I’ll give the M9/92FS some love.
I am a 1911 fan first and foremost, but the Beretta 92 series is my favorite 9mm. The ergonomics work for me, so no issue there. I am also left handed, so that the mag release is reversible and the safety/decocker is on both sides is a bonus. Now that the 92 series comes in a reduced grip/short trigger version, for civilians, the grip issues are the beating of a dead horse.
I like the Beretta for the following reasons: In my experience, the slide is the smoothest traveling I have ever seen on mass produced pistols. The 92 slide glides on its rails like no other non-custom pistol I have ever encountered. The only one that comes close to that smoothness is the HK P7M8.
I like the way the magazines situate the round in parallel to the chamber. The 92s in my experience, if the mag springs weren’t completely shot out, always feed. They always extract too. In fact, the B92 is the only centerfire pistol I have ever seen eject rounds without an extractor. Berettas also put the best dent I have ever seen in a primer, broad, deep enough, and uniform.
The Beretta has a stock chrome lined barrel. It has a “tough enough†aluminum frame that will not easily corrode. It has one of the better factory finishes put on a pistol. There is a universe of aftermarket items for this series of pistol.
I have heard that the open top slide has some trouble with sand, but I have personally never seen a Beretta jam in my eighteen years of going to a range most weekends and some evenings. It is also easy to tear down to a least a field strip, and I have every confidence in a bad guy not being able to disassemble it in my hand in spite of the “Jet Li surprise field strip myth.†With practice, the B92 is not all that difficult to detail strip. After all, they manage to teach the process to Marines.
Now, as I have said elsewhere before, I will not defend the condition of any M9s in service with the armed forces. If my days in the Navy are any indication, community property weapons, motor vehicles, rec equipment, etc., tends to be treated like community property in the most negative sense of the phrase. If Berettas are “junk†in the service, it is because they aren’t treated well. Then again the 1911s we had aboard my ship were all crap too. A civilian B92 maintained by its owner is a universe apart from a mistreated military sidearm.
Full cap mags are easy to get and inexpensive. A Beretta 92 was used to win the IDPA nationals recently. The DA pull is better than most, especially after the easy swap out of a “D†model mainspring. The SA pull is fine and can be improved with a special overtravel stop equipped trigger from Langdon Tactical Technologies.
As for the safety, most people who’ve owned B92s use it only as a decocking lever and many buy Elites, which are decock only. When used as a decock lever, the “reach†issue is a sham, because on a DA first pull pistol, the safety does not need to be on. When I was a reserve deputy however, I liked the idea of having the trigger disconnect safety in the on position, especially when doing crowd duty.
The B92 is not the paragon of pistol design, but it is a very good pistol. I am still somewhat amazed that they do only want some $500+ for it depending on the style. That is a lot of pistol for the money. Sure, it won’t probably last forever like my 1911s might, but most people will never shoot a B92 to failure either. It is not an heirloom, it is a self-defense pistol, as good as the Sig-Sauer series in my opinion.
Oh yeah, and it is the visual favorite of John Woo. I happen to think it is pretty good looking too.
