To G or not to G...help me build a Pizza gun

[e_stern]

We all go through phases in our life and I have to say right now I'm completely sick of plastic striker fired guns and and (gasp!) pistol mounted optics. I spent the last four years or so shooting almost nothing but those guns (which as I've stated elsewhere they're all kind of the same to me right now) and I just can't get really exciting about going to the range with them, which sort of makes me not too excited about going to the range at all.

I dealt with some really crappy tendonitis in my shooting arm back in 2019 that took nearly a year to recover from and I'll add that I'm really tired of recoil as well.

I've had an off-and-on love affair with the Beretta 92 series for last 25 years, but the only one I currently own is my 2000ish production Beretta 92FS with slanted dust cover that I've owned since new. It's been a test bed for various things over the years, but it basically just sits in my safe right now. It currently has a LTT TJIB, M9A3 G Conversion (big ole thing), thin LOK grips, and a Novak rear (thanks @Sal Picante). Unfortunately, it just doesn't spark joy the way it once did.

So...



I acquired this Beretta 92 Brigadier Inox 9mm complete upper for free a little while back and it's been sitting around doing absolutely nothing waiting for me to do something with it. Up until last night, it hasn't cost me a dime. Last night, I happened upon a complete Beretta 92 Brigadier Inox 9mm complete lower with a straight dust cover for sale for $300, so now that's on its way to my FFL. So at the present moment I'm only $300 into this thing and will have basically a box stock Berretta 92 Brigadier Inox 9mm.

So here are some initial questions for my Pizza-gun aficionado homies @Sal Picante @LangdonTactical @SoCalDep and any one else that feels like answering.

Do I convert it to "G" or not?

I don't really care for the giant levers of the G conversion kit and its my understanding that it may not fit the Brigadier slide anyway. I've been eye balling the Wilson single side safety lever and I know they can convert the slide to make it G only for $150 or so. Is it worth it?

Which sights?

It's a Brigadier slide so my options are a little more limited than the Vertec slide. I think I'd like to do a Wilson plain serrated rear with their orange ring tritium front. Which heights would be the correct ones to use for the Brigadier slide?

Which TJIB?

Which hammer should I run? What spring? She needs to pop WWB, Federal HST and everything else.

What trigger?

Should I play with a new flat trigger? There is the factory Beretta one for around $40 and the Volker trigger for $100. Any preferences?

Grips?

I'm leaning towards the VZ Palmswell Tactical Slants Gen2 in black (currently out of stock of course). Any thoughts on these?


Am I missing anything else? What say the P-F hive mind?

I would always G. F style safeties should not exist in my mind. In this case, the French had it right with the G style decocker from the beginning.


As for the rest of it, all up to you. I don't like flat triggers on the 92 personally, but I know that it's on trend.

[Joe in PNG]

Just skip the safety altogether:

[e_stern]

In that case, well done. Thanks for clearing it up. For some reason I was remembering a small hole in newer slides for the leg of a spring. Not sure why I thought that

There is a cut that is present on all M9A3 and later 92X slides that offers a better retention for the return spring leg, but the kit works in all slides. The spring is just retained better for installation on the newer slides. All older non-brig SB+ decocking safety slides accept the kit as well, but they don't have the cut.

[e_stern]

@e_stern

With money being no object, would you rather have a slide milled for the G lever or the conversion kit? Besides a cheaper retrofit, any advantage to the conversion kit over the original format?

I ask since I have a G conversion on my 92FS and it works like it is supposed to, but the right side is quite large.

I'm interested in the Wilson since I can get it setup left side only.

The conversion you're referring to as "milled" actually involves welding up the plunger hole and then recutting it. Nothing wrong with that, but I prefer the conversion kit, aesthetics aside.

You can trim down the right side housing to a certain extent, but it has to be the size/location it is in for the return spring. The 90 series G conversion kit is basically the PX4 G type adapted to the 90 series safety design.

[e_stern]

Just skip the safety altogether:

I did this with a 92DX. Can't say I disagree. It's a 21 shot K frame.

[JSGlock34]

I've used both 'F' and 'G' models. I think G models lend themselves to decocking whenever returning to the ready. With the F safety, I'm not a fan of trying to decock and disengage the safety 'dynamically', so to speak. Some people are going to have trouble manipulating that slide mounted F lever back and forth. I think with the M9, for example, decocking before holstering is the better option. If your approach to the manual of arms demands 'decock on dismount', then install the G. YMMV.

[JonInWA]

We all go through phases in our life and I have to say right now I'm completely sick of plastic striker fired guns and and (gasp!) pistol mounted optics. I spent the last four years or so shooting almost nothing but those guns (which as I've stated elsewhere they're all kind of the same to me right now) and I just can't get really exciting about going to the range with them, which sort of makes me not too excited about going to the range at all.

I dealt with some really crappy tendonitis in my shooting arm back in 2019 that took nearly a year to recover from and I'll add that I'm really tired of recoil as well.

I've had an off-and-on love affair with the Beretta 92 series for last 25 years, but the only one I currently own is my 2000ish production Beretta 92FS with slanted dust cover that I've owned since new. It's been a test bed for various things over the years, but it basically just sits in my safe right now. It currently has a LTT TJIB, M9A3 G Conversion (big ole thing), thin LOK grips, and a Novak rear (thanks @Sal Picante). Unfortunately, it just doesn't spark joy the way it once did.

So...



I acquired this Beretta 92 Brigadier Inox 9mm complete upper for free a little while back and it's been sitting around doing absolutely nothing waiting for me to do something with it. Up until last night, it hasn't cost me a dime. Last night, I happened upon a complete Beretta 92 Brigadier Inox 9mm complete lower with a straight dust cover for sale for $300, so now that's on its way to my FFL. So at the present moment I'm only $300 into this thing and will have basically a box stock Berretta 92 Brigadier Inox 9mm.

So here are some initial questions for my Pizza-gun aficionado homies @Sal Picante @LangdonTactical @SoCalDep and any one else that feels like answering.

Do I convert it to "G" or not?

I don't really care for the giant levers of the G conversion kit and its my understanding that it may not fit the Brigadier slide anyway. I've been eye balling the Wilson single side safety lever and I know they can convert the slide to make it G only for $150 or so. Is it worth it?

Which sights?

It's a Brigadier slide so my options are a little more limited than the Vertec slide. I think I'd like to do a Wilson plain serrated rear with their orange ring tritium front. Which heights would be the correct ones to use for the Brigadier slide?

Which TJIB?

Which hammer should I run? What spring? She needs to pop WWB, Federal HST and everything else.

What trigger?

Should I play with a new flat trigger? There is the factory Beretta one for around $40 and the Volker trigger for $100. Any preferences?

Grips?

I'm leaning towards the VZ Palmswell Tactical Slants Gen2 in black (currently out of stock of course). Any thoughts on these?


Am I missing anything else? What say the P-F hive mind?

Kev, my thoughts on a couple of things...

Hammer: Go with a D model. It's sleeker, with less chance of snags on draws (and it looks cool...)

Action: Whether you stick with an F or G configuration is simply a matter of personal preference. While I prefer a D, my second choice would probably be sticking with F.

Hammer spring weight: First, I'd immediately go to an LTT Trigger Job In A Bag (TJIB); it'll give you a far superior triggerbar than the OEM one. Springs, I'd go with Wilson chrome silicon ones, particularly for the trigger return spring for longevity. For mainspring weight (with a Wilson/LTT triggerbar) I initially went to 14#, but over time went down to 13# which performs flawlessly with all cartridges I've used to date. My 92D is used for EDC, duty, and competition (IDPA/ASI), so I wouldn't advise going lower than 13# if that's how you'll be using yours-and I'd start out with 14# first. I believe you'll need the older all metal trigger for the Wilson/LTT triggerbar; if yours has the newer polymer coated parts, BUSA has an inexpensive retro kit for those parts.

Recoil spring guide: I like the heavier solid one from BUSA, but Wilson's has played to good reviews. However, the OEM one, be it metal or polymer is more than adequately sufficient.

Magazine release: I recommend an extended one, either from BUSA or Wilson. Be forewarned that the Wilson one may be a royal PITA to install; I had to have my gunsmith do it (and he winced when I came in with it...), but I'm very pleased with it post installation.

Sights: Mine came with tritium Trijicons as the OEM sights, so I had ToolTech replace the front with a orange outline/green tritium, and the rear with yellow tritiums, and blacked-out capsule ends. The key sight is the orange outline (or orange dot) front.

Grips: While I've run mine with a set of LTT/VZ ultra thin G10s, VZ has just provided me with a set of very aggressively stippled Palmswell Recon2s, which I think will work better for me in providing a critical non-slip grip for strong-handed/weak-handed shooting. With my 92D, single handed shooting has been my Achilles heel, with the combination of having to deal with a long triggerpull stroke and a relatively long, somewhat heavy reciprocating slide assembly. I'm a'thinking that the more aggressive VZs will go a long way towards mitigating, but I'll know better later in the month, as I'm scheduled to shoot the 92D with them in two consecutive IDPA matches.

Hope this helps.

Best, Jon

[gato naranja]

Do I convert it to "G" or not?

I don't really care for the giant levers of the G conversion kit and its my understanding that it may not fit the Brigadier slide anyway. I've been eye balling the Wilson single side safety lever and I know they can convert the slide to make it G only for $150 or so. Is it worth it?

I think G is the right answer for most situations... even though I found myself opting for the F when I converted from the PX4 to the 92X. I would, however, advise considering a route which would allow the retrofitting of the F bits if - admittedly a big IF - you find yourself in a situation where you or someone else may need the safety feature despite any irritation involved.

(All I will say is that the last few years have been more than "interesting.")

[cyberiad]

F or G? I don't think it matters much if it's a range only gun, personal preference.

Grips? I like LOK Veloce and have them on multiple 92s.

TJIB? If you want to do a little work yourself, then none. For me, the Xtreme-S trigger bar and a match hammer with the hammer spring of your choice (probably #13 or #14 for "everything") produces the "best" 92 trigger pull. I liked it so much I installed a match hammer in a PX4 too. The team at LTT was kind enough to post a recent video on the match hammer install https://youtu.be/aSpxq9C0TD4 Assembly and disassembly aside, it literally takes 5 minutes.

[Cory]

We all go through phases in our life and I have to say right now I'm completely sick of plastic striker fired guns and and (gasp!) pistol mounted optics. I spent the last four years or so shooting almost nothing but those guns (which as I've stated elsewhere they're all kind of the same to me right now) and I just can't get really exciting about going to the range with them, which sort of makes me not too excited about going to the range at all.

I dealt with some really crappy tendonitis in my shooting arm back in 2019 that took nearly a year to recover from and I'll add that I'm really tired of recoil as well.

I've had an off-and-on love affair with the Beretta 92 series for last 25 years, but the only one I currently own is my 2000ish production Beretta 92FS with slanted dust cover that I've owned since new. It's been a test bed for various things over the years, but it basically just sits in my safe right now. It currently has a LTT TJIB, M9A3 G Conversion (big ole thing), thin LOK grips, and a Novak rear (thanks @Sal Picante). Unfortunately, it just doesn't spark joy the way it once did.

So...



I acquired this Beretta 92 Brigadier Inox 9mm complete upper for free a little while back and it's been sitting around doing absolutely nothing waiting for me to do something with it. Up until last night, it hasn't cost me a dime. Last night, I happened upon a complete Beretta 92 Brigadier Inox 9mm complete lower with a straight dust cover for sale for $300, so now that's on its way to my FFL. So at the present moment I'm only $300 into this thing and will have basically a box stock Berretta 92 Brigadier Inox 9mm.

So here are some initial questions for my Pizza-gun aficionado homies @Sal Picante @LangdonTactical @SoCalDep and any one else that feels like answering.

Do I convert it to "G" or not?

I don't really care for the giant levers of the G conversion kit and its my understanding that it may not fit the Brigadier slide anyway. I've been eye balling the Wilson single side safety lever and I know they can convert the slide to make it G only for $150 or so. Is it worth it?

Which sights?

It's a Brigadier slide so my options are a little more limited than the Vertec slide. I think I'd like to do a Wilson plain serrated rear with their orange ring tritium front. Which heights would be the correct ones to use for the Brigadier slide?

Which TJIB?

Which hammer should I run? What spring? She needs to pop WWB, Federal HST and everything else.

What trigger?

Should I play with a new flat trigger? There is the factory Beretta one for around $40 and the Volker trigger for $100. Any preferences?

Grips?

I'm leaning towards the VZ Palmswell Tactical Slants Gen2 in black (currently out of stock of course). Any thoughts on these?


Am I missing anything else? What say the P-F hive mind?

I like the 92.

I'd do the G decocker conversion and call it a day. I have drawn and removed an M9's F safety when it mattered and did it without thinking. More recently i drew my EDC with a G decocker when it mattered. It wasnt much of an issue either time, but I'd rather not have to dryfire rep the safety. The "large" G conversion isn't bad. It grows on you.

I'm an oddity, because I like the profile of M9 sights with a square notch. My EDC has a red filled front sight dot and black M9 rear. My LTT is fiber optic. I'd like to try out one of Les rear sights at some point. Maybe with one of those spartan front sights.

My EDC is a D spring with some polish. Thats it. My LTT is an early trigger job that was done at LTT. The Elite LTT trigger job is flat out amazing.

Haven't tried a flat trigger. No idea if that would feel nice on the DA. I'd probably stick with what I know, but a flat would be cool to try out.

Both my guns have original LTT slim grips. If anything, I'd like more bite. The M9A4 i held recently had not terrible grips. I like the slims, or ultra slims but wish they were more like an M&P2.0 texture.

Other stuff: get the oversize mag release. Coupled with my slim grips it's the perfect setup for me. Consider a dehorn. If you're going to dryfire alot you'll find that beavertail has a small corner. Guide rod... my EDC has a plastic one. It can't get bent, and weighs less. Ymmv. Mec-gar 18 round mags. Stainless grip screws if you'll ever carry it.

Look at the 92G-SD and you'll see it was a workhorse. So basically an M9A1 frame and your slide.