Let me start this off by sayining I love it. Feels good, points good and looks good. But I have to wonder about something. My instructor told me to point it at him(unloaded of course) and he grabs the top of the gun and before I know it he has the upper part of the pistol in his hand and I'm standing there with an empty frame. In less than 1.5 seconds he had disassembled my gun. I realize you would need at least more than basic knowledge of firearms to know about this, but I must admit it is somewhat unnerving. I work nights in downtown Cleveland and most BG's I have come across use Glocks or a taped up revolver of some kind and most are jacked up on crack or booze. And so far none have got close enough to me to grab my weapon. I wonder if this has happened to any other Beretta owners in the line of duty? And another question I have is there preban hicap mags for the 96? I am not a LEO just private security. If anyone could tell me if I can get some it would be appreciated greatly. TIA

That move is commonly shown in Jackie Chan movies, and it's BS.  For one thing, if you'd had a magazine inserted the worst he could have done was made it so you couldn't fire it until you flipped the lever back into position.

Anybody who can get close enough to do that to your Beretta will have a much easier time getting that close and forcing the slide back so that you can't fire it, a skill that works on all pistols, not just Berettas.  More to the point, if he had enough skill to do that imagine the shit he could be doing to you instead of wasting time showing off with the pistol.  A person with that level of skill is better off leaving the gun intact so he can use it after he tears your throat out.

Nonetheless, since your instructor isn't the only Jackie Chan fan in the world Beretta does make a replacement takedown lever that doesn't have the ridges making it harder to manipulate.

As for hi-cap mags, they only give you one more round of .40 in each mag so I wouldn't bother.

Thanks Hoplophile, after i posted this I searched around and found out about the high caps, and LE onlys only give you 12. Also the Chackie Chan thing makes me feel better, besides I certainly wont let a BG get that close to me, if I can help it.

They did that shit in "Lethal Weapon 3" too. They seem to overlook the bad guy asking the gun owner to hold still while they grab his gun?      


Beretta's are damn fine guns. Personally, I have no use for the .40 caliber though.

Why do you say that about the 40 cal.? I like it. I got a Glock model 22 ,a SAXD40, and now the Beretta 96. I refuse to have a 9mm. but hey its ford vs. chevy thing.

Hi there Mr. New To Beretta Guy.  Good Luck with yours.  Until mine got ripped off it was the finest handgun I'd ever owned.  Never jammed.  EVER.  Bought it in 1980 and had fired probably 50,000 rounds through it over the last 23 years.  I had a stovepiped round once, but it was because I was shooting reloads and got one with no powder, just a primer, and the bullet stuck in the barrel 1/2 way to the muzzle, I cleared it in 5 minutes and was shooting again quickly.  I really don't like the .40 myself, but that's because I'm kind of a traditionalist, and go either for the 9s or .45s.  It's a personal thing and I don't outwardly knock .40s, I just don't carry one.  Beretta is one of the oldest companies of any kind which has remained in business since, like, the 15th century.  They must be doing something right.  Beretta pistols make me think that Italian engineering is *not* an oxymoron.  I loved mine.  *sniff* **wipes away a tear**

Yes one can yank the slide off a Beretta as you described.  Has it ever happened in the real world?  I suspect urban legend here.

I've owned my 92 since 1988.  Thousands of rounds.  Zero jams.  Nothing.  

No broken parts.  Did put a spring kit in just because it seemed like a good idea.  Did help the trigger pull.

10-14 pound trigger vs. a jet li wannabe.  Well I can safely say that anyone who tries to attempt this when a loaded firearm is pointed in their face that they will loose, and more than likely walk away missing a face.

Hi, I carried 96D for over two years LEO before switching departments and issue weapons to glock 22.  I loved the ease of the takedown lever for maintenance and as previous post stated believe urban legend/ film stunt.  The important point is weapon retention tactics/ training.  Mindset is the most important.  

The same thing can be done with revolvers by grabbing the cylinder preventing it from rotating. If the hammer is down the cylinder needs to rotate to the next bullet using double action or thumbing back the hammer.

Again to echo the previous postings anyone coming for my pistol is going to get shot. Never draw a weapon on someone that you're not willing to shoot to kill.

Quoted: Why do you say that about the 40 cal.?

It's a solution in search of a problem. Also, it's chamber pressures are unnecessarly high, resulting in some Glock kabooms.

If I want something bigger than a 9mm, then I'll use a .45acp.

.40's still have a terrible rep for accuracy too.

Lethal Weapon 4 .. Jet Li IIRC

Yes, if someone is that close and has that amount of skill.. you are dead and not because they are gonna yank the slide off your gun.