Berretta 92 FS Carry Off Safe, Safe?

[Welding Rod]

Is it safe to carry a 92FS with round in pipe and the safety off?

If so, what protection is there to prevent a blow to the hammer from setting off the cartridge?

 

[chris in va]

Yes, with the hammer down and in DA mode. The 92fs has a firing pin block to prevent a discharge from taking place if the hammer is struck.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Is that a 2014 model? lolz that was a joke

 

[lpsharp88]

It's completely safe to do that. DA is around 10 pounds, people carry Glocks and they have around a 5 pound trigger pull. The firing pin block is only active when the safety is ON.

 

[Kiln]

Yes, with the hammer down and in DA mode. The 92fs has a firing pin block to prevent a discharge from taking place if the hammer is struck.

Winner. This is all you need to know.

They're completely safe so long as the hammer is down.

 

[Pilot]

I avoided the 92FS for many years due to the silly slide mounted safety that operates OPPOSITE to all my other semi-auto pistols with safeties. Then I realized that a DA/SA pistol with a firing pin block does not need a safety, so I bought a couple of 92FS's (full size, and a Compact) and couldn't be happier. I use the safety as a decocker only, then leave the safety in the off position. They are fun pistols to shoot, and extremely well finished, reliable, and accurate.

 

[holdencm9]

It's completely safe to do that. DA is around 10 pounds, people carry Glocks and they have around a 5 pound trigger pull. The firing pin block is only active when the safety is ON.

Bold part is incorrect. The little rectangular piece of metal that raises up out of the top of the slide when you pull the trigger, is the firing pin block. It is always active. You are thinking of the safety rotating the pin from being struck by the hammer, which is a separate mechanism.

 

[OregonJohnny]

Chamber a round, use the decocker lever to lower the hammer, flip the lever back up to take the safety off, and you are good to go, with a heavy double-action first trigger pull as a type of AD/ND precaution. Also, you can flip the safety lever down, then chamber a round, which will lower the hammer as the slide returns to battery.

Although the actual "safety" aspect of the safety/decocker may have use to someone, it doesn't for me. The only use I have for it on my 92FS is as a decocker. I swipe the lever down to safely decock the hammer, then immediately (and instinctively) swipe the lever back up to take the safety off. I then holster the gun.

My perfect Beretta would be a "G" model, which was offered for a few years. It's lever was "decock only" and automatically sprung back up into the fire position after decocking. There is no way to convert a standard model to a G model.

There is a Hickock45 video on youtube, where he shoots a Beretta 92FS, and he repeatedly loads the gun, decocks it, then puts it in the holster without taking the safety off. I cringe and yell at the computer screen, "take the safety off!", because he continually pulls the gun out of the holster, tries to fire, and then realizes he forgot to swipe the safety back off. This is very bad in a life or death situation.

You have to practice it until it becomes instinct. It's a much different system than almost all other handguns out there.

 

[The smiling swordsman]

Safety off!

 

[chrisTx]

I carried mine as a duty gun, and I always carried it with the safety on. If I ever needed to get to it quick, flipping the safety was automatic on the draw. Whether it was up or down, it wouldn't matter; my thumb still went up against it. Also, if someone were to try and fight me for my gun, and the safety was on, if they did get it away, that safety might afford me that single second I would need to draw a backup while they tried to figure out how it worked. I have spent most of my time carrying 1911s, and it's no different than those thumb safeties. Practice enough, and you'll do it without even having to think about it.

 

[Fremmer]

Yeah I don't think carrying it safety on is a problem if you train with it. User preference, I guess.

 

[lindy]

Round in barrel, decocked, safty off, owner tries to put pistol in holster, trigger hangs up on holster, owner pushes harder, take it from there !!

Good Shooting

Lindy

 

[jfdavis58]

A safety issue

I'm a bit reluctant to make this post because I have no figures on frequency of occurrence and for the most part the 92FS is a fine handgun.

I have four of them and at least two have been fired a significant number of times.

Two problems have occurred, repeatedly. 1) An arm of the falling block has broken while firing rendering the gun useless until serviced by competent hands. 2) the firing pin has shattered into three segments: the long end which strikes the primer, the thin piece which makes the blocking action possible and the rear end which is struck by the button (which is struck by the hammer). In this three piece condition the gun will slam-fire (and I've had it happen several times).

My 92fs' are 10+years old but well maintained. I believe Beretta has addressed the falling block problem with a redesign of the part--all mine have the newer blocks and no subsequent breakage. I don't know of a fix for the firing pin issue.

I have been told the block breakage may be attributable to +P loads---I've never used any.

I am of the (stress this part) opinion the firing pin problem is dry-fire related. Twice I've had pins break while doing the USPSA/IPSC 'hammer down' segment of the end of stage Unload and Show clear procedure. My brother dry fired extensively and replaced his firing pin six times.

It does require some skill to disassemble the assembly of parts in the slide as well as at least one special tool. If you know what the 'action' feels like when the pin is whole, you can sometimes detect a broken pin with a small 'pusher rod' and some finesse. a DIYer can make the necessary repairs/replacement. Otherwise, it's a gun I would have checked by a competent armorer/gunsmith on a regular basis.

These are my experiences and my opinion based on ONLY my own direct experiences (I fixed my brothers gun each time he needed it done).

 

[KAS1981]

Round in barrel, decocked, safty off, owner tries to put pistol in holster, trigger hangs up on holster, owner pushes harder, take it from there !!

Good Shooting

Lindy

If the owner wasn't a dumbass there wouldn't be an issue.

 

[labhound]

Stuff happens, even to those who think they're bullet proof.

 

[tarosean]

Yeah I don't think carrying it safety on is a problem if you train with it. User preference, I guess.

I think part of it is what you were brought up on. I cut my teeth on early model S&W's autos so the safety never bothered me. However, I can see some of the younger people who have a plethora of options would find it odd.

 

[postalnut25]

After 11 years of having a 92fs in the military, I still don't care for the safety on the Beretta. It is an unreachable unless you have giant hands. I have to use my off-hand to deactivate it.

Beretta must have thought the 92 series was okay to carry with a round in the chamber, and no safety. That is what a 92G model is.

If I could ever find a92G to trade my 92fs for, I would.

 

[OregonJohnny]

I still don't care for the safety on the Beretta. It is an unreachable unless you have giant hands. I have to use my off-hand to deactivate it.

I wear a size medium glove, average length fingers and thumb, and I have no problem reaching the decocker lever with my thumb while keeping a firm shooting grip. Granted, it's the tip of my thumb, but it's not a strain by any means. It's certainly farther away than a 1911 safety, or a Sig decocker, but I find I can reach all the 92FS controls (trigger, slide catch, magazine release, safety/decocker) perfectly fine without shifting my grip at all. My 1911 slide catch is un-reachable without shifting the gun sideways in my hand. My Glock 20SF's slide catch is completely useless. That's fine if you use the hand-over-slide power stroke method. But I like the option of a quick reload with the slide catch, and the Beretta's is perfect for that purpose.

I would recommend Alumagrips on the 92. They are a hair thinner than the stock plastic grips, but more importantly, they have a much shallower angle around the edges where the grips meet the frame, allowing you to wrap your fingers around them much better. Plus, they are very aggressively textured, allowing a much more secure grip.

Round in barrel, decocked, safty off, owner tries to put pistol in holster, trigger hangs up on holster, owner pushes harder, take it from there !!

How would this be any different with a striker-fired gun without a safety, such as a Glock? Or even a revolver? Or a Sig? Any gun without a manual exterior safety can have this occur, but it would be much more likely with a Glock's 5 lb. trigger, than with a Sig, Beretta, or revolver, which all have heavy double-action trigger pulls when the hammer is down.

 

[wally]

owner tries to put pistol in holster, trigger hangs up on holster, owner pushes harder, take it from there !!

Glock and SIG owners have never had this problem?

Attempting to make things foolproof just interferes with natural selection and breads foolisher fools!

 

[Ehtereon11B]

Carried a Beretta 92FS with a round in chamber, safety off in Double Action with a Blackhawk SERPA holster. Never had any problems. If the hair stands on the back of your neck a little bit holstering it with the safety off in a holster with a trigger lock like the 5.11 Thumbdrive or SERPA, pop the safety on, holster, safety off, and carry on.

 

[Nakanokalronin]

The G and Elite models automatically flip their "safties" up (decocker only) after decocking which is perfectly safe. The 92FS is the same thing only done manually.

 

[Pilot]

As others have said the Beretta with safety off is no different than a Sig, Glock (actually has a much longer first trigger pull than Glock), a revolver, or many other DAO, or DA/SA semi-autos. It is perfectly safe to be carried hammer down, and safety off, but the individual has to always be comfortable with any mode of carry, and the safety between your ears is the most important.

 

[allaroundhunter]

Glock and SIG owners have never had this problem?

They actually have, it occurs more often with the Glock than the Sig due to the trigger pull weight. However, it is not common in any platform.

It is the reason that many competitions do not let you reholster a hot handgun, regardless of safeties.

 

[1KPerDay]

You can also re-instate the practice of holding your thumb against the back of the hammer when holstering (so if something catches the trigger you notice/prevent the hammer from moving rearward). That's what I do with my SIG and Beretta 92FS. And with any gun, holster slowly/carefully.