opinions of the beretta mod. 92f 9mm?
- Thread starter cajun47
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otomik
Member
It's utterly reliable. magazines are cheap and plentiful but your best bet is Mecgar magazines, 17 or 18 round. I'd recommend you check out Beretta Forum.
Did you get the F or the FS? If the F I would research all the possible issues with this version. I had one and don't recall exactly why but lost confidence in it and sold it to upgrade to a newer one. If the FS, enjoy, that's a real nice pistol even though a little on the large side.
Monty
Monty
nwilliams
Member
I've owned two in my life and although I got rid of my last one a few months ago I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. I've only had 92f's but after 1000's of rounds between the ones I owned neither one ever jammed or had any issues. I find any 92 series Beretta to be very accurate and easy to shoot. $420 sounds like a decent price if its in good shape. My last one was a police trade-in and was pretty abused, I think I paid about $350 for it.
My only problem with the 92 is its size, its so big and bulky I found it too impractical to use as a ccw. However if your only intention is target shooting you should really enjoy this gun.
Congrats and have fun!
My only problem with the 92 is its size, its so big and bulky I found it too impractical to use as a ccw. However if your only intention is target shooting you should really enjoy this gun.
Congrats and have fun!
cyborgzerozeronine
Member
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2007
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The difference between the FS and the F is that the former has the firing pin assembly enlarged to act as a backup slide stop in case the slide breaks; that was an issue in some early ones that Beretta had not gotten the metallurgy right, and given the rigors of military usage, could certainly happen again (tank runs over Beretta, soldier picks it up after running out of rifle ammo...it could happen.) In real life, I don't see it happening unless you abuse the gun.
I have an Italian made FS and its one of my best tactical guns--just hella fun to shoot and gives 2 inch groups at 25 yards. My SIG 210, HK P9, and my .22 targets do better; my Walther P88's are about the same, though I don't shoot them as much.
The Beretta 92F, SIG 226 and HK SOCOM USP variant are the only pistols to ever meet the military's jamming and durability requirements, which was something like 25,000 rounds before major failure. There may be other guns as durable (Glock 17 for example) but none more so.
I have an Italian made FS and its one of my best tactical guns--just hella fun to shoot and gives 2 inch groups at 25 yards. My SIG 210, HK P9, and my .22 targets do better; my Walther P88's are about the same, though I don't shoot them as much.
The Beretta 92F, SIG 226 and HK SOCOM USP variant are the only pistols to ever meet the military's jamming and durability requirements, which was something like 25,000 rounds before major failure. There may be other guns as durable (Glock 17 for example) but none more so.
HammerBite
Member
I have an Italian-made 92S which I bought for three reasons:
- It is one of the most beautiful handguns I have ever seen and just cried out "Look at me!"
- It is a Beretta, which I considered to be a good thing.
- When I racked the slide it felt like it was running on ball bearings.
- Utterly reliable, as has been mentioned before.
- Very well-behaved recoil. For me, it just sort of sits there.
trueblue1776
Member
Having carried one on duty for seven years, I can say one thing: They work.
10-Ring
Member
IMO, $420 is a good price to take a chance on it. As a Beretta fan, I would have no worries and would enjoy having it! 
gudel
Member
i like mine, ultra reliable and accurate.
ignore the nay sayers, they're probably still pissed because the jamomatic 45 got replaced by it.
ignore the nay sayers, they're probably still pissed because the jamomatic 45 got replaced by it.
Grunt
Member
Sorry Cyborg but the FS used an enlarged hammer pin head that the F series didn't have. The firing pin had nothing to do with it. 
Anyways, an easy way to tell if you have an F or FS is to look at the head of the hammer pin on the left side. Does it come up higher into the slide area? If it does, then it's most likely an FS model. Another thing to look for is the underside of the slide in the same area. An FS is going to have a milled track running along the length of the bottom of the slide to accomidate for the larger pin head.
As far as the M9 pistols go, they are a very reliable and accurate pistol. However, they are large and it's no an uncommon occurance during our M9 classes we have females with small hands having trouble with the larger frame of the M9.
As far as durability goes, that is something I still say is up in the air. I've seen several broken slides in the DRMO parts pin (no these were not Navy SEAL pistols and no, we don't fire hot SMG ammo through them, just M882 ball and Mk 254 frangible) that were completely broken in half as well as another slide that was cracked. In every case, if you hold the slide pointing downward by the decocking levers and look at the bottom (or top) where the barrel sits, you'll notice how the rails look similar to a cross? In every case I've seen, it's always been the left arm of that cross that will crack and/or break. It's listed as one of the failures in our material we get at CATM school and we are taught the two tests of ringing the slide with a metal guide rod or flexing the slide to look for cracks. Yes, it still does happen out there. However, these are genreally with pistols that have a high round count. What round number our broken pistols fired before they broke I can't say for sure but being the second busiest range in the Air Force, we do fire a good number of rounds down range.
Another more common problem concerning parts breakage is the locking blocks. Again, if you look at the bottom of the barrel at the locking block, it looks like another cross. It's right in the arm pit of that locking block cross that will first crack then break. Now Beretta has redesigned the old 90 degree cuts of the original locking block to have a radiused area in the armpits and they do tend to hold up better. However, I have seen plenty of them crack and break over time as well.
Trigger return springs are another piece I've seen go every now and then but compared to the other parts (slide and locking block) it's not all that common. Another weak spot of sorts that you are going to want to be aware of is the top of the barrel. Of all the M9s I've seen develop surface rust on, this is the spot that is effected most often. It's parkarized steel exposed to holster wear, your hand's sweat and the elements as well so you are going to want to make sure you watch out for rust in this area.
Anyways, an easy way to tell if you have an F or FS is to look at the head of the hammer pin on the left side. Does it come up higher into the slide area? If it does, then it's most likely an FS model. Another thing to look for is the underside of the slide in the same area. An FS is going to have a milled track running along the length of the bottom of the slide to accomidate for the larger pin head. As far as the M9 pistols go, they are a very reliable and accurate pistol. However, they are large and it's no an uncommon occurance during our M9 classes we have females with small hands having trouble with the larger frame of the M9.
As far as durability goes, that is something I still say is up in the air. I've seen several broken slides in the DRMO parts pin (no these were not Navy SEAL pistols and no, we don't fire hot SMG ammo through them, just M882 ball and Mk 254 frangible) that were completely broken in half as well as another slide that was cracked. In every case, if you hold the slide pointing downward by the decocking levers and look at the bottom (or top) where the barrel sits, you'll notice how the rails look similar to a cross? In every case I've seen, it's always been the left arm of that cross that will crack and/or break. It's listed as one of the failures in our material we get at CATM school and we are taught the two tests of ringing the slide with a metal guide rod or flexing the slide to look for cracks. Yes, it still does happen out there. However, these are genreally with pistols that have a high round count. What round number our broken pistols fired before they broke I can't say for sure but being the second busiest range in the Air Force, we do fire a good number of rounds down range.
Another more common problem concerning parts breakage is the locking blocks. Again, if you look at the bottom of the barrel at the locking block, it looks like another cross. It's right in the arm pit of that locking block cross that will first crack then break. Now Beretta has redesigned the old 90 degree cuts of the original locking block to have a radiused area in the armpits and they do tend to hold up better. However, I have seen plenty of them crack and break over time as well.
Trigger return springs are another piece I've seen go every now and then but compared to the other parts (slide and locking block) it's not all that common. Another weak spot of sorts that you are going to want to be aware of is the top of the barrel. Of all the M9s I've seen develop surface rust on, this is the spot that is effected most often. It's parkarized steel exposed to holster wear, your hand's sweat and the elements as well so you are going to want to make sure you watch out for rust in this area.
XavierBreath
Member
Grunt pretty much covered the B92's weaknesses. One other weakness is a horrible DA trigger. I took care of that in mine by swapping the mainspring with a 1911 18 pound mainspring. It worked. Much nicer trigger, no light strikes. If your B92 is a range gun, try it!
MachIVshooter
Member
The 92 is a solid, proven platform. I love mine for all the same reasons listed above. That said, I avoid feeding it a steady diet of +P as I've winessed more than one locking block fracture. I save the hot stuff for my S&W 5906 or Baby Eagle.
WarMachine
Member
One of the best mods you can do for the trigger is putting in the 16lb main/hammer spring from Wolff. It noticeably reduces the DA pull, stacking, and the SA pull. The folks over at the Berettaforum swear by it, as do I. As long as you stick with the standard hammer you'll be fine as far as primer strikes go.
Grunt
Member
Yeah, the stock triggers in our M9s aren't that great either. However, I didn't cover that problem here because while it's not that great of a trigger, it's a cureable problem through polishing parts and replacing the mainspring. That's what I did with my personal 92fs and it worked rather well. What I was mainly addressing was the problems with the locking blocks and slides. That's a problem no amount of polishing or swapping parts is going to fix. Once again, these M9s that I seen break down are high count training pistols we have for the various units that come through here and with as many rounds go through them over the years, I guess they have the right to give up the ghost eventually. I am just saying that these are the places to look at closely if your Beretta is getting a little worn down since these are the spots that are going to give you major problems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_92F
"Beretta then decided to use 5,000 semi finished slides, intended for the French, to build pistols for the U.S. military. Soon after the US accepted these pistols, a few 92F slides, (less than 10 total) and some older Beretta 92SB slides started to crack and fly off the frame.
An investigation would later determine that this lot had been made with French steel slides which were determined to be metallurgically inferior. Compounding this was 9mm Luger ammunition made in the US whose pressure far exceeded specifications. It was also discovered that the locking block required a design change to increase its service life. The US military decided to replace their M9 locking blocks after 5,000 rounds, which gave the gun a bad reputation on the civilian market as a gun with a short life. With the new version of the locking block installed however, the gun was a success and the locking block is now rated for 25,000 rounds. However, something still needed to be done to reduce the risk of being struck by the back of a slide if it should break. The solution was to enlarge the hammer pin head to act as a slide retention device. A shallow slot in the base of the slider is cut just long enough to clear the hammer pin head during normal travel, but arrests the slide's backward travel if the slide fails. This simple change resulted in the Beretta 92FS. Since then nearly all Beretta pistols are fitted with this simple safety feature."
"the gun was a success and the locking block is now rated for 25,000 rounds."
what is the locking block? can i replace it? how much for that part?
"but arrests the slide's backward travel if the slide fails. This simple change resulted in the Beretta 92FS. Since then nearly all Beretta pistols are fitted with this simple safety feature."
so this is only with the 92fs? my 92f will not have this? or are the newer 92f models have this as well? changing the lock block every 5,000 rounds would prevent a slide failure?
sorry if i dont make sense, i dont know what all these parts are yet.
i also have a ruger p89 with well over 10,000 rounds through it. should i be concerned?
btw, what would likely happen if a slide from a 9mm handgun came off and hit me in the forehead or eye? fractured scull or lost eye? death?
"Beretta then decided to use 5,000 semi finished slides, intended for the French, to build pistols for the U.S. military. Soon after the US accepted these pistols, a few 92F slides, (less than 10 total) and some older Beretta 92SB slides started to crack and fly off the frame.
An investigation would later determine that this lot had been made with French steel slides which were determined to be metallurgically inferior. Compounding this was 9mm Luger ammunition made in the US whose pressure far exceeded specifications. It was also discovered that the locking block required a design change to increase its service life. The US military decided to replace their M9 locking blocks after 5,000 rounds, which gave the gun a bad reputation on the civilian market as a gun with a short life. With the new version of the locking block installed however, the gun was a success and the locking block is now rated for 25,000 rounds. However, something still needed to be done to reduce the risk of being struck by the back of a slide if it should break. The solution was to enlarge the hammer pin head to act as a slide retention device. A shallow slot in the base of the slider is cut just long enough to clear the hammer pin head during normal travel, but arrests the slide's backward travel if the slide fails. This simple change resulted in the Beretta 92FS. Since then nearly all Beretta pistols are fitted with this simple safety feature."
"the gun was a success and the locking block is now rated for 25,000 rounds."
what is the locking block? can i replace it? how much for that part?
"but arrests the slide's backward travel if the slide fails. This simple change resulted in the Beretta 92FS. Since then nearly all Beretta pistols are fitted with this simple safety feature."
so this is only with the 92fs? my 92f will not have this? or are the newer 92f models have this as well? changing the lock block every 5,000 rounds would prevent a slide failure?
sorry if i dont make sense, i dont know what all these parts are yet.
i also have a ruger p89 with well over 10,000 rounds through it. should i be concerned?
btw, what would likely happen if a slide from a 9mm handgun came off and hit me in the forehead or eye? fractured scull or lost eye? death?
trueblue1776
Member
Grunt wins the award for the best military armorer on the planet.
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