Beretta M9-A1 any good ?

[Greg8098]

I've read many stories on the internet about the Beretta 92's short service life. I'm pretty interested in buying one, but I don't need a self-destructive junk gun by any means. Maybe its just mostly rumors, but if anyone has any experience with them or own one, please let me know if they are any good.

 

[VHinch]

The Beretta is far from a junk gun. I've owned several of the various 92 variants over the years, including a 92 Elite II that I shot IDPA with for several years that is up over 20,000 rounds. Like everything else out there you will have certain parts that need replacing at high round counts, but the most I have ever had to do was replace springs and 1 locking block over all my 92's.

 

[Scratchshooter40]

I cannot speak to the Model 92. I can however comment on the 96, the .40 cal brother to it. I have two, a bruniton finish and an Inox. I have put almost 12K rounds through the Bruniton finsh and the frame shows no evidence of anything but polishing. Still mike's normally as well. I have fired aroung 10K rounds through the Inox in IDPA style shooting in the rain, mud sludge and heat in Georgia. I have never had a malfundtion or jam in either and both still look great and shoot on the money. They shoot better than I am capable of and I have shot possible with the Sherrif's Dept quals with both on every occasion. I do have a LaserMax LMS-1441 in the Bruniton and it still shoots where the red dot is every time. I am a big fan of .40 cal S&W and have 9 handguns in that caliber. Of all I have I like the performance and reliability of the Beretta over the rest including the H&K USP 40 and Sig 2340 though both shoot very well.

I have had to replace one mag spring over the years and use a Sprinco recoil reducer in the Inox for carry and other than IDPA shooting. You may have to replace the locking block waaay down the road, but no more that routine maintenance. You'll love it if it fits you. Most natural pointing weapon I've ever carried even going back to 8 years in law enforcement in South Georgia.

 

[berettaprofessor]

M9 was good enough to beat out all comers 20 years ago and still is the choice of the military....okay, many would say only the military brass, but the choice for a 9mm gun was not the fault of Beretta...they just responded with a good gun. And yes, there were problems with off-brand magazines which don't occur with Beretta or Mec-Gar magazines.

 

[possum]

they are reliable, accurate and they have a long service life. i totally don't like them as they seem to be "snappy" for a 9mm pistol, the grip frame is a little to big for me, and they are uncomfortable to me, but that is me and a personal issue. they work and that is all that matters.

 

[DFW1911]

I have an Elite II model; I'm not sure what makes it elite, but so be it.

It's fired many, many rounds without any problems. I would have no issues with this pistol as a CCW.

Oh, it's also a tack driver. Just check to make sure it fits your hand well since it doesn't for some.

Take care,
DFW1911

 

[Darthbauer]

My friends in the Marines cant stand them mainly due to feeding issues when dirt or sand gets in the mag. I had a 96 vertec and manly didnt like the due to the grip.

 

[IdahoLT1]

My 92F has only seen about 2500 rounds but its has been stuff i reloaded, factory reloads, reloads from gun shows, decent factory ammo, dirty factory ammo and in HP and ball ammo. Not once have i had a single malfunction. Alot of the bad stuff you hear is either complete lies, a few lemons, or military personel using crappy mags. If you buy one and it has Beretta magazines, it is very doubtful you will see malfunctions. With govt officials watching tests, the M9 averaged one malfunction in every 20,500 rds fired.

 

[Devonai]

My 92FS is past the 10,000 round mark and still going strong. I had two failures-to-extract with Blazer aluminum-cased FMJ but never any problems with brass-cased ammo.

If you need the accessory rail, I say go for it, otherwise save yourself some money and get a used 92FS.

 

[Old Dog]

the Beretta 92's short service life.

Where does that **** come from?

I've read many stories on the internet

Oh, never mind ...

Seriously, the last half of my 26 years of active duty saw much heavy use of the M-9, with much of it in really adverse conditions. I used M-9s at a training command where we maintained about 75 of these critters, almost all of which saw hundreds of rounds per week for about 48 weeks per year. Yeah, occasionally parts broke (as on any handgun) and required replacement. No big deal. Anyway, that's much heavier use than the average 92FS in a cop's or deployed Marine's holster, or in civilian hands (excepting those who shoot competitively. Short service life?

Maybe its just mostly rumors

There's a thought.

I've owned three Model 92FS pistols. None of them has ever malfunctioned, not once. (Caveat: use only factory Beretta mags or Mec-Gars.) For what they are, they're terrific semiautos, though I'm hardly enamored of the frame-mounted safety/decocker and I don't like the recent production models with the plastic triggers and other plastic part (plus the new lines, the slanted dustcover, etc.), and they are not concealed carry pistols.

My friends in the Marines cant stand them mainly due to feeding issues when dirt or sand gets in the mag

Of course, my last deployment, we tried not to drop our mags in the sand ... You get dirt or sand in any pistol magazine and you just might notice some problems ...

 

[rcmodel]

My friends in the Marines cant stand them mainly due to feeding issues when dirt or sand gets in the mag.

The military buys it's mags from the lowest bidder.

You can bet that is not quality mags from Beretta or Mec-Gar.

The initial purchase of Beretta mags that came with the guns are long worn out, and the new replacements they are getting are junk!

If the issue pistol was the Glock 17, and you fed them with Scherer mags, they wouldn't work either.

rcmodel

 

[DevilDog0402]

I've put a few rounds through the M9 over the last 9 yrs, and have yet to have it malfunction. I don't an an M9/92, but I own a 96 and it too has been flawless.

The only thing I don't like about the M9/92 is that it is quite large for a 9mm.

 

[jhco]

i have an m9 cause i hate rails but they realy are great guns and buy the time it ever wears out you would have spent so much on ammo by that point that you could easily justify the price of a new barrel and springs

 

[stinx]

You mean one of these? I love mine :

 

[Janos Dracwlya]

As often happens, early problems with a weapon, which are quickly corrected, become part of the weapon's reputation. I believe there were some breakage problems with the early Beretta M-9's that the U.S. military purchased, but that was twenty years ago, and any problems that might have existed have long since been addressed. It is my belief that that is the source of the undying rumour that the Beretta is fragile/prone to breaking. It's kind of like the reputation the M-16 has for being horrendously unreliable, because of the problems that the early ones had in Vietnam.

However, feel free to take this all with a grain of salt; I have no personal experience with the Beretta beyond handling them at gun stores/gun shows.

 

[dogmush]

As it was taught to me in my Armorers Course some M9's experiance cracked locking blocks between 20000 and 25000 rds, and slides have started cracking around 50000 rds. Now these are Army pistols, so care and maitnence is meidocre at best, and not all pistols failed. They just told us to start looking at them very closely at about that age.

I've only seen one actually break, and while I don't know the specific round count it looked really beat up.

How much do you plan to shoot it?

 

[Onmilo]

Yeah the M9A1 is good.

It could have been made better with the addition of a strengthened front barrel slide ring and replaceable dovetailed front and rear sights with tritium inserts but it is a good pistol none the less.

 

[Flopsy]

My M9 would be the last gun I'd part with. If I knew S were going to HTF, it would be the first one I strap on.

The only malf I EVER had was the slide not locking back, once, on the last round out of an off-brand mag.

 

[Moonclip]

For the average user with standard amo they are fine. I have personally seen many times though earlier Beretta 92fs 9mm handguns crack frame,slides,barrels,locking blocks many times. High round counts on indoor range rentals.

 

[ugaarguy]

The post above have shown some interesting information. The M9 / 92FS had some teething problems. However, because it's a US military service weapon the shortcomings have been identified in training & combat. For the most part those that can be corrected have been, and for those that can't be there are known solutions to mitigate the problem. Basically it's a very mature design. There's a wide knowledge base for it because of its relatively long service life. Many people know how to work on it, know how to maintain it, and know which parts commonly need to be replaced. Spare parts and magazines are widely and readily available. It's a known quantity - unlike many other pistols currently on the market.

 

[O.F.Fascist]

Its not a "bad" gun but IMO it has poor ergonomics and is just too big for what it is, which is a 9mm handgun with nothing really special about it.

For 9mm I prefer Glocks, but I see you already have some. If you are wanting a 9mm with an external safety or something then get a Browning high power of some sort of a Sig.

 

[snake-doctor]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum.
I've owned Glocks, Hi Powers, Berettas, XDs, and several others over the years. Dire finances forced me to sell most of them.
The Beretta 92FS is the only one of the bunch I came back to when I got the cash. For me, it's the softest shooting handgun of any self defense caliber I have ever fired in my life, it's the most accurate, it fits my hand so naturally, and it's just flat out the best I've ever owned. I've fired every type of factory ammo and reloads in it and it's never hiccupped. And for a gun that's considered large, I can easily conceal it and carry it. I got rid of all the others I had like the Hi Powers and Glocks, but I'll never part with my 92FS. Although I would love to get an HK USP again and probably will, for my money there is nothing better than the 92FS, nothing.

 

[IdahoLT1]

Its not a "bad" gun but IMO it has poor ergonomics and is just too big for what it is, which is a 9mm handgun with nothing really special about it.

For 9mm I prefer Glocks, but I see you already have some. If you are wanting a 9mm with an external safety or something then get a Browning high power of some sort of a Sig.

Ergonomics aside, its size being bad or good all depends on how you look at it. Kinda a glass half empty or glass half full type thing. Its not a great design for concealed carry. There are better choices out there like a glock, XD, Kahr, etc. But those(polymer framed firearms) are also lighter and will have more noticeable recoil. The Beretta 92 was designed to be a service pistol carried in a hip holster(exposed) and have a longer barrel for accuracy.

Its not the best choice for concealed carry, thats why i have my Kahr, but is a very good choice for a range gun or for someone just starting out to learn how to use a pistol. Its easy to learn on and its size helps manage the recoil.