92S Review

FyreFighter

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So I bought one of Weimajacks' hand-picked Beretta 92S pistols. The picture he posted showed a practically perfect specimen. It didn't do the gun justice: it was nearly pristine. The grips were the only areas with scratches and they weren't bad at all.

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I know that some are opposed to the heel mounted magazine release but after just one trip to the range, I have to say it grew on me. Keeping the pistol aimed at the target, mag swaps were accomplished with a single hand and without changing my strong hand grip except for pulling my finger out of the trigger guard. Instead of dropping a mag on the ground, I merely swapped it in my gunbelt. I'll have to time the difference but I suspect it will not be a lot.

In any case, the gun is beautiful and fills my hand perfectly. Far better than my previous favorite 1911 and even better than a P226. The results speak for themselves, bearing in mind I am not that good a pistol shot. This was an 11 round mag dump from 10 yards. You can see the double-action shot went a little high while the rest of the shots are squarely in the space between the two buttons - I was aiming for the ten. The DA trigger is clean but long and hard. The SA trigger is as good as the best 1911 I've used. A fair bit of takeup but very clean and breaks very crisply.

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Overall, I am extremely pleased with this gun. My ONLY complaint is that the sights are all black. I haven't measured the dovetail to see if modern 92 sights will fit, but the absolute worst case is that I put a little bit of white paint on the front sight.

FF
 
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Great guns, the mag issue and the black sights are negatives for me though. My surplus 92fs didn't look pristine like that but I like the fact that it uses any 92 magazine and it has 3 dot sights.

You must have gotten the nicest one in the batch.
 
Nice review .
What's the issue with the mags ?

Any factory Beretta 92fs mags I've seen have had a second notch at the bottom for the "S" model .
Great guns, the mag issue and the black sights are negatives for me though. My surplus 92fs didn't look pristine like that but I like the fact that it uses any 92 magazine and it has 3 dot sights.

You must have gotten the nicest one in the batch.
 
I shouldn't speak for him, but I think he means the mag release placement.

Some third party mags don't have the heel cutout. Military surplus ones don't.

It's not a deal breaker for me in the least.

FF
 
Nice review .
What's the issue with the mags ?

Any factory Beretta 92fs mags I've seen have had a second notch at the bottom for the "S" model .

The more readily available and cheaper mags do not have this cutout. When I bought my used 92FS it came with MecGar mags which are very good, but don't have the second notch.

Looking at Beretta USA mags on Brownell's, I don't see the second notch either.

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Supposed to look like this:
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This is from Brownells Q&A on the 15rd mags , and a Quick phone call to them should help clear things up about the other Factory mags , the after market one's , Im thinking you're SOL .
They will ship 10rd ones here , I've order some from them before.

Question12/1/2013

Hello, Will these mags work/fit a Model 92s (Older Model from Italy) that has the European type Mag Release on the bottom the grip versus the standard mag release by the trigger guard. The magazine will have a notch on the bottom right above the base plate to lock into the mag well. I want to make sure before ordering a quantity of them. Also...these are FACTORY Beretta mags (not 3rd party) correct? Thank you for the information! Jesse N. Charlotte, NC

Jesse from Charlotte, NC
Answer This Question Answer12/12/2013

Yes, these have the slot cut in the magazine body on the right/rear above the base pad for the European as well as the US catch. These are original Beretta FACTORY magazines.

Brownells from Montezuma, IA
 
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It's not surprising that they aren't super popular. The mag release is a deal breaker.

Mag release and mag availability doesn't seem to be much of a problem for the OP, but I would be able to live with these issues and the black sights if they were around $450 or so.

For $569-579, probably not. It's pretty strong money for a surplus pistol that came in crates.


Marstar Deal:
 
Between this thread and the one in North Sylva's forum.. I guess I'm in.

any other sources for 92S mags that people have identified?

(other than that merchant that's no longer on here...)
 
Most current mags have the heel cutout and will work just fine. Mags are $29 in the US, and sell for $75 here. I had a bunch for sale and they're gone now.

FF
 
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