Beretta M9 on GI Factory

[Mizzle187]

OK I just caught episode #2(I love DVR) of GI Factory which comes on the Military Channel. A Beretta spokesman made the comment and I quote "this is the Beretta M9,the most reliable sidearm ever made" The host of GI Factory also said that Beretta claims the M9 has never had a accidental discharge due to a defect in the gun. I have no experience at all with the M9 just sharing what I saw. I do like the finish of the M9. So would anyone like to comment on these statements? They showed the making of the parts and assembly. Pretty standard stuff but they did show a govt. lot test which involved picking 3 random M9s and firing 5000 rounds through them consect. Nothing about the US military going elsewhere though! Oh yeah the host brought a new meaning to limp wristing,

 

[Kevlarman]

Well there was that story of some SEALs (I think) getting smacked in the face by flying slides...

 

[cz75bdneos22]

i saw it too. i enjoyed the inside tour of the factory...i don't have a M9/92f, but i do have a Beretta Neos .22lr...

 

[Lone_Gunman]

The host of GI Factory also said that Beretta claims the M9 has never had a accidental discharge due to a defect in the gun.

I'd say thats true of about any firearm you name. Guns don't just go off accidentally or because of a defect; usually its because someone pulls a trigger.

 

[Strings]

IIRC, the whole "SEALs eating Beretta slides" was a twofold problem: one was a design flaw (which Beretta fixed), the other side was the SEALs SERIOUSLY hotloading...

Mine's given years of service, without a problem.

 

[MadMercS55]

I enjoyed watching it. I've always enjoyed Beretta firearms. Never a problem with their products.

 

[LeonCarr]

Enjoyed the show, except for the fact that the host, who allegedly graduated from West Point and is allegedly Airborne and Ranger qualified, used the "Cup and Saucer" method (placing the support hand on the botton of the weapon hand instead of clapsed together with the weapon hand) shooting the Beretta. I have always been trained (Corrections and Law Enforcement) NOT to use that method, due to less control of the handgun during firing. I also noticed on an episode of Mail Call that R. Lee Ermey shoots a handgun with the same method, and holds a handgun using the same method in his GLOCK magazine ads.

Is that how the military teaches you to shoot a handgun?

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[Devonai]

Is that how the military teaches you to shoot a handgun?

I can only speak to as far back as 2005, but I was taught to use the exact same stance I'd been using for a decade: supporting hand wrapped around strong hand, thumbs side by side (sufficiently away from the slide release), Weaver stance. One instructor liked to put his supporting index finger on the trigger guard but suggested we try what worked for us. Personally I keep mine wrapped around my strong hand.

There's also a second technique that uses Isoceles when wearing body armor, as to present the most protected part of the body toward the target, but the hands are in the same place on the weapon. The Army is teaching this stance for rifle for the same reason. I was working against ten years of muscle memory in both cases and I imagine I'll revert to Weaver under duress anyway.

And I'm sick of hearing about the "Beretta slide failures."

 

[Rob1035]

When playing with my 92, I always loved how the chamber area looked with the slide locked back, and a loaded mag inserted. "How can this not feed?" is the question I always had, the feed angle seemed pretty much foolproof to me. Not that other guns arent better or just as reliable...

 

[brickboy240]

The 92F Beretta I owned was a reliable accurate shooter. I only got rid of it, because I felt it was a little chunky for a 9mm and the safety was way up on the slide and hard to get at. It WAS a high quality piece that was very well made and shot very well...just not suited to my hands as well as the Hi-Power and P226 are.

If you are comfortable with its size and grip, you are well served with the 92FS Beretta. Like everything else with the Beretta name, it is a quality made shooter.

- Brickboy240

 

[Rob1035]

yup. Its accurate and reliable, but friggin huge. It resides in my dad's safe now. The slide is fat, the grip is fat, etc, which strikes me as odd since my CZ85 has roughly the same capacity, but the grip is much slimmer. Oh well.

 

[Mizzle187]

I'd say thats true of about any firearm you name. Guns don't just go off accidentally or because of a defect; usually its because someone pulls a trigger.

Exactly!

 

[Z_Infidel]

The 92FS I had was a very reliable, accurate pistol that fit my hand just right. The one and only reason I sold it to a good friend is that I decided to standardize on .45ACP. I also prefer single action or DAO to DA/SA, but I had come to like the Beretta in spite of that.

 

[461]

The Beretta has been a solid performer in every arena it's been put into. I was a shipboard weapons officer for a few years and I assure you the M9 was treated like crap in a harsh environment and worked every time. I would have no problem using one in any situation calling for a handgun.

Edit; I just wasted post 429 on a 9mm when it should have been for a 44Mag

 

[Onmilo]

For a handgun adopted by the US Military in 1982, the Italians in 1978, and the French in 1987, the Beretta 92 has an excellent record for reliability and safety.

The pistol is somewhat dated by more modern designs but it was state of the art for the time it was adopted.

All in all they still aren't bad handguns.

 

[ArmedBear]

Big, heavy gun for a 9mm.

Easy to shoot accurately and pleasant to shoot all day long.

More expensive than they should be.

As good as the CZ-75, for $200 more.

 

[Sgt Stevo]

I never saw a slide fly , or anything that even looked that dramatic. But, Some of the mags they gave us sucked. And that made for sillyness.

Once we fixed that, no problem. But, Its not a glock, so how good is it expected to be?

 

[BerettaNut92]

Oh, and my PERSONAL pet peeve. If I get a dent in the slide, I might get a fail to feed, fail to extract etc... But if I get a dent in the BARREL, I can get a KB! My hands and my face is worth a lot more than "looking cool" (which I don't find the look of the Beretta to be personally). Reliability? So what! The Pinto is reliable, and that's what a Beretta is; a Pinto; it will blow up if you hit it wrong. (i.e. get a dent in the barrel, the bullet cannot pass, the pressure builds up, kaboom!! no more hand!)

Source: Twoblink

 

[Delmar]

I'll give the host a pass on his marksmanship. Might be that he hasn't picked up a firearm in some time. However, the fella who does the testing-supposedly firing around a millon rounds of ammo in his Marine corps/LEO/Beretta employee positions, I was not too impressed. At 7 yards, I expected to see pretty much a one hole group. Didn't happen.

I thought that I was seeing things, so the next day, I took my 82 Vertec out to the range, and my groups at 15 yards were much better than what they were tossing at half the distance. The ammo I used was handloaded to milspec.

So far as issued pistols and their reliability, the 1911A1 built to original specifications I think was equally as reliable as anything out there today.
The age of the design has nothing to do with the reliability. If the design is good and quality materials are used to specification, its gonna work.

 

[brickboy240]

Yeah, when you go from shooting a Hi-Power or CZ-75 like I did, to the Beretta 92F, the thing seems enormous and very chunky.

Good shooter...but just too damn big. Their new PX4 Storms do seem to feel better in the hand than the 92F.

- Brickboy240

 

[runninmike]

When I was in the Marine Corps, we were just changing over to the M9.
A number (13) of our slides broke just forward of the breech face and flew into the face of some of these Marines. A few of the guys needed stitches because the rear edge is sharp & slightly pointy. I was an armourer and when these slide issues happened, we were ordered to change out the slides @ 1100 rounds and send them back to the factory for examination. I helped do around 10,000 of the pistol slide changes. We'd strip the parts, tag the old slide, and load the parts to the new slide and send it back to the fleet. Meanwhile, it was said that the slide failure was due to some jarheads and Navy personnel using hot loaded UZI brand sub machine gun ammo.
Well after some study, 2 guys in my shop (a Lcpl machinist & a Ssgt armourer)got it right, and created a hammer pin that was over-sized by about 1/8" in diameter and they machined a groove in the underside of the slide which the hammer pin ran in, and that stopped at the rear most postion when the gun was fired. If the slide breaks, the slide stops against this big hammer pin and can't fly into your face. This stopped us from having to change slides anymore, nobody shot anymore Uzi sub gun ammo out of them again, and I think there were no more slide breakage problems. I haven't heard of 1 since about 1991 or '92.
Beretta adopted this procedure, and it is on every M92 since then.
I personally like the Brigadier vers, and bought one-it acts so nice in rapid fire due to the extra heft of the beefier slide. One of my all time favorite guns.
Best-MC

 

[dsk]

Somebody please explain to me exactly how you dent a Beretta's barrel in normal use. That's the most ridiculous anti-Beretta comment I've ever heard, and there's been some real keepers floating around.

Here is the source of all the breaking, jamming, and blowing up stories: people simply WANT to hate the Beretta, because the Pentagon had the audacity to replace the venerable Colt M1911A1 with it. Had the SIG P226 been selected instead it would probably be the most-hated 9mm handgun on the planet, and we'd be hearing all sorts of slide rusting, frame cracking, pin breaking, and who-knows-what-else stories about the P226. Heck, in all likelihood the Navy SEALS would've junked the SIG and chosen the Beretta just to spite the Pentagon.

 

[MadMercS55]

I own a 92FS, as does my father, and 2 close friends. I can't imagine how the heck one would go about denting the barrel. I've seen scuffed, scratched, etc. Some with very little blueing left, but never dented in any way. Most everyone that owns a 92FS finds them to be extremely reliable, albeit a tad on the large and heavy side. I don't understand the lengths some people go to just to try and find fault with stuff, be it a Beretta\SIG\HK\Glock, whatever.

 

[ugaarguy]

I'm no metallugist, but I would think that any impact with enough force to "dent" a pistol barrel, even a slide for that matter, wouldn't dent but rather crack the part. Any actual engineer or gunsmith types here to confirm or refute my suspicion? Still funny because it would take a whole lotta force to do either.