New Beretta Barrel - Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?

[Suvorov]

As a proletariat 3rd Class in the Republic of California - the recent wave of Beretta 92 pistols are off limits to me. The best I can do is either build one myself or get a hold of a M9A1 and send it to Langdon for his awesomeness.

My plan was to aquire a M9A1 and either send it to LTT or build it up on my own with a mix of Wilson and Langdon parts but since the 'Rona it has been near impossible to source a M9A1. Just a visit to a gunstore requires a 1-2 hour wait in line or an "appointment" scheduled weeks in advance. Not much available on the 2nd hand market and the only ones are going for $1000+. Gunbroker guns with the California SKU is going for over $1400.

With all this craziness I decided to rebuild one of my old legacy 92 Police Specials into a "M9A2" using a M9A3 slide I purchased last year for my "advanced combat" Beretta and the legacy frame. I have a pile of new parts including a TJIAB awaiting assembly but I am wondering - is it worth purchasing a new barrel? The barrel from the legacy 92 is in good shape with a 3rd Gen locking block I installed a few years ago. I has around 5000 rounds down its tube and a liberal dose of Brownells "insta blue" has made it nice and dark. But since I am trying to make this gun the pinnacle of what I can do at this date and time, I would purchase a new barrel if it makes sense.

Would a new Beretta barrel give me anything over my current one? What about a Langdon barrel?

My gut feeling is to stay with what I have but many of you have more experience building guns that shoot well.

[JimLob65]

The word is that the Beretta stainless ‘match’ barrels are the most accurate barrels made by Beretta, and they are the barrels used in the Wilson and Langdon guns, and the Elite II. It would seem to me that 5k rounds shouldn’t prove to be a whole lot in the life of a well cared for Beretta barrel, but on the other hand IIRC barrels aren’t really that expensive. If you really wanted to get the ultimate set-up there is a member over at the Beretta forum named Wal who is a gunsmith and installs barrel bushings.

[Sal Picante]

As a proletariat 3rd Class in the Republic of California - the recent wave of Beretta 92 pistols are off limits to me. The best I can do is either build one myself or get a hold of a M9A1 and send it to Langdon for his awesomeness.

My plan was to aquire a M9A1 and either send it to LTT or build it up on my own with a mix of Wilson and Langdon parts but since the 'Rona it has been near impossible to source a M9A1. Just a visit to a gunstore requires a 1-2 hour wait in line or an "appointment" scheduled weeks in advance. Not much available on the 2nd hand market and the only ones are going for $1000+. Gunbroker guns with the California SKU is going for over $1400.

With all this craziness I decided to rebuild one of my old legacy 92 Police Specials into a "M9A2" using a M9A3 slide I purchased last year for my "advanced combat" Beretta and the legacy frame. I have a pile of new parts including a TJIAB awaiting assembly but I am wondering - is it worth purchasing a new barrel? The barrel from the legacy 92 is in good shape with a 3rd Gen locking block I installed a few years ago. I has around 5000 rounds down its tube and a liberal dose of Brownells "insta blue" has made it nice and dark. But since I am trying to make this gun the pinnacle of what I can do at this date and time, I would purchase a new barrel if it makes sense.

Would a new Beretta barrel give me anything over my current one? What about a Langdon barrel?

My gut feeling is to stay with what I have but many of you have more experience building guns that shoot well.

Only way to tell is to build it, shoot it, then assess if the groups it delivers are good enough for you? Shoot it with some good ammo.

My $0.02? Skip the new barrel... Your old barrel is *probably* going to do alright. If it isn't shooting up to your standards at 25 yards, maybe then consider swapping the barrel...

Getting specific? What is a good group at 25? how to test consistently? etc... are other questions for elsewhere...

[Bigghoss]

How well can you shoot? Probably well enough to notice the difference but is that difference enough to really matter? You can always get a new barrel later. Might as well press on with the one you have for now and see how it works out.

[OlongJohnson]

^^^What they said.

Build what you have. 5k rounds is nothing in a chrome lined 9mm pistol barrel.

Once it's together, work on your shooting as needed and try a bunch of different ammo. With my 96D, really early in my shooting adventure, changing ammo changed my groups from oranges to limes repeatably. (Hornady Critical Defense 165gr proved to be the good stuff in that gun.) Since you should already have a reloading setup to get around Governor Awesom's Great Ammo Ban, you can play with various bullets, COAL, etc.

[Hambo]

The barrel from the legacy 92 is in good shape with a 3rd Gen locking block I installed a few years ago. I has around 5000 rounds down its tube and a liberal dose of Brownells "insta blue" has made it nice and dark. But since I am trying to make this gun the pinnacle of what I can do at this date and time, I would purchase a new barrel if it makes sense.

Choose the answer that is right for you:

A-Hambo says, "I'm still shooting a barrel with around 40K through it, so you can certainly squeeze a few more through yours."

B-Fuck you, Hambo. I want to upgrade my pistol with a new barrel.

PS-there's no wrong answer.

[GyroF-16]

My .02...
I don’t think you need a new barrel- at 5k, you’re likely a long way from that barrel being “shot out.”

That said, if you’re wanting to build the best available facsimile of an LTT Elite, I’d pony up for the Langdon barrel. After using my LTT Elite for the last 2 years, the “full length” barrel on my stock 92 seems to stick out too far. Cleaning the recessed crown is a minor inconvenience, but I like that the crown is protected. And I hit 10k rds with it last weekend with no discernible degradation in precision.

[Suvorov]

Thanks for the input guys! I guess I was just wanting to know if the Langdon barrels were that much better? I have an Elite and honestly can’t tell if the barrel is better than a stock 92 barrel so I’m just going to go ahead and use my old barrel and see how it does.

Back when I decided to go back to the 92 series as my primary pistol a few years ago my goal was to have three guns - a gun built for general range duty and competition, a gun built for EDC, and a gun built for “serious” events. I built my range gun out of my Elite pistol, my EDC gun of a railed compact I was able to score before the “loophole “ we in Kalifornia were using to get off roster guns was closed, and the “serious event” pistol that is the subject of this thread. They are all equipped with extended mag releases, Langdon triggers, Wilson guide rods (because I think they are sexy), and Wilson or Langdon G10 grips. I got the M9A3 slide to give me night sights, but sadly the compact didn’t get tritium while it was available so I have just been getting by with photo luminous paint.

I would have liked to have an integral rail but at the prices Kalifornia M9A1s are going for - I just can’t justify the expense, especially when I plan to leave for a freer state next year and can buy a real Wilson or Langdon gun then. In the meantime I’ll just order another TIC and call it good. The only other thing I might have done is bevel the mag well and Alumi Hyde it black or FDE.

Anyhow this is what I put together. My “M9A2 Legacy Pistol” I’ll see how it shoots next week.

57928

57929

[Bigghoss]

Dig it.

[Sharkbite]

That's Sexy and You know it....

[Welder]

Don't forget that Bar-Sto and KKM make barrels for these if you're after accuracy for accuracy's sake. Actually there's a whole level of accuracy modifications for these and other semis that isn't really discussed here, because for most of our purposes, they're totally unnecessary. For example, the following is a direct quote off David Sams' webpage and is work titled "National Match Beretta -- CMP Service":

Frame Rail Inserts Installed (lap fit)
- Match Grade KKM Barrel* (fitted) hood, bottom rails, and breech end timed
- Kensight Rear / Target Front Sights*
- Overtravel Trigger*
- Trigger Job – 3 ½ or 4 lbs (match legal)*
- Slide barrel opening machined - fit to bushing installed on barrel (lap fit
- Threaded Barrel Bushing Installed
- Internal Barrel Stabilizer Installed
- Matte Black Re-finish Upper Unit*
- Tested at 50 yds / Guaranteed Accuracy (match standards)* Normally 1.3" or less - 10 shots - 50 yds from a H.E.G. mechanical fixture
Options:
Tungsten Guide Rod
Checkering Front and Back Strap
Re-anodizing frame
Trigger shoe -- machined to customer spec (width & length)
Replace any plastic factory parts with metal
Frame scope mount
SCG compensator

[Sal Picante]

Don't forget that Bar-Sto and KKM make barrels for these if you're after accuracy for accuracy's sake. Actually there's a whole level of accuracy modifications for these and other semis that isn't really discussed here, because for most of our purposes, they're totally unnecessary. For example, the following is a direct quote off David Sams' webpage and is work titled "National Match Beretta -- CMP Service":

Frame Rail Inserts Installed (lap fit)
- Match Grade KKM Barrel* (fitted) hood, bottom rails, and breech end timed
- Kensight Rear / Target Front Sights*
- Overtravel Trigger*
- Trigger Job – 3 ½ or 4 lbs (match legal)*
- Slide barrel opening machined - fit to bushing installed on barrel (lap fit
- Threaded Barrel Bushing Installed
- Internal Barrel Stabilizer Installed
- Matte Black Re-finish Upper Unit*
- Tested at 50 yds / Guaranteed Accuracy (match standards)* Normally 1.3" or less - 10 shots - 50 yds from a H.E.G. mechanical fixture
Options:
Tungsten Guide Rod
Checkering Front and Back Strap
Re-anodizing frame
Trigger shoe -- machined to customer spec (width & length)
Replace any plastic factory parts with metal
Frame scope mount
SCG compensator

Sams makes an amazing bullseye Beretta... I've shot a few and keep considering his work or Kidd's work on a dedicated bullseye gun. I just haven't gone that route yet, tho...

For USPSA/defense it is overkill and completely not recommended...

[spence]

Thanks for the input guys! I guess I was just wanting to know if the Langdon barrels were that much better? I have an Elite and honestly can’t tell if the barrel is better than a stock 92 barrel so I’m just going to go ahead and use my old barrel and see how it does.

Back when I decided to go back to the 92 series as my primary pistol a few years ago my goal was to have three guns - a gun built for general range duty and competition, a gun built for EDC, and a gun built for “serious” events. I built my range gun out of my Elite pistol, my EDC gun of a railed compact I was able to score before the “loophole “ we in Kalifornia were using to get off roster guns was closed, and the “serious event” pistol that is the subject of this thread. They are all equipped with extended mag releases, Langdon triggers, Wilson guide rods (because I think they are sexy), and Wilson or Langdon G10 grips. I got the M9A3 slide to give me night sights, but sadly the compact didn’t get tritium while it was available so I have just been getting by with photo luminous paint.

I would have liked to have an integral rail but at the prices Kalifornia M9A1s are going for - I just can’t justify the expense, especially when I plan to leave for a freer state next year and can buy a real Wilson or Langdon gun then. In the meantime I’ll just order another TIC and call it good. The only other thing I might have done is bevel the mag well and Alumi Hyde it black or FDE.

Anyhow this is what I put together. My “M9A2 Legacy Pistol” I’ll see how it shoots next week.

57928

57929

That is a super sweet looker. A couple months ago I decided to go all full size grips on a whim. Sold my compact and started looking for an M9A1 or just a frame. Managed to pick up an LTT frame, and if Brownell's wouldn't have been out of stock on M9A3 slides, that's what it'd be wearing right now. LOL, I think I was looking at the same grips, too. As it is, it got a plain Vertec slide and olive grips.

I wouldn't think that 5k would do much of anything. That compact had 4k through it, M9 has over 12k, LTT will be at 3k here soon.

[45dotACP]

Sams makes an amazing bullseye Beretta... I've shot a few and keep considering his work or Kidd's work on a dedicated bullseye gun. I just haven't gone that route yet, tho...

For USPSA/defense it is overkill and completely not recommended...

Especially when a stock 92 is already pretty heckin accurate. The LTT does seem to be quite a bit more so for me, however that could be just due to the much better trigger.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

[Suvorov]

Don't forget that Bar-Sto and KKM make barrels for these if you're after accuracy for accuracy's sake. Actually there's a whole level of accuracy modifications for these and other semis that isn't really discussed here, because for most of our purposes, they're totally unnecessary. For example, the following is a direct quote off David Sams' webpage and is work titled "National Match Beretta -- CMP Service":

Frame Rail Inserts Installed (lap fit)
- Match Grade KKM Barrel* (fitted) hood, bottom rails, and breech end timed
- Kensight Rear / Target Front Sights*
- Overtravel Trigger*
- Trigger Job – 3 ½ or 4 lbs (match legal)*
- Slide barrel opening machined - fit to bushing installed on barrel (lap fit
- Threaded Barrel Bushing Installed
- Internal Barrel Stabilizer Installed
- Matte Black Re-finish Upper Unit*
- Tested at 50 yds / Guaranteed Accuracy (match standards)* Normally 1.3" or less - 10 shots - 50 yds from a H.E.G. mechanical fixture
Options:
Tungsten Guide Rod
Checkering Front and Back Strap
Re-anodizing frame
Trigger shoe -- machined to customer spec (width & length)
Replace any plastic factory parts with metal
Frame scope mount
SCG compensator

Having a National Match M9 build up has long been on my bucket list. It would probably be just for show as I don't shoot any bullseye competitions but given that the AMU is probably shifting to the SIG it would probably be wise to have one built while the knowledge base is still doing it.


Especially when a stock 92 is already pretty heckin accurate. The LTT does seem to be quite a bit more so for me, however that could be just due to the much better trigger.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

I think A LOT of it is in the trigger. For me, I have noticed that even with a D spring unless I keep a death grip on my pistol I will induce some barrel movement from the trigger break until the trigger hits the frame. One of the big advantages of the Langdon trigger for me (besides the absurdly short reset) is the almost total elimination of over travel and thus any sort of induced unwanted movement during the trigger press.

[Sal Picante]

Having a National Match M9 build up has long been on my bucket list. It would probably be just for show as I don't shoot any bullseye competitions but given that the AMU is probably shifting to the SIG it would probably be wise to have one built while the knowledge base is still doing it.


Yeah - Sams is getting up there in years...