Liberty's Blog

Ever since I first saw one, I wanted the Beretta 92FS. This is the same sidearm as the M9, the handgun that our armed forces carry today. Several weeks ago I got a message from a friend on Texas CHL Forum with an ad for them at $399.00

They are back!! One day only. This Saturday September 1st, 9am untl 1pm. Brand new, in the box Beretta Model 92FS 9mm, with 3 Hi-Cap mags, box, papers and gun lock $ 399 !!! First come, first served, Ty's Gun Shop, inside Cowboy Polaris on Hwy 69 in Nederland (formerly Southeast Texas Powersports) They will not last long. No early birds please. Sale starts Saturday at 9am. These are brand new guns, not used and not reconditioned. New New guns. If you missed out last time, don't miss this time.

I made the 100 mile drive down to Nederland and plunked down my 400 bucks and got the police special, 3 mags manual the obligatory Berettta bicycle lock, and a 92fs 9mm handgun in a cardboard box. Yup, it was a cheap corrugated cardboard box. 3 magazines though, I could load up almost a whole box of ammo into those 15 rounders. Magazines for the Berretta though are easily available, I can pick up 15 rounders at the surplus store for $10.00 and Academy has them for $18.00

The first thing I did was after studying the manual was to disassemble the gun, wiped out the grease, ran a patch down the barrel, and lightly oiled. the workings and slide. The Beretta comes apart easily and intuitively. There is no critical lining up or trigger pull involved. Push the takedown button and flip the lever slide forward and the slide is separated from the frame. There are some plastic parts. The trigger, and the hammer are plastic, although one can't really notice with casual observation . The guide rod is plastic and looks particularly flimsy although I haven't noticed anyone having issues with it on the net, supposedly it is just as reliable as the older style metal rod. The wide open chamber makes it easy to inspect even in poor light conditions. There really isn't much opportunity for spent brass to jam up, and is a help in keeping this gun ambidextrous.

Shooting her is very pleasant. The Beretta is a natural pointer. To point is to have the 3 dots line right up on the target. The recoil is gentle even with stout personal defense loads. Recovery seems automatic and almost instantaneous. The trigger in double action is long but smooth, in single action the pull is very short and light. I've put about 1,000 rounds through her so far, and there hasn't been a single problem. Its 5” barrel provides a nice sight radius. Line the sights up squeeze the trigger. An X ring hole is an almost guaranteed result. Darn gun almost aims itself.

This thing is pretty big though and it's not the ideal conceal carry piece. I normally carry my Ruger 95. in a Don Hume JIT Outside the waistband holster. I haven't made much of an effort to find a suitable holster because as far as I'm concerned its not suitable for every day carry. I do carry it on occasion though. I have a cheap Uncle mikes and will carry it if I am wearing a large cover garment, or in the waist hipside or at at the small of the back. Its comfortable enough for walking around, but its a literal pain in the butt to carry in a car. I know of some people that do carry a 92FS on a regular basis. Most seem to prefer 'small of the back' carry also.

If one wants a nice handgun right out of the box, thats not going to cost an arm and a leg. This might be the gun for you. This is one of the more trustworthy handguns made, afterall, it is built for military performance. It is pretty, it works, its effective, very nice to shoot but its not small.