Beretta M9 9mm(mil spec model 92). Standard US service pistol for last 30 years.

 

Anyone who has served in the US...

When I served it was a Browning Hi-power 9mm. Actually for me it was this mostly:



And then this:



And yes 35 years later the serial numbers are still in my head.

 

Hey that one looks familiar...


Wish I'd kept this one...always loved the Browning..I put those slim rosewood grips on and it was just about perfect. Natural pointer. Ended up getting a MKIII model in 40cal when that was all the rage. Big mistake, Browning knew what he was doing...9mm was the perfect match. He considered the HP his best pistol design, which says a lot as he also the designed the 1911.

 

An L1A1, or did y'all call them the C1A1? A most admirable rifle. That's a nice photo of the rifle, Archer.

Here's the Hi Power kept on hand here, a immediate post-war Austrian Rural Police contract pistol.


Love the Hi Power. I could live with only it and the Colt Government Model as the choices for center fire automatic pistols and be satisfied. The Hi Power is the way to do 9mm.

 

I'm always intending to pick up a Berretta 92, the closest commercial variant to the M9 that could be found, to fill a slot in the U. S. military collection here. Of course it would also be fun to play with and get to know.

I also intend to pick up a shooter grade Hi Power, one that I'd be willing to shoot more extensively and to tote. Sometimes a high condition gun is a curse. I just haven't gotten around to it.

Need more "round tuits."

 

Awhile back I decided not to post firearms. After viewing all the fine firearms in this post. I changed my mind.
This morning I took this reworked Ruger Sr1911 to the range. Big laundry list of work has been done on this Ruger along with some new parts. She is a nice shooter and very accurate. I ran 300 rounds through her without issues. All the rounds were on target.

 

Glad you posted, Voere.

That's a clean and crisp example you have there. Looks as if some thought was put into its configuration. NIce stocks. I'm a sucker for nice wood and the rendition of the double-diamond checkering style gets me every time.

 

My father in law served on RN Polaris submarines in the late 1960s. I always forget which but I think HMS Repulse rings a bell He tells a tale of an otherwise mundane and dull guard duty when he was guarding the boat at anchor back in 1969 or 70. This was within the confines of a Scottish Naval base so not not exactly in a high threat environ. He was issued with a Sterling SMG and 1 round, which rather defeats the point of a sub-machine gun The thinking presumably being that the 1 round was enough to raise the alarm. Anyhoo at around 4am during an otherwise noneventful evening like every other he spotted a frogman in the water near the boat, presumably gathering intel. He was alone and he had no means of raising the alarm. He raised his weapon and opens fire and within a few minutes the base turned out in a panic...

A few hours later they recovered a dead seal from the harbour. He felt incredibly stupid and his mates took the piss. His CO was mighty impressed and made sure that he and all his mates got a big drink the following weekend which made him a look a lot less silly. Happy days.

 

If it helps to decide which one to get first...by comparison the Beretta is larger and softer shooting, the Browning smaller (as you probably know) and a little more kick . Also the Browning fits small hands better and points easier. Both are very solid and reliable. Historically almost the same too, the Beretta design going back to ~1950 I believe . HP to 1930s.

 

It was referred to as the C1A1 here. I loved it - fit me like a glove and felt at home on my shoulder. Photos aren't mine - this is all I have these days:



.177 Cal. and fine for pest control. Not even considered a firearm due to lower muzzle velocity. I have a slingshot that could do more damage than this one, and of course I have a number of bows (that I can't really shoot anymore due to physical issues) like the one I'm holding in my avatar...

Great story! When issued in the role I had it came with a 10 round magazine (that would have been gone in a flash), and the 30 rounder was for others who had more room, and of course we used those when qualifying with the weapon. Indeed one round would just be enough to raise the alarm...and take out one seal...

 

Awhile back I wanted another custom 1911 to play with. I was going to go with a fusion 1911 and do that one up. Since I had a NIB Ruger SR1911 I took the Ruger to a gunsmith that is very good with 1911's and asked him if he thought the Ruger was a good candidate for a custom build.

I left the Ruger with him a few days later he called and said stop by and let me know what you want. I gave him my thoughts and things I wanted done. He thought the Ruger was a great candidate for a custom build. The gunsmith did all he could to the Ruger.

A machinist friend of mine did the top slide cuts. I like a two tone 1911 (Old School)so the slide was done in melonite and the remainder of the SR 1911 in hard chrome.

It took four shops to do the work gunsmith, machinist, plating shop and another shop to finish the slide finished melonite in the end it was well worth the effort. Only thing I do not like about these projects is the time involved to complete the project. This project took close to eight months to complete.

 

Maybe it is just the angle of the photo It looks fine to me. Here's a couple pics one safety off one cocked and locked. The safety is not a higher end safety it's from a Colt. For sentimental reasons I used the spare safety from one my Colt 1911's.

 

The ambi safety is a recent design for 1911s, which in my opinion is not yet perfected. The right side safety is just an extension of the left side safety cross pin. Therefore it is literally held in place by that little metal tab which is captured in the slight recess(slot) behind the top back corner of the right side grip. Your prior pic showed the right side safety not flush with the frame as it should be. This MAY be due to the grip "slot" being a little wide and allowing the right safety to 'wiggle' in and out from the frame. If it moves out far enough you could have trouble engaging the safety from that side (ie it would feel sloppy vs positive engagement). Try moving the safety right to left(vs up and down) and I think you'll see what I mean. IF that's the case, its possible the grip is just loose from shooting and the the grip screw may just need to be tightened to grip flush to the frame, thereby bringing the right side safety in closer to the frame as well..

 

I know what you mean it's fairly sloppy but works fine for a range toy. However it is not sloppy enough to cause issues.

 

Here's the other 45 I took to the range today.

 

Now you've got my attention! I owned one of these several years ago. I think it was the finest factory built pistol I've ever handled, tight as a drum but smooth as butter (I mean really smooth). They were godawful expensive when they came out, and S&W took a lot of heat for that, but probably the finest pistol they ever made. Man I wish I still had it. Traded it for a great rifle though, so that's nice.

 

This is the second best pistol S&W ever made. Model 52 Target in 38 Special(yep)

 

OOOooo... I would love to have a Smith & Wesson Model 52. Could a' ... should a' ... would a' ... Now they're pricey all out of proportion to the use I'd put one to.

I never adopted the ambidextrous safety to my 1911 guns as I'm a hide-bound traditionalist and hopelessly right-handed. Also, never was much interested in pursuing a lot of weak-handed combat pistol practice.

I'm also a huge (or is that yuge) revolver fan, such as rbird7282 is sharing with us here. A 6-inch .357 Magnum revolver comes really close to being a do-it-all handgun.

 

So this is a funny story....this is the only pistol I've owned where the ammunition came first. Several years before, I got a great deal on a case of 2000rds of Winchester Target 38 Wadcutter. I have several PPC revolvers so I thought I'd have some fun with those. I did for a while but heck 2000rds is a lot of ammo, so when I saw the model 52 (which ONLY uses the target wadcutter ammo) it was a match made in heaven. Its a helluva thing to get a semi auto pistol to shoot rimmed cartridges, and that's the brilliance of this pistol. It shoots like a dream with a cartridge that shouldn't work. And it does so with 1" perfection.

 

I've examined some Model 52s and come close to "pullling the trigger" on purchasing one, but have never fired one. I love the .38 Special cartridge and admire its accuracy capabilities in target revolvers. An automatic that required the fussing and attention to detail in handloading that is a characteristic of the .38 Special so used, would be gratifying indeed to play with at the range and rewarding to shoot in competition.

Only thing that might equal the Model 52's unique shooting gratification would be the Colt National Match .38 Special, but those are as hens' teeth for scarcity.