stchman
Member
I have no idea or is it just arbitrary letters.
Thanks.
Thanks.
What does the FS in Beretta 92FS stand for?
- Thread starter stchman
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I was wondering too....
Found this on wikipedia:
92S
In order to meet requirements of some law enforcement agencies, Beretta modified the Beretta 92 by adding a slide-mounted combined safety and decocking lever, replacing the frame mounted manual thumb safety. This resulted in the 92S which was adopted by several Italian law enforcement and military units. The later relocation of the magazine release button means these models (92 & 92S) cannot necessarily use later magazines, unless they have notches in both areas.
[edit] 92SB (92S-1)
The extremely rare 92SB, Initially called the 92S-1, was specifically designed for the USAF (US Air Force) trials (which it won), the model name officially adopted was the 92SB. It included the changes of the 92S, added a firing pin block (thus the addition of the "B" to the name), and relocated the magazine release catch from the bottom of the grip to the lower bottom of the trigger guard.
* 92SB Compact (1981 – 1991), shortened barrel and slide (13-round magazine capacity). It was replaced by the "92 Compact L"..
[edit] 92F (92SB-F)
Beretta modified the model 92SB slightly to create the 92SB-F (the "F" added to denote entry of the model in U.S. Government federal testing) and, later, the 92G for French Government testing, by making the following changes:
* Design of all the parts to make them 100% interchangeable to simplify maintenance for large government organizations.
* Modified the front of the trigger guard so that one could use finger support for easier aiming.
* Recurved the forward base of the grip to aid aiming.
* Hard chromed the barrel bore to protect it from corrosion and to reduce wear.
* New surface coating on the slide called Bruniton, which allegedly provides better corrosion resistance than the previous plain blued finish.
[edit] 92FS
The FS has an enlarged hammer pin that fits into a groove on the underside of the slide. The main purpose is to stop the slide from flying off the frame to the rear if it cracks. This was in response to reported defective slides during US Military testing.
Found this on wikipedia:
92S
In order to meet requirements of some law enforcement agencies, Beretta modified the Beretta 92 by adding a slide-mounted combined safety and decocking lever, replacing the frame mounted manual thumb safety. This resulted in the 92S which was adopted by several Italian law enforcement and military units. The later relocation of the magazine release button means these models (92 & 92S) cannot necessarily use later magazines, unless they have notches in both areas.
[edit] 92SB (92S-1)
The extremely rare 92SB, Initially called the 92S-1, was specifically designed for the USAF (US Air Force) trials (which it won), the model name officially adopted was the 92SB. It included the changes of the 92S, added a firing pin block (thus the addition of the "B" to the name), and relocated the magazine release catch from the bottom of the grip to the lower bottom of the trigger guard.
* 92SB Compact (1981 – 1991), shortened barrel and slide (13-round magazine capacity). It was replaced by the "92 Compact L"..
[edit] 92F (92SB-F)
Beretta modified the model 92SB slightly to create the 92SB-F (the "F" added to denote entry of the model in U.S. Government federal testing) and, later, the 92G for French Government testing, by making the following changes:
* Design of all the parts to make them 100% interchangeable to simplify maintenance for large government organizations.
* Modified the front of the trigger guard so that one could use finger support for easier aiming.
* Recurved the forward base of the grip to aid aiming.
* Hard chromed the barrel bore to protect it from corrosion and to reduce wear.
* New surface coating on the slide called Bruniton, which allegedly provides better corrosion resistance than the previous plain blued finish.
[edit] 92FS
The FS has an enlarged hammer pin that fits into a groove on the underside of the slide. The main purpose is to stop the slide from flying off the frame to the rear if it cracks. This was in response to reported defective slides during US Military testing.
Floppy_D
Member In Memoriam
highorder
Member
Nice.
F for the .gov, and S for the slide safety (big hammer pin.)
F for the .gov, and S for the slide safety (big hammer pin.)
amd6547
Member
"Foxy Shooter"
jad0110
Member
This is the High Road.
I cannot post the first two words that came to my mind.
I cannot post the first two words that came to my mind.
I think they were a batch made for USAF testing, but then not adopted. The USAF adopted the FS along with the US Army a few years later. So I think they were never made in large numbers and there was no contract awarded, just the test models and some pretty limited civilian sales. At least that is what I recall but if someone knows more I bow to them.
There was an article, I think by Phil Schreier, in American Rifleman in November or thereabouts that talked about the procurement process. Someone may have it handy; I don't know if I kept it.
Thanks, I have the American Rifleman article, but it doesn't have enough info to explain any rarity. I just bought an unfired SB model last month because I like Berettas and thought a pre-FS was kinda cool...didn't know it was scarce.
I must have read those procurement history details somewhere else then, though I cannot recall where. There were several inter-service political issues between the USAF and the Army, resulting in the eventual joint (re)trials. Somewhere you should able to find this whole history in details and how the SB evolved into the FS.
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