Beretta 96 Brigadier Elite II

[Mercworx]

Afternoon, I ran up on this listing the other day on GB and was unsure what exactly I was looking at. I was just wondering if anyone on the board had had any experience with an Elite II and if it was considered a rare pistol?

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/683479185


Thanks for the help.

 

[JohnKSa]

They only made them briefly. Not being a collector, I don't know about collectors value, if that's what you mean but there aren't a lot of them out there so if you want a gun with those features you may not get too many opportunities to buy one.

I have an Elite II although it's been modified. I liked the look of the standard length barrel and also got tired of cleaning the carbon out of the target crown in the EII barrel. Also liked the look and functionality of stainless controls so I swapped them out and added a Langdon trigger. The grips and extended/checkered magazine release are my additions, and I also had an adjustable rear sight installed.

A standard EII is a Beretta 92/96 with the following features/differences.

• "G" operation. Decock only, no safety. The decock levers spring back up to the fire position when released.
• Stainless brigadier slide with EII logo, Novak fixed sights and front slide serrations.
• Shorter stainless steel barrel with target crown.
• D hammer spring.
• Flush mainspring cap--no lanyard.
• Skeletonized hammer.
• Extended magazine release.
• "Checkered" rather than grooved frontstrap.
• Magazines with rubber bumper basepads.

The scuttlebutt at the time of the EII release was that Ernest Langdon had worked with Beretta on its design based on his experience competing (and winning) with a modified Beretta 92.

 

[Siggy-06]

Really nice Beretta JohnKSa

 

[JohnKSa]

Thanks! I've always thought that it's hard to beat a stainless Beretta 92 for looks.

 

[Model12Win]

Well it's a Beretta 92, a design with many problems and one hated by our military, thankfully since replaced with a modern tactical polymer striker fired gun (a tremendously superior design in all regards).

I personally wouldn't pay a premium for it, you can put lipstick on a pig...



KIDDING!! I love the Beretta 92. It is a misunderstood gun that has been unfairly treated. It has its quirks but if properly maintained will be as effective as the best of them. This is a somewhat uncommon model. Visit the Beretta forum and those guys will be able to help you.