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Thread: Extending life of Beretta 96?

  1. #1

    Extending life of Beretta 96?

    I never thought I'd buy a handgun in .40 S&W, much less a Beretta 96, but I recently found an Elite II in decent shape for about $450 and bit the bullet. While I don't plan on shooting it often, I'd certainly like to keep it around as long as possible. Beyond regularly changing the recoil spring, I'm not sure what else I can do to save the frame. I see Wilson Combat offers a Shok-Buff and a heavier recoil spring, but do those really help all that much in situations like this? Is there anything else I can/should be doing if I want this gun to last?

  2. #2
    Just change out the factory recoil spring with an OEM one every 4000-5000 rounds and drive on. I seriously doubt you will ever wear it out. If it breaks, send it off to Beretta. You'd have to do a LOT of shooting to worry about it, I imagine.
    Last edited by Clay; 03-01-2015 at 11:18 AM. Reason: spelling

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Clay View Post
    You'd have to do a LOT of shooting to worry about it, I imagine.
    It's a used gun, and you don't even know the round count of the gun, nor how well it was maintained.

    If I were planning to run a 96, I would run a Shok-Buff and make sure to keep a fresh recoil spring in there. The service life of a 96 is a LOT shorter than that of a 92.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by JV_ View Post
    It's a used gun, and you don't even know the round count of the gun, nor how well it was maintained.

    If I were planning to run a 96, I would run a Shok-Buff and make sure to keep a fresh recoil spring in there. The service life of a 96 is a LOT shorter than that of a 92.
    Very true. But it's a little late for the OP to change his mind about buying it. At this point I'd lube it, shoot it and not worry about it. I'm personally not a fan of Shok-Buff's. The OP said he doesn't plan on shooting it much so the service life difference probably ain't gonna mean much. 92's seem to go a LONG time, if a 96 goes half as long, well...you pays your money and takes your chances.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Clay View Post
    if a 96 goes half as long
    I think that's being too generous.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by JV_ View Post
    I think that's being too generous.
    Yikes. I only know one person who has one, a police trade-in, and he hasn't had any trouble and he shoots quite a bit. Sample of one and all. What's your guess on service life of a 96?

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by JV_ View Post
    It's a used gun, and you don't even know the round count of the gun, nor how well it was maintained.

    If I were planning to run a 96, I would run a Shok-Buff and make sure to keep a fresh recoil spring in there. The service life of a 96 is a LOT shorter than that of a 92.
    Agreed and that's why I wasn't totally crazy about the price I paid. The frame itself doesn't have as much anodizing worn off the frame rails (if pics help I have them) as say my trade-in 92D, but that's not saying much. Plus With the gunk on the breech face and carbon build up on the muzzle makes me think it did see some use. I knew this thing was a risk and I figure now the best thing to do is just do what can be done to minimize what future wear is put on it. I'll definitely get a shok-buff and either a standard recoil spring or maybe a #14 one.

  8. #8
    Shoot minor loads.
    Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Clay View Post
    Yikes. I only know one person who has one, a police trade-in, and he hasn't had any trouble and he shoots quite a bit. Sample of one and all. What's your guess on service life of a 96?
    In this thread https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....58-Beretta-96D, Todd says about 10,000 rounds in a 96D. I wish I knew if this applied to the slant dust cover frame guns or the straight dust cover, but I'm just going to assume 10,000 for now.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by 65k10 View Post
    In this thread https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....58-Beretta-96D, Todd says about 10,000 rounds in a 96D.
    Thanks for saving me the time to search for that thread.

    Quote Originally Posted by Clay View Post
    What's your guess on service life of a 96?
    All of the data points I have are somewhat removed from me, I'll let other speak about it who have closer ties.

    This was a good thread to glean some data points:
    https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?15129-40s

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