New Beretta Stovepipes, FTFs HELP!

GR0M

GR0M

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Recieved new Italian made Beretta 92fs INOX, dressesd it up with walnut medallion grips, switched out the polymer guide rod and spring to Beretta stainless steel rod with the included spring. It should be noted that the new spring is about 1/2" longer. Up to this point gun is great, looks beautiful.

Now on to the range where it goes decidedly downhill. Out of the 100 rounds I brought to test fire (commercially manufactured reloads) I probably had 20-30 malfunctions (lost count). First few mags FTFs (round jamming into chamber at 45 degree angle), casings stovepiping and slide not locking back on empty mag. Every couple rounds something was going wrong.

Anyone experience this? I know what some of the suggestions are gonna be and I've considered some of them. Limp wristing? I don't believe so. I'm an LEO with lots of range time on glock and I shoot different pistols in IPSC/IDPA with no such problems. Thumb on slide/controls? I don't thinks so, I stopped to check and make certain.

Now by the last three mags it seemed to have worked itself out with flawless function, but I have to ask myself what was going on there!?!? The recoil also seemed more snappy than i would expect with a steel 9mm. Could it be the new rod/spring? Should I go back to original shorter spring with stock polymer rod? Use stainless rod, but go back to original spring? Mag issue?

Any tips or advice are appreciated. Thanks.
 
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I use a stainless rod in mine as well, but it didn't come with a new spring.
I would certainly give the old spring a try, bring them both to the range next time you go.

I assume the magazines are factory? are they new? Try marking your mags to distinguish them and see if its just one mag that does it every time, or every mag.

When you say not locking back on empty mag, do you mean after last shot it doesn't hold open, or if you put the empty mag in the gun and manually operate the slide it still doesnt lock back?
My biggest problem with my beretta is that I let my thumb touch the slide lock, you said you covered that tho. Typically this would sound like a mag problem to me, but the combination of issues could be caused by the slide not cycling fully.

Does it ever fail to feed on the first round (i.e. when the slide is locked back and you drop the slide... does it always chamber that round, or does it malfunction on the first round also)
If it always functions perfectly on the first round, but may fail on subsequent rounds... then I would look to the slide not cycling properly, probably caused by the spring being too stiff/long. Do you know the rating of the spring?

Anyway, next time out bring both springs, try them both. The old spring is new so there shouldn't be an issue using the old spring on the steel guide rod (someone correct me if im wrong)
 
Just my .02 cents, I have owned a regular 92FS for 13k rounds.
When it was new, recoil spring was stiff. I needed full power factory 9 to get it cycle good.
When some IPSC guys lent me some reloads to see the difference in recoil, the slide would not go back far enough to chamber a new round, recoil/main springs we're too stiff.
With a bit of use they softened up and worked good, you're commercial reloads, are you speaking of Wolffe brands? If so they are often loaded to lower power factor.
And yeah 1/2'' longer is not helping you at all, on an already tense spring setup, you just made it more tense by another 1/2''
 
New OEM mags. Same problem with both.

The longer spring has no weight marked on packaging but it's noticeably longer.

Yes, no lock back after last round fired.

First round chambers properly. Also, cycling the slide manually ejects and feeds all rounds normally.

I will try both rod and springs and combination next time at range.
 
That sounds exactly like a spring issue then.

Maybe someone can comment on if it would be a good idea to cut back the new spring? I was thinking if the old spring works fine for you, you may be able to cut back the new spring in small increments (like 1/4 coil at a time until you are close, then really small adjustments after that) until you get it exactly where you want. It would probably be important not to go under factory. I don't know that that's a good idea, just a thoughtni had. maybe someone more experienced can speak to this.
 
They're not Wolf, but at a recent level 3 IPSC match their power factor was determined to be about 128.
 
First of all put the gun back to stock, just like it came.

Second buy a couple of different kinds of factory ammo and try it then.

Even though the reloads are supposed to be factory reloads it doesn't mean they are done right or that your gun will work with them.

Graydog
 
Wimpy ammo likely the issue. Recently I came across some Fiocchi 115 gr. FMJ ammo that caused failures in a Gen 3.5 Glock that fed everything with no problem (commercial US made ammo). This was disappointing because Fiocchi was very reliable years ago.

Try the gun with Federal 147 gr. ammo and see what happens.
 
Innercity: I have the same recoil spring and rod as the link you posted but mine is a full 3 coils longer than the stock spring!
 
Berettas are normally no fail guns. It's almost a straight feed into the breech from the mag.However I've had your problem before, I thought it was a mag problem but no. I was using Fiocchi ammo and the ammo was fine. I even switched mags with another guy using the same gun. Someone suggested I lube the rails. I tend to run my guns fairly dry so I thought why not? Aded lube and it never failed again. So it could be your springs but check the lube. Glocks basically self lube but Berettas don't.
 
Still alive said:
Berettas are normally no fail guns. It's almost a straight feed into the breech from the mag.However I've had your problem before, I thought it was a mag problem but no. I was using Fiocchi ammo and the ammo was fine. I even switched mags with another guy using the same gun. Someone suggested I lube the rails. I tend to run my guns fairly dry so I thought why not? Aded lube and it never failed again. So it could be your springs but check the lube. Glocks basically self lube but Berettas don't.
Click to expand...

Good Point. Since it's a new pistol try and run the rails slide wet for a few hundred rounds. Also my pistol shoots the 124Gr ammo the best, not that 115Gr causes Stovepipes and FTF but it works best with my sight picture.
 
Re cleaned/oiled it. Cleaned mags. Ran 4 different types of factory ammo through it and now works flawlessly with replacement spring/rod. Also tried the original reloaded ammo and no issues there either. Relieved
 
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