I just ordered one at a deep-deep discount through a Beretta "Family/Employee/Dealer" program.

I need a 5" 9mm like a hole in the head but for the money, I couldn't say no. I'm sure there are many here who have experience with this piece. What do I have to look forward to and what not-so-much?

I have owned a Beretta 92F, two 92FS, and a 92 FS Inox. These are fine shooting pistols. They are large and bulky, though it is possible to conceal one.






Magazines are plentiful for the Beretta 92 series, and some are junk. Stick with factory or MecGar magazines for best service. The Galco CM202 was the best OWB belt holster I ever used for this pistol. The Don Hume belt slide is also very serviceable.

I had one for years that I loved. Super accurate and it would shoot anything. Great house gun.

I have both a 92 and a 96(40S&W) and IMO they are excellent guns. I also have a Ceiner 22 conversion unit which, until the past few years, made them very inexpensive plinkers.
Jim

I have a 92FS that I bought new and use as my nightstand protection piece. I feel like it is too big to carry. I would prefer a single stack for that. But I dearly love mine. I particularly like the de-cocker. I feel very safe in handling it and using it. Virtualy no recoil and very accurate. I let my 14 Y.O. son shoot it and he loves it also. The only negative is that with the large cap mags you can go through a lot of ammo quick. I have never had a failure to fire situation. I use the winchester white box ammo and it feeds fine.
I'm sure you will love yours.

Roger

__________________
Eph 2:8-9

Like the others have said. it's a soft shooting, very accurate, hi cap hand gun. The fit and finish is excellent. The slide feels like it is running on ball bearings. A great house / truck / range gun. A little large and heavy for CC.

I have 12 (at least) 9mm's by 7 manufacturers, but the 92FS is the one I'd keep if I could have just one. I'm not going to conceal carry any of them though.

The recontoured backstrap on current M-92FS's does make the gun feel better in the hand than does the M-9.

had an italian made 92fs amongst others that was super nice. very accurate and i had a slew of checkmate surplus mags that were $9 new and ran 100%. they have limitations and its a dated and potentially problematic design but unless you plan on shooting 50k plus rounds thru it, you should be fine. I planned on keeping my italian forever, that was until I had an opportunity to trade it for a 4" factory nickle model 57. That was an easy trade for me since 92's will be around forever.

The M92/M9 is highly reliable, which is mainly why it won the bidding for the service pistol. The trigger pull is unimpressive and there are only a handful of gunsmiths who can make one accurate enough for bullseye competition, but few need this level of accuracy anyhow. It is much easier to train someone to safely use than a 1911. As long as one works with it and develops some good basic practices and loads it with good ammo you will have a fine home defense or field pistol.

Also, military magazines are good.

Well, that and the $300- $400 difference.

My Beretta 92 is just as reliable as any of my Smith guns. That Italian 9mm. Has never hic-up'ed in nearly 20 yrs. of use. ( some competitive contests, too)
Not as accurate as my mod. 19 or Colt NM. Gold Cup.... but I think of it fondly, nonetheless.

__________________
Dino in Pittsburgh's Rat Pack

Beretta now sells 17 round magazines for the 92.

Mec-Gar sells 18 round (and 20 round I think).

Summary; you can carry a lot of ammunition in just a few magazines.

My Itialian Version has been totally reliable with any ammo that I have fed it,I purchased it new in the mid 80's

I've owned a few, got one left. Reliable, easy to operate, good mag capacity. It is a large sidearm, close to the 15 shot FNX .45. I got a SS barrel from CDNN when they were $50 and this eliminated the "smiley face" wear pattern on the original barrel. Joe

__________________
Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

I carried a M-9 for years as my issue weapon in the military. I bought a 92FS because I wanted to become very proficient with a weapon on which my life might depend. Today it is my wife's personal gun, she loves it. The 92 FS will function each and every time regardless what you feed it. I have never and I mean never encountered a malfunction with either my 92 FS or any issue M-9. That is not something I can say about many firearms. There is a new stainless model out now in 40 S&W that I'm really attracted to. Good luck with yours, I think you made a good choice.

The 92fs was the pistol chosen to replace the S&W .357 revolver while I was with the CT State Police, in about 1984, if I remember right. Some with small hands complained about the grip to trigger reach, and 9mm VS .357 mag performance level, but most liked it for its reliability and firepower. They proved very durable, and after sufficient use, most troopers range scores went up compared to revolvers, where the qualification course is shot all double action. I am unaware of any street shootings by the department that went bad because of the reduced 9mm power level, but I did feel pretty comfortable with the old Remington 125 SJHP 357 load....

Larry

I shyed away from them for many years because I thought its just too big for a 9mm. But then a friend offered me his 92FS at a price I just couldn't turn down. I thought I'd resell it, but then I shot it. I like this gun!
It now has a permant place in my "get home" bag. I figured if things go bad it would be a good idea to use what the military uses.
Mine is a former Police weapon issued by the dept in my home town. When they changed over to Sigs, officers had the option to buy their old Berettas dirt cheap. I'm the third owner of this one and its never left our little town.

I have a 92fs I bought new 20 years ago this month. The slides feel like they are rolling on ball bearings. It's big easy soft shooter.

I have a 92FS and a 92G with the Beretta 22LR conversion kit. Never had an issue with either of them. These pistols are for medium and large sized hands so it may not be a good gun for people who have small hands or that do not like wide gripped guns.

Paging Shipwreck.....Paging Shipwreck

What is the difference between a 92F and a 92FS?

__________________
Miss My Buddy crsides!!

I had a 96d State highway patrol model that I got at a great price. Sold it because I actually wanted to shoot it, and the DAO just isn't fun. I do think they are beautiful, and looked for a 92fs before purchasing my CZ75. I will probably have one someday when I come across a god deal.

The United States Navy put one in my hand once and said I should take the pistol marksmanship test. "Okay", says I, fully aware of the fact that I had ZERO experience with that pistol, and knowing that this pistol probably had many, MANY thousands of rounds through it.

I fired expert. While that didn't really surprise me all that much in re my own shooting skills I was delighted that the pistol could perform at that level.

My conclusion: They're great pistols.

***GRJ***

I've had a love-hate relationship with the 92, I'm on my 3rd one. I even traded one for the Randall in my avatar! (I was half expecting someone to say "I traded some nit-wit a knife for one") I finally bought #3, and it will stay. I don't shoot it very often, because it feels like your holding the wrong end of a baseball bat.

__________________
James L. "Jim" Rhiner

Do you mind sharing what the deep discount was. I just purchased a new police special with 3 mags for $450 from my LGS and I think I did pretty good.

I've got a 92FS that is an absolutely 100% runs all the time 9mm. It's big like others say, but I've got big hands. I've always liked them. I had an older 92F many years ago, that I simply shouldn't have gotten rid of due to an unknown at the time collectors value of it's previous owner. One never knows who'll become famous/infamous at some point.

The one Beretta I think that is perfect (as much as that can be) for a combat pistol was the 92G Vertec. Decocker only, slightly reduced grip size and rail for lights if needed/desired.

Don't know if this will help or just make it more confusing but I think it's just a difference in certain features or parts.

http://92fs.net/FAQ/S92/92Fam/1%20-%20Baseline.gif

As far as the original topic I've had a 92FS for years and can't saw a single bad thing about it. I'd like to get an Inox version some day to go with it.

For many years I carried a South African Vector Z88, a Beretta 92 copy, and although my hands are small and the pistol bulky, I really liked that gun. I think the Beretta 92F grip is even better suited to small hands since I found it handled better. I have used many Beretta 92 and highly recommend them. I didn't fancy the Taurus clones because of the controls layout and the straight foregrip like the early 92 and 92S.

Well, a short Taurus worked okay for Pistorious, eh? His looks to be stainless in news photos. To be sure, his target wasn't terribly challenging, poor girl.

I've seen photos of the Z-88; never the gun. They must be very rare here, and were never commercially imported.

In your experience, how is the quality of the Z-88 compared to real Berettas? Is the Z-88 still made, and is it an issue item for the police or the army there? Does it have the Bruniton finish like the dark Berettas, or is it blued or Parkerized?

I think the Z-88 was a fine response to the problems caused by former UN sanctions against SA, and know that both the FN and Galil rifles were made there, too. I've been told that the Walther P-38/P-1 was also made there. Is that true? One gun dealer who told me this said that the South African ones were "junk." Is that true?

I have the Italian made 92fs Inox. Like the others have said it is a little bulky but recoil is pleasant and it has never failed to fire any round I have ran through it. Also, take down and cleaning is a snap, easiest firearm to take down I own, and by the way, it is pretty accurate. Good luck with it, I think you will enjoy it.

If you can get acclimated to position of the slide mounted safety, there are no negatives to a Beretta 90-series pistol.I've owned an Italian 92fs and a 92-Compact type L. Both are soft shooters. Craftsmanship is top notch. Racking the slide is buttery smooth.

I liked them, but could never get acclimated to the awkwardly positioned slide mounted safety. I sold them both off. I missed them. I tried to buy another 92fs. The second I got it in my hand I was reminded how much I do not like that slide mounted safety.

In the used case was this gently used Taurus PT92b with a smooth dust cover.



I gave it a detailed inspection. Everything was just as smooth as the Beretta's I owned. Slide mounted safety/decocker. I can carry in every possible safe condition.

__________________
-John

I just picked up my 4th. They are all very accurate. Parts and mags are widely available and I will echo the earlier recommendation (sorry didn't quote) to stick with either Beretta factory or Mecgar magazines.

Additionally, Wilson Combat is doing some interesting things with Berettas.

Attached Images

image.jpg (85.1 KB, 31 views)

The S refers to the slide retention modification. During the
testing a few guns suffered slide breakage due to very hot
ammo and a substandard batch of steel. The left rear of the
slide was grooved and the head of the hammer pivot pin was
enlarged to ride in the groove to prevent seperation of the
slide in the event of breakage and the S was added. Great
pistols, I have a 92FS standard and Centurion, both US made
and an Italian made Centurion DAO.

Thanks, alwslate.

__________________
Miss My Buddy crsides!!

I carried the M-9 version of the Beretta 92 for most of my 24 years in the Marine Corps after they phased out the 1911. They are reliable and I like them, but primarily for nostalgic reasons. The long double action pull and mushy single action trigger isn't much different from other SA/DA pistols but prefer the one on Sig M11A1 or even the M&P 45s DAO trigger (with Apex FSS).

My normal is a crisp 1911 single action trigger and it isn't fair to compare that to any SA/DA pistol, but helps explain my impressions.

Sounds like you picked your 92FS on a sweet deal and hard to pass on that.

I was more than satisfied with the quality of the Z88. The pistol is accurate and reliable. The finish was a blue type finish, definitely not Bruniton or Parkerized. In fact the Z88 is a licenced copy of the Beretta 92. The Z88 was a better pistol in my experience than the Taurus PT92, which I found to have safety/decocker issues.

The Z88 and the SP1 & SP2 that followed are no longer produced. The Z88 differed from the 92F visually by having a differently shaped trigger guard and the front strap was somewhere between the early 92s and the 92F. I liked the front strap of the 92F better because it pushes your fingers up under the trigger guard better.

I don't believe the Walther was produced here but I'm open to correction. The arms industry here was superb manufacting everything from small arms to jet fighters and often improved on established designs like the Galil and FN FAL to suit local conditions and environment.

Further to a request to post pics of the Z88 I obtained these off the net. The particular pistol is a later model with different roll markings to the one I owned. It also has the later SP1 type hammer as opposed to the Beretta type. The grip panels on mine had the Lyttleton Engineering Works logo as opposed to Vektor.





This Z88 has the original magazine supplied with pistol, see the base plate and Beretta type hammer. Beretta mags functioned perfectly in the Z88.




Early Z88 with the Lyttelton Engineering logo on grips.




More info can be found on this site: Gun / Firearms, Tactical & Hunting Discussion Forums - GunSite South Africa

This carton smells like olive oil and garlic. Mmm-mmm-mmm...


Even the box is made in Italia. And sexy too...


One pistola, two magazines, a bicycle lock and a cookie cutter. Yep, I'm-a good to go!

The only thing that I don't like about my 92FS is the manual safety works in the opposite direction from a 1911 (JB got it right). That being said, the 92FS is one of my favorite large pistols. It's reliable and combat accurate (3" or better at 25 yards). I'd take it over a Glock, M&P, or XD any day.

Stirling-

Thanks so much for the fine photos of the Z-88. I just saw them.

I hadn't realized that the hammer shape changed on later examples. Interesting.

In these photos, it is possible to see that the front of the grip isn't as flared on the real M-92FS.

The Beretta is about the same height and width as my Sig P226 but is a 1/2" longer.

According to my local expert, the 92FS is rated +P (and seems to be true based on the carton label "92FS 9x19 para P USA") but he says that the M9 is not. That, and the snowman sights on the M9, is why I went for the 92FS instead of the M9.

He has not steered me wrong before but backing this in writing has been fruitless so far. Can anyone back up or debunk his statement?

IIRC the Sig has a 4.25 inch barrel vs. the Beretta 4.9 inch

The Beretta Centurion and Compact have 4.25 inch barrels....IMO the Centurion is better than the "Full size" Beretta; but I do have a soft spot for the compacts and compact M ( 8rd single stack)

I think you are just seeing the difference in Mil Spec vs civilian terms. The military doesn't use +P but they do use NATO so there would be no requirement to stamp the M9 +P.