What's up with Beretta?

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redblair

New member
I'm still quite new but it seems that for a gun carried by many in our military services it doesn't have a huge following. Am I missing something? It seems like there are lots of fans of Sig, Glock, H&K, S&W but I don't read much about the berettas.

I'm sure that if I searched I could find some fans, but here and on some other forums there is lots of passion about some brands but not the Beretta.

Enlighten me.

B
 
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Manedwolf

Moderator
Doesn't have a huge following? :) Nearly everyone I know has at least one Beretta 92 or Taurus PT92. (same design, slight changes, especially location of the safety)

It's not "new and sexy", it's just that it's so reliable that it's almost boring. :D Will shoot forever, keep putting rounds where you aim it, and has endless accessories.

The only drawback is that it is a very large gun, and thus not as suited to concealed carry as some newer ones are. But mine, in a post-disaster situation, my PT92 with a 17rd MecGar of Ranger 127gr +P+ would be on my hip. It's an incredibly durable, reliable design.

It's just that's also about thirty years old, there hasn't been any "new" accessories for it besides the lasermax, so there's not much left to discuss about it?
 
C

croyance

New member
Start a thread bashing Berettas and watch happy owners come out.
I like the Berettas I have had. I feel secure about it too and don't see a need to justify it.
 
J

JohnKSa

Administrator
I own several Beretta handguns, in fact my second firearm was a Beretta 92FS INOX. Wish I still had it...
 
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Mark54g

New member
Berettas are nice. I own two of them. I just can't get myself to like the 92 series. They are FINE guns, I just do find them boring for some reason. My father owns one and I have shot it. It has never failed me there (But it was only about 400 rds from me).

I chose the CZ over the Beretta and I don't think I made a mistake. Then I bought the PX4, and aside from the trigger being "different" I like the gun.
 
K

kermit315

New member
I will get a beretta at some point, but dont know when. I like them and am in the military.

btw, my squadron doesnt carry beretta's, we carry sig p226's.
 
E

eltorrente

New member
Actually I've noticed the same thing. I haven't been around all that long, but Sigs/Glocks/CZ/H&K/M&P etc etc are more likely to pop up in a favorite/recommended gun thread. People seem to like them when they talk about them, but they don't seem to be as many people's first choice for whatever reason.

From what I've gathered though, they seem like great guns. I'd like to own one sometime, but I have more Sigs to buy first.
 
A

actionflies

New member
My PX4 is a good pistol.
IMG_0982.jpg
 
W

warwagon

New member
For a lot of us "older" members(in age that is), the transfer from an American made .45, to a foreign made 9mm was not easy, nor without problems.

I was present during some tests in the early transition days, and to say that the new side arm did not fare well is to put it mildly.

It is my understanding that most of the problems with the early models have been long ago resolved, yet to some the weapon still bears that onus.

I consider the line functional, but clumsy for me, in a caliber better suited to a smaller platform, but that is just me, and others I have known like their guns just fine.

Just an observation , relative to your question.
 
F

FS2K

New member
Like warwagon I too felt that the 92 series were, well, different.

I remember when "Lethal Weapon" first came out, my whole crew wanted a Beretta 92, myself included. My buddy was the first to get his however and I remember being envious of him that is, until I actually got to shoot the gun for the first time. I did not fit the gun well at all. For me, the grip was too wide and I never felt comfortable shooting it. The reach to the trigger on double action was also a bit too far for me and the transition of the trigger position from dbbl to single kinda extreme. The gun itself didn't feel quite right to me either. To me the gun felt like a right angle square; a long barrel with a odd grip at the far end of it. At least that's how the gun feels to me.

I don't think Beretta's are bad guns at all. I think they would make a for a good sidearm for anyone who fits it. They just aren't for me, and that disappointed me. At the time they were the "cool" gun to have. Not only did Martin Riggs carry one in Lethal Weapon, but so did "Booker" on the FOX network and John McLaine in Die Hard for goodness sake! So poor me...I bought a Glock G17 instead, a gun I still own today!:)
 
B

Baba Louie

New member
'Twere not designed by JMB. :D
Shoots that (shudder) tiny little European round. ;)
Good thing it holds so many rounds, cause, well, you know, you gotta shoot bad guys more often to dissuade them. :rolleyes:

I mean, our military services COULD have chosen the P35, which was sorta designed by JMB and DOES hold a bunch of TINY little European rounds... but NOOOOOOOooo. :p

'Sides that, we like to gripe and moan and nitpick. Wonder how bad it woulda been if the US Mil had adopted that Cherman ZIG Zower 226 thing. I shudder to think about the comments we'd be hearing nowadays about THAT possibility, what with all it's inherent design issues. (We're sending our boys off to war with a STAMPED slide?)

All in all, the 92 is a fine little, er, not so little, handgun. Now, if they only made them in .45acp we'd be good to go...
 
R

redblair

New member
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that there aren't good guns. Just that looking over the forums, heck reading magazines, you don't see them mentioned very much. And when you do it's with little to no passion.

Seems odd for a gun worn by so many.

Blair
 
J

joab

New member
It's a gun
I don't think there is much you can do with it except get mondo cap magazines

Maybe tune it up a little
Put new grips on it, although I have never seen any that were interesting

It's kinda like a Crown Vic
Good dependable solid performer and even sleek in it's own way but not really something you are going to dress up and take to the Steak and Shake on Friday car night


I like mine by the way, if I can fix the feed problem
 
M

Manedwolf

Moderator
It seems to me that the poor rep in the military comes from two root causes.

1. The military buys REALLY CRAPPY MAGS. The cheapest jammomatic sheetmetal POS mags they can. Promag, whatever, I don't know. Anyone in the military you talk to about the issued mags is likely to use profanity. If they had MecGars instead, they would not have such issues.

2. The Hague. If people issued M9s could carry a mag full of Ranger 127gr +P+ hollowpoints, they'd likely be a lot happier. Those hit pretty damned hard, and make a much bigger hole than the ball they're (officially) limited to.
 
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johnbt

New member
"It's kinda like a Crown Vic"

Old, out of date and not much to begin with other than the V-8? :)

I don't have any feelings on the Model 92 one way or the other, but I won't sell my CZ-75B or BHP to get one.

John
 
D

dogngun

New member
The M-9 Beretta replaced the 1911A1 pistol in the mid 1980's. When I was a soldier (1960's-1970's), the 1911 was the issue service pistol, and was long overdue for replacement. Most people who were authorised to carry a pistol wanted a modern design, double action high capacity pistol that was easy to shoot well. The Beretta was chosen and after a few problems were overcome has functioned very well, and will be the service pistol for some time to come.
The worship of the 1911A1 pistol has become a near-religion thanks in part to a gun writer named Jeff Cooper who thought the old warhorse was the greatest pistol ever designed, and that anyone who did not love it as he did was an unAmerican wimp. Although Mr. Cooper is now dead, his writings and spirit linger, and many people who have never even fired either pisto ( or any pistol, for that matter) will loudly tell you 1911 is good/M9 is bad.

The internet has helped spread this crap and it has now become "common knowledge."
The 1911 is an excellent pistol. So is the M9.
FWIW.

Mark
 
J

JR47

Moderator
This isn't a 1911 vs. Beretta thread.

The 1911's in service were 40 years old, minimum. I doubt that you'll ever find a Beretta 92 that will last that long. Ask Larry Vickers about that.

The Model 92 is an overbuilt weapon for the 9mm, except for the locking blocks. However, that has been fixed. It's a duty-size weapon, and essentially too large for CCW. Most of the posters here don't utilize a full-size weapon for CCW, so the nod goes to other Brands.

Beretta has sort of overshadowed itself with the Model 92. Like an actor forever branded with a too successful role. The new pistols are excellent, and some of the older ones, like the Model 84/85/86 have always been great weapons.

The 9mm also suffers from schizophrenia. In JHP, it offers a lot when loaded to +P and +P+ pressures. In FMJ, it needs exacting shot placement to be quickly effective. Tending to "ice-pick", the results have always been disappointing. Better shooting skills can overcome this, but our military isn't interested in that for the general population armed with pistols.

So, Big Gun, Big Holster, image of a soldier or LEO = Beretta.

Smaller gun, smaller holster, image of CCW holder = other Brands. :)
 
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