Beretta M9A3 – A First Look At The M9 Done Right

That’s my own personal Beretta 92 that I sent off to Allegheny Gun Works last year for some modifications. A Beretta 92FS was the very first centerfire pistol I ever shot and I’ve always had a soft spot for it. I’ve owned a few different variants over the years, but none of them had all the features I really wanted in a Beretta. At the top of the list, I wanted the Vertec style grip and a “G” configured slide.

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For those not familiar with the Beretta lingo, the Vertec pistols were made in the early 2000s and featured an accessory rail and a straight backstrap. Removing the “hump” from the rear of the Beretta’s grip shortens the trigger reach, allowing better leverage for double action shots. It’s not for everyone, but for a lot of people, the Vertec grip is a major improvement and makes the gun much easier to shoot well.

The “G” style pistols have a decocking lever in place of the slide mounted safety. This addresses another major complaint of the Beretta pistols, which is the redundancy of having a manual safety on a double action pistol. In the past, Beretta has run G-style pistols in very small batches, and they’re difficult to find on the used market. Converting a 92FS to a 92G requires machining of the slide’s internals and has to be done by a gunsmith who’s familiar with this modification.