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Beretta 96

riverrat10k

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Shot my buddies new .40 96FS I believe, alongside his 1911 .45.

Was more accurate and could see the sights much better with the Beretta. His 1911 was in olive drab.

Two things:

Any comments pro or con about this firearm will be read and digested.

Seems there are all kinds of 96 Berettas. Is most of this cosmetic? I have been unable to find another gun with his exact model number.



Thx!



--RAT
 

Legba

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Yeah, there are several variants (F, FS, combat, vertec, centurion, inox, brigadier, stock, etc). They differ slightly in barrel length, or have changeable sights, or grips of different materials, one has a heavier slide for reducing perceived recoil, there's a single-action only version, etc - mostly cosmetic differences. That said, I've only ever used the .380 and 9mm Berettas (both of which I like very much), so I don't have any direct experience with these. I would think they are freely substitutable without hardship. They seem more alike than different.

-ljp
 

Article1section23

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riverrat10k wrote:
Shot my buddies new .40 96FS I believe, alongside his 1911 .45.

Was more accurate and could see the sights much better with the Beretta. His 1911 was in olive drab.

Two things:

Any comments pro or con about this firearm will be read and digested.

Seems there are all kinds of 96 Berettas. Is most of this cosmetic? I have been unable to find another gun with his exact model number.

Thx!

--RAT


Hey Rat,

I had a 92fs and 96 Centurion, both were built like tanks...double stack grips were a bit wide for me. Trigger pull was a bit long and they weighted a bit more. Great guns, but sold them both. I moved to the glock family (22 and 27). I probably won't get another, but they are great guns.

96's are .40 cal and of course the 92's are 9 mm (I'm sure you know, but others might not).
 

riverrat10k

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Yeah it was a .40 FS. I talked to the dealer he purchased it from and he had another with a slightly different model # that, I think, had a different barrel length.

Guess I'll just handle them some more. It really shot well and the sights on his gun were very visible to me. I don't know if his had the sight change-out options.

Give me too many options I get confused.

Thx yall.
 

Gordie

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If it works, and you like it, it is a great gun for you to carry. There isa reason that Beretta firearms are known around the world. Unfortunately, I don't have any, yet.
 

Felid`Maximus

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I like my 92FS, it is my favorite semi-auto pistol. The 92 is the same as the 96 but in 9mm.

The military uses the M9, which is basically the same gun.
 

Walkeraviator

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My father carries a Model 96 and I have fired it a few times. I will tell you it is on my short list of "must owns" as i gradually can afford more firearms. It is extremely accurate and dependable. It will eat any ammo without failure. My only complaint is that it should hold more ammo than it does at its size.
 

thx997303

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In my experience, they need to be firmly gripped, or they will have malfunctions, other than that they're great if a bit heavy.
 

riverrat10k

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Thanks for everyones comments. The main negative comment I have seen (on other boards) is from LEO's. They don't like the 10 (or 11?) round magazine in the .40. Reduces the total number of bullets they have on 'em vs. the 9 mm.

My feeling is, if things get so bad that I will need more that 9 (or ten? civilian magazine?) rounds, I will be carrying much more than just a pistol!
 

Felid`Maximus

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Mec-Gar makes high capacity magazines for the 92FS, like 18 round flush fit mags that are very good, and some of them have +2 extenders that barely extend at all. Mitchell will also be making some 20 round flush fit mags soon.

I'm not sure if MecGar makes some hi-caps for the 96 (I think they do though), but I believe the magazines for the 92 and the 96 are virtually identical, and if there is any difference at all it is on the angle of the feed lips at the top. So, you might be able to get a higher capacity 9mm magazine and it might work with the .40. Maybe 14 or 15 rounds of .40.
 

sandbandit0331

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The beretta is the best paper weight ever manufactured and it should stay that way!! The one time in IRAQ I needed this piece of junk to work it malfunctioned ! For this reason this "weapon " will never find itsself in a personal defense role with me again!!!!:cuss::cuss:
 

Brass Magnet

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I have a 96FS.....and I've never fired it yet....:cry: So I can't give you an opinion on that. I picked it up for a song. I really like the look and feel. One of these days I'll bring out all of my unfired firearms and shoot them.....*sigh*
 

G20-IWB24/7

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My only complaint with the Beretta line is the discrimination against people with small hands. I have smallish hands, and the DA-trigger reach on a 92/96 is almost impossible for me to get to. That's too bad, as I'd love a totally-INOX finished 96FS or 96 Centurion. Reliable and accurate pistols.
 

Gordie

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sandbandit0331 wrote:
The beretta is the best paper weight ever manufactured and it should stay that way!! The one time in IRAQ I needed this piece of junk to work it malfunctioned ! For this reason this "weapon " will never find itsself in a personal defense role with me again!!!!:cuss::cuss:
That was most likely because you were using the magazines that were issued to you, not factory mags. I know of several people who bought their own mags before deploying because of the "lowest bidder" after market mags that the government supplied were too unreliable. Using factory mags cures most problems with reliability.
 

mjones

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I've easily got 30,000 rounds through my 96...I've never had a single failure to feed with anything I've ever fed it.

It did have a really bizarre problem failing to completely cyclewhile a buddy was shooting it one afternoon. It turned out my friend had loaded an entire magazine with 9mm instead of .40. It fired and ejected fine but it would randomly not quite cycle back far enough to strip a new round out of the magazine.
 

G20-IWB24/7

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Gordie wrote:
Using factory mags cures most problems with reliability.

This is true with any and all autopistols. The gun was designed to operate reliably with the mags it was designed to be fed with. The money "saved" by going to a mag that costs a couple bucks less is often the most expensive saved money you'll ever get. The most expensive thing you can buy is something cheap that doesn't work.

The exceptions to the rule, that I have foundare1911's as they all seem to operate reliably with the Wilson Combat 47-series mags (even if they didn't with the factory mags). Other than 1911's though, factory mags are the only thing I load: Sig, GLOCK, Kahr, etc...
 

AZkopper

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The 92F was my first duty gun. It is a great weapon system, IMHO. Unfortunately, I have no faith in the 9mm round (please no 9mm vs. 45 debates, this is a PERSONAL opinion based on several first hand observations).

If Beretta made a 45 cal version of the 92F, I'd be first in line to carry it.

My wife carries a Beretta Cheetah (84F Cheetah). 380 is not my personal choice for her, but she wants something smaller and with less recoil. It was her choice.

To answer your question: The entire 92/96/84 series of pistols are solid weapons. Accurate, dependable, reliable. I just wish they came in 45ACP.
 

ColtPistols

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I have a 96 in stainless steel. Added crimson trace laser grips to it to see if the sights were the problem or the gun. Sill couldn't hit a darn thing with it. Turns out it was just me. I was so used to my sweet 1911 type trigger pull I couldn't get over that huge heavy double action pull and the extra long take up when the hammer is staged to fir in single action mode. I had a friend of mine shoot it both with and without the laser because he didn't believe me when i told him it was totally screwed up. When he punched to inch groups free standing, rapid fire from twenty five yards I was obviously embarassed. I'm to embarassed to shoot that thing in front of others because it's just me not the gun. I guess it's good, but I still don't see how anyone could compare a Beretta to the 1911 you compared it to.
 

sandbandit0331

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Well if you doubt me then don't just take my advice about this paperweight! Go out and you ask any veteran from Desert Storm , Iraq and Afganistan about this P.O.S. and you ask them what they thought about it and for the record i went out to ocean side in california just south of Camp Pendleton and purchased 4 thats 4 Beretta factory magazines. NOW if the other arguement was well you didn't clean it well in response I was and still am a U.S. Marine and my weapon was and still is clean!!! Now that we have that outta the way ask those vets if they would rathr have a beretta or a 1911 or a Hi cap 1911 then make your decision. Now have fun and Don't forget to clean it vigorously and I hope and pray it will work for you in that one critical moment you need it.:banghead::cuss:
 
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