Bought an M9 today, any tips and tricks?

[Bovice]

Like the title reads, I bought a Beretta M9 today. My dad has always wanted one, so I got one for his birthday next week. Are there any tips you guys have for them? We're it for my use, at the outset I would maintain it like I do my SIG handguns, since the rails are full length and the frame is aluminum and I'd use grease on everything. Am I on the right track there?

Are there any parts I should have changed from the get-go? It has a plastic guide rod (as did the 92FS), should I change it for the steel one? I have a 229 with plastic guide rod that has not indicated that being an issue over about 10,000 rounds.

Any suggestions?

 

[lpsharp88]

My M9 is almost bone stock. Only thing I've done is change the grip screws from the annoying hex head to flat tip screwdriver, and I installed the "D" spring, which lightened and smoothed out the DA pull. I've had no issues with the plastic guide rod, but wouldn't mind getting a steel one at some point, no biggie to me though. Other than that, tell your father to just shoot it, a lot.

 

[RussB]

Swap the mainspring out for a "D" (aka, DAO) mainspring...it will lower the double-action full by a few pounds and still remain 100% reliable

 

[Bovice]

D spring, got it. Thanks guys!

 

[CWL]

Leave it alone and let your dad shoot the snot out of his new gun.

Then, ask him how he likes it and whether there is anything that he doesn't like about his M9. Only then should you make changes IF necessary.

Most guns get buggered-up because people want to soup-up something that has been designed by professionals to be used reliably as a military weapon.

 

[Bovice]

Of course. I'm just gathering information for later.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Chuck Taylor...

Author & firearm tactics trainer; "Chuck Taylor"(not his real name), stated in a few gun press items that he learned a clever trick from a few LAPD armorers/gunsmith staff. They'd take a Govt model 1911a1 pistol spring & replace the Beretta 92F 9mm spring with it. Many LAPD personnel & 92F owners said it improved the trigger pull, making it smoother.
Top pistol-smith & target shooter David Olhasso, www.Olhasso.com does a lot of work on custom Beretta 92/96 series pistols. He sells the D springs too but check his site for parts/services.
I've owned 02 Beretta 96D .40 pistols & carried a M9(92F) in the early 1990s.
They worked well & feed/cycled JHPs & FMJs with no issues but the overall design seemed unbalanced due to the alloy frame and the extended style barrel.

If you want good after market grips, you can't go wrong with Hogues.
After-market 3 dot night sights like the Trijicon HDs or the Novak, www.novaksights.com could work very well.

 

[BSA1]

For Christmas send his gun to Wilson Combat for a makeover.

 

[UnclesNucleus]

Own one. Love it lube it and shoot it.

 

[Old Dog]

Although I kept the plastic guide rods in a couple of my Berettas for a while with no issues, I eventually swapped them out with stainless rods I ordered from Wolffe's (just for peace of mind and because they look cooler).

I use nothing but the Mec-Gar flush-fit 18-round mags and have a couple of that company's "Optimum" (or is it "Optimus?") mags -- the plus-2s that hold 20 rounds. Good stuff.

 

[JTQ]

RustyShackelford wrote,
They'd take a Govt model 1911a1 pistol spring & replace the Beretta 92F 9mm spring with it. Many LAPD personnel & 92F owners said it improved the trigger pull, making it smoother.

I've got to ask, what 1911 spring would affect the Beretta 92's trigger pull?

 

[Radagast]

Mainspring or Hammer spring.
The hammer spring form the 92D variant has three less coils than the 92FS / M9 hammer spring. This translates to a 4 pound reduction 9in SA & a 1.5 pound reduction in SA in my experience.
The 92D spring was supplied as standard in Beretta's 'race ready' 92G Elite II, which was a DA/SA style gun.

 

[Radagast]

IIRC the 1911 mainspring used was a 15 pound, but I could be wrong, its been years since I looked into this.
For an even lighter pull, the mainspring from the Beretta Cougar could be used, but this would not be reliable unless used with Federal primers.

 

[Pilot]

When you are installing the "D" spring, also install a Beretta Elite II hammer. It is lighter, and provides a little faster lock up. It is also an inexpensive, and easy mod.

 

[mgmorden]

I'll second the "D" spring (or equivalent lb-rated Wolff) replacement. I did that and then used a sharpie to black out the white-dot sights on mine. Other than that its stock.

I'll admit I don't like the ergo's on the gun a lot, but its reliable runs well.

 

[m9meatball]

Wilson Combat has a lot of new parts for the M9. Their fluted guide rod is pretty cool looking. They will also mill the barrel flush with the slide which is an awesome look as well.

 

[Panzerschwein]

How about nothing and just go the range and get good with it?

That's always worked for me.

 

[m9meatball]

Maybe a steel trigger as well.

 

[RustyShackelford]

Pimp My M9......

If you want to "bling" out the 9mm, you could opt for a good after market target barrel like a Bar-Sto(Irv Stone) or KKM or Jarvis.
The 92Fs & 96 had many upgrades & after market add-ons but that was mostly in the 1980s/1990s.

 

[OregonJohnny]

The D spring install is a MUST. It lightens the double-action pull by at least a few pounds. While doing this mod, if you notice the mainspring cap/lanyard loop pin is a roll pin, replace it with the "dog bone" steel pin. But I believe US-made Berettas (like the M9) come with the dog bone. While doing the D spring mod, you can also install the Elite II skeletonized hammer (mostly for looks).

For slightly thinner grips with much better traction, look into the checkered Alumagrips.

In the early 2000's, Beretta began putting plastic or plastic-coated parts in the 92 series. Current-production 92FS/M9s come from the factory with the following plastic or plastic coated parts:

• Guide rod (plastic)
• Trigger (thin spring steel coated in plastic)
• Left side safety (plastic or plastic coated, I'm not sure)
• Magazine release (plastic or plastic coated, I'm not sure)
• Mainspring cap/lanyard loop (plastic)

And of course, the stock grips have always been plastic, and magazine bases switched from aluminum to plastic at least 10-15 years ago, due to brittle aluminum bases cracking when dropped on hard surfaces.

I prefer all metal parts, so I switched all of mine out. Before I did, I weighed each piece on a 10-lb. digital postage scale, to compare weights of plastic vs. metal. Here are the numbers I came up with, if you're interested:

Guide rod - plastic: 0.1 oz., steel: 1.1 oz.
Trigger - plastic coated: 0.2 oz., steel: 0.5 oz.
Left side safety - plastic: 0.3 oz., steel: 0.5 oz.
Magazine release - plastic: 0.1 oz., steel: 0.2 oz.
Mainspring cap - plastic: 0.1 oz., aluminum: 0.2 oz.

So switching out these parts for their original metal versions adds about 1.7 oz. to the gun. In addition, the Alumagrips weigh 2.0 oz., compared to just 1.1 oz. for the stock plastic grips. So my gun now weighs almost 3 oz. more than it did the day I bought it. Since mine is not a carry gun, I like the additional heft and the reduced felt-recoil. I also just like the idea of metal parts in a metal gun. The steel trigger feels better and smoother than the plastic coated one somehow. Also, the metal safety fits slightly closer to the slide and has a crisper feel than the plastic one.

As others have said, use factory Beretta magazines (they come in 10, 15, and 17 round versions) or Mec-Gar (18 round flush fit, 20 round extended), and the gun will eat any and all types of 9mm ammo you could ever possibly source.

Enjoy!

 

[Big Shrek]

If its an original M9 instead of an M9A1, first check the slide stops.
Make sure there are no cracks from heavy use/hot +P loads.

 

[1KPerDay]

The D spring was a big improvement, though I shot the stock pistol well. The D is much better though. And I wish there were a CHEAP AND INEXPENSIVE way to make the safety/decocker a decocker only (like it used to be on some models) so it would automatically return to "fire" after decocking. I've accidentally swiped it on during a match during reloads/malfunction clearances a couple of times and it cost me a few seconds. Not that I was shooting for top position, otherwise I would have trained around it.

Other point is get good mags; either OEM blued/polished/coated or Mec-Gars. NOT the parkerized surplus mags that are everywhere. They are the only ones that ever give me trouble.

 

[m9meatball]

This thread make me happy. All anyone wants to talk about is CZs, 1911s, and Glocks lol...

 

[Bovice]

I really appreciate all the input guys. While I am one to shoot a gun as-is, my dad is always looking for mods to take it to the next level, so now I'm armed with information from you guys to offer advice. I love my dad, and I want him to have what he wants. He's the one that got me started in the firearms world, so I owe him indefinitely for that.

I bought the M9 version of the 92 9mm strictly because I loved the stock sights. Not tritium, but boy does it work well.

 

[hceuterpe]

Definitely D spring. I think Beretta sells a kit with the steel trigger. I also got the elite II hammer. With all of these, I got the DA pull weight of my 92A1 down to 8lbs from what I think is like 12+lbs factory. Not sure if the other parts contribute to the lower trigger weight, though the spring would definitely be the bulk. Not sure if you got exactly the American based (ie did you actually get an M9 varient or are you using the term generically). If Italian made get the wishbone pin that holds the lanyard cap since otherwise you need to (carefully) hammer out the roll pin with the proper tools each time.

I got a number of other additions but the spring would be the first thing I'd do.