Beretta M96

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

There's a gunshop in my area that has a Beretta M96 (.40 S&W) for $470.  Looks in decent shape, some used marks, but nothing extraordinary. 

I can't remember if it has Trujicon sights or not.

Would this be a decent "first" semi-auto?  I'm not a big pistolero but I have been enjoying a Ruger Blackhawk .357 for several years, and a .54 Lyman Plains Pistol for some years before that.  So shooting "mag" handguns is not unfamiliar.

How about the price?  Seem fair and reasonable?  From what I can tell it's about what 96s are going for on the 'net.  And if I could talk him down to $420 even better.

Any problems or recommendations with the Berettas? 

[SHOOTALL]

They are nice guns , But big , hard to hide for some . Price is average if in good shape .

[Mikey]

The Beretta is a good quality pistol, the price is quite nice for a full size M96, but the 40 S&W is a poor choice I feel. 

I am not a fan of the 40 S&W.  It is a high pressure cartridge that is already 'max-ed' at factory pressures and, in my opinion, runs on the edge of pressure versus performance.  The 40 is not the 38 Super, which while near 'max-ed' at factory pressures can be loaded even further up the pressure ladder, seemingly without problem.

If you had said you had found one in 9mm, I would say:  buy up a couple of thousand rounds of surpluss 9mm ammo and have a ball, so to speak..... However, that being said I often see adds for large amounts of 40 S&W ammo on the back of the Sportsman's Guide and other major suppliers. 

If you reload, it is a different story.  I believe that even the 40 can be reloaded sanely, at reasonable pressure levels and still give you enough out the end of the barrel to be useful.  jmtcw.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Yes.  I reload.  And I would plan on getting the .40 S&W dies.

[Mikey]

Have at it Black Jaque and let us know how she ehoots................

[gray-wolf]

Yes the 40 is a high pressure round But a fine defense pistol.  Factory ammo should be fine for carry.
 My wife and I had two--one each. I sold mine for a 1911 platform because that is my handgun of choice.  But she loves hers and compliments it with a beretta tomcat 32auto for back up.
  She likes the little gun.  As for reloading, I have done many,many rounds and not had a problem.
I would advise extra care when loading in relation to powder dropping and don't over crimp.  It does nothing for bullet hold and in many cases will allow the brass to spring back and defeat a snug hold on the bullet.  I started with 135gr. Nosler HP's and titegroup powder 5.7 grains gave us a nice target load
and did not beat up the gun.  My wife got the hots for golden sabers 165 gr. So I called Hodgons and they recommended Long shot powder.  I did some research and found that Longshot gave the lowest pressure and felt comfortable using it. I stayed a grain and a half below hodgons max load and the effect of this load and that bullet in water jugs was amazing. If you are a careful reloader I think the 40 is fine to hand load for.  As with all auto pistols I don't like to keep chambering rounds because of the potential for bullet set back which can raise pressure greatly.
  A nice thing about the beretta is the outside extractor--this allows you to drop a round in the chamber and close the slide.  So loading and unloading does not cause the bullet to hit the feed ramp
 that reduces the feed back problem.  Unlike the 1911 that should be fed from the mag because of the internal extractor that does not like to jump over the the case head.
  Be safe and have good reloading practice and you should be fine.  Stay with the max. overall length
your pistol will function with.
  Sorry to be so mouthy--just trying to help.  Why shouldn't you know what I know?

Gray Wolf

[Lloyd Smale]

if im not mistaken the max pressure for 40s is 35000 psi and the max pressure for non plus p 9mm is 38000. It obvious they have to run high pressures in that little 9mm case to get 38 speical level ballistics out of it and darned near 357 ballistics out of plus P. To me the .40 is hands down the better of the two. It has bullet weight to help with pentration. A bigger diameter bullet and one big advantage to me anyway is in the bullet weight. I shoot alot of cast bullets. In the 9mm  with its lighter bullets a guy needs such a light spring to run light cast loads that it makes the 9mm a finiky choise for bullet casters. the 40 because the bullets are much heavier seems to be easier to get low pressure loads to work well. Keep in mind that most 9 and 40 molds are plain based and dont like full pressure loads. It will never replace the 45 acp in my house but the 40 definaltely would be grabbed by me before any 9mm when shtf.

[gray-wolf]

+one on the 45ACP

9MM --38--380--40-- Hey they might get bigger -----------

But the 45 ain't going to get smaller----------------