Beretta 92fs and the U.S. Military

Originally designed for the Italian army and police, the Model 92 beretta pistols, most currently the beretta 92fs, have earned most of their fame as the standard sidearm of the US military. It was developed between 1970 and 1975 as a possible replacement for the ageing Beretta M951 pistol.  The beretta 92fs entered production in Italy in 1976.  First adopted by the Brazilian army in 1977, these beretta pistols were later adopted in Italy in its Model 92S, “SB”, and finally “F” modifications. The US military adopted the Model 92SB-F in 1985, as a result of the highly controversial XM9 trials.  With this, Beretta enjoyed a renewal of popularity in North America after its Beretta 92 pistol was selected as service handgun for the United States Army under the designation “M9 pistol”.

 IN THE LATE 1980S AND 1990S, THESE PISTOLS WERE ALSO ADOPTED IN FRANCE. BY THIS TIME THE COMPANY WAS KNOWN FOR ITS BROAD RANGE OF BERETTA FIREARMS: SIDE-BY-SIDE SHOTGUNS, OVER-AND-UNDER SHOTGUNS, HUNTING RIFLES, EXPRESS RIFLES, ASSAULT RIFLES, SUBMACHINE GUNS, LEVER AND BOLT-ACTION RIFLES, SINGLE AND DOUBLE ACTION REVOLVERS AND SEMI-AUTOMATIC BERETTA PISTOLS.  TODAY, THE MODEL BERETTA 92FS IS THE PRIMARY SIDE ARM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY, MARINE CORPS, AND AIR FORCE.

With the introduction of the beretta 92fs in the late 1980s, another unusual safety feature was fitted in the form of an enlarged head to the hammer pin. The purpose of this safety is to prevent the rear of the slide from flying back into the firer’s face in the case of the slide failure. This happened several times during the earlier years of Model 92F service in US military, apparently because of metallurgical problems, combined with the “built-in” weak points in the slide where the locking block cuts are made. Recognizing these weak points, the US INS requested Beretta to make their model 96, a .40 S&W caliber version of Model 92, with reinforced slides. This resulted in appearance of the Model 96 Brigadier pistols, and, later on, the same modification was applied to 9mm beretta pistols, available as Model 92 Brigadier. Beretta also produced a number of compact versions of their basic, full-size Model 92 variations. These compact versions had shortened grips, slides and barrels. Compact Type M versions also featured single-stack magazines with appropriately thinned grips. At the present time, Beretta no longer makes Compact versions of the Model 92. In new product lines of beretta handguns these were replaced by the entirely different Model 8000 Cougar pistols.

beretta 92fs