Beretta M9
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rocketdog
Member
Nice pistol. Metal. A bit large. A bit heavy. Solid. 15 rds. Get the excellent Mecgar 18 rd flush fit magazines, then 18 + 1 rds. Fun to shoot. Accurate. Good house gun. Nice to have something about the same as the US military pistol.
CAJUNLAWYER
Member
Nice pistol. Metal. A bit large. A bit heavy. Solid. 15 rds. Fun to shoot. Accurate. Good house gun. Nice to have something about the same as the US military pistol.
Stainless-5 factory mags.
Gave it to my son.
Stainless-5 factory mags.
Gave it to my son.
jlrhiner
US Veteran
A nice pistol, a bit heavy, metal, a bit large. I've had two. One I traded for a Randall, the other is in the safe.
kraigwy
US Veteran
The Civilian version is the Beretta 92FS and its a great gun. It's the only 9mm I've found that I've been able to load any sort of cast bullets and it doesn't care.
Highly reliable.
I'm an old school die in the wool 1911a1 fan. I was in the guard when the army switched but I refused to have anything to do with the Beretta. Refused to even try it. I have my own USGI M1911a1, so when I had to carry a gun I carried it instead of the Beretta. I was in a position where no one questioned me, those of higher rank who could, didn't know any better.
It was a case of cutting my nose off to spite my face.
So a few years ago I was offered a position to teach firearms and bomb disposal in Afgahn. I was told I'd have to qualify and carry a Beretta. But as mentioned I never fired one.
My wife got concerned and bought me the 92FS so I could get use to it. Anyway, do to hearing and COPD problems I couldn't pass the physical.
But I still have the Beretta, its accurate, reliable, and fun to shoot. Like I said, it doesn't care what sort of junk cast 9mm bullets you put in it.
I use it in action type pistol matches every now and then when I shot autos. The only problem I have is the safety goes the wrong way, I switch out between my Colt 1911 and the Beretta and have to concentrate to get it right, the Colt safety comes down, but you have to push up on the Beretta. You have to pay attention or you'll loose a couple seconds.
It's a good little pistol. A bit big for concealed carry (I pocket carry, my pockets aren't that big.
Fits my had good, I can reach the mag release and slide release with my shooting hand. The magazines fall free when you hit the button so all you have to do is reach for another mag.
Wont have a magazine that wont fall free under its own empty weight when I push the button.
If you're looking to get one, you wont regret it.
Highly reliable.
I'm an old school die in the wool 1911a1 fan. I was in the guard when the army switched but I refused to have anything to do with the Beretta. Refused to even try it. I have my own USGI M1911a1, so when I had to carry a gun I carried it instead of the Beretta. I was in a position where no one questioned me, those of higher rank who could, didn't know any better.
It was a case of cutting my nose off to spite my face.
So a few years ago I was offered a position to teach firearms and bomb disposal in Afgahn. I was told I'd have to qualify and carry a Beretta. But as mentioned I never fired one.
My wife got concerned and bought me the 92FS so I could get use to it. Anyway, do to hearing and COPD problems I couldn't pass the physical.
But I still have the Beretta, its accurate, reliable, and fun to shoot. Like I said, it doesn't care what sort of junk cast 9mm bullets you put in it.
I use it in action type pistol matches every now and then when I shot autos. The only problem I have is the safety goes the wrong way, I switch out between my Colt 1911 and the Beretta and have to concentrate to get it right, the Colt safety comes down, but you have to push up on the Beretta. You have to pay attention or you'll loose a couple seconds.
It's a good little pistol. A bit big for concealed carry (I pocket carry, my pockets aren't that big.
Fits my had good, I can reach the mag release and slide release with my shooting hand. The magazines fall free when you hit the button so all you have to do is reach for another mag.
Wont have a magazine that wont fall free under its own empty weight when I push the button.
If you're looking to get one, you wont regret it.
rockquarry
Member
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- Aug 9, 2005
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- 8,551
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Accurate for what it is; not really very accurate when compared with an "accurate" handgun. As others have mentioned - huge & heavy, but these features make it easy for most people to shoot. Reliability is an understatement - this pistol will feed ammo loaded with cast semi-wadcutter .38 Special bullets, something it was never designed to handle.
Like them,always wanted on but just too big for me. Great gun though if you have big mitts
While I know the Italian made ones bring about $100 more, is there any real advantage these have other than value, over the U.S. made ones?
Guess I'm asking more of a cosmetic and mechanical question.
Guess I'm asking more of a cosmetic and mechanical question.
sigp220.45
US Veteran
I was in the Air Force when we transitioned from the Smith Model 15 to the M9. For us, it was a good trade.
The issued ones and the personal ones I've had have been excellent pistols - reliable and accurate.
It doesn't seem that big to me. We had little bitty female SPs qualify with them with no problem.
I don't own one now, but I am on the hunt.
The issued ones and the personal ones I've had have been excellent pistols - reliable and accurate.
It doesn't seem that big to me. We had little bitty female SPs qualify with them with no problem.
I don't own one now, but I am on the hunt.
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ChuckS1
US Veteran
Lipstick on a pig, IMHO. Buy one and send it to David Sams with a few thousand dollars and he'll make it shoot a 3" group at 50 yards. Oh wait, any decent gunsmith can do that with a M1911A1 for a quarter of the price. Never mind...
Kidding aside, not a bad handgun, but an M4 is better...
Buy one and send it to David Sams with a few thousand dollars and he'll make it shoot a 3" group at 50 yards. Oh wait, any decent gunsmith can do that with a M1911A1 for a quarter of the price. Never mind... Kidding aside, not a bad handgun, but an M4 is better...
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ACP230
Member
Dislike the trigger.
I have a Berettta 21A and think the trigger is fine.
On the M9 the trigger (for me) is not fine.
I have a Berettta 21A and think the trigger is fine.
On the M9 the trigger (for me) is not fine.
Like the first couple of answers. My son gave it to me. Works well, have a couple more mags, know I can count on it if I need it.
4506517
Member
I would advocate you try the Vertec model. The grip mimics, but doesn't fully reproduce, a 1911 "style" grip. I personally like it better than the original. I have also found Vertecs to be less expensive. Good thing is they take the same magazine as the original. Either way you can't go wrong. Exceptional gun hands down.
Old Corp
Member
Have an M9 in the rental rack at the LGS where I work p/t. It gets rented, and shot ALOT. Unfortunately, it keeps breaking locking blocks, putting it out of service until we can beg the part from Beretta. All ammo is just run-of-the mill 115 gr. fmj stuff, nothing exotic. That's always concerned me a bit.
Conversely, for my truck gun, I have the Taurus version, the PT92, it has been very reliable and surprisingly accurate. AND - has the much better frame mounted safety, where they're supposed to be.
Conversely, for my truck gun, I have the Taurus version, the PT92, it has been very reliable and surprisingly accurate. AND - has the much better frame mounted safety, where they're supposed to be.
Harrison
US Veteran
I believe Taurus makes almost an exact copy for quite a bit less than the Berretta. In fact the Taurus is made on former Berretta machinery. Personally, if I wanted a serviceable military type 9mm, I would get a Glock 17. If I wanted a solid steel military type pistol I have two 1911s in 45acp.
JcMack
Member
Mel Gibson shooting at a helicopter 15 times without a reload in "Lethal Weapon" in '87. Everybody had to have a Beretta 92. Kinda like what "Dirty Harry" did for the model 29. I had a 92FS by '91 when my bank account started recovering from my divorce. To be honest I'd rather have the G19 I have now with the G17 mag in it next to my bed.
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The only thing that I would add is that it's one of the slickest pistols I've ever used. I suppose that might be because of the open-slide design, but the first time I tried one back in the late '80's I was amazed at how really smooth the slide rode on the frame. Other than that, it's a service pistol and it's fairly large and heavy like most service pistols. No surprise there. Ultra reliable. Overall, I like 'em - i have two.
Utterly reliable and accurate. Very smooth cycling as well - slide is like on greased bearings. I was skeptical as I've always heard how large the grip was, but I have small hands and don't have any issues. Fun shooting gun. Everyone should have one in their collection.
Texas Star
US Veteran
If the grip is too fat, try the M-92FS, which has a slight radius to make it fit smaller hands better. I have pretty big hands and tried both the M-9 and the FS and bought the latter.
The difference is hard to see in photos, but your hand will feel it.
Current generation locking blocks last longer, but it's smart to keep one on hand. Still, the experience of the poster here who works at a commercial range isn't typical, as rental guns tend to get shot a LOT. And they may be using older blocks.
My son carried an actual M-9 for much of his three tours in Iraq. He saw no failures if the gun was well maintained and used either Beretta or Mec-Gar mags. Other, cheaper GI mags did malfunction. Lethality of NATO ball 9mm was good, not exceptional. Some targets required 2-3 shots before they dropped. Hits must be in vital zones, but that's true of any handgun caliber. He felt that JHP ammo would be better, but it wasn't allowed. He also used a Browning MK III 9mm and a Colt.45 auto productively. He favors the Browning for its size and the way it fits his hand, but greatly respects the Beretta (and the SIG-Sauer autos).
I have great confidence in my M-92FS. I load it with Federal's HST 124 grain JHP or Speer's Gold Dot. Never had a failure to feed or eject. It pulls primary home defense gun duty about 50% of the time. It's by me tonight.
The M-92 series and the CZ-75 are probably my favorite autos.
The difference is hard to see in photos, but your hand will feel it.
Current generation locking blocks last longer, but it's smart to keep one on hand. Still, the experience of the poster here who works at a commercial range isn't typical, as rental guns tend to get shot a LOT. And they may be using older blocks.
My son carried an actual M-9 for much of his three tours in Iraq. He saw no failures if the gun was well maintained and used either Beretta or Mec-Gar mags. Other, cheaper GI mags did malfunction. Lethality of NATO ball 9mm was good, not exceptional. Some targets required 2-3 shots before they dropped. Hits must be in vital zones, but that's true of any handgun caliber. He felt that JHP ammo would be better, but it wasn't allowed. He also used a Browning MK III 9mm and a Colt.45 auto productively. He favors the Browning for its size and the way it fits his hand, but greatly respects the Beretta (and the SIG-Sauer autos).
I have great confidence in my M-92FS. I load it with Federal's HST 124 grain JHP or Speer's Gold Dot. Never had a failure to feed or eject. It pulls primary home defense gun duty about 50% of the time. It's by me tonight.
The M-92 series and the CZ-75 are probably my favorite autos.
