Me too!

 

My dad carried one as a duty gun from about 1990 when he bought it to replace his model 19 all the way up to 2020 when his department mandated that all duty guns have a rail and a light. This was during the panic buying phase so all he could find was a S&W M&P to fit their mandate. Still a great gun but I know he misses his old Beretta

 

I LOATHED that rascal when they first came along and 80% of our 1911s disappeared.
I could not for the life of me fire Expert with it which was PROFOUNDLY embarrassing in S.F. We could go to the range with an array of various model pistols from the arms room and our own privately owned weapons (POWs) and I could fire most everything - that condition allowed - at an expert level but throw that M-9 up and I would juuuuuust 'qualify'. But that stinkin' "Movie-Gun".... no joy! Same day - same ammo - same me and nothing but shame and humiliation for Todd.😩

What really threw a wrench in the kettle of fish was that one of the POWs was my Team Sergeant's Taurus Fauxretta PT-92 which I had no problem shooting expertly. MUCH better safety too, by the way.💡

Eventually, anecdotal evidence showing this to be a 'Todd-thing' and not a Beretta-thing... I commenced to make peace with the monstrous beast and once I got down off my high horse, I grew rather fond of it. I had never had a problem deploying with a 9mm so the caliber wasn't the issue.

Fast forward to me in the dust and my M-4 in a short-term, laid-up-sorry state - I was EMINENTLY pleased to have my M-9 and 75 rounds immediately to-hand.

One weird paradoxical consideration of 1911 to M-9 that I found was that with the 1911 as a primary weapon, it was supremely easy to count rounds but one also dumped mags with as many as half the capacity still in the mag - before leaving one zone and entering another. With the 15 rounds of the M-9, while a single mag would go farther without dumping it in your blouse... it was sometimes easy to lose the round count too.

When those first M-9 outfits were released after I retired... I couldn't get one quickly enough. Yup.... STILL think that the safety is idiotically designed to satisfy-the-stupid.

Funny that my every-day-carry - large platform is a Kimber Det-1. I guess that it really IS true; "What goes around, comes around."

 

I much prefer the 92G-SD or the 92 Elite LTT to the M9/M9 commercial.

 

I had been shooting handguns for quite a while by the second half of the ‘80’s but never a 9mm. Long story short, I was representing the Wyoming Highway Patrol in a lawsuit in which the reliability of their newly adopted Beretta 92 came into question. The Colonel gave me one of their guns and a case of ammo and told me to take it home and try to make it choke. And I tried. Dirt, water, mud, etc., it just ran and ran. Felt like the slide was running on ball bearings, and I loved it. I eventually had to give the Colonel his gun back but I got another right away and I’ve had at least one ever since. I have a bunch of 9mm’s now of several types but the Beretta is still one of my top favorites.

 

The Colonel gave me one of their guns and a case of ammo and told me to take it home and try to make it choke. And I tried. Dirt, water, mud, etc., it just ran and ran. Felt like the slide was running on ball bearings, and I loved it. I eventually had to give the Colonel his gun back but I got another right away and I’ve had at least one ever since.

Wouldn't it have been cool if you'd been allowed to keep that "rented mule"?

 

They are fine sidearms and satisfy most and especially the bean counters. I'm just a Marine who could never be happy with anything except a 1911A1 or a M1945A1 in hand...But if I'm honest I'll say if i must carry a pea sized 9mm it can be in a Marine M18. LOL!

 

Beretta pistols have never been good to me. Had four; 92FS, 84FS, & 3032. My 3032 was a replaced (which I paid) because the frame cracked. They all broke after the warranty expired, Berreta refused to do anything. Tried locating repair services. Repairs would have been more than original cost of the pistol. If you like em and they work for you, wonderful.

 

The wood stock panels give it the Ole Worldly appeal.

Those pictures make me want....

 

I was in the Navy when all the other services had gone away from the 1911 to the Beretta. We pulled into San Diego and there was an indoor gun range that would let you rent a gun to try out. This was 1986, I'm sure a lot has changed. I had read about the 92 in gun mags but never handled one, so decided to rent that. It fired fine and was fairly accurate. But my hands are small, and compared to a 1911, the grips felt like trying to hold a brick. I hate to say, but that's the last time I handled or fired one.

 

But my hand are small, and compared to a 1911, the grips felt like trying to hold a brick. I hate to say, but that's the last time I handled or fired one.

Even for a fella with rather large hands like mine, that plow-handle took some getting used to when you didn't really have much choice. Up until then, I had thought that Hi(gh) Powers were 'large'.

Of course later, they both felt nicer after I bought a Ruger P85. That thing makes a CZ52 feel like a Walther.

 

Even though I like a good 1911 better, the 92FS is my favorite full size "wonder nine."

It's also the most accurate semi-auto handgun I own. Great firearm.

 

I spent 27 years in the Army. I was there when the transition was made. My experience with the M9 was both extensive and unsatisfactory.

 

A man goes into a basement bar with two companions. The bar is run by the “White Wolves.” Things immediately go south and the two men behind the bar start reaching under the bar. He has seen enough Westerns to know what comes next. He yells at his companions to leave, he will cover them. He places his hand on his Beretta M9 on his chest, which he had unstrapped prior entering the bar, the Hogue grips feel familiar. Contrary to regulations, there is round in the chamber and the safety is off. He has fired thousands of rounds with a M9 and knows it will do what he needs it to. The two behind the bar stopped reaching when he put his hand on the Beretta. His companions have left and he slowly backs out of the bar, gets in his vehicle and drives off with his companions. Mistake going into that bar and says so in his report. Blames the Brit for making a bad call. He did not have to use it, but he never felt his Beretta would let him down.

 

Back when the Beretta 92 was the new thing I knew someone who had one and I shot it. I'm not going to knock it because Beretta makes some nice guns, but the one thing that stood out was how large the grip was, which was one of the complaints about the 1911.
FWIW: Beretta went to Colt to see if they'd be interested in making the M9 for the government and were given a cold shoulder.

 

I have a stainless 92FS. Never even a hiccup.

 

Is that the one that they call "Inox"? I always thought those were quite distinguished looking.

 

I'm quite fond of Beretta's, the 92 series guns being my favorite, with the smaller grip straight backstrap Vertec series being my favorite. The reason I like them, is because they work. As others noted above, they are simply one of the most reliable pistols ever made. Disclaimer - the 3032 Tomcat, in my experience, is something Beretta should disown and do away with. The one's I've handled have all been a POS. The little .22's and .25's seem to be reliable enough.

That all said, early on I gravitated to the Sig's and not Beretta's, as I much preferred the Sig's decocker location and grip size. I'm kind of a Sig P series pistol whore, having owned just about every model, carried most for work and would likely place one as one of the last guns I'd own if it came to that.

My only 9mm Beretta remaining is the Wilson Combat Brigadier, which is an amazingly pistol. My only gripe is the fat grip still. I wish I could find someone with a Wilson Brigadier Vertec that wants to trade straight across. If I were buying it outright, I'd have gotten the Wilson Vertec outright but seeing as how it was a $20 raffle ticket win, the price was right.

 

Disclaimer - the 3032 Tomcat, in my experience, is something Beretta should disown and do away with. The one's I've handled have all been a POS. The little .22's and .25's seem to be reliable enough.

The Beretta 21A [.22LR] that I own is the most immense POS that I have ever or still own. It has no extractor and often fails to extract and eject. Failures to feed are very common. Ammo raged from heavy subsonic rifle to hypervelocity light weight rounds. Domestic or foreign. Nothing reliable in any of them. I've tried four different that I've purchased and several other Beretta brand magazines and none of them reliably work. I tried running it dry, tried graphite and silicone, tried running it wet with every brand of wonder oil I could find - zilch in reliability.

it was made in the 1980s and I was the only owner.

The only reason I kept it was as a teaching aide when teaching CWP classes and at the local LE academy that what seems like a good answer/idea when mass and size are concerns is often the worst possible choice. It was great for teaching stoppage drills because of their frequency with that weapon and the need for a small metal ramrod to clear the chamber, even with the tip-up barrel feature. At least the Liberator pistol from WW2 was in an effective caliber and you knew you had only one shot.

Junk, junk, junk.

 

I've never had anything in particular against the Beretta that I didn't like about other similar guns...I simply don't like slide-mounted safeties. That's not a complaint about the quality of the piece itself. Every pistol I've owned with slide-mounted safeties...Berettas included...I've sold off save for a NIB Beretta M9A3 I picked up several years ago. Of every Beretta 92 I've handled or shot my main reaction is that it's a big gun for such a small hole in the barrel.

I guess my biggest gripe about the 92/M9 pistols is that they're not a 1911. Maybe it's the NIH (Not Invented Here) syndrome.

 

I carried mine for a good number of years. I have always enjoyed carrying and firing it.
.

 

I was in the Marines when will still qualified with the 1911A1 and transitioned to the M9. With hammer bite I'd qualify as a marksman, with the M9 without hammer bite I qualified as an expert. Bought my first 92FS in 2003, and still have it. I like Berettas so much I added the M9A1 compact with rail and the 92X Centurion to the collection. Always had good luck with Berettas. Easy to clean, repair and shoot. Reliability for me has always been 100%.

 

The 92FS is an extremely accurate pistol. They are large, cumbersome and finiky, but other than that, they are great pistols. I don't like'em, but that really doesn't mean anything.

 

I've used the Beretta 92 ( Italian made) since 1985 and NEVER a failure , jam, stove pipe or any issue.

 

i had a 96 also, made int USA, still never a problem. .40 clal just has a little bit more snot to it.

 

My only Beretta. First year, 1992 centurion.