Wilson Combat Beretta, barrel off center?

[eazyrider]

So I bought a Wilson Combat 92 and the first thing I noticed was the barrel is not centered in the slide. You can notice this if you look down the muzzle or just down at the slide. I fired 350 rounds through it with no malfunctions or accuracy issues. I emailed Wilson and they said it's not uncommon.

I can't help but be a bit disappointed and I don't know if this is justified. Am I being a baby by letting this bother me?

 

[M-Cameron]

did you buy the gun to look at?.....or did you buy the gun to shoot?

gun runs great for you, keep on shooting and keep on enjoying.

if you start nitpicking, you are never going to be happy with any gun you buy.

 

[beag_nut]

with no malfunctions or accuracy issues.
Am I being a baby by letting this bother me?

You tell us.

 

[HexHead]

Every one I've looked at is like that. Like said above, you gonna look at it or shoot it? They shoot great.

 

[Shipwreck]

This topic comes up sometimes with Beretta 92 variants. I look for this before I buy one - but I did have one 92 with this issue. It still shot perfectly accurate POA/POI. It is some issue with the way the locking block sits in the slide.

But, there was a thread on this issue on another forum a few months ago - despite what you would think, it doesn't affect accuracy, it seems...

 

[eazyrider]

In playing with it I figured it was the locking blocks that cause it to happen.

But you guys are right, I didn't buy it to look at. It is smooth as butter and more accurate than I am.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I can't help but be a bit disappointed and I don't know if this is justified. Am I being a baby by letting this bother me?

1. Yes, you can.
2. It isn't
3. Yes, you are

What you are seeing isn't an "issue" and is completely normal.

The Beretta barrel doesn't "lock up" at the front of the barrel. As long as it's relationship to the slide (and hence the sights) is consistent from shot to shot, it's accuracy will be well within factory specs

 

[berettaprofessor]

What 9mm epiphany says...the Beretta 92 locks up at the :locking block". As long as the slide doesn't rub the barrel during movement of the bullet, who cares where it is in relationship to the slide? Much like the barrels that are mounted to the frame (i.e. Ruger SP22), it's a stable platform until the round leaves the barrel.

That being said, I admit that I admire the fit of slide to frame in old semi-autos like Brownings. Or the finished fit of revolvers like older S&W's.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Mine is slightly off center too. Doesn't impact the gun's function or accuracy. Shoot it and enjoy. I'm infatuated with mine and find that it prefers 124 gr ammo. 115's hit lower than I care for.

 

[Welding Rod]

The barrel listing to one side would drive me nuts on a factory Berreta, much less a Wilson.... I wouldn't want the hood sitting crooked on my Jeep either, despite the fact it wouldn't effect function. I am a tradesman myself and make things right because that is what professionals do. I don't get how some "craftsmen" can go with "good enough".

Having seen this before, this is something I look for before buying a pistol, particularly a Berretta.

 

[Drail]

It's a Beretta - it's not a Les Baer.

 

[eazyrider]

It carries a Wilson Combat serial number on it.

 

[BILLG]

And it is manufactured by Beretta.

 

[eldon519]

I had one that did the same, and it bothered me, even if it didn't affect anything. It was sort of a matter of thinking, "if I spent my money on it, I want it to be 'right'".

 

[Nuclear]

For $400 more than MSRP of the parent gun, it should be centered.

 

[I6turbo]

If I don't admire the craftsmanship in a gun I usually don't find myself connecting with it much. An off-center barrel would probably bother the heck out of me unless the gun was an old beater of some kind. But that's just me.

 

[Kame B.]

For $400 more than MSRP of the parent gun, it should be centered.

Not on a Beretta. It locks up at the locking block (near the chamber) All Beretta 92 style pistols have "play" between the Barrel and slide. It is made this way on purpose. The open slide pistol was made to be fired in dry arid sandy environments with out locking up. With out that play in the barrel the Beretta would jam every time you pull the trigger. You are fussing over something that would render the pistol useless.

 

[lemaymiami]

Some years ago in police work I managed to have issued to me a first generation Beretta 92 (a European model with the mag release at the bottom of the handle). I carried and shot with it for five or six years until I was required to turn it in. It was without a doubt the best handgun I ever carried or shot with. I qualified higher with it than any sidearm before or since all those years ago... Wish I was able to purchase it when I retired out.

As already noted the design is a bit different than many others but the one I had was so utterly reliable and accurate (without the slightest modification -it even had the original cheap plastic grips....) that it stands out in my memory.... Me, all I ever worried about was reliability and accuracy in my hands....

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I would just like to point out also, that by even worrying about this you are breaking one of the basic rules of firearm safety, since staring down the muzzle of a gun is in general, not the best idea.

If it shoots straight, and functions properly, what does it matter?

I'm obsessive, and nit picky, but come on........ I'm not getting that view of the gun anyway, and unless it some how messes up your sight picture, which of course is impossible, worry about bigger things like , paying your bills, and ISIS, and global warming.

Now I have a cheesy movie scene in my head.

Bad guy bursts into room
Good guy points Brig Tac at bad guy

Bad guy: "Your barrel's crooked......"
Good guy shoots bad guy dead and says: "Huh..... it shoots straight....."

 

[Prince Yamato]

If it was a factory Beretta, I'd say, leave it. For what you paid for the Wilson though, that should not happen.

 

[tarosean]

OP: Got pictures of your barrel fitment?

 

[9mmepiphany]

If it was a factory Beretta, I'd say, leave it. For what you paid for the Wilson though, that should not happen.

I have the feeling some don't really understand what we are discussing here.

This isn't a custom built gun, as a Wilson 1911 would be. It really isn't even semi-custom like many 1911s that Wilson offers.

It is a factory built Beretta to which Wilson has added some parts, a different finish, some checkering, and some internal work. Nowhere is their specifications, on their website, is there any mention of any barrel/slide fitting or adjustment.

They are not refitting their offering, they are just offering to improve the function of it over the factory offering.

Ernie Langdon was the adviser on the modifications and the focus was IDPA type usage.

The barrel of factory Berettas have never been fitted. The only fitting, of the front of the barrel to the slide, I've ever seen to the Beretta are the National Match guns customized for military competition...like this AMU M9 built by Tony Kidd

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[Shipwreck]

I will say this - I have owned 26 Beretta 92 variants over the years. When I buy a new one - I do look for this. If its not centered, I pass it over.

For the money, I can empathize with the original poster. That being said - it won't impact the POI/POA thing. But yea - for $1k+, it would be a little irritating. I would agree.

 

[Robert101]

I agree with post #10 Welding Rod too. I didn't know that gun manufacturers made off centered barrels. Let's see, in the gun initial design phase a machinist brings a finished prototype to ownership with an off centered barrel. The ownership says great I like it - and that barrel looks great too. I'm confused by the side of this where people don't mind the asymmetrical product. Why isn't the grip or the sights off-centered as well? Lastly, I wonder if the actual patent for the gun showed and off-centered barrel in its design drawings.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I didn't know that gun manufacturers made off centered barrels.

All the time. The last one that irritated me was a Colt. It wasn't so much the barrel as the slide hadn't been bored straight for the barrel...they considered it "in Spec"

I know of very few popular mass produced pistols with centered barrels. The Beretta only stands out because the opening at the front of the slide is larger and it locks up differently

Let's see, in the gun initial design phase a machinist brings a finished prototype to ownership with an off centered barrel. The ownership says great I like it - and that barrel looks great too.

From that statement, I think it would be safe to say that you aren't familiar with the design of SIG Sauer Classic P-series, or...

If you look closely at the barrel of a 1911, you'll see that, when it is properly fitted, it actually isn't parallel with the top of the slide...it points downward