Help with adjusting recoil pull on Beretta 84

[mxfireman]

I am new to the forum and have found some great tech support from here by searching but I can't find anything on my dilema with my wifes gun. I purchased her a Beretta 84 .380 and she likes it except for the difficulty she has chambering the first round the slide is realy to strong for her to load comfortably. I have been told it his the recoil spring that controls this, could someone tell me if there is a fix for this to make it easier for her to chamber the first round. We have looked at several other guns with an easier pull on the slide but would like to stay with the Beretta due to the size and decocker.

 

[Geronimo45]

Why not load the first round with the tip-up barrel?

 

[mxfireman]

That is what she is doing now but she says it is still hard to slide, is there a lighter recoil spring available the stock is 14# and that is the lightes I have been able to find.

 

[Jim K]

deleted

 

[Geronimo45]

No need to rack the slide when it's loaded... I'm confused, here.

 

[usp9]

The Beretta 84 does not have a tip up barrel. It does have a heavy recoil spring and is one of the more difficult guns to rack the slide. Has she tried pushing the slide from the front, as opposed to pulling from the rear? Also, thumb the hammer back first, so you're not overcoming that force too. It helps a little.

A lighter recoil spring, at least light enough to make a difference, would surely effect operation of the gun. But a pound or two may make a difference...springs are cheap, try it. The Beretta is a "tight" gun, try some Miltec as a lube, and then oil as normal (lightly)...that should at least cut most of the friction.

Other than the slide, how does your wife like the 84? IMHO one of the best .380s there is.

 

[mxfireman]

`She likes the gun alot and doesn't want another she enjoys shooting it, just wants to feel more comfortable loading the first round it is an awsome weapon and a great CCW. Thanx to all of you for the advice, can you let me know where I might find a litghter spring. I went to wolf springs and they only show the stock as the lightest I would like to try a lighter one and if the gun doesn't function properly we can always return to the stock spring.

 

[jondar]

I understand her problem. I have a .25 Beretta Model 418 (Bantam) that I'm unable to "slingshot" chamber a round. Have to cup my hand over the top of the slide to pull it back. Someone told me most all the smaller Berettas have these heavy springs. Don't know about the 92's etc.

 

[Flopsy]

I recently bought a new spring from Beretta, for my 84F my spring was old. I agree it's a tight spring, but I'd be very reluctant to put a lighter spring in there. The 84 is blowback operated, and that spring and the mass of the slide are the only things retarding the recoil and the exposure of the chamber.

In a locked-breech system, the chamber is locked closed during the instant of highest chamber pressure, which helps direct the force of the combustion, keeps the round from exploding, and prevents the spent casing from becoming lodged in someone's skull. With the lighter .380, the pressures are lower, so the spring and slide mass are sufficient. If you were to start tinkering with that spring pressure, I'd be very concerned about leaking kinetic energy out the side of the chamber during the combustion phase, which could be dangerous as well as possibly (I'm speculating, but I think I have some logic here..?) decreasing the muzzle velocity of the projectile. Then you have the worry that your bullets are going to bounce off and upset the BG rather than stopping him, already a concern with .380. I counter the lightness-of-round issue by being able to double tap into the head at 21 feet, but if your piece is killing your muzzle energy, a quintuple tap won't even help.

Also, I'd be really worried that a lighter recoil spring would bring on failures to feed, as it's the spring's energy which chambers your next round. Do you want to reduce the energy which ensures your chamber gets a new round in it? I wouldn't.


What all this boils down to, I would NOT try to lighten your 84's slide spring. As I said, I recently bought a new spring (it was like $3) because I was a little concerned that it might be getting compressed. I got the gun used and its manufacture was in '95.

It's a great gun though, I love it. Your best option, switch to the 85 or 86 or whatever it is, the same gun that has the tip-up barrel. You can probably sell yours at a good price as long as it's not busted up, and pick up the tip-up version with minimal added expenses. Maybe even you could manage a trade with someone.