Is there anything particular to consider with a BERETTA 92 A1 ammo wise?

A

agent00

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I want to get back into pistol shooting after many years. This time I want to get a Beretta 92a1.

I will be mainly used for target/fun shooting and as back up home defense (indoor only here in Austria it is not allowed to carry guns as a civilian).

Are there some known quirks with the baretta with various ammo types?

The ammo avaibility here in Austria is not as vast as in the US.

For target/fun shooting I am planning to use some 115 grain or 124 fmj and for defense I am going to use some classic 115 grain jhp from federal.

Is it same to asume that Baretta won't have any issues with that bullet weights?


Thanks for the help in advance greetings from Austria

​

 
In general, we've had lots of reports of cheap, low powered, 115gr ammo not having enough energy to reliably drive slides on a variety of guns. This is generally not a problem with the Beretta 92 series, but if you are having a problem with the 115gr stuff, it is not a gun issue, it is typically an ammo issue. After some rounds through the gun, it should work fine with the cheap stuff, but not always when the guns are new.
 
The Beretta 92 is famous to be made to eat every 9mm factory cartridge made. Since you are austrian, you'll sure find many many european made cartridges which are usually fairly hot: Geco, RWS, Fiocchi, Sellier & Bellot, PPU, Barnaul, MFS. Russian Tula Ammo and Wolf. The 92 will eat everything.
In my experience, Beretta 92 series of pistols are factory sighted for the combat hold, so if you want to rise the point of impact you have to go with heavier, slower bullets.
 
I don't have a lot of experience with my Beretta, I just recently added it to the collection, but mine eats everything. I think the reports of jamming were related to dubious magazines purchased by the US Government. Lots of guys used I hunt with were reserve deputies for LA County and they loved their Berettas. They are gun guys who shot a lot and would be very vocal if the gun did not work. They had nothing but praise. These were guns from the 90's and early 2000's.

I think you should be good to go!
 
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As long as you stay away from anything marked +P you should be good.
I have a 92FS that I love!! This pistol goes out every time I introduce someone new to shooting.

The recoil is mild, the trigger is smooth and it's very accurate. Great Choice!!
 
Though the OP has the 92A1 that has a frame buffer and is also the only Beretta still chambered in .40 S&W in the 96A1, so if there is a 92 that could take +P it would be the 92A1.
 
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I have a Langdon LTT Elite and it eats everything. 124 gr. factory Blazer brass, 115 random factory stuff and my 125gr LRN reloads (coated lead bullets) over Hodgdon HP-38. Not a single FTF or FTE in around 500 rounds.

p.s. MecGar 18 rounds magazines are inexpensive and run flawlessly!
 
Thanks a lot for the information and also thx for posting the very interesting video.

About +P Ammo. I have never seen such rounds at my local gunstore so the chances are not very high that I can get such rounds for my 92A1. But it is still good to know just in case my 92a1 might be able to handle such rounds. Would use them that often if I could. I do no see any real usage of plus p rounds for target/fun shooting. Only in self defense situation the extra power of the plus p round might come in handy.

Like I said in the entry post the ammo availability is not as good in the states so I need to have to use what is around.

The most financially sound ammo choice that would not break my bank would be the 9mm 115-grain ball round from Sellier and Bellot and the classic 115-grain jhp round from Federal.

The ball round from S&B is loaded a bit hotter than the federal jp round but it still be to use in 92a1.
 
Are you sure you wont be banned from your country for buying Italian instead of Austrian? :rofl::rofl:
(just jokes)

Make sure you buy a "D" hammer spring from Beretta as it will greatly improve the trigger on the 92A1.

For the most part I've never had an issue with any ammo out of my 92's.

I say most part because I have had a few bad boxes of factory ammo over the years that choked any 9mm that I tried it in.
 
With Sellier & Bellot 115gr. FMJ-RN you are good to go. I don't see one single chance to choke a Beretta 92A1 with that ammo.
As far as +P ammo, if the 9mm 92A1 shares the same slide of the .40S&W 96A1, then you have nothing to worry even with a steady diet of 9mm +P. Otherwise you'll need e 9mm 92 with this type of slide:
IMG_20240203_125556.jpg

Since you said you are not going to find or shoot +P ammo, it is a no existent problem. In any case, even the standard Beretta 92 can stand a non abusive use of +P ammo without problems.
 
tarosean said:
Make sure you buy a "D" hammer spring from Beretta as it will greatly improve the trigger on the 92A1.
Click to expand...
This is a good recommendation.

If you find the stock DA trigger heavy, the "D" spring will lighten the trigger pull. I believe the "D" spring (so named because it is out of the 92D a double action only (DAO) model) is a 16lb spring. Beretta even offers lighter hammer springs if you are interested.
 
I have tested my M9A4 with a wide variety of ammo clad and cast. It eats everything. I measured the bore and found it is .358 in the grooves and shoots .355 clad Win FMJ 115's with great accuracy. My cast tumble lube Lee 124 truncated bullet drops even bigger as cast and does not need resizing and the results are also excellent. My buddy's Canik won't even chamber some of my cast loads. I think Beretta gives you a little more room. MCarbo also makes a sweet spring kit for the 92 series.
 
@tarosean Good point but this time I should get away with it because I am not the only one. Differant Variants of the 92 family is quite popular at my shooting range.😎

But jokes aside the wide avaibility at my range also gave me the chance to try out the m92a1 and then I noticed that i really want of them.

Actually I have been fan of the Beretta since I was little due to some nice 80s and 90s Hollywood flicks and the first Resident Evil Video Game from 1996. I am born in 1985 so I grew up with that stuff.😎

But until recently I was no sure if a Berretta is neat real world handgun to own. After all I spend lots of time with the p80 (Austrian military designation for the glock 17) during m basic military training which makes the glock the pistol I know best.

After trying out the m92a I really fell for it and wanted one.

@5-SHOTS Thanks a lot for the ammo info. Despite the fact that the chances are very slim that I will ever have the chance to get some plus P ammo it good to know that these rounds won't kill the m92a1.

@BRatigan Thx for the spring kit recommendation. it is also very reassuring to know that even handloads might not be a problem.

I am not handloader and will only use pretty standard stuff that' s still very interesting information.
 
I have a 92X Performance, all steel with frame mounted safety. Mine despises lead bullets. After 4 mags of my typical lead bullets the bore looked like a sewer pipe.
Measured the bore it's around .358-.359.

I would need lead bullets sized at around 360, that's not happening with me, so this gun is jacketed only.
 
Mine slugged .357” and .358” lead pills work great in it FWIW. MBC will custom size them to whatever diameter you want, or used to anyway
 
agent00 said:
After trying out the m92a I really fell for it and wanted one.
Click to expand...
The Beretta 92 family is really nice with the only common complaint being that it is too large for some hands.

What I really like about it is that the barrel doesn't tilt when unlocking, so the recoil/muzzle flip is smoother and my sights are back on target quicker

agent00 said:
Despite the fact that the chances are very slim that I will ever have the chance to get some plus P ammo it good to know that these rounds won't kill the m92a1.
Click to expand...
Standard NATO 9x19mm ammo is often considered +P. The 92 platform was designed to digest a steady diet of this without a hiccup
 
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9mmepiphany said:
The Beretta 92 family is really nice with the only common complaint being that it is too large for some hands.

What I really like about it is that the barrel doesn't tilt when unlocking, so the recoil/muzzle flip is smoother and my sights are back on target quicker


Standard NATO 9x19mm ammo is often considered +P. The 92 platform was designed to digest a steady diet of this without a hiccup
Click to expand...
THIS.
The Vertec grip works better for many, me included. I have an M9, and its okay, but the smaller grip feels better.
Not sure the barrel lockup really has any effect on followup shots; the barrel locking block may not be as strong as the Browning tilting barrel. The Beretta lockup, taken directly from the P38, has been modified over the years to make it more durable.
Yes, NATO marked 9mm ammo is warmer that standard 9s. The primers are crimped in, which complicates reloading the brass.
Mine has run relentlessly on about anything, and it shares magazines with a Storm carbine.
Moon
 
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halfmoonclip said:
Not sure the barrel lockup really has any effect on followup shots; the barrel locking block may not be as strong as the Browning tilting barrel. The Beretta lockup, taken directly from the P38, has been modified over the years to make it more durable.
Click to expand...
The modification addressing the locking block fracturing at the ears ( due to training with very hot ammo) was addressed by rounding the angle where it joins the main body. There have been no instances of fractures of the locking block since the modification. The regular recommended service for the platform includes inspecting and replacing the locking block when needed...much less expensive than replacing the barrel of tilt barrel systems.

The recoil impulse of the Beretta is more linear as only the locking block moves up and down. The slide continues in the same plane while moving in and out of battery. The locking system is inherently more reliable in feeding rounds and ejecting cases. When my department authorize officers to carry the .40 cartridge, out range staff had all the different optional pistols available for officers to try. For me , it came down to the Glock, SIG, or Beretta. Comparing them using an electronic timer, the Beretta allowed me to place accurate shots on target measurably faster
 
9mmepiphany said:
The modification addressing the locking block fracturing at the ears ( due to training with very hot ammo) was addressed by rounding the angle where it joins the main body. There have been no instances of fractures of the locking block since the modification. The regular recommended service for the platform includes inspecting and replacing the locking block when needed...much less expensive than replacing the barrel of tilt barrel systems.

The recoil impulse of the Beretta is more linear as only the locking block moves up and down. The slide continues in the same plane while moving in and out of battery. The locking system is inherently more reliable in feeding rounds and ejecting cases. When my department authorize officers to carry the .40 cartridge, out range staff had all the different optional pistols available for officers to try. For me , it came down to the Glock, SIG, or Beretta. Comparing them using an electronic timer, the Beretta allowed me to place accurate shots on target measurably faster
Click to expand...
Good summary, and I won't dispute most of it. Re-arsenaled 1911s, that served for fifty years, might argue against the durability of the short lived 92. Too, that breech locking system hasn't been widely copied (Walther and Beretta; anyone else use it?) The Browning tilting lock is nearly universal in modern lockbreech autopistols. That may well come down to a cost vs advantage analysis.
It does seem that the Walther design has been modded for strength over the years; the hardened steel insert, thicker slide, and Berettas' reinforcement near the locking block.
Troubles in the sandbox may have soured the military on the M9/92; most aggravated by the military demanding parked magazines, rather than the glossy ones it was designed for.
Have an M9; it's not going anywhere. Neither are a P38 or P5.
Moon
ETA-Just a thought; the Germans had a thing about leaving the muzzle unshrouded by the slide. Consider the Luger, the P38, and even the Mauser Broom.
They also like ejection to the left. Go figure.
M
 
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