BerettaNut92
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- Joined
- Dec 23, 2002
- Messages
- 9,723
I get a few e-mails every other month or so from folks asking me what the difference is between a Beretta 92FS and my 92G Elite II, so hopefully this will help someone out.
This is my competition pistol, a Beretta 92G Elite II. The G denotes a decock-only whereas the 92FS actually has a safety. Pull trigger, go bang. Beretta only sells the Elite series of pistols--Elite, Elite II, Elite IA and the upcoming G-SD, with the decock-only to civilians. 92G standard models are available through law enforcement dealers. They can be had for mere mortals that are willing to jump through some hoops. From what I remember, the G is derived from gendarme as this action type was requested by the French popo. As a disclaimer, a lot of stuff here is off memory, recounted from e-mails, bulletin board posts and phone conversations. There's a good chance I could be wrong here, so drop me a line and let me know if I am mistaken.
My Elite II ended up being a prototype model, which I purchased from someone who was an ex-Beretta employee. Several features on the pistol were different from ones you would find from your dealer--all the tweaks made for the production model are all improvements.
At first I was going to write an article in prose form describing all the features, but there are several articles featuring the Elite II in gun magazines. Here are the Elite II features in list form, with a little description to follow:
Stainless steel Brigadier slide and barrel. The slide, barrel (and grip screws) are a matte stainless which gives the Elite II a unique (to the Beretta kingdom, at least) two-tone appearance. The Brigadier slide is heavier and has a dovetailed front sight cut.
Decock-only safety.
Plain black Novak rear sight. I think the production models have plain black serrated front sights, but I'm not sure.
Skeletonized hammer. The hammer on the Elite II is a tad different from the Elite. I think it's heavier, to guarantee good primer strikes, but I can't be sure. Mine came with an Elite hammer.
Extended magazine release. Be aware that there are several versions of the extended mag release. Mine was a flat piece of something with a glued-on nub. I banged the nub off and lost it somewhere at an IPSC match. The current one is a solid piece, which I have never had any problems with.
D mainspring. The 92Ds, which are double-action-only, have lighter double-action trigger pulls than other Berettas, bringing it down a few pounds. On a side note, the D spring can be purchased for a buck or two as a part and tossed into a 92FS for a poor man's trigger jog.
Front cocking serrations. Handy for press-checks, but sometimes tricky when the barrel gets a little hot.
Target crowned barrel. The barrel has a recessed crown. Supposedly this increases accuracy by doing something to the expanding gasses following the bullet, but really, it just makes it harder to keep clean. An off-the-shelf 92FS is more accurate than I am, so really can't tell.
Flush lanyard loop cap. I don't know the proper nomenclature for this part, but there's no lanyard loop on the Elite II.
Rubber magazine baseplates. A little big and chunky if concealment is your thing, but they are nice and durable for folks who drop sometimes mostly-full magazines on the ground more than several times a month at matches.
I sent my Elite II off to Ernest Langdon, who's probably the most finest Beretta gunsmith God ever blessed humanity with. I can't say enough good stuff about him as a gunsmith and an all-around nice guy to do business with. Here's a list of work I had done on my Elite II.
Competition trigger job with stainless Speedbump Trigger. The speedbump is just a little nub on his trigger that improves the trigger reset a bit. The double action is slicker than deer snot on a doorknob, and while I prefer single action, I still shoot the Elite II better than my 1911s and USPs (all of which are going or gone). The stainless trigger adds to the nifty two-tone goodness. Ernest doesn't recommend the competition trigger for duty or carry, as light strikes may occur, but I've had 7000+ rounds through the pistol at the time of this writing and never had a single problem.
Trijicon front night sight and black Novak rear. I wanted night sights on my pistol for added tacticality, but he recommended a Trijicon front but a plain black Novak rear. I had a different rear sight installed for my preferred sight picture. Berettas are set up to 'drive the dots', in other words, hold the front sight over the bullseye. I preferred the traditional sight picture since I figure I can drive the dots for close-quarters hosing but the precision is there when I need it.
Stainless steel guide rod. What can I say, it's pretty. All your two-tone are belong to Skunk. It's supposed to be heavier to reduce felt recoil, but I really can't tell the difference.
Various Elite II upgrades. Since I had a prototype gun, I had older set of grip screws, hammer and magazine release and had Ernest swap out the parts for me.
As I mentioned earlier, Elite II is my everything competition gun. I'm not sure what IDPA division a Langdonized Elite II is under, probably ESP? I e-mailed the head IPSC equipment lawyer on whether Ernest's modifications would still put me in the Production division, and they were, but Ernest e-mailed me asking me if I still had those e-mails as IPSC wanted to make the parts illegal for Production. I still have the e-mails on hand if you want to play lawyer at your club. At the time I wrote the guy, my stainless steel guide rod and Speedbump Trigger were Production-legal, but my carbon fiber grips aren't. Go figure.
This is my competition pistol, a Beretta 92G Elite II. The G denotes a decock-only whereas the 92FS actually has a safety. Pull trigger, go bang. Beretta only sells the Elite series of pistols--Elite, Elite II, Elite IA and the upcoming G-SD, with the decock-only to civilians. 92G standard models are available through law enforcement dealers. They can be had for mere mortals that are willing to jump through some hoops. From what I remember, the G is derived from gendarme as this action type was requested by the French popo. As a disclaimer, a lot of stuff here is off memory, recounted from e-mails, bulletin board posts and phone conversations. There's a good chance I could be wrong here, so drop me a line and let me know if I am mistaken.
My Elite II ended up being a prototype model, which I purchased from someone who was an ex-Beretta employee. Several features on the pistol were different from ones you would find from your dealer--all the tweaks made for the production model are all improvements.
At first I was going to write an article in prose form describing all the features, but there are several articles featuring the Elite II in gun magazines. Here are the Elite II features in list form, with a little description to follow:
Stainless steel Brigadier slide and barrel. The slide, barrel (and grip screws) are a matte stainless which gives the Elite II a unique (to the Beretta kingdom, at least) two-tone appearance. The Brigadier slide is heavier and has a dovetailed front sight cut.
Decock-only safety.
Plain black Novak rear sight. I think the production models have plain black serrated front sights, but I'm not sure.
Skeletonized hammer. The hammer on the Elite II is a tad different from the Elite. I think it's heavier, to guarantee good primer strikes, but I can't be sure. Mine came with an Elite hammer.
Extended magazine release. Be aware that there are several versions of the extended mag release. Mine was a flat piece of something with a glued-on nub. I banged the nub off and lost it somewhere at an IPSC match. The current one is a solid piece, which I have never had any problems with.
D mainspring. The 92Ds, which are double-action-only, have lighter double-action trigger pulls than other Berettas, bringing it down a few pounds. On a side note, the D spring can be purchased for a buck or two as a part and tossed into a 92FS for a poor man's trigger jog.
Front cocking serrations. Handy for press-checks, but sometimes tricky when the barrel gets a little hot.
Target crowned barrel. The barrel has a recessed crown. Supposedly this increases accuracy by doing something to the expanding gasses following the bullet, but really, it just makes it harder to keep clean. An off-the-shelf 92FS is more accurate than I am, so really can't tell.
Flush lanyard loop cap. I don't know the proper nomenclature for this part, but there's no lanyard loop on the Elite II.
Rubber magazine baseplates. A little big and chunky if concealment is your thing, but they are nice and durable for folks who drop sometimes mostly-full magazines on the ground more than several times a month at matches.
I sent my Elite II off to Ernest Langdon, who's probably the most finest Beretta gunsmith God ever blessed humanity with. I can't say enough good stuff about him as a gunsmith and an all-around nice guy to do business with. Here's a list of work I had done on my Elite II.
Competition trigger job with stainless Speedbump Trigger. The speedbump is just a little nub on his trigger that improves the trigger reset a bit. The double action is slicker than deer snot on a doorknob, and while I prefer single action, I still shoot the Elite II better than my 1911s and USPs (all of which are going or gone). The stainless trigger adds to the nifty two-tone goodness. Ernest doesn't recommend the competition trigger for duty or carry, as light strikes may occur, but I've had 7000+ rounds through the pistol at the time of this writing and never had a single problem.
Trijicon front night sight and black Novak rear. I wanted night sights on my pistol for added tacticality, but he recommended a Trijicon front but a plain black Novak rear. I had a different rear sight installed for my preferred sight picture. Berettas are set up to 'drive the dots', in other words, hold the front sight over the bullseye. I preferred the traditional sight picture since I figure I can drive the dots for close-quarters hosing but the precision is there when I need it.
Stainless steel guide rod. What can I say, it's pretty. All your two-tone are belong to Skunk. It's supposed to be heavier to reduce felt recoil, but I really can't tell the difference.
Various Elite II upgrades. Since I had a prototype gun, I had older set of grip screws, hammer and magazine release and had Ernest swap out the parts for me.
As I mentioned earlier, Elite II is my everything competition gun. I'm not sure what IDPA division a Langdonized Elite II is under, probably ESP? I e-mailed the head IPSC equipment lawyer on whether Ernest's modifications would still put me in the Production division, and they were, but Ernest e-mailed me asking me if I still had those e-mails as IPSC wanted to make the parts illegal for Production. I still have the e-mails on hand if you want to play lawyer at your club. At the time I wrote the guy, my stainless steel guide rod and Speedbump Trigger were Production-legal, but my carbon fiber grips aren't. Go figure.
