Berretta92f

Question
Sir
One of my soldiers has a 92F that the slide is extremly hard to work when the hammer is dropped. The pistol fires and racks ok when cocked. This would normaly not be an issue but the weapon in question is one that has been in service through many rotations of soldiers, passed one to another as they rotate through. My concern with the weapon is that in our current situation if the weapon is needed it would be catastrophic if it did not fire. The weapon seems to be in good working order other than the issue with the slide. Could this be an indicator of a problem to come?
THX
SSG Clark
Team SGT CAT A 115

Answer
What happens when you fire the gun? Does it cycle OK?

It would be impossible to tell without physically inspecting the gun. Possible problems could be in the Beretta's very fragile locking block, but the hammer would have no effect on that.

At the risk of being insulting, is there sand or other debris where the hammer fits into the frame, or something wedged in the hammer spring housing?

I'd suggest you have an armorer look at it. If the problem only occurs when the hammer is down, the problem is most likely somewhere in that subassembly.

I'll check with a couple of Beretta armorers, and if they have any other information or suggesions I'll send a follow up.

Thanks for your service. Good luck.


Here is an update from one of the armorers I checked with:

"My hypothesis is that it may be something as simple as the hammer spring was installed without the hammer being fully seated forward.  I usually ensure the hammer is in the correct position by holding the trigger back and placing a finger on the hammer, pressing it as far forward as possible during the final step of hammer spring installation.  I will test this by installing the hammer spring incorrectly and then put the slide on to evaluate its operation.  In the past, I've been able to determine that the spring is installed incorrectly, and correct it, BEFORE putting the slide back on the gun.  If it isn't this simple, easily overlooked, thing, then the hammer "group" is the next logical location."