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Posted: 3/22/2015 10:16:03 PM EDT
First of all let me just state upfront I very much like the Beretta 92/M9 type pistols, with a strong preference for the G versions that take the drama out of the whole safety-on the-slide-that-could-accidentally-get-flicked-back-on thing. So I'm not trying to troll or start a flame war about Berettas or how everyone in the military supposedly hates them, I personally find Berettas considerably easier to shoot than my Glock 17 at comparable distances.  I've had several over the years.

With that out of the way, I'm seeking some input here....

The Beretta 92F that went through testing for the U.S. Military proved a MRBF (mean rounds before failure) of 35,000 rounds.

Obviously, the average M9/M92FS etc. is not going to be put through that kind of abuse, nor should the average Beretta (or Glock, to be fair) be expected to go that long without cleaning and not experience  a stoppage or failure of some sort.

Still, more realistically, I have heard at least stories of some people who have put 2 to 3 thousand rounds or more through their Beretta 92s without cleaning and have not experienced stoppages. Supposing these types of stories are true, I'd imagine these were brand new guns that had gone this long (or longer) without maintenance, obviously not 20 to 25 year old guns that need recoil springs or locking blocks replaced and all that. I do wonder if these guns were at least lubed liberally in the beginning of their maintenance-free ordeal, or if they were purchased new from the shop and essentially run dry (no lube) mag after mag after mag from the start.

So I guess my question is how long can the average person expect to realistically run a brand new Beretta M92/M9 without cleaning/lubrication before it starts to experience stoppages/failures, etc.? This assumes the use of quality, clean, reputable ammunition and factory Beretta magazines being utilized in the gun at all times.  I don't expect as I said for the average Beretta to last 35,000 rounds without cleaning before a failure obviously, but realistically how long can one expect to shoot the thing without having to clean it or lube it? What's the longest you've gone on shooting one without cleaning, and did yours experience any failures?

I have to believe a brand new gun, or even a thoroughly cleaned and maintained Beretta 92/M9 that has no worn out springs, locking blocks or any other parts is NOT going to get so dirty or dry within the course of shooting a few hundred rounds that it is going to start experiencing Failure to-Feed, Failure to Extract, weak ejection, and sluggish operation of the slide UNLESS there is something on the gun that is worn out, or there is just something else wrong that is causing those things. Am I wrong?

Link Posted: 3/22/2015 11:35:14 PM EDT
[#1]
In May 2011 I finished the 2000 rd challenge with mine.

"I finished the challenge last week.

Pistol is a plain Jane Beretta 92FS
I fired a total of 2020 rounds starting from mid december up to mid may.
The ammo used started with Wolf and Brown Bear but I ran out of that so I had to move to some of my brass cased ammo: PMC Bronze, S&B, Fed Champion , and Geco 124gr.

The test was pretty uneventful overall. I usually shot 2-300 rounds per session. I never had any true failures of any sort. Every round went bang, ejected and loaded the next round.

Though there were no problems, I could feel the hammer kinda draggin on the bottom of the slide so I thought it best to add a coat of grease on the hammer surface, smoothed it up. During the last session I noted that the brass wasn't flying very far but they still cleared the chamber. Other than that, no issues. I'm happy with the pistols performance and it was lots of fun!"
Link Posted: 3/23/2015 12:29:35 AM EDT
[#2]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
In May 2011 I finished the 2000 rd challenge with mine.

"I finished the challenge last week.

Pistol is a plain Jane Beretta 92FS
I fired a total of 2020 rounds starting from mid december up to mid may.
The ammo used started with Wolf and Brown Bear but I ran out of that so I had to move to some of my brass cased ammo: PMC Bronze, S&B, Fed Champion , and Geco 124gr.

The test was pretty uneventful overall. I usually shot 2-300 rounds per session. I never had any true failures of any sort. Every round went bang, ejected and loaded the next round.

Though there were no problems, I could feel the hammer kinda draggin on the bottom of the slide so I thought it best to add a coat of grease on the hammer surface, smoothed it up. During the last session I noted that the brass wasn't flying very far but they still cleared the chamber. Other than that, no issues. I'm happy with the pistols performance and it was lots of fun!"
View Quote


Thank you! This is the kind of feedback I'm looking for. I'm impressed by the way with the Wolf and Brown Bear in the Beretta--I don't have the balls to try that in a 92SB though....

If I can save up some coin I'm going to get a new production 92G and try to run a test similar to yours. The 2000 round challenge actually doesn't sound like a bad idea for any new handgun I come across.  
Link Posted: 3/23/2015 1:55:12 AM EDT
[#3]
Ive gone over a thousand rounds.  I didn't mean too, but I shoot it so sporadically I lost track of its maintenance schedule.

I'm not a huge fan, but as long as they are lubed properly they will keep on ticking.  They go for a fair amount of rounds with no lube for that matter.
Link Posted: 3/24/2015 11:06:04 AM EDT
[#4]
I think I hit around 1300rds before I decided to clean it. No failures and no signs of future failures, just was bored one day so I cleaned all my guns. To this day, I have never had a failure of any type (bought In Aug 09)
Link Posted: 3/28/2015 1:53:15 PM EDT
[#5]
I cleaned my M9 the other day and headed to our work range. We had 500 rounds of M882 that needed shot.

I fired every round from my freshly lubed M9, after 150 rounds I started having failure to return to battery and often the slide failed to lock to the rear. All the ammo was loaded into Beretta mags by yours truly. It was a let down to be honest, I should have to relube the gun after 150 rounds.
Link Posted: 3/28/2015 2:05:30 PM EDT
[#6]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
I cleaned my M9 the other day and headed to our work range. We had 500 rounds of M882 that needed shot.

I fired every round from my freshly lubed M9, after 150 rounds I started having failure to return to battery and often the slide failed to lock to the rear. All the ammo was loaded into Beretta mags by yours truly. It was a let down to be honest, I should have to relube the gun after 150 rounds.
View Quote


Something is probably not working correctly. I cleaned and lubed my new 92 Brigadier with Hoppes oil and shot 175 rounds through it with no issues. If you are thinking it's typical of these guns, I don't believe it is.

is it a new gun? there is some thick grease on there from the factory that should be removed before firing. If it's an old gun, do some maintenance on it and try again.
Link Posted: 3/29/2015 12:10:06 PM EDT
[#7]
So far I've gone through 500 rounds w/o any cleaning.
Link Posted: 3/29/2015 12:34:58 PM EDT
[#8]
About 100 rds.

I never go very long without cleaning issued M9s. I am currently shooting the Eastern Division Matches and there have been more issues with the M9s than I care to count. I personally have had 1 failure to eject during intramurals a few weeks back. 2nd string of 25yd rapid fire (5 rds in 10'seconds in offhand) and my last round was FTE. I had cleaned and lubed the pistol  just prior to starting the 1st string, so it went 59 rounds before issue. I do not know the previous history, deployment history, maintenace and service record of the weapon as it was issued to me the day before Competition started.
Link Posted: 3/29/2015 7:44:59 PM EDT
[#9]
I bought my 92FS in the early 90s, so I am digging through memory here. The longest that I can remember going between cleanings was about  800rnds and a few months, but I didn't have any issues of any type. Just a little lube on the rails. The only time I can ever recall having any issues with it was due to a couple bad gun show magazines.
Link Posted: 3/29/2015 8:05:30 PM EDT
[#10]
I shot my commercial M9 at a competition fundamentals class.  Not sure of the exact round count, but it was somewhere between 500 and 600.  No issues of any kind.  I'm certain the gun would have worked if I did not clean it, but I have this OCD thing about when shooting for the day is over, got to clean the gun.
Link Posted: 3/29/2015 8:49:21 PM EDT
[#11]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:


Something is probably not working correctly. I cleaned and lubed my new 92 Brigadier with Hoppes oil and shot 175 rounds through it with no issues. If you are thinking it's typical of these guns, I don't believe it is.

is it a new gun? there is some thick grease on there from the factory that should be removed before firing. If it's an old gun, do some maintenance on it and try again.
View Quote View All Quotes
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Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Quoted:
I cleaned my M9 the other day and headed to our work range. We had 500 rounds of M882 that needed shot.

I fired every round from my freshly lubed M9, after 150 rounds I started having failure to return to battery and often the slide failed to lock to the rear. All the ammo was loaded into Beretta mags by yours truly. It was a let down to be honest, I should have to relube the gun after 150 rounds.


Something is probably not working correctly. I cleaned and lubed my new 92 Brigadier with Hoppes oil and shot 175 rounds through it with no issues. If you are thinking it's typical of these guns, I don't believe it is.

is it a new gun? there is some thick grease on there from the factory that should be removed before firing. If it's an old gun, do some maintenance on it and try again.

No, it's very broken in (my issued duty gun). It has a fairly new recoil spring but it was spotless and well lubed. I've had worse M9's and slightly better but I'm always left unimpressed... Yet here I sit lusting for an M9A3!!!
Link Posted: 3/29/2015 9:11:34 PM EDT
[#12]
I'm very bad about cleaning my guns.  Not only that, but I shoot dirty reloads with lead bullets too.  And my Beretta has NEVER failed to fire, failed to extract, failed to chamber, or failed to anything.

Ray
Link Posted: 3/30/2015 8:18:05 AM EDT
[#13]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:

No, it's very broken in (my issued duty gun). It has a fairly new recoil spring but it was spotless and well lubed. I've had worse M9's and slightly better but I'm always left unimpressed... Yet here I sit lusting for an M9A3!!!
View Quote View All Quotes
View All Quotes
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I cleaned my M9 the other day and headed to our work range. We had 500 rounds of M882 that needed shot.

I fired every round from my freshly lubed M9, after 150 rounds I started having failure to return to battery and often the slide failed to lock to the rear. All the ammo was loaded into Beretta mags by yours truly. It was a let down to be honest, I should have to relube the gun after 150 rounds.


Something is probably not working correctly. I cleaned and lubed my new 92 Brigadier with Hoppes oil and shot 175 rounds through it with no issues. If you are thinking it's typical of these guns, I don't believe it is.

is it a new gun? there is some thick grease on there from the factory that should be removed before firing. If it's an old gun, do some maintenance on it and try again.

No, it's very broken in (my issued duty gun). It has a fairly new recoil spring but it was spotless and well lubed. I've had worse M9's and slightly better but I'm always left unimpressed... Yet here I sit lusting for an M9A3!!!


Gotcha. The M9A3 will be awesome, and that's why you're
Link Posted: 5/10/2015 7:21:05 AM EDT
[#14]
I shoot mine with uncleaned , reloaded cases and weak target loads with no problems.  Never had problems with any factory ammo either, including steel cased ammo.  The pistol gets carried a lot doing ranch work and does get saw dust and dirt in it.  Once it fell on the ground, barrel first and dirt went in the barrel;  I racked the slide and the dirt ejected out of the bore,  and the thing fired without problems.  It gets cleaned maybe once a year...but that time it did get a good cleaning when I got home.
Link Posted: 5/10/2015 5:11:49 PM EDT
[#15]
The longest I can recall is two practice sessions sandwiched around a Steel Challenge match.  So probably 450 - 500 rounds.  Boringly reliable.  This is my wife's 20 year old 92FS, which admittedly doesn't have a round count much over about 5K or so.  But I've only had one issue and that was after a blown case on a reload (tip - don't EVER trust anyone else's reloads!).
Link Posted: 5/10/2015 7:38:00 PM EDT
[#16]
As I had figured. Typically M9s/M92s are quite reliable out of the box from what I'm hearing here. I don't have tens of thousands of rounds through them but it sounds like plenty of people do and can vouch for their reliability in the long term. Good to hear.
Link Posted: 5/10/2015 8:00:56 PM EDT
[#17]
I've done 400-500 rounds on a weekend with no issues.  This was shoot I got cheap Wolf at the time.  Very dirty stuff.  You can actually feel it getting gritty and grinding away but no stoppages of note.  By the end of the afternoon I might have a few stove pipes but it's from me getting lazy and limp wristing the shots.
Link Posted: 5/10/2015 11:13:48 PM EDT
[#18]
92FS. I shot a couple hundred rounds waited a month shot a few more, then got busy with work.  Waited like a few months took it to an indoor range and the first few rounds wouldn't eject or they would stove pipe. Cleared the gun put a little drop of lube on the gun and it started running like a sewing machine again for a few hundred rounds. I generally keep it holstered under my seat in the truck.  It may have gotten a little crud in it. Favorite pistol.
edit: bought the gun used in 2005 for like 300 bucks, police trade in so no idea of round count. Still makes 50 yard shots. Gets shot more than any other gun I own.
Link Posted: 5/10/2015 11:42:38 PM EDT
[#19]
92 brig. Here.  If I shoot more than 3-400 rds w/o cleaning, is slows down and stops functioning.

Txl
Link Posted: 5/11/2015 8:55:06 AM EDT
[#20]
M9A1. The pistol will reach a point of looking nasty and needing to be cleaned well before it stops shooting.  Mix of lead and jacketed reloads; this is my competition gun for 3Gun and USPSA.  I routinely go over 1000 rounds before cleaning.  Just runs and runs, and the gun springs are quite a bit lighter than stock.
Link Posted: 5/12/2015 12:00:27 PM EDT
[#21]
Link Posted: 5/12/2015 12:00:58 PM EDT
[#22]
Link Posted: 5/16/2015 1:26:16 AM EDT
[#23]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:


Something is badly wrong with that gun. Send it back to Beretta.
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Quoted:
92 brig. Here.  If I shoot more than 3-400 rds w/o cleaning, is slows down and stops functioning.

Txl


Something is badly wrong with that gun. Send it back to Beretta.




I was actually thinking about sending it to Wilson for their whole package.

Txl
Link Posted: 6/16/2015 10:26:21 PM EDT
[#24]
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Quoted:
Cleaning and lubrication are very different things.

...and it depends on a host of environmental factors and what lubrication you are using. Typical gun oil doesn't stay put very well, especially if it rains.

The standard Beretta finish has teflon as a component of it to minimize wear and so the gun can run without any lube for a fair bit, but all guns will eventually shut down without proper lubrication.

Most firearms function just fine if they are dirty, even very dirty. Occasionally scraping carbon from under the extractor and lubricating the gun should be enough to keep it running almost indefinitely.

I've run a 92 in the middle of sub-tropical storm level downpours all day on a muddy range (which means that dropped mags were full of mud) without any reliability problems due to the gun. The worst problem I encountered was a mag that had become so clogged with mud that the follower got stuck in the tube and the rounds poured out of it...but a smack on the mag freed the follower and the remaining rounds fed as expected.
View Quote

I wish my experience with the M9 was as positive as yours. I must be getting the older, shitty ones. I'm seriously considering grabbing an M9A1 but end up stopping short. I don't want to start doing malfunction drills on a gun I've only fired 150-200 rounds from.
Link Posted: 6/16/2015 10:26:39 PM EDT
[#25]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Cleaning and lubrication are very different things.

...and it depends on a host of environmental factors and what lubrication you are using. Typical gun oil doesn't stay put very well, especially if it rains.

The standard Beretta finish has teflon as a component of it to minimize wear and so the gun can run without any lube for a fair bit, but all guns will eventually shut down without proper lubrication.

Most firearms function just fine if they are dirty, even very dirty. Occasionally scraping carbon from under the extractor and lubricating the gun should be enough to keep it running almost indefinitely.

I've run a 92 in the middle of sub-tropical storm level downpours all day on a muddy range (which means that dropped mags were full of mud) without any reliability problems due to the gun. The worst problem I encountered was a mag that had become so clogged with mud that the follower got stuck in the tube and the rounds poured out of it...but a smack on the mag freed the follower and the remaining rounds fed as expected.
View Quote

I wish my experience with the M9 was as positive as yours. I must be getting the older, shitty ones. I'm seriously considering grabbing an M9A1 but end up stopping short. I don't want to start doing malfunction drills on a gun I've only fired 150-200 rounds from.
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