Saw this gat in a LGS; kinda curious.  Looks to be good, and it's not the later bi-colored ones. Forgot the price but I can dicker.

My big fuss is the .40 cal.  I don't have anything in that caliber, but I can make amends.  What's this gun like in .40?

I have one in 9, so apples to whatever if you have both and can describe any notable differences.

Differences are lower mag capacity in .40 and a different recoil impulse.
If the price is good and you want  .40, get it.

The 96 in 40 is one of the few 40s i have shot that is almost as pleasant as 9mm, and I will FO on one someday, especially the model you have access to.

The 96 comes in several variants. The G, D, Centurian and Brigadier. The Taurus PT-100 (.40 cal) is another option, and it has the frame mounted safety / decocker which is (IMO) equal to any of the 96 models.

I have 92's and a 96, and I like them both.

What’s a “good” price for these? I’m torn between trying a beretta or going tried and true Glock 22

I’ve paid just over $200 for a decent police trade in 96fs, inox and special variants go up from there. I’d say anywhere from $200-400 is a good price for a 96fs depending on condition.

Go for it. Throw a 9mm Inox barrel in it and you can shoot 9mm. Get 92 mags for better reliability. I'd also invest in a shock buffer and a recoil spring kit, if you want to shoot .40 regularly.

I paid $600 for my 2003 ghost 96 that was LNIB.

Can any 92 barrel fit?

Yep, you might want to swap for a 9mm extractor too (cheap and easy).

While I have never actually shot one, I do have some anecdotal evidence about longevity. The Ohio Highway Patrol carried 96s for a few years. IIRC, they were 96Ds coated with NP3. The Troopers used to come into the PD where I work and, of course, would stick around for a bit and shoot the breeze. Several of them reported that the 96s broke on a fairly regular basis, to the point that when they qualified, the instructors brought spare pistols in case one of them broke on the range. None of them were real "gun nuts" and couldn't really tell us exactly what broke, all they would say was that they would "lock up" and quit functioning and that everyone HATED them. To me, it sounds like broken locking blocks, but I never saw a broken one, so I may be wrong. Beretta may well have corrected the problem, but OHP didn't carry them very long before switching to DAO Sig 226s on .40. Again, no first hand experience, just anecdotal evidence.

I have a couple of 96 models, they all feed, extract, eject 100% of the time, they're easy to shoot, and shoot as well as I do :-) I prefer them over other brands in .40 like Colt, S&W and Glock all of which I have or have had.

My fave of them all is a DAO 96D Centurian. It shoots more accurately than it has a right to!

Oh, and on high mileage 92 and 96's they did break the locking block. The new LB does not fail.

My Berettas that have the old LB have not been changed, and the Taurus PT models that are Beretta clones never adopted the new LB and I know of none that failed, mine included.