Hammer follow on friends Beretta 92

H

HighValleyRanch

New member
My friend with his new to him Beretta 92 is trying to figure out why the hammerr is dropping when the slide goes forward.

He has not taken it out to shoot yet. Used firearm, recently purchased. Just dry firing and practicing manipulations, but noticed this happpening.

At first he thought that it might be happening because he wasn't racking the slide back for enough for the sear to catch. But I had him try locking the slide back and using the release. He says it follows radomly and occassionally. But if he releases and rides the slide forward, the hammer never follows.

Any suggestions or ideas on what to look for?
 
If it does it inconsistently it sounds like the sear and hammer interaction isn’t functioning properly. Given it’s a used pistol that’s not impossible (I had a used Hi Power that would do this).


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With a used firearm, there is always the possibility that the problem is the reason why the previous owner sold it. Caveat emptor.

If your friend is comfortable peeking under the hood, I'd suggest he detail strip the pistol and carefully examine the hammer-sear interface. If he's not comfortable doing that, it's time to look for a qualified gunsmith.
 
The safety could be the easy answer. I always forget about that because I did a G conversion on my Beretta 92.


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I wouldn't know what I was looking at on a Beretta sear.
I would seek out an armorer, gunsmith, or company warranty shop.

We all (most) know not to slam the slide on an empty 1911, but I thought the Beretta was secure against hammer follow because of the leverage of the lockwork.
 
I think the safety is the key.
He told me that it does it when the magazine is inserted, but just now he said that he was putting the safety on when he inserted the magazine because the manual says to do that.

He emailed:
I think I may have just figured it out. If the magazine is in, and the safety/decocker is in the on position the hammer drops. If the magazine is in and the the decocker is in the unengaged position, the hammer will not drop until the decocker is engaged manually after the slide comes forward, and it will drop the hammer. I hope I described that acurately. So in other words if the safety is on ( there is no ability to fire the trigger) when the slide is released from the locked position the hammer follows. Or,, maybe does not go back in the first place. Because it is hidden by the slide. Or maybe it only does it when the decocker is not engaged and the slide is released to slam home, not when released slowly. It is confusing.
 
He's on the right track, but it has nothing to do with the magazine.

If the safety is on, the hammer will not stay back when the slide is closed--regardless of anything else he does. That is because the safety is a safety/decocker. He may be able to really baby the slide forward (which he shouldn't be doing) and have the hammer stay back, but that's only going to happen if the slide hasn't fully closed. As soon as the slide fully closes, the hammer will drop if the safety is engaged.

Because the safety is slide-mounted, it has parts that come down to engage parts in the frame to drop the hammer and disable the trigger. Those parts can't properly engage the parts in the frame if the slide is back--they aren't aligned properly. They only align when the slide is forward. So manipulating the safety with the slide locked back has no apparent effect.

But once the slide goes into the fully forward position, now the parts of the safety in the slide are aligned with the proper parts in the slide. If the safety is engaged, the hammer will drop and the trigger will be disengaged.

There's one other aspect that can be a bit confusing. There are actually two ways for the trigger to be disengaged, one of them happens automatically when the slide is retracted to prevent the gun from firing out of battery, or the hammer from dropping if the slide is back or removed from the frame. This means if he engages the safety with the slide back, the trigger will appear to be disengaged as a result--but what's really happening is the trigger is disengaged because the slide is back, not because the safety is on.
 
John, the word you're looking for is "disconnected". Every semi auto has a part that functions as a disconnector when the action is open. It disconnects the trigger mechanism until the action is shut (fully locked) and if the trigger is being held back (as when firing) the trigger must be released forward until it resets, AFTER the action is shut and "reconnected" with the trigger group.

SO, here we have two things that appear to keep the trigger inactive, but only one at a time, really. With the slide open (any amount past unlocked) the trigger is disconnected and can do nothing. The safety does nothing either, at this point.

When the slide shuts, the trigger is reactivated AND the safety is able to also perform its function. IF its in the on position that decocks the hammer, and this will happen when the slide shuts, APPEARING to be the hammer "following" the slide down, but in reality, its the correct normal function.

Safety OFF, gun EMPTY! (check and check again) cycle the slide, slide closes, hammer stays cocked, until you pull the trigger.

Pull the trigger and drop the hammer, and HOLD the trigger back, then cycle the slide again, while holding the trigger back. Hammer stays cocked, and stays there until you release the trigger past its reset point, then pull it again.

ANYTHING ELSE is a malfunction.

Now, with the safety ON (since its a decocker and a safety) when the slide shuts the hammer will be decocked. And at this time, the trigger is disconnected by the safety being ON, not disconnected by the action disconnector, which disengaged when the slide fully shut.

The open action disconnecting the trigger goes away when the slide shuts and at the same time, if the safety is ON, the safety disconnects the trigger when the action is shut and the slide and frame parts mate up.

clear as mud now??
;)
 
Thanks for all the input. The manual told him to engage the safety when inserting the magazine, so that is how the magazine inserted or now came into play.

I don't have one, so I am not familiar with the platform.
 
I had a similar issue with a ppk years back. Can't remember if it was the sear or disconnect. Would only fire double action. Hamer would not stay back. Sent it in, they fixed it, at no charge. Great customer service. Not sure with Beretta, but I would give them a call or check with a gunsmith.
 
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