Beretta
May I chime in on this one?
I gotta agree on a lot of points. Though I'm a die-hard 1911 fan and
no great admirer of a doublestack pistol, the Beretta M-92 Series and
M-84s just flat FEEL right. The dictum that a weapon should be smooth
and round and alluring to the hand was probably written after the author
handled a Beretta with the smooth wooden grips.
Back in the mid 80s, I owned an early M-92 with the frame-mounted
thumb safety and loved it. Unfortunately, I sold it in a weak moment
(read that as: Broke and lustin' after yet another Colt) to a guy who
pestered me for months over the pistol.
That pistol was uber-reliable. I shot thousands of rounds of various ammunition through it, and don't recall having a single failure to function.
Accuracy was fully up to what the pistol was designed for, and I would
have had no qualms about carrying the gun in harm's way. The only
reason that I rarely did was due to the bulk...Cold-weather carry under
a heavy coat didn't present a problem.
I haven't had occasion to examine any of the newer ones, and can't comment on the question of MIM or investment cast small parts in
these excellent pistols, but the basic design is sound, and I've never
heard any reliability complaints from anybody that I know personally.
There was the issue with slides breaking after heavy use a few years ago, but I understand that the problem has been resolved in later examples.
Just my nickel's worth...
Tuner