I enjoyed reading this thread. The information and knowledge presented highlighted the informed vs the opinionated. I'm just a retired guy and have seen the Beretta used in the LEO community. I had colleagues swear by this weapon platform, other than a large pistol, the Beretta with OEM magazines and proper maintenance was a solid performer. I had coworkers who were a Marine reservist, USAF and an Army reservist, all were officer's rank and were issued Beretta M9, one thing I did noticed was they always used OEM Beretta magazines(no matter what).On a personal note, I own a Beretta 92FS with OEM magazines, I shoot this pistol along side with my Colts, Glocks, Sigs, and S&W. They all work fine and I do proper maintenance. Thanks for the great thread.
My Army experience has led me to believe that most military small arm failures and malfunctions are caused by
1. Operator error- examples being no lube, too much lube, improper cleaning and or other things joes do that I can’t imagine. (If you have ever seen a Bradley bushmaster Cannon shoot a barrel down range, a bent M16 barrel or a bent tank tube you know what I mean. )
2. Bad magazines- A pox on armorers who think magazines last forever. I would crush bad magazines and turn them in. They are a disposable item for a reason .
3. Worn out weapons. 1911s from WWll, M16s from the 60s; whatever- shit wears out. The best M16A1 I was issued was made by H&R. It was well worn from being carried a lot but it wasn’t shot much. It was very accurate. I really liked it, light and with the full auto sear the semi auto trigger was better than the A2.
4. Cheap low bid parts and or ammo that is changed from the original spec.
I’m not even going to comment on Police Officers and weapon maintenance. What I witnessed was bad and that’s all I’m going to say.
Finally - My first 9mm was a Taurus copy of a beretta 92. Beretta 92s were over $ 500 back in the 80s. The Taurus was $250. I should have saved more and bought the beretta 92. I have come full circle this year. I sold off my HKs and I bought berettas tuned by Langdon. We all owe a debt to Ernest Langdon for the work he has done on the beretta platform. The ability to buy tuned berettas with little or no wait at the price he charges is a amazing. I can’t think of any other handgun that comes close for the price.
Last edited by Poconnor; 01-12-2020 at 12:11 PM.
I've shot M9s more than probably 98% of active duty people. I've never seen a slide break but I have seen maybe 3-4 locking blocks break. The locking blocks broke on high round count pistols with unknown (likely nil) preventive maintenance, shooting M882, with older generation locking blocks. Slide breakage on an M9 is not something I'd be concerned about.
Anecdotally, I did actually see a Beretta slide that had snapped on a 92FS, just like the proverbial SEAL guns. It was at a rental range I worked at, round count completely unknown, no maintenance besides the occasional cleaning ever done as far as I know.
The rear half stayed on the gun, no one injured, and Beretta replaced the top end for free.
My Beretta 92G slide just cracked*!
*Cracked open a beer after sighting in a variety of handloads (titegroup, win231, Accurate #2) and bullet weights.
Cheers, everyone!
(I'm going to stay with the Win231... Just so soft in 147...)
I'm sorry for starting to beating this dead horse again.
I saw the thread, remembered living though it, wanted to see what was being said about it now and add my two cents.
FWIW, I also remember some catastrophic slide failures with SIG P229s in service with the Swiss police about 20 yrs ago. SIG "scalloping" the frame rails and then stopping that when it seemed to cause problems... stuff happens. To everybody.