I bought a used Beretta 92FS because I found one at a price no one could resist. This gun was the first gun I remember seeing in real life as it was the gun used to rob my family when I was 3 years old. The pistol has always intrigued me with its handsome lines, but I wasn't a fan of how large it was in my hands.



Pros

Accuracy: This pistol is far more accurate than most people give it credit for. I often hear from service members that you can't hit anything with an M9 and that it is too inaccurate to be a service pistol. On the day I purchased my used one, I fired a 8" 10-round group at 50 yards without putting in 100% effort. Many people I know can't shoot a rifle that well offhand. Unless the US made M9 is significantly worse than its Italian produced counterpart, which is not what I have experienced, then the 92 design is adequately accurate.

Trigger: The DA and SA are both good. Both are smooth and break cleanly. The trigger pull weight is also what you'd expect from a service pistol. Nothing spectacular, but definitely not bad at all.

Mag Capacity: While 15 rounds is horrible for a gun that size, 18 round MecGars are flush fitting.

Perceived Recoil: A 9mm in an all metal gun has very mild recoiling characteristics despite a higher bore axis. Some of my double taps at the USPSA match I shot were touching. We're talking about roughly 0.20 splits being conservative.

Cons

Slide Mounted Safety: That is the worst feature about this gun. On one of the stages at the match I attended, I started with the gun in condition 4. When I racked the slide to charge it, I also flipped the safety on. If that was a life critical situation, I would have probably died right there and then trying to figure out why my gun wasn't functioning. This is a known problem with the 92 and there are ways around it but you must train for it. I had my gun for 3 days before I competed with it. You can see me fumble with my safety in this video (ignore the part where I nearly face plant). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1a6DSRlpJI

No Beveled Mag Well: All pistols should at least have a beveled mag well. It makes it easier to insert magazines. You can see me dropping a mag in the 2nd part of the video.

Size Efficiency: The 92 is quite large for a 15 round 9mm. I realize the design is quite old but the grip is so large it makes it difficult for shooters with medium or smaller hands to shoot well.

Plastic (Polymer) Parts: While I have no scientific evidence to back up my concern, the polymer trigger worries me. I wonder if it'll break after so many trigger pulls. The guide rod is also polymer but that doesn't worry me as much.

Exposed Parts: the 92 design has many exposed parts, but again I have no evidence to back my uneasiness about them. People complained about them malfunctioning in the sandbox but I wouldn't know. I've only seen them out at sea and they seemed to work fine out there. Don't use Checkmate mags if you can help it.

Final Thoughts

Overall the 92FS is a decent pistol. I'm no hurry to get rid of it for the price I bought mine for. However, I would be extremely displeased if I had bought it at full price. There are other guns better suited for my needs in the same price range, new (Glock 34). If money wasn't a factor, I'd choose something different. I realize that it's the Indian and not the arrow, but this is not my favorite arrow out of the quiver. You can put most functioning guns in my hands and I'll be able to run them fine. But why settle for less than the best?

Judging by the video you can use a lot more practice with the Beretta before using it in a competition. The pistol looked like it ran fine without any jams, more user errors than anything. You will have to train more with the Beretta compared to the Glock since there is a manual safety and a DA/SA trigger that takes some getting used to. You can bevel the magwell with a dremel tool, or just practice your reloads more, you'll get better at it. I'm wicked fast with reloads with my Beretta since the slide release is right there by my right hand thumb. My hands are larger though, so if you have smaller hands you might have more trouble. As far as polymer parts go, I would swap them out with steel parts. My Beretta 92FS INOX doesn't have any plastic parts besides the grip panels. I love my Beretta and it is a great pistol, very reliable and accurate and soft recoil and silky smooth slide action.

I would be more concerned with the guide rod being plastic than the trigger. I mean it is taking way more abuse per shot than the trigger.

Opinions on technique vary and change over time. Some use the slide release others pull the slide. The issue with the 92fs safety relates to chosen slide release technique As for the manual safety, it makes it a safer gun in the hands of the user; we nevery hear much of all the NDs prevented by manual safety systems. It's a big gun for 15+1, but 18rd flush mags are available. I don't worry about the plastic parts. There are better gaming guns for sure.

The new triggers are metal with plastic overmolded onto them. It's not plastic only.

A 'lobster claw' overhand reloading technique is a bad idea with a 92F type gun, no question.

IMO the slide release is easy to find / large enough to activate.

The commercially-available 92 is extremely reliable IMO.  I would not hesitate for a second to use one as a SD / HD gun.

92 pistols found in Army inventories can be pretty beat-to-heck.  Some guys have bad opinions of them due to the experience they had in the military with crappy guns and unreliable mags.

Agree that it is fairly large.  The Centurion and Compact models bring the size down a bit but its still pretty thick.

4073

I learned how to shoot on a Sig P226 so I know the DA/SA trigger very well. I regrettably dumped it for a M&P which I thought would be a faster pistol. The great thing about Sigs is that there are no manual safeties to unintentionally engage.

I also shoot 1911s a lot. On those you can (and should) ride the safety so it doesn't turn on when you don't want it to.

If I had practiced more before shooting it in a competition, that wouldn't have been realistic, would it? I don't choose when someone attacks me and if the 92 was the closest thing to me I would have to use it. What I did allowed me to learn about the short comings of the pistol and myself as a system and will allow me to quickly fix any issues I have for next time.

It turns out that the over the top racking method that I practice is as universal as everyone says it is and I might have to reevaluate that technique choice.  

While the Beretta wouldn't be my first choice for a combat handgun, it would be far from my last. At the PD I work for, they used to be standard issue, if you chose an issued gun. As one of the firearms instructors, I have shot them quite a bit and, frankly, I like them. They fit my hand like they were made especially for me, the trigger (DA and SA) is smooth with no stacking (if a little long in DA), they are accurate as all get out and they have proven to be reliable, despite all the abuse cops can throw at anything they touch (there's a saying that cops and saltwater can fuck up anything; it's true; you could hand a cop a brick and, at the end of his shift, he will have broken it!). I bought a LE trade in a few years ago for a price I couldn't pass up and still shoot it once in a while. I have no idea how many rounds are through it, but it works very well. I'd rather have one of my Glocks, but if I had to go into combat, a Beretta would be OK, too, and I would do OK with it.

It is kinda big for what it is and a dated design, but you must remember, the basic design is better than 25 years old now. It's contemporaries would be the basic Sig P-Series, the S&W 3rd Gen autos and the like. If the Beretta wasn't a good gun, it never would have lasted this long. Just take your time and learn the gun and it's eccentricities (and it does have some) and I think you'll end up liking it just fine.

Bub75

Thanks for the vid, had you ever practiced before competing?  Safety off is driven into my dry fire practice and I do it naturally.

Get a "D" trigger spring for your Beretta, it makes a huge difference in the DA pull

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=27930/Product/HAMMER-SPRING-D-VERSION

For only $5.61 is the best thing you can do for your 92FS

We all understand you don't like the Beretta 92FS AzNooB.

But why do this hit piece on a classic sidearm? You're just wasting everyone's time here.

You buy a handgun based on  " I found one at a price no one could resist." and then write a huge post trashing it?

I'd suggest you sell your used, economic  Beretta as fast as you can,  buy what you like and move on.  

Sounds like you need to get more familiar with your gun...

You should look into getting a 92"G" best style of the 92. No Safety just a decocker, like a Sig. I myself am more of a glock guy, but, having always wanted a 92 when I saw a very clean one at the gun show I grabbed it up. It's as you said a lot of gun with good heft for the 9mm round, that and very comfortable in the hand. I love shooting that pistol, and it likes to be shot fast. My problem now is keeping it fed

Yeah, I love Berettas but I won't own a gun with a slide mounted lever, it is just a training issue for me.  I have enough with SAO and DA/SA, I don't need another lever location.

Transitioning back and forth between a gun with a manual safety and one without is an real issue.  I notice if I shoot any pistol without a safety to one with, I have to make sure to deactivate it. Even with M&Ps I have had that problem since I have some with and some without.

You don't like the plastic trigger on a Beretta, but you really like the Glock 34?  I'm a Glock guy, but the Beretta is fine.

Gig 'em,

backbencher

To me the composite triggers are gritty.  I have replaced all the composite ones in my Beretas with steel ones.

Wow, these are problems I just do not encounter. OP, do you regularly have to rack the slide before a presentation, IE not carry with one in the chamber? If so, then yes- You have a problem and need to train on it. When I carry my S&W 3913, the safety is really just used as a decocker- I never have to disengage the safety if I wanted to fire the thing.  I know what I'm toting at any given time, and I'm not going to forget that I'm toting my 3913 vs my G19 or my 1911, when I grasp it, my hand will do what it is supposed to do.

I have a 2002 model Beretta 96 Compact Inox and wouldn't trade it for the world!    While not exactly a rare firearm, the 96 compact inox versions weren't very common.    It was the first handgun I bought, and there aren't any synthetic materials besides the plastic magazine follower, and the Hogue rubber grips.

I agree the slide mounted safety can cause some hiccups when handling, but that can be easily overcome with training and range time.     The 96C wouldn't be my go-to pistol, but I could certainly protect myself and those close to me if needed.

If its a real problem, get a 92G; no safety only a decocker.

I really like my 96C as well.  It's a good size.

I hate to pile on here OP but you lost all credibility when you blamed dropping your mag during a reload on the gun no having a beveled mag well. If you have issues there...well... Not much I can say.

Note I'm NOT a 92 fanboy at all. I've seen too many broken locking blocks to trust a high round count 92. But in general theyre pretty decent guns.

Alrighty then.

I read bitching about this & cannot for the life of me figure of why this is an issue. I've fired thousands of rds thru my 92FS in USPSA matches & 3 Gun matches & have NEVER, EVER ONCE had an issue with the 92FS' safety................      

For those of us who were trained to rack the slide overhand, the Beretta causes issues.

No, I would never carry a gun unchambered. However, what if I needed to do an admin load quickly or clear a malfunction for whatever reason? In a time is life situation, I may not be fortunate enough flip the safety back off if it had been turned on unintentionally. With the 1911, CZ, or USP design, I can at least ride the safety with my strong hand thumb to prevent unintentional activation.

This leads to the next question: Is the overhand method a flawed method of racking the slide or is the slide mounted safety the culprit? I use an overhand racking method because I own several different guns with slide stops in different locations. Instead of learning different slide stop locations on each gun, it's easier for me to rack a slide which is generally in the same spot on each gun.

As for the magazine changes, no other gun has given me this much trouble besides a GI 1911 and BHP. I don't recall ever having missed an M&P, Glock, FNP, or Sig mag well like that.

I realize I am an inexperienced shooter compared to most of ARFCOM and that there are many better shooters out there. I am still an unclassified shooter and only shot 85% of a Grand Master at that match. Not all of us have the privilege of learning the manual of arms on every pistol in existence. It is easier for someone like me to learn a standard manual of arms and apply it to every firearm I pick up.

For those of you who think I'm a Glock fanboy, I don't even currently own one. I try to look at each gun objectively and point out both the flaws and perks. I think the 92FS is good, but not great.

On my old glock, I always did overhand grasp, but now that I'm running a 92, I'm trying to get that out of my system. What I'm finding myself naturally doing is pinching the slide at the safety, but pulling up and back; that way no chance the safety could accidently be engaged. If you don't have a choice with your gear, then you have to improvise, adapt, and overcome... aka embrace the suck.

What abuse?  It stays in one place and guides the recoil spring.  It isn't banging into anything, it isn't getting banged into, it isn't twisting, deflected, or anything else.

Kinda harsh on AzNoob, don't you think?  He took time to CONTRIBUTE to the site; I don't think you should try to shut him down just because you might not agree with his opinions.  Besides, he posted some "Pro" points too.  

If you only want positive reviews of every single gun ever reviewed, maybe Guns & Ammo would be more to your liking?

I appreciate hearing honest opinions - even if they are not 100% favorable. Box-O-Truth would be one example of complete, honest assessments right here on arfcom.

Agreed.

I agree with some of the things the OP stated. It's too large to to be a good fit for ME and why 15rd mags in a pistol that size is beyond me as well. However I also agree it is quite capable of being shot well.

Referencing the overhand slide grasp, this is frowned upon in matches due to the cocking hand trapping the ejecting loaded rd out of the chamber. (I might've phrased that one a bit better.)

So it's for that reason (mostly) that *I* never use the overhand method anymore & always use the grasp-the-back-of-the-slide method. This keeps me consistent on all of my guns & helps keep my hand away from the dangerous parts of the gun as well, IMO.  

Speaking as one who's known to be less than ideal on his tactfulness, I'm sure AZnoob didn't take it personally. However, one doesn't come out & badmouth a gun as successful as the 92FS & not expect a little bit of backlash, IMO. Lord knows I get that when I badmouth the 10/22's..........    

I use an overhand rack on any semi-auto when reloading a new mag. With the 92s, I just put the tips of my fingers under the right side (looking at the back of the slide) safety. This allows me to rack the slide the same way as everything else and prevent the safety from going into the down position. That being said,I still wish they would come back out with decocker only models again.

Nice review and all, but when I watch the video, I see someone trying to be too fast than their skill level. I'm sure you are an accurate shooter as can be heard my your contact with the metal targets. However, on the first string of shots fired, it appears that the 3ed and especially 4th shot are while you are disengaging the stage.
If you allowed yourself more time to become familiar with the pistol, or slowed down a bit, maybe this would have not happened.
I can appreciate this is a timed event and you want a good score, but you nearly ate it running to the first stage.
I have the Baretta, as well as many other pistols. The Baretta is more of a nostalgia piece in my collection, but I would never feel under gunned or ill equipped with it.
Keep it, you will miss it greatly once it is traded or sold.

Damn, you do need to slow down

18 round mags are available and so close to a flush fit it is negligible.

Why they didn't go with the 18ers to begin with is beyond me... My two 15rnd OEM's suck compared to my two 18rnd Mec-Gar mags.

Yep. that was my point.