But you know, a 9mm 1911 isn't a bad idea! Maybe a Norc 1911 in 9mm would be a good idea. Likely to fit her hand (they fit everyone's hands) ton's of "gunfighter chic" and she can have it built into whatever she wants. Trigger work, grips -as we all know the parts are out there, cheap.
Surplus Beretta's at Lever Arms
- Thread starter ghostie
- Start date
But guys, there's still no reason not to to consider these Surplus Beretta's.
My wife likes my 96 Elite. She has no issue holding, firing or operating the slides. Better than the smaller stuff in the closet.
Sure maybe $700.00 is a little overpriced but it's not wacky. You can easily sell it on this board for $600. or $650.00 in a few months or years if you want to change.
I say it's an acceptable purchase if she has her heart set on it. It's acceptable in price, it's acceptable from the workmanship and quality perspective AND it's acceptable in recovery if re-sale was to happen.
My wife likes my 96 Elite. She has no issue holding, firing or operating the slides. Better than the smaller stuff in the closet.
Sure maybe $700.00 is a little overpriced but it's not wacky. You can easily sell it on this board for $600. or $650.00 in a few months or years if you want to change.
I say it's an acceptable purchase if she has her heart set on it. It's acceptable in price, it's acceptable from the workmanship and quality perspective AND it's acceptable in recovery if re-sale was to happen.
My girlfriend and I were back at Lever Arms this past weekend. Now, in addition to those Italian police surplus Beretta 92S's that I was talking about, they now have some Beretta 92FS and 92G's, which they say are Vancouver Police Surplus.
I was asking, "so are the VPD upgrading?" He says, "Yep. Going to a Sig 226".
I found it a little weird that these 9mm pistols are VPD surplus, because I know that the regulations to the Police Act stipulate a .40S&W pistol (see below) and the time when municipal police in BC switched from revolvers to autoloaders (which I believe was right around 1994 or 95 - just after the Report of the Oppal Commission included this as one of its recommendations) was the same time that .40S&W was becoming the "cool" round in N. American police culture.
All the Beretta's they have are definitely SA/DA, despite what the model numbers say. If some of the 92S's started out their lives as DAO, they have now been modified.
The mag release is on the bottom on the Italian surplus 92S's, but Lever Arms is saying that they will be getting some of these mags in soon. The main draw back with the Italian models is that they have very low profile sights that have no white dots or lines or anything on them. They are just black. So if they were used by Italian police officers - it must have been well before night sights became "must have" for cops. I don't think it would be very practical to remove the front sight either. It's like a blade molded into the front of the slide.
The "VPD" Beretta's are "Made in the U.S.A." models. Some of them have a brownish replacement grip which makes them wider - some do not. Some have traces of light blue paint on them for some reason, but that should clean off no problem. Either most or all of them have night sights (which I think are Trijicon). As I say, they are all SA/DA.
Like the Italian guns, the VPD guns are mostly $550. Some that have a bit more wear are $500 or $520 I think (didn't really look at those ones too much).
Looks like my gal is going to pick up a VPD 92FS with night sights and without the fatter grips for $550. Any thoughts on this? I did tell her about the new 92FS's for $799 + shipping out of Calgary. Not sure if she will go for that or not.
If she does get the 92FS from Lever, I'll take some pictures and show you guys what it looks like.
For interest sake, this is what the law in B.C. sets out for service pistols and ammo:
(see http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/reg/P/Police/203_98.htm#3)
3 (1) Subject to subsection (3), if a chief constable carries a firearm or authorizes a member of his or her police force to carry a firearm, the firearm must be a semi-automatic pistol with the following specifications:
(a) double/single or double action-only trigger mechanism;
(b) single action trigger force of not less than 1.36 kg;
(c) hammer/firing pin block safety mechanism;
(d) barrel of not less than 76 mm and not more than 127 mm in length.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), the ammunition used in a firearm described under subsection (1) must be 0.40 calibre Smith and Wesson factory loaded cartridges with the following specifications:
(a) hollow point bullet design;
(b) bullet weight no less than 9.523 grams (147 grain);
(c) muzzle velocity between 290 m/second to 396 m/second, when fired in a firearm referred to in subsection (1).
I was asking, "so are the VPD upgrading?" He says, "Yep. Going to a Sig 226".
I found it a little weird that these 9mm pistols are VPD surplus, because I know that the regulations to the Police Act stipulate a .40S&W pistol (see below) and the time when municipal police in BC switched from revolvers to autoloaders (which I believe was right around 1994 or 95 - just after the Report of the Oppal Commission included this as one of its recommendations) was the same time that .40S&W was becoming the "cool" round in N. American police culture.
All the Beretta's they have are definitely SA/DA, despite what the model numbers say. If some of the 92S's started out their lives as DAO, they have now been modified.
The mag release is on the bottom on the Italian surplus 92S's, but Lever Arms is saying that they will be getting some of these mags in soon. The main draw back with the Italian models is that they have very low profile sights that have no white dots or lines or anything on them. They are just black. So if they were used by Italian police officers - it must have been well before night sights became "must have" for cops. I don't think it would be very practical to remove the front sight either. It's like a blade molded into the front of the slide.
The "VPD" Beretta's are "Made in the U.S.A." models. Some of them have a brownish replacement grip which makes them wider - some do not. Some have traces of light blue paint on them for some reason, but that should clean off no problem. Either most or all of them have night sights (which I think are Trijicon). As I say, they are all SA/DA.
Like the Italian guns, the VPD guns are mostly $550. Some that have a bit more wear are $500 or $520 I think (didn't really look at those ones too much).
Looks like my gal is going to pick up a VPD 92FS with night sights and without the fatter grips for $550. Any thoughts on this? I did tell her about the new 92FS's for $799 + shipping out of Calgary. Not sure if she will go for that or not.
If she does get the 92FS from Lever, I'll take some pictures and show you guys what it looks like.
For interest sake, this is what the law in B.C. sets out for service pistols and ammo:
(see http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/reg/P/Police/203_98.htm#3)
3 (1) Subject to subsection (3), if a chief constable carries a firearm or authorizes a member of his or her police force to carry a firearm, the firearm must be a semi-automatic pistol with the following specifications:
(a) double/single or double action-only trigger mechanism;
(b) single action trigger force of not less than 1.36 kg;
(c) hammer/firing pin block safety mechanism;
(d) barrel of not less than 76 mm and not more than 127 mm in length.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), the ammunition used in a firearm described under subsection (1) must be 0.40 calibre Smith and Wesson factory loaded cartridges with the following specifications:
(a) hollow point bullet design;
(b) bullet weight no less than 9.523 grams (147 grain);
(c) muzzle velocity between 290 m/second to 396 m/second, when fired in a firearm referred to in subsection (1).
Yah, I find that I bit odd myself. I guess that's Canada for you. Everything has to be regulated and controlled to death at all times. I believe that a lot of cops in the U.S. use a +P+ 9mm hollow-point, lots of .45ACP, some .357SIG and a few .45GAP. With some of these departments they probably let their officers carry just about whatever they want. Maybe "Dirty Harry" isn't complete fiction! Haha!Deckard said:
Up here though the guns are owned by the agency and are not registered into the system like every other firearm. Seems like everyone on a particular department uses the same thing. I have not seen VPD carrying SIGs yet, but I'm sure I will. I know that West Van, Delta, New West and GVTAPS (the transit police) all carry a Glock 22. Not 100% sure about Port Moody or Abbotsford, as I don't see them in my line of work. Lever Arms had some Glock 22 surplus guns about 8-10 months ago. I think these were from Ontario though.
Subsection (3) of that reg that I posted says that a Chief Constable can authorize a member to carry something else. Maybe if a department had a real small person, they might let them go with a Glock 23 or something, I haven't heard of that though. I have heard that VPD chief Jaime Graham has been going around with some kind of compact SIG in .380 when out of uniform. I guess he authorized himself to carry something different!
excellent...keep us informed, I may pick one of these up but would rather have someone here explain condition, night sights still work..trigger guard..etc.than asking over phone as I am in nova scotia.
srry also can someone please confirm "ghostie" if those 92g are the SD "Special Duty" decocker only with a tac rail, night sights and the heavier duty brigadier slide. thanks
srry also can someone please confirm "ghostie" if those 92g are the SD "Special Duty" decocker only with a tac rail, night sights and the heavier duty brigadier slide. thanks
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Here it is guys... we finally brought it home. Girlfriend is pretty happy with it. We're taking it out tomorrow. I'll let you know how it shoots.
It's a Beretta 92G, VPD surplus, made in U.S.A. The gun was $550. The "G" models are DA/SA with a de-cocker but with no manual safety. It looks to be the case that Trijicon night sites were installed in 1995, judging by the sticker on the front of the slide (visible in the first picture). That would explain the relatively low glow of them (although they do still glow, and they look good as just regular white three-dot sites) and also the fact that it is a 9mm VPD surplus gun. The VPD (and all the municipal police in B.C.) have been .40S&W only for some time now, but when then first switched to auto-pistols the VPD must have gone to a Beretta in 9mm.
Sites are still functional, pretty dim in the dark, but nice site picture in the light:
Field-stripped (right out of the store, no cleaning yet):
Bore... it cleaned up from this state a fair bit. There is wear, obviously, but still in pretty nice shape:
Underside of the slide:
Frame with the slide off:
Only one mag included. Regular U.S. Beretta 92 mag will work (apparantly). This one is a "Law Enforcement/Government only" 15 round mag that has been "pinned" by dinting in the side.
It's a Beretta 92G, VPD surplus, made in U.S.A. The gun was $550. The "G" models are DA/SA with a de-cocker but with no manual safety. It looks to be the case that Trijicon night sites were installed in 1995, judging by the sticker on the front of the slide (visible in the first picture). That would explain the relatively low glow of them (although they do still glow, and they look good as just regular white three-dot sites) and also the fact that it is a 9mm VPD surplus gun. The VPD (and all the municipal police in B.C.) have been .40S&W only for some time now, but when then first switched to auto-pistols the VPD must have gone to a Beretta in 9mm.
Sites are still functional, pretty dim in the dark, but nice site picture in the light:
Field-stripped (right out of the store, no cleaning yet):
Bore... it cleaned up from this state a fair bit. There is wear, obviously, but still in pretty nice shape:
Underside of the slide:
Frame with the slide off:
Only one mag included. Regular U.S. Beretta 92 mag will work (apparantly). This one is a "Law Enforcement/Government only" 15 round mag that has been "pinned" by dinting in the side.
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- Location
- Calgary, Alberta
Pretty good deal for $550, although I did get that P226 from Wolverine for $590 with three mags...
Slavex said:
Ex ERT guns???
Might not be that much of a "bargain" then... ERT guns get shot A LOT!
IIRC a number of years ago some ERT on the Island here were issued one of the generations of S&W's 9mm's also with the aluminum frames. They were also shot A LOT.... frames eventually started showing the tell tale stress fractures... then they moved to G17's... no more problem...
Doubt those S&W sold for "surplus" - except maybe the small parts.
- Location
- Calgary, Alberta
It doesn't necessarily matter if a gun has been shot a lot, depends on how good the maintenance has been, what kind of ammo has been used, etc.
Looking at the pictures of that 92G it looks as though it's had a fair amount of ammo through it because there is wear on the guide rod, plus the tell-tale signs at the front of the frame rails and on the rod part of the take down lever. But the rifling looks sharp and it has less internal wear than a 92F I had which had about 20,000 rounds through it.
Whenever I buy surplus guns I usually replace all the springs and screws, you can get them from Brownell's or the OEM for a few bucks. Springs and screws are not subject to any sort of control either (which is not to say they'll ship them to you, get a friend in the US).
Police surplus is the best, it's usually in good shape and it's commercial stuff so you can get spare parts. Always steer clear of IDF surplus though, it's surplus for a reason - it's worn out. Surplus police ammo is the best, I remember back in the early 1990s when loads of PDs switched over to .40S&W, I was in heaven for awhile with all that surplus 9mm.
Looking at the pictures of that 92G it looks as though it's had a fair amount of ammo through it because there is wear on the guide rod, plus the tell-tale signs at the front of the frame rails and on the rod part of the take down lever. But the rifling looks sharp and it has less internal wear than a 92F I had which had about 20,000 rounds through it.
Whenever I buy surplus guns I usually replace all the springs and screws, you can get them from Brownell's or the OEM for a few bucks. Springs and screws are not subject to any sort of control either (which is not to say they'll ship them to you, get a friend in the US).
Police surplus is the best, it's usually in good shape and it's commercial stuff so you can get spare parts. Always steer clear of IDF surplus though, it's surplus for a reason - it's worn out. Surplus police ammo is the best, I remember back in the early 1990s when loads of PDs switched over to .40S&W, I was in heaven for awhile with all that surplus 9mm.
Well, we took the Beretta out to the range on Saturday. I was mostly using my SIG Mosquito and Walther P99 while she was trying out her new toy. She shot 150 rounds of UMC 115 grain "Metal Case", but I shot 4 mags through the Beretta as well. I was actually really quite impressed with it. Neither of us had any malfunctions in those 190 rounds. Girlfriend was having a little trouble controlling it for the first couple of mags (I think she has been getting too used to shooting .22LR pistols lately) but she tightened her shooting up as soon as I reminded her to move her weak hand up and keep that gun under control!
For my part, I found the gun very accurate. This gun has no problem putting together 2 inch groups at 15 metres. I was banging off all 10 rounds into a 5 inch circle target, so that was widening the groups up quite a bit, but it wouldn't take most shooters long to get 3 shots into 2 inches at that range with that gun. I found the sites to be right on the money for windage, and point of impact was coming in just a little south of bulleye, which may be attributable to the 115 grain ammo.
Generally I found it to be no better or worse than other Beretta's I've shot. It is what it is.. a Beretta! A big heavy auto with a long barrel that's easy to control, has good accuracy, and is good and reliable. I like the gun and, and despite being one of these Austrian/German pistol guys, I think I'm actually starting to become a Beretta fan. They make a nice gun.
The only issue to speak of was that my girlfriend thought that the slide was coming back quicker than on other 9mm's she's shot (she mainly liked/shot my Glock 17 before buying the Beretta). I didn't really notice that, but I agree with what some of the other posters have said about possibly needing to replace the springs. I think it is fine, but we'll pick-up at least a new recoil spring anyway.
Now I'm kinda curious to try one of those Italian Police 92S they have at Lever, not to mention the new "Space Age" Berettas.... the "90-Two" and the "PX4 Storm" (if we can get any of the later in Canada).
For my part, I found the gun very accurate. This gun has no problem putting together 2 inch groups at 15 metres. I was banging off all 10 rounds into a 5 inch circle target, so that was widening the groups up quite a bit, but it wouldn't take most shooters long to get 3 shots into 2 inches at that range with that gun. I found the sites to be right on the money for windage, and point of impact was coming in just a little south of bulleye, which may be attributable to the 115 grain ammo.
Generally I found it to be no better or worse than other Beretta's I've shot. It is what it is.. a Beretta! A big heavy auto with a long barrel that's easy to control, has good accuracy, and is good and reliable. I like the gun and, and despite being one of these Austrian/German pistol guys, I think I'm actually starting to become a Beretta fan. They make a nice gun.
The only issue to speak of was that my girlfriend thought that the slide was coming back quicker than on other 9mm's she's shot (she mainly liked/shot my Glock 17 before buying the Beretta). I didn't really notice that, but I agree with what some of the other posters have said about possibly needing to replace the springs. I think it is fine, but we'll pick-up at least a new recoil spring anyway.
Now I'm kinda curious to try one of those Italian Police 92S they have at Lever, not to mention the new "Space Age" Berettas.... the "90-Two" and the "PX4 Storm" (if we can get any of the later in Canada).
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IM_Lugger said:if it's under 5in uncompressed it needs to be replaced
btw
to Beretta Club
Hey, thanks man.
I'll measure that spring next time we have the gun apart. Where's the best place to get a spring? Just ask a dealer to order one in (no gun shop around here ever seems to stock the parts I want), or is there some online place in the U.S. that will send me one no hassles?
Ghostie,
It takes 4 weeks + now to order anything from Brownells or Numrich, shipped to Vancouver. The delay is due to Canada Border Service stopping every single parcel marked with "firearm parts". They leave your box in their place for 3 weeks, then put their labels on, and charge you a fee for their hard work.
Now this happens to all shipments including those well below $100.
If we could order the parts through a dealer, or if you could just drive over there to buy one, both are easier than ordering online.....
It seems that Reliable is always willing to order stuff for you through their agent/dealer/whatever.
It takes 4 weeks + now to order anything from Brownells or Numrich, shipped to Vancouver. The delay is due to Canada Border Service stopping every single parcel marked with "firearm parts". They leave your box in their place for 3 weeks, then put their labels on, and charge you a fee for their hard work.
Now this happens to all shipments including those well below $100.
If we could order the parts through a dealer, or if you could just drive over there to buy one, both are easier than ordering online.....
It seems that Reliable is always willing to order stuff for you through their agent/dealer/whatever.
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