Wednesday, December 10, 2014

92F Kaboom: Final

So I just got off the phone with the fine men at Beretta.  The 92F will arrive today.  Its been repaired and tested and it is functioning like new.  They did this at no charge.  Did I mention this particular 92F was made in 1990?

The firearm is old enough to buy its own bourbon...  it only came with a 1 year warranty to start with... and I'm not even the original owner.  They repaired it for free. 

How badass is that?

So what all did they do?  Well... they reassembled it... fired a mag through it... inspected it... and called it good.

See...  apparently the 92F was actually designed to deal with overpressure.  How effective is that design?

Apparently in Falujah a soldier was firing his and it popped just like mine from over-pressure.  He was under fire... so he took cover...jerked the trigger back forward and everything just popped back into place. He reloaded... and went right back to fighting.

Now the gunsmith said that in those circumstances the springs inside wouldn't have been properly aligned so it wouldn't be ideal... but the weapon would function.

I don't know why... but the idea that a weapon and effectively go kaboom...  and you just force the trigger forward load a new mag... work the slide... and go right back to fighting... really impresses me.

I'm kind of embarrassed that I didn't already know this about this weapon considering how much I have carried its Taurus brother.   I guess I've never had a failure before so I had no reason to look into stuff like this.  The Taurus functions so perfectly under so many horrible conditions that failure just never occurred to me.

Anyway... we learned something.  If you have a beretta 92F and it damned near explodes in your hand...  just take off the slide and the grip... pull the trigger back forward and realign the springs... put it back together and you're good to go.

I think its high time we re-evaluate the 92F on our scale of badass weapons.   Yes... its a 9 and 9s suck... but this thing is a freakin' tank. 

At this point.. I can... without equivocation recommend you buy a 92F.  Or.. if you prefer... a 96... which is the 40 cal version. 

12 comments:

Giraffe said...

Nice.

If Remington had that kind of customer service I'd still be a Remington fan.

Res Ipsa said...

I think its impressive how few times something like this happens. I suspect that there are over a million 92's out there. Just having a handful of mishaps, of any sort, is a great testament to the utility of the gun.

Nate said...

it really is Res. I know we've all given this weapon shit. In reality... man I dunno... it falls way higher on the All Time Great Designs ladder than folks realize.

We've neglected it because its a 9mm for to long. The CZ75 is also a 9... doesn't change the fact that its one of the finest designs ever.

Maybe this beretta should be in that discussion as well.

Russ said...

They're tanks, no doubt about it. And they're so freakin easy to shoot well.

Res Ipsa said...

I think I shot my first 92 in 1994. It was a LEO or MIL refurbished gun. I didn't really like the gun, but that probably had more to do with aesthetics than anything. My buddy loved it. As I remember it shot well.

There are so many good guns out there that you should be able to find a piece that is a perfect fit. I've got to shoot lots of different makes over the years. Like most guys I've decided on what I like and what I don't, but there really is a design and model for everyone if you look for it.

Try em all and buy what you like.

On the 9mm vs everything else, I think its important to realize that just because a 9mm isn't as good as other calibers doesn't mean it doesn't have its place.

Nate said...

No question Res... if I ever need to shoot 20 cats... 9mm will absolutely be my second choice.

Right after 22 mag...

Nate said...

I think the biggest stumbling block people have with the 92f is just the size of the thing. it is giant compared to modern poly pistols.

of course.. the size is one of the things I like about it.

Raggededge said...

Just came back from the store with the new Springfield XD Compact Mod.2. Completely different size obviously. Nice weapon though. I did get it in a 9, the 40 isn't out yet.

Stilicho said...

That's great design and great customer service. Had this been an HK pistol, they would have sent you a letter telling you how much you suck and claiming that it did not happen because the HK Oberfuhrer of design says so.

Red said...

Well, not that it means a damn to anyone here, but I guess I'll keep mine. Of course, I was going to anyways - and hearing about this just makes it better.

Toothy said...

A: Blanton's

T: Oliva Master Blend III

F: Para Slim Hawg

Merry Christmas, ya'll...

Toothy said...

This incident raises my opinion of Taurus a couple of notches for sure.

Glad it worked out for you Nate.