Beretta 96F Centurion

[Michael Carlin]

I have made arrangements to buy from a co worker a Beretta 96F Centurion. Two factory magazines and an aftermarket 12 rounder.

The price with a couple of boxes of .40 Corbon is very good.

Does anyone have any experience with the Beretta 40s? What is your experience with this model and caliber? Anything break regularly? I am thinking of shooting it in USPSA matches for a while. What do the competitive shooters think of it on a steady diet of reasonable major loads?

Thanks for you input!

 

[Rob Pincus]

the 96F is the only full size Berretta I have ever owned. I shot it quite a bit and never had any trouble. I found it to be a bit on the large and heavy side though, and traded it for a 30mm Grenade Launcher and a bunch of shells (is there irony there, or is it just me ??)

Alos, the 96F Centurion (in stainless or whatever finish) is the standard side arm issued by my department. Thank god I am on reserve status and don't have to carry one of them, but they have held up very well. The department purchased them about 4 years ago. I know a couple of officers who shoot them regularly with no problems. ( I know a lot more officers who keep them in their hoslters all the time with no problems.. yet )
They are very dependable and we've had no ADs (knock on Wood) or Failures to fire (again..). The department issue ammo is 16X gr SXT.

 

[Mikey]

Michael,

I've never had the 96 but a 92F Centurion was my first carry piece - toted it for two years before my State (actually County Sheriff) allowed single action carry guns.

It was a *****cat to shoot albiet with a long squishy trigger pull. They like to be kept clean and the shorter model seems to need a new recoil spring sooner (1000 rounds?) than the big ones (almost never).

By the way, I sold mine about a year ago but I still have a nearly unused Milt Sparks Executive Companion IWB holster for a Centurion (full size 92/96 won't fit). It's the rough-side-out version in natural tan and can be had at a bargain price. Have the mag carrier to match too!

 

[fal308]

Michael
You state that this deal includes .40 Corbon. If you're actually talking about .400 Corbon don't shoot it in place of .40 S&W!!! You're talking about two different cartridges. I can't remember off the top of my head whether the Corbon round will even chamber in a 40.

 

[Dan]

Michael,

I owned a Beretta 96DC, the DAO version. I loved it. Beretta can make an excellent firearm.

I did however have one problem, one you should not have since you did not indicate this is a DAO version.

My problem was that the trigger sometimes would not "reset" after touching off a round. It was a very intermittant problem, but did seem to occur more often with the lighter, higher velocity loads.

I tried to get some input from Beretta, but they didn't seem to think it was worth thier time to talk to me much less give me any assistance (I really love how Glock is much more customer satisfaction oriented than the others, makes me want more Glocks).

I eventually traded it off, it was the home defence weapon, but Mrs. Dan didn't feel comfortable with it having it's trigger quirk.

In retrospect, I wish I had held on to it. This was befor the proliferation of the internet and the message boards, so I might have been able to find some good advice/info on this particular problem. Heck, I might have just not been allowing the trigger to cycle it's full motion, or I might have been limp wristing it or someting simple like that.

Self recriminations aside, I think you will find the 96C an excellent weapon. I WANT ANOTHER ONE!

 

[Michael Carlin]

fal308,



That should have been Corbon .40 S&W.

My fault, thanks for pointing that out.

Mikey, Rob, Dan,

Thanks for you repsonses.

I have had a great deal of experience with the M9/92FS series pistols, having owned several and shoot literally dozens over the last few years in the Army.

This is a standard trigger configuration, not a DAO, for which I do not personally care. It is a year or so old and has been fired little.

As you may have sensed I was wondering if the design was sufficiently strong for the added stress of the .40 S&W cartridge in the 96 version.

This is a done deal, and I expect to take possession next week. Once it resides here I will shoot it quite a bit. Reports forth coming. Meantime, I am still anxious to hear of others' experiences with the 96 series pistols.

Thanks again, once for all!

------------------
Ni ellegimit carborundum esse!

Yours In Marksmanship
http://www.1bigred.com/distinguished

michael



[This message has been edited by Michael Carlin (edited 02-06-99).]

 

[Michael Carlin]

Well thanks to a little moon lighting I picked up the Model 96 Centurion and today I ran fifty rounds of the ammunition that came with it through it.

I got a full box (25 rds) each of Corbon 40 S&W 135 grain and 150 grain loads. A partial box of Federal Hydro Shok and a box of fifty CCI Lawman 180 Truncated FMJ.

It was cold in the range facility and Kathy had her recently acquired Glock 17. Man she was nailing it today. See turned in a ten shot 8X string on the first 10 yard target and then she moved back to 12 yards. Here after a mediocre string we discussed grip and she came back from a couple of string that were about 80% 10 and Xs to post a 100 - 10X clean! That's my girl!

Meanwhile, I shot the Beretta. At 25 yards a five shot string free style to the head in just over 8 seconds went into a nice round group about 2 and a quarter inches in diameter. Not bad for an "issue" gun.

Then I ran a few rounds through at 12 yards in quick double taps. These were very controllable, and the hits were easily in the "A" zone.

Just for the sake of argument, I shot a few "CNS" double taps in to the upper "B" zone area. (This is the triangle that Harry has referred to in other posts.) The range is poorly lit, I was freezing my butt off, and I had no trouble ripping off a cluster of double taps in a group of about 1.25 inches at the base of the tip of the nose.

These were about .22 splits and were definitely not pushing the envelope in speed.

If this pistol will stand up to extended use, I think it is an excellent choice for anyone with average to larger size hands.

It came with a set of Pachmyr grips, the wrap around "Signature" grips. I do not like them and switched to the standard grips. These are excellent for me.

I recognize that a fifty round evaluation means next to nothing, so if there is interest I will periodically post a situation report on this piece here.

Does anyone know who made Pachmyr's magazines for the 96's? There are some for sale at very attractive prices (9.95) and I am tempted as they usually sell good stuff.

Also does anyone know where I can get the best prices on the Mec-Gar magazines for these as well as the factory 10 rounders?

Hope you shot something this weekend!

Leather arrives this week, I will comment on that here or in accesories.


------------------
Ni ellegimit carborundum esse!

Yours In Marksmanship
http://www.1bigred.com/distinguished

michael



[This message has been edited by Michael Carlin (edited February 21, 1999).]

 

[Walt Sherrill]

I had a 96 for a while. A fine handgun.

Had a local smith do a trigger job. Very accurate, but somewhat picky about ammo (not feeding, but dramatically different points of impact.)

Traded it in on a Sig P220. Excellent gun, just a little on the large size.

You'll like it.

 

[olegunftr]

Got a 96D DAO and a 96D Centurion DAO and like them both. Th 96 is less oversized in the 40 than it is in the 9mm. Had a head separation in the Centurion (similar to many I've had in Glocks) but it took the Beretta apart. needed new extractor and several springs that went somewhere. The gas has no where to go in the Beretta where the Glock has a lot of space and usually results in nothing more than the mag being ejected.

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Vinny

 

[BrokenArrow]

Have had 8 (!) over the years since the first in April of 92 (I'm a fickle kinda guy). Still have one I got in late 92, about 20K through it, still looks/shoots great.

Fits my hand better than most others, and feels familiar since I carried the M9 for 11 yrs. Low bore axis means less flip in my hands too.

The INS/BP thought the Brigadier model good enough to buy 16K of them, and buy 16K more a little later (biggest federal LE contract to date BTW).

It's a good gun; time will tell if it's a good gun for you?

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>>>>---->

 

[Michael Carlin]

Broken Arrow,

My own fickleness has struck, the 96 went in a trade for a preban Eagle Arms AR15-A1 the other day. An even up deal, I could not pass up! The trigger was so bad I have already torn it down and sent pieces places for "tuning". I will let you know how this comes out.



------------------
Ni ellegimit carborundum esse!

Yours In Marksmanship
http://www.1bigred.com/distinguished

michael