Beretta 92 series vs Beach Sand

[Alpha Sierra]

Recreational.

To provide some better context, a lot of beaches/parks along the southwest Florida Gulf Coast have inland trails that are accessible via boat. Most of this area though has mangroves right to the shore line and the best way to anchor a boat to gain access to these areas is partially off shore in the flats. The wife likes these areas as she can takes pictures of all kinds of birds, I like it because my cell phone won't work out there and it helps expose the kids to Wild Florida, not just the I4 Corridor. We've seen all kinds of wild life on these trips, so my question stems more from a "if I need to draw my pistol and shoot a hog/bobcat/coyote, will I get more than 1 shot before the gun locks up". I'm just sum-dood who likes to go outside, not an operator operating operationally.

I think any pistol should work fine for a long time if exposed to salt water so long as it's maintained properly. Particularly if it's made mostly of stainless or stainless and plastic.

I think many pistols will work just fine if exposed to some sand ingestion so long as the sand is dry

I don't think there are too many pistols that will work semi reliably if they ingest significant quantities of wet sand.

[ralph]

Honestly I would just use a different gun. A polymer gun like that you don’t care about like a Glock or something. I would locate a police trade in or a old gen 3 g19 or 17 and use that. If you really wanted to have a more impervious pistol then look at Robars NP3+ Norton special.


Not that the Berettas could not take it but I would not take my Wilson Berettas boating or fishing. A Glock is easier to maintain in those situations. Then keep the B92s clean and lubed for your normal carry and use.

This^^^^^^^^ I like Berettas as much as anybody here, but in this situtation, the Glock wins simply because it's easily completely disassembled..all the small parts are easy to get to and clean or replace if they start rusting up. Taking a Beretta frame apart is'nt bad, but when you start on the slide it's a different ball game..a couple of very small spring loaded detents, usually requiring you to disassemble the slide in a plastic bag... Beretta slides are a pain in the ass to do anything with, even cleaning out the extractor, required you to restake the pin, where with a Glock you can simply drop it out, clean the slide up, and very easily reassemble the slide ,and no plastic bag needed.. In this situtation, Glock wins simply on it's merits of ease of complete dissassembly alone.. If you use this in a salt water enviroment, sooner or later you're going to have to dissassemble the pistol in order to get all the salt out, I'd pick something that's easily disassembled, as well as reliable, A used, gen 3-4, g17 fills that bill.

[Duelist]

Maybe look at your carry method, too. A shoulder holster, or Hill People Gear, or Maxpedition, or kydex, or nylon full flap, or something, might be a better idea than a standard OWB holster, especially leather.

I don’t know, haven’t seen, but I hear tell that saltwater is really hard on aluminum. So a good finish beyond anodizing would be a thing I’d look at if I were going to consider using an aluminum framed gun around saltwater.

I once went hiking in an area that open carry would have been severely frowned upon, with a group of youth from my church. It included wading in a river through a slot canyon for several miles. I wasn’t planning on taking that hike, but they ended up needing me to. I carried my 642 for low profile and probable survival of an accidental dunking. I got wet to my waist. The gun was fine.

A kid or two fell in a hole and had to be yanked back up, though.

[Dave J]

I don't think I've ever taken a Beretta to the beach, but Uncle Sam has generously provided me a few years of experience using them in desert environments.

Given reasonable maintenance, the only issues I personally experienced or observed all involved heavy amounts of blowing sand. As in, massive desert sandstorms, or rotor wash on sandy HLZ's. Simply carrying the gun in a sandy area, especially concealed, or an occasional dunk in water wouldn't concern me.

Salt water, I can't really speak to, but am not sure a Beretta would be my first choice. I was using one, and anticipated it getting submerged, I'd be really tempted to have Robar do the internals with NP3. I've also noticed that the barrels seem to be much less corrosion resistant than the slides, so I'd prefer either a stainless barrel, or have it preemptively coated with something more corrosion-resistant than the factory finish. An Inox gun would seem like the ideal start point.

[Clusterfrack]

Dude I get it. I grew up in the Caribbean and spent my HS years screwing around boats before going into the Navy. I know all to well what salt water will do to stainless steel and other common marine metals.

I have a hard time conceptualizing a desire to be armed at all times when boating recreationally. So be it if others want to or feel the need to, but it's an alien concept to me.

At least around here on the OR coast, that’s one time I am always armed. It’s very isolated, and there are some very odd folks.

I take a Glock or P07, and don’t worry about surface corrosion. Blowing sand gets in everything, but I haven’t had issues yet.

[LSP552]

I’ve spent a lot of recreational in and around salt water, on the beach, in the water and on the boat. Personally, I’d like something easier detail stripped than a Beretta if I’m expecting to dunk it. And if you spend a lot of time around the water, it will get dunked.

I typically use a Glock for my dunking guns.

[ubervic]

If I'm bound and determined to have a firearm on my person 100% of the time while doing recreational boating and beaching, I'm going to run the gun that represents the least risk of financial loss and, more importantly, operational failure if it goes underwater. Even if I hated Glocks, I'd own at least one for use in this specific environment.

[MSparks909]

Is sticking it in a small dry box while you transport it to and from shore not an option?

[Bergeron]

NP3+ has some pretty exciting lubricity/corrosion resistance claims behind it.

https://robarguns.com/custom-firearm-finishes/np3-plus/

Maybe it would be worth having an entire gun completely done in NP3+? Or, as has been suggested, maybe just the internals, or the intervals plus the slide?

M9/92FS are going for some attractive prices if you wanted a dedicated hostile environment gun.

I imagine that getting the sand-resistant magazines coated wouldn’t hurt.

[OlongJohnson]

Whatever you go with, I'd recommend the Hornady One Shot cleaner/lube. It wipes off to leave basically a dry lube that's super slick but won't attract dust like oil or grease do. It actually keeps unfinished cast iron from rusting in my garage in Houston. I wouldn't rely on it for a lot of rounds downrange, just to be ready to go after being carried quite a bit.

I don't like a Beretta in salt water, honestly. And beach sand is different than desert. I've spent plenty of time in both. The stuff that gets blown into everything in the desert is usually a lot more like silt. A fine powder. Beach sand is grittier, and potentially would do more damage, faster, to the rails. If I carried an aluminum frame gun on the beach, in and out of the water, I'd detail strip it and clean it before shooting it in other than an emergency. The requirement to unstake/restake the slide of the Beretta to do a complete detail strip makes it less favorable for use in salt-sand than a pistol that doesn't have staking. Even tapping the coil pins out of a Sig slide is preferable. (If you do that, buy the $7 pin punch set at Home Depot and put one side of the 1/8" pin on a belt sander to make it flat. No need to spend $20-30 for a special Sig tool.)

Like many others posting, my first thought was a G19. I'd add maritime spring cups if I thought I might need to use it concurrent with or immediately after dunking it.

I'd also throw out the P250 as a possible option. I haven't detail stripped a slide on one, but the frame is super easy. The whole fire control unit comes out of the plastic grip module, and all the nooks and crannies are fully accessible from 360 degrees. You can swirl the whole thing in a jar of solvent to clean it, then blow it off with compressed air and spray it with lube. The grip module can go in the dishwasher. They're pretty inexpensive on GB, especially in .40 cal. If I was potentially going to face down pigs, Burmese pythons, Florida Man, gators, escaped pit bulls, panthers, etc., I wouldn't mind having a little heavier round in the chamber.

USPs are known for extreme corrosion resistance, in addition to reliability and longevity. Grip/pointability is not totally dissimilar to the Beretta. Used ones in .40 can be had for super cheap these days.