Went Girsan instead of Beretta

[MichaelOrick]

Have had the itch for a Beretta 92 again.

Was issued an M9 from 87-98, owned a few of my own since 86.

A few QC issues here and there but all reliable.

The Turkish 92s have been showing up in our classes and working fine for a few years now.

Looked at a M92FS for $650 and a Regard for $350. The Beretta had a sticky mag catch and the slide would not lock open with the empty mag about half the time. Same as another I looked at last month; assumed that was a fluke. WTF Beretta? No more LAT (lot acceptance testing) for govt sales and this is what happens? I'm just unlucky?

The Regard was OK so it went home with me. Sometimes that's all it takes.

It has a modified locking block that Girsan says is tested too at least 15K. We'll see. I'm 67; I probably won't live long enough to shoot it enough to find out.

Mec-Gar M9 17 round mags work fine in it. So does Rem, Fed, Speer, Win, Magtech, and some Turkish ammo I picked up with the money I saved.

Has worked well enough for Turkish cops and soldiers (and some others), will probably work for me too.

I'll bet my life on it and sleep like a baby.

[MichaelOrick]

Mec-Gar M9 17 round mags work fine in it.

I meant 18 round mags.

Was also looking at the Girsan MCP35 HP clone, but the manual says no +P so that was a no-go.

[LockedBreech]

I'm a Beretta nerd but I admit I've considered grabbing the Regard a few times, it seems like a pretty well done copy.

I still think it would probably be worth it to swap out a Beretta 3rd-gen locking block if you find a good sale on one, as that's really the only common failure point of the design.

[FrankB]

My son bought a Girsan Regard a few years ago, and it’s run 100%.

[MichaelOrick]

I'm a Beretta nerd but I admit I've considered grabbing the Regard a few times, it seems like a pretty well done copy.

I still think it would probably be worth it to swap out a Beretta 3rd-gen locking block if you find a good sale on one, as that's really the only common failure point of the design.

No can do. The Girsan block/slide have different angled surfaces; the straight Beretta block will not work. Does not have the FS slide cut and bigger hammer pivot pin either.

Seems to have worked for the Turkish police/military on their Girsan and MEKE made 92 copies.

The Turks are replacing their M9 (primary) and CZ75 (secondary) copies with 100,000 new pistols from SAR (military) and 50,000 from Canik (police).

Anything can wear out if rode hard and put away wet often enough.

"The only real complaint I had about the course was that my M9 was in desperate need of a new recoil spring, as it had a tendency to lock the slide open every shot with certain magazines. Luckily, the time limits were generous enough that I could still fire the string accurately with time to spare, even if I had to smack the magazine every shot."


https://www.gunnuts.net/2015/07/03/t...dgun-training/

[LockedBreech]

No can do. The Girsan block/slide have different angled surfaces; the straight Beretta block will not work. Does not have the FS slide cut and bigger hammer pivot pin either.

Seems to have worked for the Turkish police/military on their Girsan and MEKE made 92 copies.

The Turks are replacing their M9 and CZ75 copies with 100,000 new pistols from SAR (military) and 50,000 from Canik (police).

Anything can wear out if rode hard and put away wet often enough.

"The only real complaint I had about the course was that my M9 was in desperate need of a new recoil spring, as it had a tendency to lock the slide open every shot with certain magazines. Luckily, the time limits were generous enough that I could still fire the string accurately with time to spare, even if I had to smack the magazine every shot."


https://www.gunnuts.net/2015/07/03/t...dgun-training/

Very interesting, thank you for the info!

[Moped]

I’ve been looking at the Regard, but have pulled the trigger yet. I picked up the Tisas Fatih last year. It’s a clone of the Original Beretta 84. It’s been a very reliable pistol, after the initial break in. I’ve been waiting on someone to post a review on the Regard, so I’m interested in your thoughts and observations. How do you like the finger grooves? I find them a bit of a turn off and I think they limit changing grips out.

I know on the Fatih, I’ve not been able to the swap grips out with panels made for the beretta 84. The grip panel screw holes are ever so slightly off.

[NuJudge]

Langdon Tactical offers a trigger job in a bag for several pistols, including the Beretta 92. On the 92, it causes the double action motion of the hammer to go in a significantly longer arc, which allows the same energy to be stored in the hammer with a significantly lighter hammer spring, resulting in a much lower DA trigger pull. Langdon's 92 trigger bar also has a much shorter trigger reset.

It would be worth your trouble to ask Langdon if his trigger bar also works on the Regard.

[MichaelOrick]

The finger grooves do not bother me.

I like it the way it is, and it will stay that way.

It does fit in all my M9A1 holsters.

The M92 is a proven design that has passed numerous comprehensive trials. Beretta has demonstrated they can produce it to mil-spec standards. So has Girsan.

Is the block different to make it better, or because you have to replace it with theirs and not somebody else's? Beats me.

I know what this is, and what it is not.

The Girsan Regard MC appears to be a good enough M9A1 at about half the price of the Beretta ($390 v $730).

I can live with that.

[JRB]

The finger grooves do not bother me.

I like it the way it is, and it will stay that way.

It does fit in all my M9A1 holsters.

The M92 is a proven design that has passed numerous comprehensive trials. Beretta has demonstrated they can produce it to mil-spec standards. So has Girsan.

Is the block different to make it better, or because you have to replace it with theirs and not somebody else's? Beats me.

I know what this is, and what it is not.

The Girsan Regard MC appears to be a good enough M9A1 at about half the price of the Beretta ($390 v $730).

I can live with that.

Not to be 'That Guy' - well, one of my E5's gave me a 'That Guy' tab morale patch as a gag gift when I left my position as a Platoon Sergeant last year, so maybe I am 'That Guy'

Two things:

-The M92 is a Yugoslavian short AK. There is no Beretta M92. It's a Beretta 92 (or variant thereof) or a Beretta M9 (or variant thereof). Distinctions like this matter in technical discussions.

- Girsan has met *Turkish* military requirements. Some militaries or branches (Air Force cough cough) have incredibly specific and demanding specs on some things. Other militaries simply procure via the 'can we get more pistols? Sure! Here they are and they're even made here in our country! Heck Yeah! Method.
I think you'd find some value in reading the whole story on the M9's adoption and the Sig P320/M17 trials. Despite the real shady shit surrounding the Sig selection, the M17's have been surprisingly good and resilient so far. Time will tell if they can survive decades of abuse like a Beretta M9.
But I'd bet against something like the Girsan surviving the tender abuse of idiot 2LT's or 240B gunners for very long. As you doubtlessly know from your time in the same green pajamas, the abuse suffered by an arms room weapon and a personally owned handgun tend to be two very different things, though, so hopefully your Girsan will continue to serve you well.

For anyone else considering this - all Beretta 92A1's (not the M9A1!) have the light rail and a front dovetailed sight, and they're all made in Italy (last I saw, anyway) So if you're worried about QC/QA woes from Beretta's new Tennessee factory, look for a 92A1. IMHO it's worth the money to stick with Beretta.

But as far as clones are concerned, I'd be interested to see a Girsan and a Taurus PT92 in a 2000 round face-off test.