Hello all:
I am thinking, either of trading or buying out right, the Beretta 92s(?).
Please do not purchase the 92S, which is an older version of the 92FS, also known as the M9.
The military trials resulted in some changes to the design of the 92S, which became the 92F. Addition of the "safety disk" to prevent a broken slide from flying off the rear of the pistol resulted in the name change to 92FS.
The 92FS is a fine pistol if you can manage the heavy DA trigger, and if you can reach the trigger properly given the large size of the grip frame.
The pistol has an extremely smooth slide to rail fit, and the slide feels like it is running on ball bearings. It is very reliable, and you will not experience stoppages unless you use sub-standard after market magazines. Stay with Beretta magazines, or those made by Beretta's magazine manufacturer, MDS, or mags made by Mecgar, the former manufacturer of factory mags. Especially good is Beretta's newest low friction sand resistant magazine.
Over the years, the M9/92FS has received its share of negative press, some perhaps deserved, or some imagined.
Deserved: slide breakage issues just after adoption of the pistol by the military, racking the slide can result in unintentionally decocking, thereby leaving the pistol on safe.
Undeserved or imagined: the open slide lets in debris, the pistol can be disassembled by a gangster facing you by ripping the slide off the frame leaving the useless lower half in your hand (possible in theory, exceedingly unlikely), the pistol is unreliable (there have been issues with military purchase after market "low bid" magazines, probably caused by springs not properly tempered), an adversary can prevent you firing the weapon by applying pressure to the trigger bar, located outside the frame (again, theoretically possible, but exceedingly unlikely, and it requires the strength of a gorilla), it is not a good stopper (perhaps not with military ball, but just as good as any other 9mm with premium ammo).
I am sure I have forgotten some of the pros and cons published over the years, but after reading it all and using one since the military first adopted the M9, I would not hesitate to use one.
