VINTAGE-SLOTCARS
member
Carried a Beretta 92fs inox many years on and off duty. It did its job with out any problems.
School me on the Beretta 92FS
- Thread starter Rubber_Duck
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Panzerschwein
member
I sure like my M9:
Panzerschwein
member
For my M9, I wanted to make it more like the older ones so installed a steel parts kit and lanyard loop to make all plastic parts metal again. Also added some older "glossy" grips, slotted grip screws, and USGI contract magazines to make it "authentic" as it were. Feels so much better than factory. I REALLY love the steel parts kit and it's an easy install. I highly recommend you get it, makes it feel a step above in quality. I'm not crazy about the plastic parts they put on these now. They work fine but just don't feel as good.
EDIT: I see the OPs is a 1992 vintage. Should be plastic free (other than the grips).
EDIT: I see the OPs is a 1992 vintage. Should be plastic free (other than the grips).
Rubber_Duck
Member
Mine doesn't have any plastic parts whatsoever, so I got lucky there.
Panzerschwein
member
Very cool. You'll have to post some pictures when you can.
Rubber_Duck
Member
This is the only picture I've taken so far:
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Rubber_Duck
Member
Is anybody here well-versed in Beretta mags? The mags I have hold 15 rounds and say Made in USA but they don't say by who. They have some kind of cast metal follower and metal baseplates, with the witness holes going down the center of the back of the mag. Are these made by Checkmate or someone else?
Sunray
Member
"...to keep this gun running for a long time..." Same thing they yelled into in the military. Keep it clean and use the right ammo. Do not store it in a leather holster. Grease(lightly applied) is for moving parts. Oil is for everything else.
Oh and the thing must fit your hand.
Oh and the thing must fit your hand.
BSA1
member
Beretta has made a number of different styles of 92 magazines over the years. I have about 50 Beretta 92 factory magazines and U.S. military surplus magazines.
I have at least 9, er now 11, different styles of Beretta factory magazines. They are;
- White plastic follower and black floorplate. Smooth blue/black exterior finish. Stamped “PB CAL. 9 PARA MADE IN ITALY” on the side. I got these back in 1994.
- Black plastic follower and black floorplate. Smooth blue/black exterior finish. Stamped “PB CAL. 9 PARA MADE IN ITALY” on the side.
- Black plastic follower and black floorplate. Smooth blue/black exterior finish. Stamped “PB CAL. 9 PARA MADE IN ITALY” on the side and 80401 RESTRICTED LAW ENFORCEMENT / GOVERNMENT USE ONLY on the other side. (I think these are Clinton ban era mags).
- Black plastic follower and black floorplate. Smooth blue/black exterior finish. Stamped “PB CAL. 9 PARA-MADE IN U.S.A., ACKK., MD ” on the side and 80401 RESTRICTED LAW ENFORCEMENT / GOVERNMENT USE ONLY on the other side. I only have one of this mag.
- Black plastic follower and black floorplate. Smooth high gloss blue/black exterior finish. Stamped “PB CAL. 9PARA MADE IN ITALY” on the side.
- Black plastic follower and black floorplate. Gray rough exterior finish like Parkerizing. Stamped “PB CAL. 9 PARA MADE IN ITALY” on the side
- PVD finish mags. Stamped “PB CAL. 9 PARA MADE IN ITALY” on the side.
- USGI surplus mags with gray parkerized finish. Stamped ASSY followed by some numbers on one side and 9MM AIRTRONIC SERVICES, INC., ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL USA on the other. I have a bunch of these. All are marked the same.
- USGI surplus mag with gray parkerized finish. Stamped ASSY followed by some numbers on one side and SER 9MM 12/05 CHECK-MATE IND INC., WYANDANCH, NY. U.S.A. on the other. I only have one of this mag,
- 17 Round black plastic follower and black floorplate. Smooth high gloss blue/black exterior finish. Stamped “PB CAL. 9 PARA MADE IN ITALY” on the side.
Whew! I might even have missed another style. Anyway note that all of my commercial mags regardless of age are stamped “PB” and the military mags are stamped either AIRTRONICS or CHECK-MATE.
I also a few 15 round aftermarket mags with no witness holes and no identify marks stamped on them. They are pre Clinton ban mags and are of low quality. The side of one of them bulged out too much after I left it fully loaded for a few weeks and could not fit in the magazine well. They are range mags ultimately headed to the trash can.
So to answer your question your mags are aftermarket and are questionable quality.
Update: Just found another style Beretta mag. Black metal follower and black metal floorplate. Smooth blue/black exterior finish. Stamped “PB CAL. 9 PARA MADE IN ITALY” on the side and ASSY followed by numbers on the other.
Still digging through the pile.
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Rubber_Duck
Member
I didn't see any mags in your list with metal followers and baseplates so I took pics of mine. They say "PB CAL 9MM MADE IN USA". They seem high quality.
Panzerschwein
member
Yeah those are military M9 mags. We use those at work in our M9s.
Rubber_Duck
Member
So are they made by Beretta if they have "PB" on them?
I remember the mags for our M9s in the military being Checkmates and generally not working worth a crap. They also have a bad reputation in the SIG community so I'd rather not own any Checkmates.
I remember the mags for our M9s in the military being Checkmates and generally not working worth a crap. They also have a bad reputation in the SIG community so I'd rather not own any Checkmates.
whatnickname
Member
Okay no problem. Here's the story on the Beretta 92. Once upon a time the U.S. Department of Defense decided to adopt a new service pistol so they put out a RFP. SIG and Beretta submitted examples and although the SIG was a better pistol the U.S. needed to keep their missile silos in Northern Italy so they went with Beretta. Some of the early Beretta pistols were defective and the slides broke hitting a number of people in the face but we still needed the missile soils so the Beretta pistols were retro fit and we said we liked the pistols. And everyone lived happily ever after.
The End
The End
BSA1
member
Yep. I have one. Last style (#11) at the bottom of my list.
I think all PB stamped magazines are high quality. Mecgar is probably just as good but for now I am only feeding my 92's with Beretta and USGI made mags.
As you gather from my long list I am constantly looking for BP stamped magazines. My s.o.p. is I replace the magazine springs in all of the used and USGI mags I get with Wolff 10% Extra Power Ones. I have discovered a surprising amount of differences in the magazine springs. (New magazines I leave alone). All of them get a good test on the range to make sure they function correctly 100% of the time.
The USGI Airtronics and Check-Mate magazines are strictly for range use. I got them at a cheap enough price I don't mind dropping them in the dirt.
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LUCKYDAWG13
Member
Just asking but wear would the plastic parts be
JTQ
Member
Other than the recoil spring guide rod, which is plastic, the other parts are actually plastic coated metal, such as the trigger, and safety.
Here's the metal replacement parts kit. http://www.berettausa.com/en-us/ber...ger-safety-levers-recoil-rod-mag-rel-/e00706/
LUCKYDAWG13
Member
Panzerschwein
member
No, it would not. Around the early 2000s is when the plastic/plastic coated metal parts began showing up.
In truth, there is nothing wrong with them at all as far as function goes. Some even say they can be better and more reliable over the all steel parts. For example the plastic guide rod has slots in it and by nature of it also being plastic, can flex to allow things like sand or dirt to not get clogged so easily along the sides of it.
For me PERSONALLY, I like the steel parts better. They just feel better, especially the trigger and magazine release. The slide also seems to move a bit easier with a steel guide rod and the gun balances better with one in as I like a bit more of a muzzle heavy feel. It also makes the gun feel a bit higher quality and like the classic M9s I used in the service.
And as for Check-Mate magazines, not all of them are bad for the M9. Pre-2005 magazines had government-specced heavy parkerization on the inside and outside of the magazine. This caused Iraqi sand and dirt to really embed itself inside, tying up the follower, jamming the gun. Once this problem was realized it was too late but Check-Mate changed their specs and any post-2005 Check-Mates lack this heavy inside phosphate coating and are reliable and pretty good magazines, being slick and smooth. I own several for my M9 and they work great, as they do for many people. You can get them new in wrapper and they are G2G, much better than old used worn out and tired USGI mags.
I'm off to the range this morning to put a couple hundred through my M9.
LUCKYDAWG13
Member
thanks for all the info
JTQ
Member
Probably not.
Like I said above, other than the guide rod, and lots of companies use polymer guide rods, the other parts are polymer coated metal. It would not concern me, though I understand folks are bothered by polymer mainspring housings on their 1911's which don't bother me either.
Rubber_Duck
Member
Awesome, I didn't know Checkmate fixed the problem. Yeah now that you mention it was a problem with the finish I remember some magazines we had in the Air Force had a sandpaper-like finish.
Panzerschwein
member
More M9:
Love this pistol. It's a shooter, for sure.
Love this pistol. It's a shooter, for sure.
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