Beretta USA
17601 Beretta Dr.
Accokeek, MD 20607
(301) 283-2191
Purchase price $580 Stainless, $470 Blued
AAA Police Supply, Rt 1. Dedham MA
I was in search of a high quality, high capacity 9mm handgun. I looked at pretty much all of them but narrowed the list to Beretta, Glock, S&W, and Taurus. I wanted a model that was in high demand in the US due to parts and labor availability, and had a proven track record. I'm not the first on the block type of person. The Colt 2000 wins the award for "Trigger most like my Nintendo pistol" and the H&K squeeze cocker was a bit too weird and expensive for my tastes. I really liked the design of the Glock but wasn't thrilled on how it felt shooting. It is also a pain to repeatedly dry fire. The S&W's I saw were thoroughly average, although their compact 9 (3915?) looked like a great carry gun. I still get confused when trying to sort through their model numbers. I liked the Taurus, especially the price and fact that the safety is swept down to remove, 1911 style. It was the fact that about 10% (3 out of 25 responses) reported troubles, although minor, that lead me up to the price of the Sig and Beretta. I liked them both almost equally, although I think the Beretta looks much sexier. Both behaved quite nicely in the shoot out that I conducted at a local rental range. There were two factors that lead me to the Beretta. The first was it has been used by the US armed forces since '86, so that the design has had a chance to be debugged in the field and parts and knowledge of the design is widespread in the US.
(Emmanual Baechler notes that the P-226 is nearly identical to the P-220, which has been debugged for many years).
In the end I think the fact that the Beretta was available in stainless steel closed the deal. Keep in mind that the only stainless parts on the stainless Beretta are the slide parts. The spring guide rod and all frame parts are hard chromed steel. The frame is grey anodized aluminum. Blued Beretta 92FS's are built in the US, the stainless version is built in Italy. The country of origin might explain why there is such a huge diference in price between the two. The model is also offered in 9x21 in addition to the US standard 9x19 (9mm luger) for those whose Governments don't trust them with military calibers and those IPSC people who like to push the edges. Beretta states that the chamber pressures for the 9x21 should not exceed SAMMI specs for the 9x21.
I took a good hard look at the Beretta that I bought. The take down lever allows for a quick field strip and reassembly, and I was able to use that to my advantage in the examination of my Beretta. I asked nicely if I could field strip it to examine it and was told, NO! When the person was talking to another customer I "accidently" pushed the take down lever and slipped the slide forward for a closer look. The fit and finish was flawless. The slide to frame fit was especially impressive. The frame had no fewer than 5 proof marks, with an additional one on the barrel. The pistol came in a handy little case with two magazines and two fairly useless cleaning brushes. I was also please to find that there was also not a litany of warnings engraved on the gun ala' Ruger.
I bought two boxes of hardball and headed out to the range for some fun. I decided to break in the barrel as has been outlined in rec.guns before. After each of the first 20 shots, I clean with JB bore cleaner on a wire brush then ran a patch until clean. I ran out of CLP break free and substitutes Slick 50 oil instead. Whether the Slick 50's magic teflon has an affect on a gun barrel is left for an exercise to the reader.
The double action trigger with smooth with no creep, the single action was very nice. This is my first combination DA/SA firearm, so I'm not in a real position to judge. The sights were right on and a small mark on the rear site maybe an indication that it was adjusted at the factory. There is also a chamber loaded indicator, the extractor sticks out to the side a bit and exposes a red portion if the firearm is loaded. I'm not convinced of the utility of the feature, it might be there to get the firearm a couple more ATF points for import reasons. The hammer also has a half cock position, to prevent the hammer from snagging and falling on a live round. The safety/decock lever completely rotates the firing pin out of the way when then gun is decocked. The slide mounted saftey gives a great place to grab when you want to cycle a well oiled slide. A minor annoying nit for those who are handedness challenged, the safety/decock lever on the right side of the pistol is just a tiny bit smaller than on the right. The magazine button is completely reversible, but why a fellow lefty would give up the advantage of using his index finger is beyond me. The brass all ejected easily, one of the advantages of the open slide design.
After 100 flawless rounds I headed home to clean it. Make no doubts about this, the Beretta is not a small gun. It is well balanced, fits well in my hand but it is a full size 9. The Pachmayr grip I bought got sent back, they made the grips far to wide to grip. I love the take down lever and the easy field stripping. However the detail strip looks a bit tough, and I'm not going to attempt it until I get some spare pins.
I have fed it about 800 round to date and it has behaved well. The only problems feeding were to blame on my weak reloads. I specifically wanted a firearm that would work well with out the need for tuning but could not resist polishing the feed ramp on the barrel. It wasn't a problem, but I took my Dremmel and buffing compound and polished the ramp to a mirror finish. There was a slight problem with the sharp edged magazine lips. The mags fed fine, but scratched the hell out of the brass. I spent a few minutes with a file and rounded over the edges. I bought a Ram Line extended round (18) mag and found it to be unreliable vastly inferior to the Beretta mags. Since the M9 (Beretta 92FS military designation) is the US military sidearm I was able to buy genuine Beretta US surplus mags for $15 each.
All in all the more time I spend with this firearm the more I appreciate the design. I was not in the habit of using the terms "Italian manufacture" and "quality" in the same sentence but have now changed my tune. Anyone who is considering a full size nine (or S&W .40, the 96FS) should definitely take a look at the Beretta. The design might be a bit more traditional than the Glock, but it sure looks a heck of a lot better!
I used to have a Beretta 92F when I was with the local Sheriff's Search & Rescue squad. It's a fine weapon. I got rid of it some years ago after I left the department because I wanted something with a little more "bang" to it. I'm a little sorry I did. One thing, be sure you get the 92FS. It's a more recent weapon with some design improvements. I think it's for the best that I got rid of the 92F, so I'll eventually get a 92FS. You might also condsider the 96F, which is, if I recall, their .40 S&W-chambered pistol. In my opinion, the only other pistol that really stacks up in accuracy and ease of maintenance is the SIG, which is a fine gun but very expensive. If you get one in 9mm, consider loading it with Black Talon for home defense. A fellow med student saw the result of a BT wound in a perp brought into the ER and the results were "impressive". Hope this helps.