Beretta's Model 92FS

Within the space of an hour, the temperature in Maine plummeted to single digits on a free fall to sub zero. Wind chill kicked into high gear while the ground became covered with a slick film of ice and snow. Traversing the 60 feet from home to shop was a combination of walking, slip sliding and Daffy Ducking. Another hour and I was living and working in Winterfell.

It struck me odd that Real Guns had never covered the Beretta Model 92. Introduced by Beretta in 1975 1), adopted in 1984 by all branches of the U.S. military, one of the most popular law enforcement pistols world wide, and its sales are well into the multimillions 2). Yet not a peep from Real Guns? The explanation is simple, the Model 92 put a good friend of mine out of work, the 1911. Did it replace the 1911’s popularity? Not a chance, it was just taken out of standard military issue within the result of a Congressionally guided military misstep.

Beretta influenced other companies within the firearms industry. One of the founders of BERSA was an ex-Beretta employee and in 1980, when Beretta’s contract to supply firearms to the Brazilian Government expired, Taurus purchased Beretta’s Brazilian manufacturing facilities, along with all of Beretta’s drawings, tooling and machinery and retained Beretta’s trained work force. Taurus then revised and refined Beretta’s Model 92 design and released the Taurus Model PT-92 and PT-99.

1 – The Beretta Model 92 has an automatic firing pin safety that prevents discharge unless the trigger is completely pulled and it has a ambidextrous manual safety – decocking lever. The latter permits safely lowering a hammer with a loaded round in the pistol’s chamber by physically shielding the firing pin from the hammer. With the safety on the linkage between the sear and trigger is disconnected. The Model 92 FS can be fired with a round in the chamber and the magazine removed.

2 – When a round is in the chamber, the leading edge of the extractor is lifted slightly above the surface of the slide, exposing a red surface, making the indicator visual and tactile.

3 – The hammer pin head is oversize and fits into a groove in the slide rail to serve as a slide overtravel stop in the event of a component failure.

4 – The slide catch holds the slide open on empty.

5 – The disassembly device is intended to permit quick field stripping. I found the manual to be confusing on these steps, so I placed it under the leg of a rocking stool and spent 15 seconds intuitively disassembling the pistol. Yes, it is that easy.

6 – Both front and back straps are grooved and the grips are checkered for grip traction.

7 – The magazine catch is reversible.

8 – The Model 92 trigger guard is cut to support a finger during a two hand hold.

The top of the Model 92 slide is open which eliminates stove pipe ejections. The deep radius under the beavertail shifts the hand forward, extending the trigger finger for an easy reach. In single action mode, trigger pull is extremely short and moderately light. Wide at the grip as a result of its 15 round capacity, the Beretta still feels comfortable in a medium size hand.

Not a 1911 or CZ 75 derivative

While the Model 92 is a short recoil, locked breech system, it is not a link or linkless tilting barrel design. The Beretta’s barrel remains level when the pistol cycles, a falling block, inset, is driven downward on cycling, locking the barrel in place and releasing the slide. Overall the Model 92FS, on its introduction as an improvement over the Model 951, was touted for its double action trigger, exposed barrel, double stack magazine, and decocking manual safety.

I addition to the FS configuration, there is also a D model that is double action only with no manual safety and a G Model that is double/single action with ambidextrous decocking levers, rotating firing pin striker, and trigger bar disconnect.