Yea... I disagree completely, both in terms of the cartridge and in terms of the application in a 90 series.
The gun is NOT able to handle a .40 appropriately. 96A1 has been updated to manage it better, but it is like stuffing a Big Block Chevy into a Chevette. Really freaking terrible idea.
I would strongly suggest that if you really want a .40 that you either look at a PX4 in .40, as that gun was designed from the ground up to handle .40, or just get a 10MM Pistol and a drop in .40 barrel. .40 literally cuts durability in half or less on a 96 if it's not an A1. Additionally it is exceedingly unpleasant to shoot.
It is my personal mission to continue to obsolete .40 as much as possible outside of use in 10MM size platforms. I have performed many qualification tests of .40 in my career and have seen durability qualification results that make it not even remotely interesting for the results compared to an appropriately designed 9MM. It is awful in 9MM size guns period and should not even be considered versus 10MM.
Used to make pasta, now I make waffles.
When I got there in 1997, 32-35 pistols had been in issue since 86-87. Right after the Army adopted them, we "had to have the best!" Plus, about half our officers at the time were carrying personally-purchased, Italian-made 92Fs in Ted Blocker basketweave holsters and the Department did not have an issue pistol. After the Beretta 92 was purchased, everyone had to carry it. We had range days every two weeks, and if you were a young guy that liked to shoot you could burn through as much ammo in the 4 hours as you were able, given quals, etc. Other than cosmetic wear, grip screws falling out, rear sights getting dinged and magazine baseplates cracking/breaking from dropping partially loaded mags during drills, there was ZERO parts breakage. Now, in our county, my PD was the one with a bunch of gun guys who hunted, shot more than average, competed in PPC, etc. so there was a culture of cleaning and lubing the pistols. Another PD in our county had locking block failures with their 92s in 2001 and traded them for 96s, which turned out to be turds. Until I ordered about $1k worth of mag springs, recoil, hammer, trigger, etc. No one had done an armorer detail strip and inspection on any of the pistols. Also, they were horribly macined. The slide rails had tear-out from over used tooling and there was plainly visible machining differences between the issue US made guns and the personally-owned Italian 92s. The US made guns ran like tops, rusted and lost all their finish, but they ran. I hated Beretta 92s and shot my issue one like crap.
Now that I'm an old former action guy, I love my Wilson Combat Vertec. I'm debating whether to send it to LTI to have the slide milled for a RDO.
I ran my 92FS with the safety engaged because it was booped off with my thumb easily and reliably; so no G conversion was ever considered. If it worked awkwardly for someone, like the PX4 series for me, I'd convert to G.
Being late for the 96 side discussion, I like them. Get a 9mm barrel and treat it like a S&W model 19 where the majority of shooting is done in 9mm and .40 is vetted and carried.
Last edited by SCCY Marshal; 02-14-2024 at 03:28 PM.
No, I get the 96 isn't the best platform for it. I was just talking about the actual cartridge. I double checked and buffalo bores load is a 200 gr bullet at 1000fps. Makes for a perfect woods gun if you want a semi. Either a 229 or Gen 5 glock.
The usp, 229, and Gen 5 glocks handle it just fine. The 40 is actually a great round.
On the ragged edge of the world I'll roam,
And the home of the wolf shall be my home - Robert Service
My biggest Beretta want- for them to do another run of the 92X compact with no rail, G safety, but with the optics cut.
If we’re putting together a wish list, a DXR Compact would be swell.
Gaming will get you killed in the streets. Dueling will get you killed in the fields.
-Alexander Hamilton
I’m so close to my dream Beretta. Take my current 92G Compact with single sided decocker. Give me a replaceable front sight, with an HD night sight. Give it a carry bevel package, NP3 internals, and a CTC laser grips / sight.
I've got this stuff for my .40 HP the wife and daughter gave me for my 60th.
Dare I say bordering 10mm.
https://underwoodammo.com/40-s-w-200...ast-flat-nose/
Fed and fired fine, but surely not a steady diet for the HP.
Thread drift....'scuse.
"... And miles to go before I sleep".
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...