Beretta M9 opinions

[MiddleFinger19K]

I was issued one in Iraq. It's a good gun, it went bang every time i pulled the trigger. It was even one of the old worn down ones. The magazines the army issues attract alot of sand though. We had to take the mags apart and clean them daily. I want to get one too, but every time i set aside the money for it it seems like i find a better deal on something else. I would buy it.

[Robb Jensen]

Out of curiosity, how are M9's received by the military from Beretta? Cardboard box/barrier bag type packaging?

I don't know. I was in the armory at Blackwater last year when they received about 20 Beretta M9s (these were civilian M9s) and they were in the camo paper/cardboard box just like you see in gun stores & gun shows. I bet the military gets similar packaging.

[9x19]

Exactly. That paper box was what finally won me over. BTW, I also own 3 Glocks, 32, 19, and 26; and 2 Sig P239s, a 9mm and a .40 cal DAK, and a S&W M&P in 9mm. I would probably own more handguns, if more of them fit my hand. One can never have enough guns.

[BushmasterFanBoy]

This is the particular model I'm getting. The gun's nice but they didn't invest a lot on the packaging

Picked up the same thing a year or two ago. It's been my go-to 9mm/ general purpose pistol ever since. I personally would look at a Glock 17, but I'm only saying that since I have an M9 already. Mine has never failed, no malfs at all. Buy it and be happy.

[Al U. 5811]

We got 400 plus new guns about 6 months ago. They come in the same cardboard box minus the camo sleeve. All the new guns have the same plastic parts as the civi guns except come with CheckMate mags.

[John_Wayne777]

Mine won't be subjected to any hard use or adverse conditions, but I've heard a lot of negative publicity on the M9 in military use, especially in desert conditions. Is it really that much of a POS in Iraq/Afghanistan?

I'm not military, but I've spent quite a bit of training time around military guys (3rd SF, etc...) who are issued the M9, and in general their main complaints with the weapon were:

1. Being stuck with 9mm ball ammo. It sucks.

2. The M9 needs more time at the armorer than they would like. The M9 has weak points (like the trigger spring) that has to be replaced frequently for units who do lots of pistol shooting.

3. Aside from parts issues, the only complaints I've heard about the reliability of the M9 were the result of a batch of crappy magazines the .mil issued for a while. They have since changed contracts on that, I believe.....

[John_Wayne777]

I don't know. I was in the armory at Blackwater last year when they received about 20 Beretta M9s (these were civilian M9s) and they were in the camo paper/cardboard box just like you see in gun stores & gun shows. I bet the military gets similar packaging.

The Blackwater Armory is about the closest thing to heaven you can find on this earth.

I wanted to just spend a day in there molesting all the really neat stuff....

[RD62]

I had a Beretta 96 for years. It was hands down THE most reliable handgun I have owned so far. I never had one single malfunction. After a few years I sent it to Ernest Langdon, then owner of LTT, and had him tune the trigger and fit a Bar-Sto barrel to it. It was every bit as accurate as my 1911 is. The only complaint I could have, and it's not much of one, is that the 96 even with it's thick grip frame and double stack mags only carried 10+1 of .40S&W. Now this was a model that I believe wasn't even offered until the ban was in effect, and I unfortunately was forced to part with it before the ban expired. There may be factory mags with higher capacity now. I'm not a fan of the styling on the new Vertec offerings, but would love to get my hands on an Elite. The 96 was my daily CCW gun for years too. I could whole heartedly recomend it.

-RD62

[mark5pt56]

Close, but the Polizei Armory in Frankfurt, Germany was the closest I've seen(the main Armory at their Spec OPs base)

The Blackwater Armory is about the closest thing to heaven you can find on this earth.

I wanted to just spend a day in there molesting all the really neat stuff....

[ShipWreck]

The 92FS/M9 is a fantastic handgun!