Beretta M96 .40 S&W

I just picked up a used Beretta M96 in .40 S&W. Has got the external wear consistent with an LE service gun at some point, mainly just some finish boo-boos.

I've never been what you'd call a .40 fan. I do own and shoot a couple 10mm's that I'm very partial to. One is my old duty pistol, a S&W M1076 and the other a Colt Delta Elite SS with Novak adjustable carry sights.
I've hunted with the Colt and it's very accurate and effective on deer.
The ~10 years I carried the M1076, our duty round was the '10 LITE', so I knew what a steel frame .40 would feel like mostly, as they are ballistic twins.

So, I did not need this Beretta, but it was a for sure deal from a friend. And, knowing I already had dies and bullets from loading the 10mm's, knew all I'd need would be some cheap range brass to get ammo together.

It may be an older model, as it has the flat-front, sort of 'hooked' face on the trigger guard. I tossed the rubber grips that'd been on it, found some G10 grips on 'Bay that feel great, and supposedly a bit thinner than factory plastics.

Have only done one range trip with it. Shot some approximately factory equivalent 180 gr. TC hard cast as well as some hotter 165 gr JHP's.
I was a bit surprised. It felt and recoiled more like a 9mm than anything else. (I have a Taurus 92 9mm, so there was a real similarity....used for a 'house gun' and previously a truck gun)

Anyway - this thing (as well as the mentioned Taurus) is pretty darn large for CC and I have several other good pieces of hardware for that role.
Not a lot of holster choices out there, and I'm not a fan of pancake designs.
Found a FDE-color Blackhawk Serpa for near nothing and figure it will do for woods carry. Also have a web belt rig with a Bianchi UM84 (?) camo Cordura flap holster that I've carried the Colt 10mm in before - the Beretta fits that fine.

Anyone here have any hard experience with the Beretta M96?
Do I need to go ahead and source an extra locking block for it?
Since it was birthed from the M9/92 9mm design, am wondering if running top-end .40 handloads will pose a problem? Just pondering, 'cuz if I really wanna move .401" bullets fast, that's what 10mm's are for.
Thanks to all.

I’ve got one but haven’t shot it much. I wouldn’t hot-load it as it’s a .40 based on a 9mm frame as opposed to my HK USP which started out as a .40 S&W before it was introduced in 9mm.

While I’ve never seen a locking block break Beretta must have updated the design for a food reason so it wouldn’t hurt to replace it. What I have seen break (on an older 92F) is a trigger spring so I replaced them with 5h3 Wolff design on a few of my Berettas.

I was issued and carried a new M96D until they were replaced by the .40 s&w Sig P226 DAO. Our M96D's were some of the very first ones out of Beretta and they were basically 9mm guns that had .40 barrels stuck in them and the breachface opened up. As a result some of the springs were not up to the task and there were issues that took a while to be sorted out.
Some SRT Troopers with really high round count guns started to have some issues start to show up in their guns (our SRT teams were just getting going and they were going to schools all over the country training and they were shooting a bunch). Some of those high use frames were getting battered and there was some peening and deformation of the frame (I'm not sure exactly where the peening was located). Some of the SRT Troopers claimed they were having to drive the slide off the frames during disassembly.
About the only thing I would do up front is get a new recoil spring. I've heard of the locking blocks cracking on high use 92's but I've never heard of it on 96s.
I loved my Beretta and shot it extremely well. I had extensive time & thousands of rounds thru a personal Taurus PT99 so the transition from our previous duty M681's to the M96D was very easy for me. I liked my 96D well enough to buy it when they were traded in.

“Anyway - this thing (as well as the mentioned Taurus) is pretty darn large for CC and I have several other good pieces of hardware for that role.”

Compare the Beretta to a 3” barrel S&W K frame and it doesn’t seem too large.

I have a 96A1. It is accurate and reliable. I don't have a high round count with it, but somewhere north of a thousand rounds.
Finding a holster was a bit of a challenge, but Beretta does make an osw thumb break for it. It rides comfortably.
I think it is an overlooked gem.

I had a 96 Beretta full size. I couldn't hit much with it. Probably my fault from not getting to know it. Do have 2 .40's, RIA Commander, and Jericho 941. Yes, you get some more recoil than a 9mm but that is to be expected. Bob

Holsters

Out of all these, the Galco Combat Master and Don Hume JIT belt slide (very rough on clothing) are my personal favorites. The Andrew’s Car Jacker and IWB were extremely uncomfortable due to my recent diagnosis of Dunlap Disease.

I have a Beretta 96D that I purchased new. It was the first semi-auto issued to my agency. It was a smooth transition for an old revolver dude. It is accurate enough and with no manual safety, it is a good draw and shoot self defense pistol. Mine is all stock with the plastic grips. I don't shoot it that much, but it is one of my "ready to go" home defense weapons.