My first pistol...
Ok, I'm 17 and I've fired quite a few pistols in my time, and my family has owned a few. I saved up my money (working hard in a machine shop) and bought a Beretta M92 Brigadier (stainless). Technically this is MY first pistol, one I plan to keep for life, but I have a few questions (and I know I'm a minor, you don't need to note that on answering any of these questions ;-)):
1) Can I convert it to .22 LR, .357 SIG, and .40 S&W?
2) CAN I (not should I) acquire hicap mags out of state? (I live in Cali)
3) Can I legally buy 9mm +P+ ammunition?
4) Is there anything hotter?
5) If so, over the shelf? Or does it have to be bought through sites like gunbroker?
6) What is the most lethal ammunition I can obtain over the counter and through services like gunbroker in the 9mm caliber?
7) What's the cheapest, highest quality FMJ ammo I could buy for punching paper at the range?
8) Can I legally purchase tracer rounds in California? Or have them shipped?
9) I was told that my Beretta Brigadier could handle the hottest 9mm loads on the market and then some.anyone care to elaborate/correct this?
This pistol is primarily for the targeting range and toting through the mountains (California mountains, northern Washington State, and Canada). Which explains my need for hicaps and powerful ammunition, my dad wants me to have it in case something were to happen out there. Which brings me to my next question, he thinks he's in need of a more powerful side arm, he has a love for the Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum revolver. He thinks they're the most fun handguns in the world and definitely the most powerful (not THE, but up there). I'd like to buy him one for his birthday, so I'd like to know what is the best .44 magnum out there on the market and the cheapest. Price really isn't too much of an issue so long as it stays $600 and under. He'd probably prefer it to be Smith & Wesson, FYI, so which would be the best model for a mountain sidearm?
I'm thinking the Smith & Wesson Model 629 Classic.
Thanks a million guys.
~ Justin
1) Can I convert it to .22 LR, .357 SIG, and .40 S&W?
2) CAN I (not should I) acquire hicap mags out of state? (I live in Cali)
3) Can I legally buy 9mm +P+ ammunition?
4) Is there anything hotter?
5) If so, over the shelf? Or does it have to be bought through sites like gunbroker?
6) What is the most lethal ammunition I can obtain over the counter and through services like gunbroker in the 9mm caliber?
7) What's the cheapest, highest quality FMJ ammo I could buy for punching paper at the range?
8) Can I legally purchase tracer rounds in California? Or have them shipped?
9) I was told that my Beretta Brigadier could handle the hottest 9mm loads on the market and then some.anyone care to elaborate/correct this?
This pistol is primarily for the targeting range and toting through the mountains (California mountains, northern Washington State, and Canada). Which explains my need for hicaps and powerful ammunition, my dad wants me to have it in case something were to happen out there. Which brings me to my next question, he thinks he's in need of a more powerful side arm, he has a love for the Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum revolver. He thinks they're the most fun handguns in the world and definitely the most powerful (not THE, but up there). I'd like to buy him one for his birthday, so I'd like to know what is the best .44 magnum out there on the market and the cheapest. Price really isn't too much of an issue so long as it stays $600 and under. He'd probably prefer it to be Smith & Wesson, FYI, so which would be the best model for a mountain sidearm?
I'm thinking the Smith & Wesson Model 629 Classic.
Thanks a million guys.
~ Justin
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Welcome to the forum.I can't answer all you questions but will answer some.Good pistol,I like Berettas but don't shoot them as well as other pistols,they just don't fit my hand well.
1.There are 22 conversions out there Ciener makes one for Berettas,you will have to contact them and confirm the compatability with the brigadier.
2.In Cali you can't legaly buy high cap mags.
7.I use CCI Blazers for practice and plinking.They are cheap,I buy them for less than $6 a box.Second choice is Winchester white box ammo sold at Walmart,about the same price.
9.Berettas are well made but any gun you feed alot of hot ammo is prone to wear faster and suffer a higher % of parts breakage.I believe it will most likely digest more hot ammo than most people could afford to feed it.
CW
1.KILL EM' ALL AND LET ALLAH SORT EM' OUT!
2.NEVER WASTE MONEY ON SPRINGFIELD ARMORY!!0 -
Thanks for the welcome and info CWatson, I haven't found much ammo for 9mm under $6 since this 'war' started. And Blazers are pushing $8 a box but I'll look around Walmart.
Still some questions yet to be answered...and I already know about the hicap ban in CA...thanks anyway on that one CWatson.0 -
You might want to post this question over at the beretta forum.
http://www.berettaforum.net/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi
1) You can convert to .22 LR with a kit for about $275. You can convert to .357 sig and .40 S&W, but beretta does not recomend it and you have to machine out the mag well a small amount.
2) It is not LEGAL to import hi-caps into California. They are available for sale in Nevada, Arizona and Oregon. Bring them back into California and you are breaking the law.
3) You can legally buy +P+ ammo.
4) You can reload as hot as you want. Technically +P+ could be reloaded as hot as is possible, its upper pressure range is unrestricted as far as I know. I would not suggest shooting anything hotter then +P+ some of it might even exceed proof pressure.
5) Any hot ammo you can get online should be available from your local gunshop.
6) Most lethal is highly debatable. I'm of the opinion that mid-range price JHP's are plenty, but you can spend $30 bucks for a box of 20 rounds that have some fancy stuff in them if you want
7) Cheapest is most likely white box winchester in the 100 round boxes for $11, most of your local walmarts in california will stock this.
8) Tracer rounds are illegal in california, as are incendiary.
9) I would not suggest shooting hot loads thru a stainless Brigadier, there have been some problems with the stainless models, go check out the berettaforum, there is info about it their, I don't remember all the details.
Talk your dad into a Ruger Super Redhawk .454 Casull, it is 1.5x the power of a .44 mag and you can shoot .45 long colts thru it also which are 1/2 the power. My dad wanted a .44 also till I talked him into the Casull, he really likes it. You should be able to buy one in California for $599 + tax and DROS.0 -
You'd best be doing some SERIOUS RESEARCH WORK before attempting to Cross over into CANADA with a Hand Gun....The Canadian Government take's a Dim View of People bringing Hand Guns across the Border....Rifles and Shotguns are Bad enough....But a Hand Gun can get You a lot of Serious problems.....
Captain Kirk, Tech Staff0 -
Some seriously incorrect information has been given. The magazines for a 9x19 and a .40 S&W Beretta are IDENTICAL in dimensions in every way. No machining is required to use the magazine from one in the other. I am told that you can buy 10-round .40 S&W Model 96 magazines and load them with more than 10 rounds of 9x19 for use in a Model 92. Whether that is illegal in Kalifornia or elsewhere, I cannot say. Beretta does not chamber the pistol in .357 SIG, but I assume you could buy a .40 slide and a custom barrel and create one of your own.
The Beretta Model 92 is one of the most reliable designs ever and it is not fragile. The Brigadier has the reinforced slide so the rare slide breakage is not a concern. Still, that said, a steady diet of the hottest ammunition will shorten its service life.
The least expensive ammunition I have seen is Russian Wolf in steel cases. PMC is also inexpensive. 3D reloads are also inexpensive.0 -
Woa, thanks Silverbox! I've been looking EVERYWHERE for a Beretta specific forum but haven't been able to find one. But I still like this one here at Gunbroker, might have to stick around here for awhile longer ;-) Thanks for all the info Silv.
LOL Don't worry about my little trips up north Captkirk, it's been done before. But thanks for the concern.
And thank you very much too JudgeColt, I found all of your guy's information very useful. I'll be back with more questions and comments at some other time, but now I gotta run off and check that Beretta forum I've been itching to find.0 -
I saw some of white box Winchester stuff tonight at a Wal-Mart for about $6.50.
Does the Winchester shoot clean or is it pretty corrosive?
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Judge Colt my information is correct, just incomplete. Its detailed more in the beretta forums.
You have to machine the mag well (notice I said mag well, now and before, which is not the magazine the mag well is located in the reciever) [JC you might want to be lil nicer before you bark about incorrect info, as you are the one who seems to have this wrong not me] at the top as its a little bit smaller (for a 92 vs a 96) in width where the shells feed of the top of the mag for a 92 to shoot .40 or .357.
Beretta doesn't chamber it in .357 sig, but you can buy aftermarket .357 sig barrels that fit into a 96 slide.
I am fairly certain the feed lips on the 92 vs the 96 mags are slightly different (I don't have 2 right here in front of me to compare), not enough to stop you from using a 96 mag with a 92 while loading 9mm in the 96 mag, but they are slightly different.0 -
About the white box ammo it is not corrosive,I think the only corrosive ammo you might find is old surplus and MAYBE some of the eastern block ammo.
It leaves more rsidue than Blazers but less than others,no biggie Blue Wonder gun cleaner takes any of it off in minutes.
CW
1.KILL EM' ALL AND LET ALLAH SORT EM' OUT!
2.NEVER WASTE MONEY ON SPRINGFIELD ARMORY!!0 -
White box is non-corrosive.
Its like 6.50 for a box of 50 at wal-mart and 11.00 for a box of 100.
I was their today, not all the wal-marts in cali got the 100 round white box, they run out pretty fast and don't order all that much.0
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