1990's vintage Beretta 92FS questions

Z

ZeroTX

New member
Hi guys, it's been a while since I was here. I have a Beretta 92FS that I bought myself brand new back in the mid 1990's, I think it was actually 1996. As best as I can tell, the design is the same as the current "M9," but not exactly the same as the current 92FS. It's in good condition, probably only has a thousand rounds through it and has spent most of its time stored in a safe place. I started to have some problems with it mis-feeding and stove-piping after 1 or 2 magazines at the range. At first I thought it was cheap ammo, but when that same ammo fed fine in an M&P Shield, I figured it's not that. Then I tried brand-name ammo in it and it still did it. My friend, who is a professional gunsmith for a living, took it and cleaned it up and replaced all of the springs in the gun and the magazines. He didn't see any problems with it.

First Question: I just got it back and haven't been to the range, but any thoughts on whether or not 15 year old springs in a low-round-count gun could be causing problems like this? I don't think I am limp-wristing it. I have nice Hogue grips on it and I have a good grip with no problems on any other semi-autos, including a cheapie Taurus PT-111.

Second Question: I'd like to mount a tactical LED light (not really a laser) to the Beretta, as it's my primary home defense weapon. When I look up a rail adapter add-on for a 92FS, I get all kinds of mixed reports about what fits and doesn't, I presume due to the confusion between the "new" and the "old" model 92FS. Any suggestions there on a rail adapter for my 1990's vintage 92FS? I'm inclined to think that accessories made for the M9 will fit the old model 92FS. Any educated opinions here?
 
There are some subtle differences between the 92 FS and the M9 regardless of vintage.

There is a slight indentation on the back strap of the 92 FS that the M9 lacks and this makes it a bit more suitable for shooters with smaller hands. The M9 dust cover on the lower part of the frame tapers in height some as it approaches the muzzle end and the M9's doesn't. The sights are different with the 92 FS having 3 dot sights and the M9 sporting stack the dots 2 dot combat sights.

My inclination would be to go ahead and shoot the 92 FS after the thorough cleaning it has just had and see if the problems persist. If they do, you might want to go over to beretta forum dot net and inquire. The guys over there could also give you info regarding accessory rails and whether the dust cover difference between the M9 and the 92 FS makes a difference.
 
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Take the gun shooting.
It will tell you if those old springs were the problem or not.
Generally speaking springs don't exactly go bad, they are more likely to just get saggy and less effective.
And usually from use rather than sitting.
Unless, of course, they actually break.
But the gun will definitely tell you.
 
The 92FS is a famously reliable pistol. It is likely to do fine after the professional attention. While there is nothing wrong with replacing the springs while your gunsmith friend was in the neighborhood, it is at least as likely that the cleaning and lubing deserves the credit if it runs fine from here.
 
Might be worth buying a new magazine for it too and see if that was the problem.

(Disclaimer: whenever you have ANY problem with a semi-auto people say 'magazine' just like they say 'you looked up' if you hit a golf ball badly.)
 
Thanks guys. I think I'll be at the range this Saturday and I'll hopefully put a box of 9mm through it without any issues.
 
I wish I had a dollar for every friend's firearm I've pulled apart in search of what's causing it to malfunction, found nothing obvious wrong, then put it together to reproduce the problem, and was unable to. I've even forgone wiping down the articulating surfaces, trying to keep everything "as is" until I could find the problem. Same result.

I doubt that the replaced springs will hurt anything. I've found that magazine springs seem to last forever, if one is at all conscientious about changing them out the ammo in them to empty magazines from time to time. If you change them once a month and they don't give you good service for 20 years, I'm inclined to believe the fault is with the magazine. I have 2 magazines I bought 26 years ago, one with a new pistol, and the other so I'd have more than one magazine for it. They still work fine.

So, I guess the take-home message might be, pull it apart and wipe it down after leaving it idle for a while, then oil, reassemble, and shoot it. If it balks while shooting it, perhaps a more thorough cleaning is in order, before consulting a gunsmith.
 
Was the pistol cleaned/lubed before firing after such a long stint in storage? That may have been all it was, take it to the range and see. I have the same pistol I bought in 1993, it has tens of thousands of rounds through it with what I can only describe legendary dependability.
 
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