Greetings. I have an early 92F, made in Italy, without the slide blocks (naturally), and am hoping someone can point me to the right direction regarding the risk of slide failure in this particular tool, Ser.# D676XXX.
This has been a fine sidearm: the first semiaauto 9mm I have had, bought new in 1989. I have shot it variously a little, a lot, not much, and now more. It has about 8-10 K rounds through it, I think, with only a few hiccups due to shooter error or ammunition.
This particular firearm is made in Italy. My understanding is that the early problem with slide failure occurred in early US produced weapons (T or F?), containing teryllium (causing problems for unspecified metallurgic reasons), in SEAL teams using subsonic ammunition (+/- suppressors), mitigated by adding slide blocks (so the slide would not come off and damage operator), and solved through metallurgic magic.
I am currently resuscitating it with a new 92D spring to improve the still bad first pull.
My question is this: Is there a source or other information that I can look at to see if this particular slide is at risk? Sending it to Beretta for inspection is always an option but I would like to do my own due diligence first.
Con respectos,
Rick
PS A good story: When I worked in Florida in 89-90 I had the chance to talk at length with a Marine Corp Sargent stationed at Quantico during the M9 Trials. I asked him directly whether the Beretta had been chosen for either 1) political reasons, or 2) cheapest bid. He replied, "No Sir,
We shot it up, down and all around and it did the best." He had nothing bad to say about other handguns when I asked about the Glocks and Sigs, but reported that they had suffered more failures during that particular trial.
PPS I really like Glocks, and Sigs, and think that for a simple twist of fate either would be the currently designated M9.