Beretta 92 FS Compact (and general Beretta love lately)

[hufnagel]

And right there those pictures make me lust after a 92 again. Thanks. :grumble:

[37th Mass]

On another note, I thought this was an interesting looking Beretta displayed at AUSA...

I played with this one a bit at AUSA and spoke with the BUSA rep at the booth. This gun was labeled "M9A3 Prototype". It had the captured guiderod spring and internal buffer of the 92A1. It also had safety/decocker levers which went higher than 90 degrees when in the 'fire' position. (This photo seems to show the lever in between the safe and fire position) The rep said that was to reduce the chance of accidentally putting the gun on safe when racking the slide.

I would think that the internal buffer might help a bit with durability. I'm not convinced the safety/decocker lever position would make much of a difference, but it would be interesting to hear from someone who has actually shot a Beretta with that feature.

[GardoneVT]

When I run my 92s, I grab the slide by putting the base of my left hand thumb and pointer finger right over the safety lever.In so doing, I wrap my pointer finger on the left side under the lever.In that position I can't accidentally activate the safety, since the lever is blocked from going down by my hands.It's hard to describe in words, but I'll post a picture later.

[JSGlock34]

I played with this one a bit at AUSA and spoke with the BUSA rep at the booth. This gun was labeled "M9A3 Prototype". It had the captured guiderod spring and internal buffer of the 92A1. It also had safety/decocker levers which went higher than 90 degrees when in the 'fire' position. (This photo seems to show the lever in between the safe and fire position) The rep said that was to reduce the chance of accidentally putting the gun on safe when racking the slide.

I would think that the internal buffer might help a bit with durability. I'm not convinced the safety/decocker lever position would make much of a difference, but it would be interesting to hear from someone who has actually shot a Beretta with that feature.

Hey, thanks for posting. The threaded barrel and removable front sight had caught my attention, but I wasn't aware of the safety lever changes.

Seems to me, the solution to the 'accidentally put on safe' problem is a 'G' decocker, removing the safety position. I suppose the military isn't interested in that solution, hence this beyond 90 degree contraption. The M11 seems to do just fine without a safety setting...

[jkurtz7]

When I run my 92s, I grab the slide by putting the base of my left hand thumb and pointer finger right over the safety lever.In so doing, I wrap my pointer finger on the left side under the lever.In that position I can't accidentally activate the safety, since the lever is blocked from going down by my hands.It's hard to describe in words, but I'll post a picture later.

This is how I do it too, but it has never been a conscience thing, it's just how my finger and thumb happens to naturally be when racking the slide at the rear. A lot of times when chambering a round, I just use my thumb and index finger on front bevels of the slide. I've ever had an issue with inadvertently actuating the safety.

[fixer]

When I run my 92s, I grab the slide by putting the base of my left hand thumb and pointer finger right over the safety lever.In so doing, I wrap my pointer finger on the left side under the lever.In that position I can't accidentally activate the safety, since the lever is blocked from going down by my hands.It's hard to describe in words, but I'll post a picture later.

same here.

it does work once you practice and make it an ingrained habit.

[GardoneVT]

As promised.

Offhand grip.


Profile view. Note my thumb is parallel to the frame.



Left side view.



And the ejection port is NOT covered or blocked .

[justintime]

Thanks for the feedback, very interesting. I need to find someone who has a few of these as they seem fairly interesting to me.

Having shot and competed with both, I'd say it's a tough call.

A Beretta with a Speed Bump trigger (which I think the Allegheny guy is doing now, and still using the name Langdon came up with) has a reset that's longer than an SRT but not enough to be worried about IMHO. However, it's obviously much easier to get a SRT than a Speed Bump. It's much easier to do a trigger job on a Beretta than a SIG, though.

While most of the Berettas I had were quite accurate, there's no guarantee and some are definitely lacking. SIGs, at least in my experience, are almost always amazingly accurate. SIG has made changes in the barrel and locking insert since I was there, though, and I'm not certain if current standard US-production guns (as opposed to speciality guns or German-made guns) continue to be as accurate.

Reliability and durability? I'd give the durability edge to the SIG without a second thought. The locking block on the Beretta remains a weak link and while the problem is grossly exaggerated in many circles, they do break and it is a PITA when it happens. A 9mm SIG needs little more than spring and pin changes to make 100k.

Personally, I think the SIG is dramatically more ergonomic. I'd only seriously use a G-model Beretta and they're just plain hard to find. Also, detail stripping the slide of a G-model requires three arms and a small leprechaun, and can only be done properly during a solar eclipse.

Most models of the Beretta don't have a replaceable front sight. For the models that do, options are very limited. Since many people are extremely particular about their sight choices, I'd seriously consider whether you can get sights you want on the Beretta before committing to one.

At the end of the day, if I had one and was happy, I wouldn't look too seriously at the other.

[justintime]

So what is the deal on the centurion? my uncle has a 92fs centurion USA made that he would let go to me for cheap. I'm wondering if the guide rod/springs are easily found and if you can upgrade the DA pull with the D spring? Will the gun fit in standard 92fs holsters? I'm really not wanting to play around with another gun besides the sig this year but I'm in a collecting kinda mood

[DGI]

So what is the deal on the centurion? my uncle has a 92fs centurion USA made that he would let go to me for cheap. I'm wondering if the guide rod/springs are easily found and if you can upgrade the DA pull with the D spring? Will the gun fit in standard 92fs holsters? I'm really not wanting to play around with another gun besides the sig this year but I'm in a collecting kinda mood

Im a really big fan of the Centurion sized 92 pistols. Guide rods and springs are easy to find (both stock and aftermarket). D spring upgrades work just as well as on other 92/M9 pistols and the Centurions will indeed fit in full size holsters. If your getting a deal on the pistol, jump on it. Decent 92FS Centurions dont pop up very often lately.