Beretta 92a1 review, upgrades, thoughts from an amateur

[Serpico1985]

I wanted to post some info on this gun after getting some time behind it. As of today I'm at 770 and have some subjective thoughts and objective shooting data:

6/23/2014

With Wilson Combat getting into customizing Beretta’s and offering new products for them plus their recent slight surge in popularity, I wanted to do a armatures write up on some of these modifications and my impressions of them for anyone looking to upgrade their Beretta or start from scratch. These impressions are my own and worth exactly what you paid for them. There is some object shooting data at the end as well.

After shooting polymer framed guns for the past few years (M&P, Glocks, HK’s, and briefly a CZ P07) I purchased a 2014 production 92a1 about a month ago. My initial impression of the gun was that it felt very well put together and precise. This doesn’t really mean anything just to say that a metal/alloy framed gun has a different feel than a polymer one. The machining was very clean, no chatter marks on the frame or slide. The anodizing on the frame was a deep black while the slide had a slightly glossy deep black color. The grip is large and the reach to the trigger slightly long for my hands but doable. The stock DA trigger pull was heavy and long but smooth. SA had light take up before hitting a wall and breaking at about 6lbs.

I replaced the stock hammer spring with a Wilson Combat 16lb unit and ordered a WC holster while it was at it. The DA and SA weights immediately dropped and DA became much more manageable.

I went to the range and put a few hundred rounds through it (WWB). The gun functioned fine and had zero issues. Brass went to 4 o’clock about 5’ away. Being new to DA/SA guns I worked a lot of presentations and transitions from DA to SA. I was very pleased to find the gun tracked well and returned on target easily.

I identified a couple issues in the first range session:

1) Trigger reach to DA. Not a deal breaker but I could tell that a shorter reach would give me more leverage and assist with the DA pull.
2) Magazine release. I found it difficult to consistently get the mag release depressed far enough to drop the empty mag. Probably a combination or the large grip and short button.
3) Decocker/Safety levers. They are just large and in the way. I know of the method that Langdon teaches and that GJM was nice enough to drive to a gun store and demo where you release the safety on the initial grip with a downward swipe of the thumb. I tried this shooting OWB and it worked very well. But when doing other manipulations with the slide they seemed to just get in the way.
4) Mag changes were made more difficult with the non-beveled magazine well. I had numerous hang ups on the sharp edge. Practice will eliminate some of these but it could greatly benefit from a beveled mag well.

To remedy the above I purchased the following:

-Hogue Extreme Aluminum grips (thinner profile than standard plus aggressive enough texture).
-Wilson Combat low profile single side safety/decocker.
-Wilson Combat short reach steel trigger.

Since I plan on carrying the gun eventually I also put a set of Trijicon bright and tuff tritium sights on (not the HD’s). The front is .125” and the rear notch is .150” allowing for a fast enough sight picture.

Results:

-The trigger reach is slightly better now but I’ll take all I can get.

-I was very surprised to find that the WC short reach steel trigger noticeably improved the trigger pull. I seems both slightly lighter and smoother.

-With the WC low profile safety you can aggressively rack the slide with a overhand grip and not worry about the gun accidently going on safe. Only a distinct, purposeful downward swipe with a finger or thumb will put the gun on safe.

-The gun is shooting “drive the dot” sight picture at 25 yards. I prefer to cut through the POI with the top edge of the front sight or have the POI slightly above the top edge of the front sight. For this reason I have a WC .290” rear on order with should raise the POI 5” or so.

-I have a WC extended magazine release on order too since they just came back in stock and will report back.

Some objective data reference shooting:

-I shot the 10-8 pistol test which I do with all new guns I’m trying out since it is manipulation intensive. I scored a 62/65 with a 6.5 second par time. To compare the best I managed with my G17 was 58/65 on a 6.5 second par time and that’s after shooting the Glock a lot more than I have the Beretta.

-I went 50/50 on Dot Torture at 5 yards with the Beretta on my first attempt. I’ve shot 50/50 at 5 yards with the Glock once before but it took a few attempts to do.

Biggest take away for me:

With the Beretta I don’t have to worry if it will be accurate at 25 yards like the M&P. I don’t have to spend hours finding out which combination of extractor/ejector/RSA to install to get it running like with my gen 4 17. I can do a $30 trigger job on the gun myself with the addition of a $5 hammer spring and $25 short reach trigger. There are a couple of very decent sight options and holster options as well.

Pictures:

Rear sight:


Front sight:


Left side:


Right side:


Lever 1:


Lever 2:


Lever 3:


Thanks for reading. Hope this will help someone out if they are on the fence about purchasing a Beretta.

[Serpico1985]

Update 7/15/2014

I wanted to post an update to this thread I started with more subject impressions and objective shooting data. This gun continues to impress me in how easy it is to shoot. Current round count 770

I was in contact with Josh at Allegheny Gun Works to do about $600 worth of work to my gun. After finding out that the wait was going to be about 3 months to get it back I decided to put the mods on the back burner and drive on as is. I did follow David B’s lead and put a set of Vertec grips on my 92a1. These grips do a great job of reducing girth of the grip (better than the thin alumagrips I previously had on there). They seem to be slightly thinner than the stock grips which helps marginally with trigger reach for the DA shot. But the real improvement is area of the frame left uncovered by the straight line of the rear of the grips. It allows me have a more confident purchase on the gun and allows my strong hand fingers to wrap a little farther around the grip which in turns allows me to smash them into the grip with my support hand palm better, leading to a firmer grip (for me).

Also since the last update I installed the Wilson Combat extended magazine release as well as swapping the factory Trijicon rear for a .290” Wilson Combat rear. I did this to alter the POI at 25 from a drive the dot type sight picture to one that has POI just over POA at 25. I went to the range today to test the sights and mag release.

I started off by shooting at 25 yards and found POI was about 2-3” above POA for me. This seems to verify almost exactly the stats up on Wilson Combat’s website saying that every .010” of increase in rear sight height increases you POI 1.7” at 20 yards. Cool. I may, down the road try a .280” rear just for $hits and giggles as I would really prefer the POI 1” or so above POA but that’s splitting hairs really.

Then I shot the Hackothorn "test". 10 yards, 10 rounds from the ready in 10 seconds on a b8 repair center, 90 points is passing. I shot 97 points in 7.60. Personal best.

Next up was JodyH’s 99 drill. I’d never shot this drill before and was not looking forward to it. Since my JMCK AIWB is still a month out I had to use the Wilson Combat OWB holster unconcealed. I turned in a score 85/99 dropping %90 of the shots at 7 yards (that 2.5 sec par time is pretty tough, even more so when I re-shot it concealed). My reloads were consistently 2.10-2.30, an area I really need to work on.

Finally I shot Dot Torture at 7 yards. I’ve passed it at 5 yards twice before with the Beretta. I’ve tried it twice before at 7 yards with my g17 and minus connector and couldn’t get past the strong hand only portion. To my surprise I shot it clean.

I had one light primer strike with 115gr Winchester white box. I checked the primer and it was dimpled and re-loaded it and it fired. This happened once before with WWB and it didn’t ignite after two attempts and then fired when put in a G19. I’m wondering if the hammer spring is to light. I’m using the 16lb wolf spring sold on Wilson Combat’s website which advertises it as suitable for carry. Any ideas?

Take-a-ways:
-The gun flat out shoots. It seems easier to exploit the accuracy of this gun than my G17 after training with it for a couple years and about 3.5k. As of today I have 770 rounds through the Beretta.
-I can get an aggressive and high grip on the gun and still get the slide to lock back. I’ve had a problem with HK’s and my g17 in this area in the past and am stoked to not have to worry about it. I can also easily release the slide with my strong hand thumb which I prefer.
-The Wilson mag release worked %100 better than stock. I had zero issues of not fully depressing the mag release when doing reloads.
-I really like the sight picture combination of the Wilson rear and Trijicon front.
-The combination of the short reach steel trigger, 16lb hammer spring and Vertec grips makes the DA very pleasant to shot.

So my previous comment about “if you were thinking about getting a Beretta 92a1, DO IT” still applies. I’ve found I’ve exceeded my performance with the g17 with the Beretta in much less time. Awesome.

Dot torture 7 yards:


Final configuration:

[Pilot1]

Great report, thanks. All good mods. I'd add an oversized (extended) mag release, which is a few minutes install. There are two different ones available from Beretta or Brownells.

[Sam]

You put a Vertec's grips on that regular frame. Interesting.

If you can get your hand (literally) on a 92G Vertec, buy it. The straight backstrap of the grip frame and the Vertec's trigger allow for a better trigger reach, even for smaller hands or short fingers.

[samuse]

Beretta 92s are some of the most reliable and shootable handguns ever built.

20lb is standard on the mainspring.

[Bret]

Excellent review! I have a US made stainless Beretta 92FS. As you mentioned, the quality is definitely there. It is a very accurate pistol. While I don't have a problem with the DA trigger pull due to my big hands, I've decided that I just really don't like having a first shot pull that's heavier than the rest. I much prefer the same trigger pull from the first shot to the last. I also don't care for the manual safety being high on the slide and rotating in the opposite direction as most frame mounted safeties. The bottom line is that I do enjoy my Beretta and won't sell it, but I have to admit that the setup of a CZ75 is just better for me. BTW, while the CZ75 is technically a DA/SA pistol, for my purposes it's a SA pistol because I don't play the game of manually thumbing down a hammer with my finger on the trigger.

[glockmpw]

What makes the short reach trigger shorter? Is it thinner, different shape?

Were the Alumgrips any improvement? Does anyone know of any thinner grips out there?

I have Smurf hands but I also have a 92 with some sentimental value to it.

[ptmccain]

Of the many handguns I've sold off, the Beretta 92A1 I had was one of my favorite. A nice large monster of a handgun with a great long sight radius and one of the better DA/SA triggers I've ever used.

[gtboy2k]

Great review!

[Talon167]

Of the many handguns I've sold off, the Beretta 92A1 I had was one of my favorite. A nice large monster of a handgun with a great long sight radius and one of the better DA/SA triggers I've ever used.

Especially if you add the D-spring. Lightens up the DA a couple lbs. Nothing crazy but for the few dollars it costs, worth it. Seemed to make the DA pull smoother as well, but that might have just been placebo.