Goodbye Beretta 92, Hello S&W 5906!

First off, I will disclose that I am a big fan of pretty much all of Beretta's pistols. That said, it was a tough decision, but today I let go of my very used and abused Beretta 92SB Compact Type M for this beautiful S&W 5906. A lot of you may think I am crazy for letting a rare piece out of my hands, however I have a very strong affinity for the 59 and 39 series guns, and while the 92 compact is an amazing gun, I have found that it's just not the right gun for me. Typically, I don't keep guns that I don't want to shoot, but if money wasn't so tight, and the gun safe wasn't so stuffed items, I may have saved it. My current rule however is that I have sell a gun to get a new gun. Fun fact: this is the third time this year I have traded a Beretta handgun for a Smith and Wesson handgun or revolver this year. Maybe this is a sign that I should stay with S&W for a while...

Anyway, here's my new beauty:





I believe that with a TDL serial number that it is of 1989 vintage, however I am still fairly confused by the serial numbering system used by Smith and Wesson. Overall condition is amazing, showing very little wear and tear inside and out. The only real wear is a tiny crack in the grips down near the butt, however it is almost invisible, and can't be felt when shooting.
As far as how well it shoots, I really like the relatively soft recoil, and the sights are definitely an improvement over those on any Beretta I have ever owned.

Below: Here is a target I shot at the range this evening. 7 shots on a 5" circle at 25 feet. Ammo was Perfecta 115gr FMJ RN from Walmart.



This 5906 also beat the pants off of my friend's new SD9VE, which both of us shot, and found it to be very inconsistent. Both of us were however very impressed with the 5906.

mainegrw said:

The only real wear is a tiny crack in the grips down near the butt, however it is almost invisible, and can't be felt when shooting.

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Early 5906 grips were subject to a recall. If your grips have no dimple on the bottom, S&W owes you a new set. The crack may eventually compromise the mainspring.

jsbethel said:

Early 5906 grips were subject to a recall. If your grips have no dimple on the bottom, S&W owes you a new set. The crack may eventually compromise the mainspring.

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You know, now that you say that, I did some looking around to see if I could find another set of factory grips for it, and I was unable to find another set of grips that had the same type of texture as the ones on the gun. This makes sense, and I do not believe that they have the dimple.

Thank you, may be worth a quick call to S&W customer service.

Someone did some stippling on those grips to get that texture - you won't find them that way from the factory.

Just a quick picture of the dimple on the grips showing the upgrade.



Dave

Thanks for the pics guys, I do indeed have an original set of grips. That said, when S&W customer service is back open on Monday, I am going to give them a call and see if they would be able to furnish me with a new set of grips either for free through the now 25 year old recall, or at my expense. Else I've seen them for sale elsewhere, or I will try out at set of the Hogue grips. In the meantime, the very small crack is not an issue functionally. It is around the pinhole on the left side of the grip, not on or near the mainspring retainer. The way I figure it, it still has all of the plastic below the mainspring retainer to hold it in place, and for now that seems like a good bit of material that would have to be shorn through before a failure occurs.

As to the texture of the grip, I guess it makes sense that someone had stippled it at some point, though I always thought the stippling came out with a rougher texture. This texture is more smooth than the factory original texture, making the grip sometimes almost feel slick.

Be aware Hogue rubber grips are much thicker than factory.......for that matter........ so are their wood grips........both are too "fat" for my medium size hands..... I stipple my Smith double stack grips in a scale pattern for a better grip.

A Beretta 92SB-M would have been a tough gun for me to give up..those old SBs had some really nice bluing....I actually have two of those old Ms with wood grips...... both are safe queens.

..if it wasn't for the 3913NL smaller overall size my FS-M would be my primary concealed carry (IWB) single stack 9mm. For some strange reason mine has the SBs round trigger guard (dates to the early 90s)..... I have a set of the Farrar/Beretta trident rubber grips..... better grip than factory plastic and better shape/thickness than factory wood.......overall feels a lot like a Smith 39 in the hand.

I also would have trouble giving up any 92 series Berretta pistol having been the owner of a 92FS model that I loved but did not shoot often enough. I put adjustable target sights on it and it was twice the gun after that. I finally dealt it off for a rare model Black powder pistol which I have also sold off since.

Uncle Mike's grips are much closer to the thickness of the original grips than Hogues (if you can find them).

If they are in stock, S&W will still send you the factory grips for free under the recall. I've had several replaced just this year.

I would expect to find a lot of love for the 92 here. That's actually how I got started in S&W semi-autos... similar controls/layout and function to the Berettas I've developed muscle memory on. If I need a pistol fast, I don't want to have to remember which direction to flip the safety.

MWater said:

I would expect to find a lot of love for the 92 here. That's actually how I got started in S&W semi-autos... similar controls/layout and function to the Berettas I've developed muscle memory on. If I need a pistol fast, I don't want to have to remember which direction to flip the safety.

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My firstBeretta 92 a 92F Compact was just a few months before the 3rd gen Smith were introduced.......

BAM-BAM said:

Be aware Hogue rubber grips are much thicker than factory.......for that matter........ so are their wood grips........both are too "fat" for my medium size hands..... I stipple my Smith double stack grips in a scale pattern for a better grip.

A Beretta 92SB-M would have been a tough gun for me to give up..those old SBs had some really nice bluing....I actually have two of those old Ms with wood grips...... both are safe queens.

..if it wasn't for the 3913NL smaller overall size my FS-M would be my primary concealed carry (IWB) single stack 9mm. For some strange reason mine has the SBs round trigger guard (dates to the early 90s)..... I have a set of the Farrar/Beretta trident rubber grips..... better grip than factory plastic and better shape/thickness than factory wood.......overall feels a lot like a Smith 39 in the hand.

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I have read that the Hogue grips might be a bit too thick for my liking. Might still give them a try anyway, but I am skeptical, because I feel the 5906 is on the borderline already.

Also, like I said, I love everything Beretta, and that 92SB Compact Type M would have stayed in my collection if I could have afforded to keep it. My tight budget at the moment dictates that when I want a new firearm I have to sell or trade another one to maintain affordability. Unfortunately, as cool and unique as I thought that particular gun was, I didn't really enjoy shooting it. I found the smaller grip was a little hard for me to hold on to, and the sights weren't the greatest.
Actually, as a whole the gun's condition wasn't all that great. It was definitely a LE trade-in, and had seen a lot of abuse. A lot of the finish was gone, and functionally it was good, but not perfect. Really the biggest thing going for it was the fact that it had two original Beretta mags with it.

Here's a pic of it:


The good news was that I actually made a profit on the Beretta. I sold it back to the same local gun store where I bought it last year for a bit more than I paid for it. They didn't know what it was the last time, they had priced it like one of those 92S LE trade-ins that recently flooded the market, so it came to me really cheap.

I chose the 5906 because I really like the platform. Earlier this year I traded a Beretta 92FS for a real nice 1973 vintage 39-2 with original factory box and 2 mags. That was the gun that really got me into the Smith and Wesson autos, and ever since I have been pining for a 59 series gun to add to the collection as well. I did regrettably let the 39-2 go a few months back in trade for one of the favorites in my collection, an Astra A-75 in .45 ACP. Yes, an Astra. Anyone who thinks I am crazy for making that trade has obviously never owned or shot an Astra. The A-75 is solid performer for a compact .45 semi-auto, and up until I shot the 5906 yesterday, it was the favorite of my semi-auto collection. Now I am fairly sure the 5906 has taken its place as the favorite. Anyway, at the time I was under the impression that the Beretta was worth a lot more than the 39-2, so I parted with the 39-2 and kept the Beretta. In retrospect, I should have done the opposite.

Here is a pic of the 39-2 I had:


Next on my list is the 4506. I had one in my hands at my LGS a couple years ago with 4 mags for $450, but let a friend of mine talk me out of it and into something else that I found that I did not like that much. The same friend talked me into yet another firearm with major issues not long after, and that's when I stopped taking his advice. Consequently, in both those instances I bought brand new guns, both being guns of high popularity, and neither were very good, or had major problems out of the box.

That SB-M has been rode and put away wet ....... more than once....( wonder how TTSH would rate it LOL)...it's been awhile but a nice one (95%er) would probably go for $700-800 with 2 mags. over on the B-Forum......they've got a cult following like the 3913s or 3"revolvers do here.

Were never a lot brought into the country ..... from what I've been told... and they date to the Wonder-9 era ...... when anything with less than 14/15 rounds just weren't worth buying........

FWIW..... 2 or 3 Departments in Pa. got the single stack compacts for their Detectives, Lt's,Capt's and Chiefs..... I don't think that lasted long before they switched to double stack compact (13+1) so they could use the same mags as patrol officers w/ full size guns......w/ Farrar mag collars a Compact became a Centurion.

BAM-BAM said:

That SB-M has been rode and put away wet ....... more than once....( wonder how TTSH would rate it LOL)...

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Heck, nuthin' there that won't buff right out!

Nice old Beretta and 5906. The Hogue grips for the 5906 are not just "a bit" thicker, they're a whole lot thicker...particularly if you feel the existing grip on your 5906 is borderline.

BAM-BAM said:

That SB-M has been rode and put away wet ....... more than once....( wonder how TTSH would rate it LOL)...it's been awhile but a nice one (95%er) would probably go for $700-800 with 2 mags. over on the B-Forum......they've got a cult following like the 3913s or 3"revolvers do here.

Were never a lot brought into the country ..... from what I've been told... and they date to the Wonder-9 era ...... when anything with less than 14/15 rounds just weren't worth buying........

FWIW..... 2 or 3 Departments in Pa. got the single stack compacts for their Detectives, Lt's,Capt's and Chiefs..... I don't think that lasted long before they switched to double stack compact (13+1) so they could use the same mags as patrol officers w/ full size guns......w/ Farrar mag collars a Compact became a Centurion.

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Supposedly Connecticut State Police were issued the 92SB-M or 92F Compact for a couple years in the late 80s and early 90s before switching to the Sig P220. I think that this one was from them. I am told that there that Beretta only made around 2000 of these, and like you said were not as commercially successful as the full size model.
Also, the picture in the other post is what the gun looked like after a strip-down and thorough cleaning. When I got it, there was a lot of crud caked into it. Looked like it maybe was submerged in mud at some point in the past. My secret of being able to continue to sell and trade guns with little loss or often with profit, is to buy guns that were not well taken care of, bring them home, give a thorough cleaning, enjoy the heck out of it until something more desirable crosses my path, and then trade or sell it for what I paid for it, or in yesterday's case, more than I originally paid.

sop said:

Nice old Beretta and 5906. The Hogue grips for the 5906 are not just "a bit" thicker, they're a whole lot thicker...particularly if you feel the existing grip on your 5906 is borderline.

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Yeah, that's what I have been hearing from everyone about the Hogue grips, and from the product reviews out there... I am a little disappointed that there are very few alternatives for the factory grips, but I don't have much to complain about the originals with the exception of the small crack. Odds are if I replace the grips, it will be with another set of factory grips. I really hope the good folks over at S&W customer service can hook me up with a set, though being a 25 year gun, my expectations are rather low.
If I try the Hogues, it will be because I found a set really cheap, and/or the retailer will take them back if I don't like them.

I'd recommend, if you've got smaller hands like me, that you get the straight back grips. I purchased factory version at MidwayUSA. It is so much easier to use. A friend, who is retired LE, had a 5904 as his last duty weapon. He couldn't stand the curved grips. He's got long fingers and they were too bulky for him. Link to grips

Here's my 5904 setup. I got mine about a year ago for $159 without trade through GT Distributors. As you can see, she's got the straight backed grip I mentioned above. She's one of my regular EDC choices.



I also heartily agree about the shooting. The 590x series is a joy to shoot and I am far more accurate--and precise with it than any handgun I've ever owned or fired. Below is about a month ago doing timed Mozambique drills at 7 yards. All with the 5904. My grouping with the same drill are much further apart on my Taurus 709, my old SD9VE (sold it), or any 9mm Glock I've shot.