Buying in a Pawn Shop

T

TooterFish

Inactive
A friend of mine is considering a Beretta 92f that this local pawn shop has. What should we check for when buying it? Ideally, they would let us test fire it at the range, but i doubt they will. Check the trigger pull, look for cracks, excessive wear? Anything else?

Also, any idea how much a used nickel plated Beretta 92 should run?

My experience is limited to Sigs and Glocks. How do berettas compare in terms of reliabilty/accuracy?
 
I have a stainless Beretta 92. I've never heard of any notable reliability problems. Mine, I pull the trigger and it goes "Bang!" quite happily. Since it's somewhat on the heavy side, there's not enough recoil from a 9mm to throw you off as to accuracy.

I don't see how there would be any cracks unless somebody used it for a hammer. If it's not beat up, not rusty anywhere inside, and the bore is good, what counts is the price. A pawnshop always has more room to bargain, if it's a gun no longer in pawn. Cash talks...

They're easy to break down to look at the internal parts, so do that before laying money down. Mostly, just looking for strange markings or rust...

FWIW,

Art
 
I hope you really mean stainless Beretta...

I don't think nickel plating is a factory option, and aftermarket finishes open up a whole new set of things to watch for.

A Beretta slide should operate smoothly. The double action trigger should be smooth and very similar to a medium to heavy revolver pull (about 10-15 lbs). The single action trigger should have some takeup and then a crisp break (around 4-5 lbs) with some overtravel. If you feel hitches or grating during any of these operations I'd pass unless you can find a reason.

The gun should be tight. It shouldn't rattle when you shake it, but you should be able to move the muzzle of the barrel slightly by pushing it to the side. It should return to it's original position when you stop pushing on it.

Field strip the gun and look closely at the locking block and the frame where the locking block hits it. Also the point where the barrel stops against the frame. All of these points should show some impact wear, but not excessive battering (evidence of lots of shooting or use of hot ammo).

Check the mags to make sure that they haven't been dropped or abused. There should be no significant chips, dents or dings on the mags, especially none on the lips.

With the slide removed from the gun, press the firing pin block up from the bottom of the slide. Then push the firing pin forward using a ball point pen or something similar. The end of the firing pin should be round and smooth and should protrude only slightly (maybe a millimeter or two) from the breech. Release the firing pin and the firing pin block. Push forward on the firing pin. It should not move forward enough to protrude from the breechface without the firing pin block pushed upward.

With the gun assembled, verify that the firing pin block protudes slightly from the top of the slide when the trigger is fully depressed.

Check the decocker/decocker-safety for proper operation.

Look at the extractor and verify that the claw is not excessively worn or chipped.

Personally, I don't buy used guns unless it's from someone I trust or unless I know a lot about that particular model of gun and feel competent to break it down and inspect it for wear.

If the gun is really plated instead of stainless, I wouldn't touch it.
 
Run, don't walk, away if the shop owner's name is Maynard and he has a friend named "Zed". :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top