Beretta Model 96 Appears to be Surplus

[Tallball]

One of my favorite sellers on GB has been selling quite a few Beretta Model 96's lately that appear to be surplus. I won a bid on one last week for $277. Most of the ones for sale were the regular ones, I think they are called 96FS (firing pin safety?). The one that I got was described as a 96D that had been converted to DA/SA. It has no safety or decocker. That's fine with me. I don't use safeties. A decocker would be nice, but I have been decocking handguns without one for many years and am comfortable doing so.

I picked it up from my friend at the LGS this morning. It seems to be a bit of an odd duck. The frame has Italian proof marks and is a bit scratched up. The slide has possibly seen less use (though it is not new) and is stamped "Beretta USA Corp ACKK MD - made in USA" and "Mod 96D". The magazine is obviously used and says "made in Italy" as well as "restricted law enforcement/government use only".

It all seems to fit together well. I already have a 92 clone, so I know how to field strip them. It comes apart and goes back together as it should. It was bone dry but not dirty. I lubed the rails and it seems ready to go. Unfortunately I won't be able to shoot it until next weekend.

If anyone has thoughts, knowledge, or WAG's, I am all ears. I have made a couple of guesses of my own, but that's all they are. Its only purpose will be as an occasional range toy, so as long as it functions properly I don't care exactly what kind of Frankenstein job it is. I am just mildly curious.

I have been busy today, but I will post some pictures tomorrow when there is some natural lighting.

 

[WestKentucky]

Good score on price and variety. The beretta safety location sucks, and I don't trust a decocker. My WAG is that you have an older 96 that got a facelift somewhere along the way. There was an issue for a while where slides cracked on the 92s and I assume there was a similar issue with the 96, so it could be an American made replacement part on an Italian frame.

 

[WestKentucky]

And where's the pictures.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Just for clarity, there was never a 96 FS. The DA/SA model was just named the 96.

It sounds like you have a 96 to which someone mounted a "D" slide...does it have a spurred hammer?

I'm a big fan of the "G" model with the decocker that springs back up after it has dropped the hammer...I'm just more comfortable with a decocker on the slide as opposed to lowering the hammer by pinching the hammer while pulling the trigger.

The big knock on the whole 96 line has always been it's limited magazine capacity. Assuming you have the LE-only mag, it should hold 11 rounds, the non-LE ones hold 10

 

[JTQ]

The one that I got was described as a 96D that had been converted to DA/SA. It has no safety or decocker.

If it is a 96D, and has no safety or decocker, it wouldn't be a DA/SA gun, it would be DA only. If working properly, the hammer should not stay back. It should always return to the down position.

 

[Tallball]

My guess is that 9mmE is correct and that it is basically a regular Italian Model 96 with a replacement slide from an American 96D. My daughter has friends over atm, but as soon as I am visitor free I will post pics. Since I don't care for the Beretta safety or a DAO service pistol, this was a good choice for me.

My FiL has a surplus Italian Model 92, and I have the Taurus clone. We both prefer the Taurus due to its superior safety arrangement. I am guessing this 96 will be my favorite of the three, though, because its trigger is superior to either of the others.

 

[WestKentucky]

If it's better than a Taurus trigger then you have really got something. There are very few times when a "clone" is better than the real shebang but I think the PT92/96/99/100 guns are arguably better than the standard beretta guns. Triggers are typically nicer, controls laid out better, etc. the only way I would start considering a beretta better than a Taurus is if you got into the D or G series guns.

 

[Tallball]

I have the PT99, so it has the adjustable sights as well as the frame-mounted safety/decocker. I bought it NIB in 1990 or so. It's been a good pistol. Its trigger is pretty good, but the DA isn't quite as light as I would prefer. It has been accurate and reliable for many thousands of rounds.

My FiL has one of those Italian surplus 92's... I think the magazine release is on the heel. It has fixed sights and shoots a bit off POA. The safety is awkward. It is a reliable pistol and good enough for service, but the controls are unsophisticated.

The 96 has a beautiful DA trigger. If it is reliable and shoots to POA, it will be the best of the three.

I am more of a revolver guy, but I do like Berettas. I also have a good-shooting surplus Model 84 (380acp), and a Model 100 - which is a 32acp target pistol. I had a Tomcat, but I didn't like it.

I will post pics before the day is over, and will have a range report next Saturday.

 

[hemiram]

My 92 came from a huge load of them for sale on Gunbroker. Most of them were priced at about $400, give or take $10 or so. The one I got was $410, A friend of mine bought one of the "select" for $425. Both came with 3 Meg-Gar mags, and 2 of those parkerized ones, I can't remember the brand now. The difference between our guns was pretty much nothing. They both looked new at first glance. Mine had one tiny nick on the front of the grip, and a couple on the dust cover. His had only one on the dust cover. Both functioned perfectly and all the mags had zero issues, and unlike most of my S&W surplus/police trades, didn't need some of the mag followers replaced. That seems to be a weak spot on used S&W guns.

 

[Tallball]

Beretta Model 96 Frankenstein Gun

One of my favorite GB vendors has been selling a bunch of Model 96's lately. A couple of weeks ago they had an oddball one for sale. It was a DAO model "modified for SA/DA", without a safety or decocker. Not many people wanted to bid on it, so I won it for a $277 bid.

It is just a range toy for me. I only have one other 40 caliber pistol, a 1911, and I thought it would be nice to also have a SA/DA pistol in that caliber. I don't use safeties, so I didn't care that it didn't have one. It might have been nice to have a decocker, but I am comfortable decocking without one.

It's a VERY obvious Frankenstein gun. The frame is Italian, seems to have been carried quite a bit, and I believe it was the "normal" SA/DA version. The slide is from the USA, and seems to have been from the DAO model; it is obviously less used than the frame. The visibly worn magazine says "Made in Italy" and something about being for Law Enforcement use only.

I shot 50 rounds through it yesterday. It has a very nice trigger. It shot a few inches low at 15 yards with that particular box of ammo, but the group was pretty decent. Shooting an 11-round magazine onto a paper plate at 15 yards was easy to do after I adjusted for the somewhat low POI.

It fills in a gap for me. I have a Berretta Model 100 32acp, a Beretta Model 84 380acp, and a Taurus (Berretta Clone) Model 99 9mm. I had a Beretta Tomcat 32acp, but didn't like it at all and traded it in on something else. Adding the 40 caliber filled in the larger-caliber gap in my Berretta collection. Here poor-quality cell phone picture:

 

[RX-79G]

This is a not uncommon mod, since all you need is a hammer and sear. You can also make a 92FS into DAO by simply removing the sear.

 

[1KPerDay]

So this is like a CZ75 without a safety? Cool. You can still decock manually like the CZ and Tanfoglios? I like this. I'm going to look into it.

 

[bannockburn]

TallBall

Don't see how you could go wrong at that price on a Beretta Model 96 even if it's a "parts" kind of gun.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Since you already had an existing thread, I just merged the one started today with the earlier one

 

[Tallball]

Thank you 9mmE.

 

[Tallball]

1K, it is "Kings Firearms and More". I like them because they put about a dozen random things up for sale every day, usually with no starting price or reserve. They have been putting up about three Beretta 96's per day. Most of them are going for a little more than $300. A few have been in the $275 range, though, and one did go for $227, so keep your eyes open and you might get a really good deal. (I am in no way affiliated with them, I have just gotten a few good deals from them in the past couple of years.)

And Bannockburn, I just can't resist that kind of price for a good shooter. Paying so little money for a good functional service pistol is just ridiculous. My son and daughter will be shooting this one, and my Star Super B, and my Berretta 84, and several other surplus service pistols long after I am gone. Deals like this have turned me off of new retail handguns forever.