Extending life of Beretta 96?

[NuJudge]

The original poster asked about Shok-Buff and heavier springs, and asked about other things he could do to extend frame life. I am a wordsmith, not a gunsmith. I have shot several 92 and 96 pistols extensively. Most of them are surplused Police pistols. I have tried Shok-Buffs in several 9mm and .40 pistols, and it caused jamming in some 9mm and some .40 pistols. I use them in 90-series pistols they do not cause jams in. After quite a few thousand rounds through a 96G Centurion that had been shot a lot when it came to me, no problems with the frame, but the extractor did break.

Beretta recommends the same spring weight in 9mm and .40 pistols, 13 pounds IIRC. Someone recommended I try the next weight up in the .40, 14 pounds, and I did so. No jams or other functioning problems. I changed all of my 96 pistols to 14 pound Wolff springs.

Something I would worry more about is the locking block. Beretta has used several designs in an attempt to prolong the life of the locking block. When the locking block fails, it may damage the frame. Early design locking blocks sometimes broke rather quickly, some times not after long use. Inspect the block regularly, and if you see a crack forming at the root of one of the wings, change the block. If you have an early design block, change it for a late design. I believe the US Military design life of the block is 20,000 rounds.

One hears a lot more people worry about cracks forming in the slide on 90 series pistols. I've not had a 90 series pistol slide crack. I've not seen a 90 series pistol whose slide had cracked. The 92 design was derived from the Walther P38, and I have cracked a P38 slide, after 25 years of being regularly shot with WWII surplus submachine gun ammo.

[TORCH2J]

I hate threads like this. I walked into a pawn shop today to find a PD trade in for $369 with nicely glowing Tooltech NS installed. Enablers

[NuJudge]

The trigger springs are also a wear part, and the suggestion I have received is to change them every 2000 rounds. There is something I think is better than changing out the trigger spring, it is replacing the trigger spring with the conversion that is offered by Wolff:
http://www.gunsprings.com/Semi-Auto%...ID1/mID2/dID36

[Jeep]

The trigger springs are also a wear part, and the suggestion I have received is to change them every 2000 rounds. There is something I think is better than changing out the trigger spring, it is replacing the trigger spring with the conversion that is offered by Wolff:
http://www.gunsprings.com/Semi-Auto%...ID1/mID2/dID36

I like the Wolff spring unit, but you will find out that others really dislike it, though I am not sure why.

[Trooper224]

I installed the Wolff TCU in two of my pistols. I found it made the trigger return rather sluggish so I reinstalled the factory spring. Beretta recommends replacing the trigger return spring at 5000 rounds. So far I've done this twice with my training gun, the nightstand gun and my carry piece don't get shot enough to worry about it. If the spring in my training gun breaks on the range unexpectedly, big whup.

[65k10]

I installed the Wolff TCU in two of my pistols. I found it made the trigger return rather sluggish so I reinstalled the factory spring. Beretta recommends replacing the trigger return spring at 5000 rounds. So far I've done this twice with my training gun, the nightstand gun and my carry piece don't get shot enough to worry about it. If the spring in my training gun breaks on the range unexpectedly, big whup.

That mirrors my experience. I even went so far as to use the reduced power units, hoping to keep the trigger pull light. The reset was sluggish as you said and it bothered me enough to just go back to the factory spring. I do have a standard power unit in a 92D which seems fine though.

[Stony Lane]

Wilson Combat now offers this spring: ($4.95)

Beretta 92/96 Bulletproof Chrome Silicon Trigger Return Spring-Factory Weight

A weak link of the Beretta 90 series pistol design is the potential for the trigger return spring to shear after heavy use and most experts recommend that the factory spring be replaced every 5000 rounds to prevent failure in the field.

This newly designed trigger return spring of enhanced chrome silicon steel is guaranteed against breakage and will not fail in hard use like conventional factory music wire springs.

The traditionally wound spring will not change the smoothness or feel of your trigger like other alternative return springs and will work with all known Beretta 90 series triggers.

[Jeep]

That mirrors my experience. I even went so far as to use the reduced power units, hoping to keep the trigger pull light. The reset was sluggish as you said and it bothered me enough to just go back to the factory spring. I do have a standard power unit in a 92D which seems fine though.

Interesting. In an M9 I have, the factory weight Wolff spring gave me a more positive reset, and a lightened Wolff spring lightened the trigger pull without any noticeable effect on the reset.

I suppose it is like rebound slide springs in revolvers. Sometimes they work great and sometimes they really don't.