 92 ready to go if needed? How does the USMC carry theirs? Thanks everyone and God Bless the United States of America!!!

 

[SHusky57]

Military way of carrying is hammer down, safety off, one in the chamber.

I prefer hammer down, safety on, one in the chamber.

:-D

 

[SHusky57]

It's all a matter of how you practice. Until I was comfortable with carrying one in the chamber, I just practiced drawing condition 3 until it was second nature. When I realized the gun wasn't going to go off by itself, especially with the safety on, I moved up to condition 2.
The Beretta is not designed for condition 1 like the 1911 is.

"What is the best way to carry the Beretta 92 ready to go if needed?"
Carry how you are comfortable, and practice, practice, practice.
One argument against not carrying with one in the chamber is, "what if you don't have both hands or don't have time to rack the slide?"
It only takes a fraction of a second to rack the slide, and if you don't have both hands, the attacker probably doesn't have his either.... someone like myself who used to train Judo/Jiu-Jitsu religiously is put in a very good position if the bad guy has a hold on you (not recommended to those who didn't wrestle, judo all through high school ;-) ).
The weapon is designed to have one in the chamber and is perfectly safe to do so with. With the safety on, the firing pin is blocked and the trigger will not engage the hammer. Also, even if you carry safety off, the long double-action trigger pull in a good holster will prevent discharge.

 

[Timradcliffe345]

1 in the chamber, hammer down, safety off seems like a good way to go. What is weight of that first DA shot? Is it possible to carry hammer cocked, safety on/off? Thanks.

 

[psyprofessor]

Don't carry it cocked. Carry it with one in the chamber, hammer down, with safety on.

 

[SHusky57]

92 not designed for cocked and locked. Safety will decock it. Safety on/off is preference.... military carries safety off, I prefer safety on.

 

[Kind of Blued]

One in the chamber is a given, and not necessary when discussing carry condition.

 

[SHusky57]

It doesn't have to be a given. Israeli carry is okay if that's all the carrier is comfortable with. And no, it doesn't render a gun useless.

Even if you have one in the chamber, you still have to draw which takes time, especially depending on the condition you are carrying in. A well practiced Israeli draw can be just as fast as a normal one. With a DA gun like the 92FS, it automatically reverts you to SA firing which also saves time. If one of your hands is tied up, then doesn't that mean the attacker has a grip on you and is therefore vulnerable to open hand techniques? Is there any other conceivable instance where this doesn't apply? And if your head is so far up your bum that you are taken by total surpise and have a gun to your head, won't you just get shot while you draw? Won't you have to use open hand techniques to have any chance to create space/time for you to draw?

I prefer condition 2, but for goodness sakes, what is it with the CCW community shunning those who prefer condition 3?

 

[NavyLCDR]

One in the chamber, hammer down, safety off. Strictly because I prefer to be able to draw and shoot with one hand only.

Think about this, how about using your weak hand/arm to fend off the attack or to keep distance between the attacker and yourself and being able to draw and shoot at the same time?

For myself, I don't see the need to keep it cocked, my first shots are just as accurate and quick DA as they are SA, especially with adreniline flowing.

 

[psyopspec]

Military way of carrying is hammer down, safety off, one in the chamber.

What unit are/were you in? Reason I ask is because I've trained with several units and have never heard this method recommended by an actual trainer. In uniform, M9 is chambered, safety on. In the field where no one is liable to care or when carrying a 92fs civilian side, round is chambered with safety off and hammer on half cock. Makes it harder to accidentally engage the safety, and makes the reach to the trigger a lot shorter for someone with smaller hands.

 

[NavyLCDR]

What unit are/were you in? Reason I ask is because I've trained with several units and have never heard this method recommended by an actual trainer. In uniform, M9 is chambered, safety on. In the field where no one is liable to care or when carrying a 92fs civilian side, round is chambered with safety off and hammer on half cock. Makes it harder to accidentally engage the safety, and makes the reach to the trigger a lot shorter for someone with smaller hands.

I have to agree completely with part of this, call partial BS on part of this, and call total BS on part of this.

Yes, officially, if the M9 is carried in the holster, in uniform, the safety is always required, by procedure to be on. Even in condition one. The only time the safety is off is when the gun is carried in the firing position and the shooter is actually looking at least over the sights of the gun. I think the new Army term for this is tactical carry or something like that.

Regarding the unofficial, half-cocked carry - the hammer at half cock has very little impact upon the function of the safety. Yes, I suppose a bit more force is required to place the gun on safe because the safety must de-cock the hammer from this position. So I call partial BS on this part.

Also regarding unofficial half-cocked carry - the trigger does not move at half cock, so how is the reach to the trigger affected for smaller hands? I call total BS on this part.

 

[Steve in PA]

There is no "advantage" to carrying the Beretta in the "half-cock" position. None at all. And yes, I own a Beretta.

 

[JaxNovice]

I could only think of a few other pistols that are as impractical to CCW as a Beretta M9

 

[skwab]

I agree with Jax - I love my 92fs/M9 but it was designed as a sidearm, not a CCW. On that note, I would not at all becomfortable carrying it hammer back - it is too light of a pull and the manual safety acts as a decocker - so if I were to carry it woul be hammer down

 

[MAKster]

Beretta can be carried ok in an OWB holster with a loose shirt. No way would you want to carry IWB.

 

[SHusky57]

I am not in a combat unit, I am just a 2T2 but I was bored at drill last weekend so I did the M9 CBT. I also own a Beretta PX4 (same controls as the M9), and I work in a gun store when I spend a lot of my idle time with the 92FS (which is fighting for top of my to-buy list next to the PX4sc).

A few notes:
M9 is not a condition 1 gun (chambered round, hammer cocked). As soon as the hammer is cocked and the safety is engaged, the hammer is decocked. It would be highly dangerous to carry with a cocked hammer and no safety on with only a 3 lb trigger pull. It is carried condition 2 (chambered round, hammer down).

"The only time the safety is off is when the gun is carried in the firing position and the shooter is actually looking at least over the sights of the gun. I think the new Army term for this is tactical carry or something like that."

All the gate guards at my base have safety off. It could be a preference depending on the base commander. When not on duty, all weapons are condition 3. When going on post or on duty, condition 1/2.

Anyway, my main point..... safety is a preference for a civilian doing CCW, just make sure to practice religiously what you are going to do until it is second nature. People who forget to turn off their safeties in a stressful situation must not have taken the time to practice. 100x a day for a year and it should be muscle memory.

I don't think condition 3 is the best way to carry, but if its what you are comfortable with then practice 10,000 times. So uh, where did the OP go?

 

[psyopspec]

I have to agree completely with part of this, call partial BS on part of this, and call total BS on part of this.

Call it what you like, it's no skin off my back. To elaborate a bit more, IMO there's a significant increase in the amount of pressure required to engage the safety when the hammer is on half-cock. Further, while the trigger doesn't move when the hammer is placed in this position, it does allow the shooter to take up about .25" of slack with barely any resistance. As far as safety, I use a serviceable holster that covers the trigger guard, and I keep my booger hook off the bang lever until I'm ready to fire.

Finally, what's for me may not be for you. I don't recommend any practices from my personal life (firearms related or otherwise) for the public at large. As long as people are safe, I care not what or how they carry. In regards to the half-cocked hammer, it's not endorsed by any major pistol trainer that I'm aware of, nor is it disparaged as being unsafe.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Safety ON forces you to always go through the motions to disengage it when you draw.

If you carry with safety OFF and the safety inadvertantly is engaged, through body movement or positioning (sitting is a good example), then if you have to draw the gun in an emergency it won't fire when you press the trigger. If you've trained to immediately perform Tap, Roll, Rack, Safety, then you'll correct the problem, while wasting valuable time fixing a problem that shouldn't have been a problem in the first place.

The Beretta 92/M9 has a hammer drop safety. It cannot be carried cock & locked.

I carried a Beretta 96 on police patrol with a round in the chamber, safety engaged, and magazine topped off.

Good luck.

 

[Timradcliffe345]

Thank you all for your input. I'm leaning to carry the M9 with a round in the chamber, hammer down, safety on. It is the safest and with proper training won't slow me down. Now - what is a good carry holster for the M9? OWB vs. IWB? What about the military M12 holster? Let me know what has worked for you.

 

[benderx4]

Can't help you with the holster as I've never carried mine other than in the military and then it was a shoulder rig worn under our flightsuits.
It is a BIG gun so I don't know that IWB would be possible? If you'd like to stick with Beretta, the Px4 might be more practical for concealed carry.
BTW, in the AF, we would also chamber a round, decock, and then throw the safety on.

 

[OregonJohnny]

I wouldn't even begin to try to conceal my 92FS. It's just too long, thick, and heavy to be comfortable for my build. However, if open carrying, I'd go with chamber loaded, hammer down, safety off, and the mag topped-off with 15, for a 16-round capacity.

The stock double-action trigger pull on a 92/M9 is heavy and long enough to be safe for carry in almost all situations, while still being "shootable" when drawing and firing in a hurry. If I had to draw the gun and had some time to control the situation, I'd cock the hammer for the first shot, as the single-action trigger pull on a 92/M9 is sooooooooo much better for precision shooting than the double-action.

 

[gits]

I'm in the military and I've always been trained with the M9 with chamber loaded, decocked and safety off. And no it is not Army policy to carry an M9 Safety on. It is dependent on the the unit's CoC.

 

[1911Delta]

One in the pipe, hammer down, safety off.

I could only think of a few other pistols that are as impractical to CCW as a Beretta M9

A 92 is not impractical to carry. If you can conceal a 1911, you can conceal a Beretta 92fs. Dress around the gun. I know, I carry one (M9A1) most of the time.

 

[JWJacobVT]

In the Sand box

I carried my M9 in a safariland 6004 thigh rig while on duty to back up my AMD 65 or my M4. It was carried round in chamber, hammer down, safety on.
Off duty I carried it in a Kydex paddle under my DCU top or if Lucky enough out in the open depeding which compound I was in. Again it was my backup to my rifle.
As to being a CCW it depends on your comfort level. I carry my 1066 daily which is about the same size in a galco or safariland paddle. I sometimes carry my glock 29 when wearing really light clothing.

 

[Retro]

Israeli carry did not work for me. I practiced with Israeli carry, but 3/10 times when I rack the slide after a quick draw, I managed to lock the safety to "on" position by accident, and disengaging the trigger... Taurus M9 clone may be better for Israeli carry because the safety is located on the frame instead of the slide.