Range report 92fs vs. p226

[STAGE 2]

Went to the range today and rented both the sig and beretta in 9mm. With a smile and 2 bags of ammo I headed to my lane. While I am familiar with sigs, I had never shot this model before. As for the beretta, I rarely give them passing glances in the gun store let alone shoot them, but today I figured why not. I first shot the Sig. I had about a 2- 2 1/2 inch group at a little over 10 yards with a consistent rate of fire. I happy with this especially when considering this was my first time with this pistol. Next I tried the beretta. I went through two magazines and had a hard time keeping it on the target. I had no real group to speak of and was thoroughly disappointed. I went back to the Sig and once again my shots were in a nice little group where I wanted them to be. I alternated with each magazine I went through and achieved the same result everytime.

My question. Assuming my results with the sig eliminate operator error, what could have caused this? This particular gun definately takes the prize for being the crappiest shooting piece of junk Ive ever picked up. This cant be the way all berettas are.

 

[gunnoob]

My experiences with those two guns were the same as yours. I find the grip for the Beretta to be overwhelmingly huge for my hand. Can't shoot it worth a dime.

 

[theberettaman]

I'm not an aviation nut and know nothing about airplanes,and have never flown one before.So I borrowed one from a friend and tried to take off and that happend was I ran out of runway and crashed into the lake.Man I know now that all airplanes are junk and just a total unreliable means of transportation.People would be crazy to get in one of these things.
I also know nothing about brain surgury but decided to try some tumor removal on a few people.Man they all died right after I started cutting their head open.Brains are very cheaply made organs and I cant see why anyone would ever get one of these crappy things.

 

[Kentucky Rifle]

Hey Berettaman..

Stage 2 didn't deserve a reply like that. He stated at the end of his post that, "This can't be the way all Berettas are". Don't get me wrong--I LIKE Berettas. The "slick slide" thing is great, and Berettas are usually VERY accurate. Stage 2 recognized that something was wrong with the PARTICULAR Beretta he was shooting.

Peace,
KR

 

[Smurfslayer]

What sig are you used to shooting ?

Both the 226 & 92 series have heavy DA triggers and lots of slack on the SA pull. My 1st pistol was a 92FS, and I was shocked when I tried the 226 and found a heavier trigger DA and MORE slack in the SA pull... I've since shot 2 other 226's & found them both the same. Now, contrast this with the Sig 2340 I shot a few weeks ago, which was quite nice. Very reasonable DA pull, SA still had slack, but at least on par with the Beretta Elites...

I'd say that based on your 'hard time keeping it on target' remark, you can't rule out operator error.

I'd bet that trigger control was the issue holding you back. Both pistols are service DA autos, and are *VERY* competitive when compared side by side. The triggers on both pistols can use some work out of the box, but once your used to them, they're only slightly different in feel. That *could* be an amplified condition if your hands are average sized or smaller, but if you can adequately hold a 226, you should be able to adequately hold a 92...

HTH

 

[Kermit]

I learned to shoot handguns using the 92fs and have shot 1000's or rounds through a few of them. To me, there is nothing more natural feeling in my hands or more accurate.
That said, everyone is different and YMMV. You either seem to prefer the Sig or really don't fit the Beretta.
As for the guns you shot. Remember, they are both range rental guns & have been ABUSED beyond any gun you'l ever own.

 

[Hard Ball]

The SIG P226 is simply the superior pistol. But it! It would be our service pistol today if the Air Force had not slipped Beretta SIG's bid package so that Beretta could ener an aeifically low bid.

 

[dsteinman]

I had a simlar expereince before I bought my Sig, except I was shooting a 226 and a Glock. I was much more accrurate with the Sig..

 

[VVG]

To use two range pistols is meaningless - a pistol with an uncleaned barrel might shoot 5" groups, while clean it would shoot 2" groups.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Hey HardBall, ya may be right! The USAF did want that GLCM (Ground Launched Cruise Missile) base in Sicily and Aviano kept open pretty bad.

Proving it is the hard part? If SIG thought they could, I'm sure they would have?

Not a chance; I covered my tracks and laundered that money clean as a whistle!

OTOH, instead of 18 broken Beretta slides, we might have ended up with 12,000 broken SIG frames? If the military broke the same percentage of 226s that Baltimore county PD did (4%, 52 of 1300, 4% of 300,000...). SIGs did crack frames during some mil-spec testing between 7-10K rounds, but they only had to make it to 5K to pass. I have heard of plenty of cracked SIG frames with US LE, no broken Beretta slides yet. The odds of cracking a SIG frame are much higher than the odds of breaking a Beretta slide.

OTOH, the SIG w a cracked frame still works well enough to save your life, a Beretta w a broken slide does not...

Round n round we go...

Doesn't matter to me, I'm shooting SA XDs and Walther P99s!

 

[CWL]

Of course this isn't a fair range report since these are both rental guns and I'm assuming that you shot cheap reloads (since you wrote "2 bags" of ammo).

A more fair range comparison would have been using cleaned pistols & factory-new ammunition.

 

[DARTH 44]

STAGE 2, your bad experiences with a Beretta may come from
the fact that your palms are too small for the Beretta`s bulky
grip(The 92FS has really thick grip panels)
I think I have average size hands,but I felt much better firing my
Beretta in SA mode.
I`ve been lucky to handle a SIG SAUER P226,and truth to be said
it felt in my hand like a dream, both DA and SA.
To sum it up, I like both of the abovementioned pistols,and I`d feel well armed with both,but the P226 fits my hand better,so
if I had a choice I`d pick the Sig Sauer.
Did I mention the HK USPf 9mm has gorgeous grip too??
Sidenote:If your`e accustomed to push-in mag release,you`ll not
like the USP despite its superb grip ergonomics.

Regards

 

[Watch-Six]

I prefer the Sig 226, but something is wrong if the Beretta did that badly. If the Sig works better for you. Go for it. Watch-Six

 

[STAGE 2]

Well said Kentucky Rifle.... To answer some questions, one of the things that I was worried about was the beretta being too large for my hands. However when I picked it up it felt really nice in my hands. It had a really long trigger pull, but I had no trouble reaching the trigger as some do.

I was using reloads, but i was using them in both. I have shot pistols that have been "off" before, and usually I have be able to put the shot where i want it by manipulating my aim... i.e. if its shooting high and to the right, aim low and to the left of where I want to hit. This thing was all over the place.

 

[blades67]

The problem you encountered with that Beretta could be caused by a high round count, being a rental gun will do that, and a lack of proper maintnence. If the locking block was worn then barrel lock-up will vary and cause poor acuracy.

I've owned both guns and my experience was that both guns are highly accurate and reliable. I traded my Beretta because I like my P226 better and could stand to part with the 92. Try a different 92 and I think you will see much better results than the first one you tried.

 

[pogo2]

It would seem to me that the three big items affecting handgun accuracy are the gun, the ammo and the shooter. You used the same ammo for both guns in your test, so let's make the simplifying assumption that the ammo was not a factor here (although sometimes particular guns do better with particular ammo).

So if it was either the gun or the shooter (or the gun plus shooter combination), the only way to really tell which it was would be to shoot both guns from a Ransom Rest and take the shooter effect out of the test. If the Beretta then shot 12-inch groups while the Sig shot 2-inch groups, I would agree that there was something wrong with the Beretta. But the fault could be with that particular Beretta, as others have said, because of worn parts or lack of cleaning.

So I have to conclude that your test is inconclusive for making any blanket statements about the inherent accuracy of those two types of guns. If you are going to do a test, you have to eliminate all the variables except the one you are trying to test.

 

[Jager1]

If I couldn't carry the P226, I'd carry a Beretta.

Have owned both and simply preferred the P226 only slightly more than the Beretta.

Your mileage (and the mileage on the equipment in question) may vary.

Shoot what works for you.

 

[Zander]

I think you already know the answer...buy the SIG P226.

If not, check another great full-size pistol, the CZ-75b.

As a side-note, it's interesting that the excuse offered for the Beretta's poor performance is that it is a range gun.

But isn't the P226 you tried?

 

[Tamara]

But isn't the P226 you tried?

So of course that means they were bought the same day and have identical round counts.


SIG's tend to be tackdrivers, but the Beretta 92/96 is usually no slouch in the accuracy department, either. We used my roommate's LE trade-in 92 as the "intro to handguns" firearm for more than one new shooter because its accuracy was confidence-inspiring and the fact that 9mm hardly generates any recoil in that big ol' horse pistol.

Probably a worn range gun; because the barrel only locks up at the rear end, when the locking block's had a few zillion rounds, you start getting accuracy-degrading levels of "slop" in the barrel lockup.

 

[spleenandideal]

I'm in the same boat with Stage 2; I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get more accuracy out of my 92FS. I always get large, shotgun patterns. I consider myself a fairly consistent shooter. In fact, the Beretta was one of my first centerfires, and although still have it I no longer shoot it. Funny, 'cause my friends' have shot it with great results. My favorite pistol is the USP45FS, which has huge, clunky, 2x4 sized grips, but I can shoot it very well. Luckily I purchased other pistols and kept the potential possibility of losing interest in shooting at bay.