The Beretta 92 and Glock 17 were two of the first "wonder 9s" on the market and are still two of the best 9mms available today. Both have been popularly cast in Hollywood films and have built up impressive resumes through the years. These two newest versions are very similar in size, come with three 17 rd magazines, an accessory rail and a reversible magazine release. Despite the similarities they take very different approaches when it comes to the rest of their designs.



Reliability
In my experience both of these designs are very, very reliable and as a result have been the pistol of choice for many law enforcement agencies and the US military. If you take care of these pistols, they will take care of you. I can't say anything bad about the reliability of either.

Sights
Unlike other 92s the 92A1 has dovetail rear and front sights, this allows you to easily replace the sights if you prefer night sights or something else. I haven't had any issues using the factory sights. The Glock also has replaceable sights but they are lacking from the factory. They will work but plastic sights are not ideal.



Accuracy
While the Beretta has a 4.9" barrel and the Glock has a 4.48" barrel, the sight radius is, as near as makes no difference, the same (the Glock's is actually a hair longer). With practice a shooter can easily become proficient with either design. I have shot USPSA/IDPA with both and can testify that as far as practical accuracy is concerned, both are beyond exceptional. Given a long distance challenge, I would say the Beretta is inherently more accurate from it's longer barrel and non tilting barrel design.

Trigger
From the factory both triggers will get the job done however while they're good they're not great. The good news is both can be easily upgraded, a 3.5lb connector and polishing trigger parts (25 cent trigger job) will do wonders for the Glock's trigger. The same is true for the Beretta with a 18lb "D" hammer spring, it only takes a few minutes to replace and is the best modification you can make to a 92 series pistol, in my opinion. The Beretta uses a DA/SA trigger with a long, hard first DA pull, subsequent shots will be a nice crisp SA trigger, while Glock offers a constant DAO striker fired design. Which trigger is better will come down to personal opinion, I prefer the Beretta's crisp trigger break but I don't mind DA/SA triggers. For people who prefer a constant trigger pull, the Glock's works well.



Ergonomics
A lot of people complain about the Beretta's ergonomics, I am not one of them. I was not originally a fan of the pistol but found that shooting it become more natural to me than most other pistol's I've held. The main complaints center around the grips being thick or the position of the safety/de-cocker. I've never had problems operating the safety on the 92, it's meant to be carried in DA with the safety off anyway. Some complain that they engage the safety while racking the slide, this is usually a result of racking the slide overhanded. I've never preferred this method and recommend not using it. It positions your palm over the chamber of the gun, making it more difficult to view the chamber and exposing your palm to a hot slide/barrel if you've been shooting for a while . It also puts your hand dangerously closer to the muzzle on smaller pistols. Gripping the pistol from the rear (slingshot style) avoids these issues and will not engage the safety on slide mounted safeties. For me, the Beretta's ergonomics are outstanding, I like the way the grip feels, the magazine release is in the perfect spot for me and the large slide release makes reloading from slide lock too easy.

The Glock also gets its fair share of ergonomic complaints usually focusing on the size, angle or traction of the grip or on the small magazine and slide release/stop. Glock has addressed some of these with the newer Gen4. The grip now has a nice texture to it that gives you a good grip but isn't too rough on your skin, they've also enlarged the magazine release and slightly shortened the grip while adding the option to add your own back straps to fit the shooter best. I still think the slide release is too small but it's easy to replace it with a G34 extended slide release.

Size & Weight
Both pistols are very similar in size with the Beretta being a bit longer. Glock has an obvious weight advantage as it uses a polymer frame as opposed to Beretta's aluminum frame. The Glock's lighter weight lends itself being easier to carry. The Beretta's extra weight does have some advantages though as it helps absorb recoil which results in smoother shooting. The 92 is a great pistol for introducing someone to a large caliber handgun.



Aftermarket
Because they have been around so long and are so widely used it's pretty easy to find holsters, magazines and accessories for both pistols. The 92A1 having a thicker slide and frame rail makes it a little more difficult to find holsters but there several manufactures making them now.

Conclusion
You really cannot go wrong with either one of these pistols, they are both great guns with amazing track records. While they have taken two radically different approaches to making a modern 9mm, they have both done a wonderful job and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either to a friend looking for a quality range gun or defense weapon. The 92A1 currently sits in my nightstand with a Streamlight TLR-1. The good news for CCW is they're both available in more compact versions for concealed carry.

Nice writeup, and good pics.

I actually prefer glock style sites.  Have never had an issue with them, and prefer them to the 3 dot, but either are fine.

As you mentioned, both are fine firearms.

yep the 92a1 won for me and thats what I own

this should be moved to GD so all the glock fanboys would cry.

I will quote myself.
tupperware belongs in the kitchen not on the range.
I kid I kid

I wish Beretta would make models without all the stupid safety warnings on them (just like Ruger and S&W do).  

If I remember correctly, the M9A1 model doesn't have them.

The commercial M9 and M9A1 do not have the markings right?

Correction, the M9A1 does the M9 doesn't:


I wish they would get rid of the warnings as well.

I've carried Glock's for years on duty.  I've also been retired for seven years and now carry 1911's and the 92A1.  I still have my favorite Glock (21 comp) and I'm beginning to embark on a new journey in having the 92A1 sent to Wilson Combat for a custom upgrade.  I had the pleasure shooting one this past week that had the "works" done on it, and all I can say is Wow.  Luckily for me, I had my stock 92A1 with me at the range to compare,  when I shot this other pistol.  The options/fit/finish/and function is WELL worth the $800 for what I experienced--- PERIOD.  
Go fine one and see for yourself.  I'll post a lot of pics. and report when I get mine back in about three months.

I carry a G19 for the light weight and smaller size, but I LOVE my M9A1, and it's my HD gun. Such a pleasure to shoot.

M9 doesn't .M9A1 does .

You're correct, thank you

The beretta is a great pistol.  It's surprising though how poorly managed the company is from a marketing standpoint.  The Elite pistols with brigadier slide, factory dovetail night sights and skelotonized hammers with their modified grip frame are fairly cool.  They aren't available.  

If I ran Beretta, I would bring back the original Elite with hard chromed barrel, night sights, with the magazine basepads, add the combat barrel bushing and machine checkered front and backstrap, have the slide done in melonite QPQ, and small parts black tin coated, and I think that would be a hot seller.  Same mods with non brigadier slide would also probably be a hot seller.  Another model with the barrel bead blasted and gold tin coated (all other components black QPQ or black tin coated) might also be cool.

The cheesedick cast into the slide, three dot sights and 1977 styling are not helping the pistol sell.  

The poster is right, the glock polymer sights are a joke, but I can swap them myself with affordable night sights, or order the pistol with the night sights standard.    I know the 92A1 has the sight dovetails but it's the total package that would be great to have.

My ideal Beretta would have 92A1 frame with M9A1 checkering and beveled mag well. SAO with Brigadier slide and night sights.

That and a 92fs compact type M.

I guess I think if beretta could bring some of the tennents of what makes glock, kimber, & sig successful to their business model, I think that would help a lot. Options and product optimization.

Now that there is talk of them losing the army contract maybe that fat and happy feeling will end and they will have to get more consumer oriented.

When Beretta makes a M9A1 - G model, I'll be first in line.

The "G" (Decocker) version is my favorite because I never have to worry about the safety ever being "on"

I agree the g model is superior to the decocker safety version.

The elite guns were g models with brigadier slides and night sights.  I remeber when they were $500 @ gun shows.  Now they are $900 used.

Nice comparison! Love both my M9 and my G17.

Out of retirement comes the smaller and more accurate HK P7 to clean house Berettas sure are pretty. I love my M89 .22 Target