bac1023
11-25-2018, 12:52 AM
I'll preface this thread by saying that I'm not the world's biggest Beretta 92 fan. However, there's little doubt that it has reached legendary status some 40+ years after its introduction. Heavily based on the Walther P38 and its falling block design, the 92 is one of the most iconic and popular 9mms in history. Its very easily recognizable and hundreds of thousands of them have been built over the years. In fact, by now, we’re probably talking millions of them in one variation or another. Despite how common they are today, despite all the roles the pistol has played in military and law enforcement around the world, and even despite all the movie appearances this handgun has made, it all had to start somewhere. That “somewhere” was in Italy circa the mid 1970's.
By 1975, the Beretta 92 design had been worked on for a few years and was now ready for production. The first production Beretta 92 rolled off the assembly line in the May of 1976 and continued for a several years before the 92S was introduced with the new slide mounted decocker. During that time, approximately 52,000 copies of the original 92 were produced. Of those 52,000, the first 5000 or so of them were of the original slide design, which featured an extra “step” down at about the mid point. The step slide model, as it eventually became to be known, was only produced from the spring of 1976 to early 1977, so possibly less than a full year. That makes these early versions very difficult to find and they tend to bring extra money once they are found. As with anything, it was cheaper and faster to manufacture the slide without the extra step, so it was dropped quickly. I honestly like the overall look of the straight “slab” slide better. However, I’m all about rare features, so I think this is cool. Furthermore, it does make the front of the slide a bit slimmer and it also makes the final step down towards the muzzle less pronounced. Not surprisingly, weight is slightly less with the reduced thickness.
What we have here is one of the last step slide models produced. The date code is “AC” for 1977 and the serial number is 04697. Condition is not perfect, but not bad either. I would easily rate it at 90 to 92%. The aluminum frame and steel slide have their share of minor dings, scratches, and handling marks, but certainly nothing bad. The original black plastic grips are in nice condition and there is no bluing loss or holster wear. Quite frankly, for a 41 year old service pistol, it looks great. :)
You will certainly notice some differences between this pistol and the garden variety Berretta 92FS or M9 today. The biggest difference is the presence of a slide mounted safety. The original design was meant to be carried cocked and locked. As mentioned above, this changed with the next variation, the 92S. Second, you will notice the mag release is located at the bottom of the grip rather than by the trigger guard, which is common with European pistols. That wasn’t changed until the 92SB came along in the early 1980‘s. Third are the sights. They were very small and had no white dots. This also changed with the introduction of the 92SB. Fourth is the smooth front and back strap. Once again, the serrations began with the introduction of the 92SB. You’ll also notice the rounded trigger guard and the blued finish. These two features stayed with the Beretta 92 up until the 92F was introduced in the mid to late 1980‘s. They then went to the more durable but less pretty Bruniton finish and a squared off trigger guard. I guess you could say the 92F was the first “tactical” 92. Finally, I’ll mention the grip frame. You may notice that it just points straight down near the bottom. Once the 92F came along, the grip frame started curving in towards the front of the gun and the standard magazines had a thicker baseplate.
I’ll talk about the grips for a minute, as Beretta 92 grips changed quite a bit over time. These plain looking black grips are the originals. Later, the original 92 was also offered with smooth wood grips. Beretta went back to black plastic with the introduction of the 92S. However, the plastic grips then had the Beretta logo on them. Once the 92SB was introduced, Beretta returned to wood, but they were very nicely checkered with the Beretta medallions. Wood grips were pretty much standard equipment up until and during 92FS production. Strangely enough, Beretta is now back to black plastic again. All that being said, the original 92 grips were just plain ugly black checkered plastic with no logos. As I mentioned, these are in real nice shape.
At any rate, that’s about all there is to say. I feel kind of lucky to have found this one. I'm not sure how many of the 5000 or so built are still in existence, let alone in the United States, but I'm guessing very few.
Thank you for reading and please enjoy the pics.
I'm sure there are tons of 92 fans here. Any thoughts on this one?
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/dFIWQD.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pndFIWQDj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/VZHxrV.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/poVZHxrVj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/921/EXiK5V.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/plEXiK5Vj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/921/1R8Q3h.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pl1R8Q3hj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/FGAxdz.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pmFGAxdzj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/921/DCwTcr.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/plDCwTcrj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/oBs4ST.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pooBs4STj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/mxKPGu.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pnmxKPGuj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/bOH9GP.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pnbOH9GPj)
Here it is with another early 92 of mine from 1978. Obviously, the "step" was gone by then...
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/JhnxRW.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pnJhnxRWj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/921/jso25o.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pljso25oj)
By 1975, the Beretta 92 design had been worked on for a few years and was now ready for production. The first production Beretta 92 rolled off the assembly line in the May of 1976 and continued for a several years before the 92S was introduced with the new slide mounted decocker. During that time, approximately 52,000 copies of the original 92 were produced. Of those 52,000, the first 5000 or so of them were of the original slide design, which featured an extra “step” down at about the mid point. The step slide model, as it eventually became to be known, was only produced from the spring of 1976 to early 1977, so possibly less than a full year. That makes these early versions very difficult to find and they tend to bring extra money once they are found. As with anything, it was cheaper and faster to manufacture the slide without the extra step, so it was dropped quickly. I honestly like the overall look of the straight “slab” slide better. However, I’m all about rare features, so I think this is cool. Furthermore, it does make the front of the slide a bit slimmer and it also makes the final step down towards the muzzle less pronounced. Not surprisingly, weight is slightly less with the reduced thickness.
What we have here is one of the last step slide models produced. The date code is “AC” for 1977 and the serial number is 04697. Condition is not perfect, but not bad either. I would easily rate it at 90 to 92%. The aluminum frame and steel slide have their share of minor dings, scratches, and handling marks, but certainly nothing bad. The original black plastic grips are in nice condition and there is no bluing loss or holster wear. Quite frankly, for a 41 year old service pistol, it looks great. :)
You will certainly notice some differences between this pistol and the garden variety Berretta 92FS or M9 today. The biggest difference is the presence of a slide mounted safety. The original design was meant to be carried cocked and locked. As mentioned above, this changed with the next variation, the 92S. Second, you will notice the mag release is located at the bottom of the grip rather than by the trigger guard, which is common with European pistols. That wasn’t changed until the 92SB came along in the early 1980‘s. Third are the sights. They were very small and had no white dots. This also changed with the introduction of the 92SB. Fourth is the smooth front and back strap. Once again, the serrations began with the introduction of the 92SB. You’ll also notice the rounded trigger guard and the blued finish. These two features stayed with the Beretta 92 up until the 92F was introduced in the mid to late 1980‘s. They then went to the more durable but less pretty Bruniton finish and a squared off trigger guard. I guess you could say the 92F was the first “tactical” 92. Finally, I’ll mention the grip frame. You may notice that it just points straight down near the bottom. Once the 92F came along, the grip frame started curving in towards the front of the gun and the standard magazines had a thicker baseplate.
I’ll talk about the grips for a minute, as Beretta 92 grips changed quite a bit over time. These plain looking black grips are the originals. Later, the original 92 was also offered with smooth wood grips. Beretta went back to black plastic with the introduction of the 92S. However, the plastic grips then had the Beretta logo on them. Once the 92SB was introduced, Beretta returned to wood, but they were very nicely checkered with the Beretta medallions. Wood grips were pretty much standard equipment up until and during 92FS production. Strangely enough, Beretta is now back to black plastic again. All that being said, the original 92 grips were just plain ugly black checkered plastic with no logos. As I mentioned, these are in real nice shape.
At any rate, that’s about all there is to say. I feel kind of lucky to have found this one. I'm not sure how many of the 5000 or so built are still in existence, let alone in the United States, but I'm guessing very few.
Thank you for reading and please enjoy the pics.
I'm sure there are tons of 92 fans here. Any thoughts on this one?
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/dFIWQD.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pndFIWQDj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/VZHxrV.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/poVZHxrVj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/921/EXiK5V.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/plEXiK5Vj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/921/1R8Q3h.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pl1R8Q3hj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/FGAxdz.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pmFGAxdzj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/921/DCwTcr.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/plDCwTcrj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/oBs4ST.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pooBs4STj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/mxKPGu.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pnmxKPGuj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/bOH9GP.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pnbOH9GPj)
Here it is with another early 92 of mine from 1978. Obviously, the "step" was gone by then...
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/JhnxRW.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pnJhnxRWj)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/921/jso25o.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/pljso25oj)