For the month of November, I carried a Beretta 92FS, and nothing else. Here’s what I relearned and had hammered into my head. You absolutely can carry a Full Sized automatic handgun for Concealed Carry. At first it was unusual because the gun was larger and heavier than what I was used to packing. When Adams Holsters sent me the new Sharkhide Crossroads rig, all the sudden packing that beast of a Beretta became much easier and comfortable for all day carry.
When I say all day carry, what I really mean is “If I’m wearing pants, I’m wearing my gun”. And the Beretta, once I got used to it, was really no problem.
The Crossroads rig is a nice wide pancake style outside of the waistband type holster. This distributes the weight and the profile and really is the most comfortable type of holster you can use. The big 92 just became a part of me for the whole of November.
By week 3, I was very much enjoying the big gun.
There were a couple times when having a big service auto was indeed a greater comfort. There was a moment when I came out of a location late at night and walked across the parking lot to my Bike. A couple large, thuggish looking guys were parked not very far away, leaning on their truck, drinking beer. I make no judgement on their poor choice of domestic horse-piss, or their choice of Brokeback music they were playing. But what concerned me was their increased level of attention to me as I approached. Having the Beretta almost whisper to me “We can take them”, was a great assurance. The other time was when I came home, and through the shadows, a brief flash of red Eye Shine caught me by surprise. In the story I wrote, “UPRISING USA” and “UPRISING UK”, I have evil characters called “Red Eyes” which are demonically possessed zombies. And here at Ogre Ranch, I just saw red eyes shining in the shadows along the side of my house.
I jumped off my bike, drew the Beretta and covered where the eye shine was. I could see something there… but I didn’t know what it was. My flashlight… I had one with me… was in my backpack, doing me not a damn bit of good. The Beretta in my hand allowed me to stand my ground when a more sane man would have backed off. Just then my wife drove up in her Explorer and the the sweep of her headlights illuminated the creature that I was damn near ready to light up.
It was Mule Deer Buck… Just standing there, looking at me, sniffing at me. It turned and bounded off as the car passed.
Having a large creature breathing and standing there… and you don’t know what the hell it is… it can be disturbing. Bears are in the mountains just behind Ogre Ranch… and I hate bears. Pooh even makes my trigger finger itch. The idea of having a bear here did not make me happy. We had one before, about seven years ago. A small black bear. No big deal, but still… it’s just the bear that mauls more people than any other. A 15 round mag full of PDX1 backed up with a couple 20 rounders was plenty enough for a bear. Even a shadowy nightmare bear. Nightbears. I hate Nightbears. We also have Cougars out here. Lots of them. Older women and the Mountain Lion types… Both are highly dangerous… And their are the Coyotes and Feral Dogs that come around too. But the eye shine was much higher than cougars and canines.
I had to laugh a bit as the big buck deer bounded away and disappeared. It’s the unknown thought made that brief moment rather scary. In that brief moment, the big service auto was a comfort and a half. Of course, I’d rather have had one of my 12 Gauges, but I didn’t feel like I was holding a squirt gun.
November is now passed and that means I have the option of not wearing my Beretta 92FS. December First, I put on my Glock 23L and instantly appreciated the lighter weight of it. But as the day went on, I found myself missing the Beretta. The heft of it. Pulling it out, the Glock just didn’t have the pleasing lines and good looks of the Beretta… it was disappointing. I’ll be rolling with the Beretta more often now.
George, that is exactly how I feel after a bout of carrying one of my compact pistols… And then holstering up with a full size one.
I don’t feel under armed with the smaller pistols, but a nice hand filling grip and a chunk of steel on top make me feel like everything is going to be all right.
Jim
Exactly.
Out of all of that I find myself wondering why you passed up free delicious meat?
What I find myself wondering is, since the Ogre laughed at their choice of domestic horse piss, does he enjoy a nice imported ale from time to time? Mormonism not withstanding. A Samuel Smith’s IPA mayhaps?
I used to… but I don’t anymore. For Domestic, Sam Adams varieties, Amber Bocks, Shock Top, Polygamy Porter… Mainly the Dark Beers, Stouts. And of course GUINNESS.
But I do not Drink anymore. And when I did, it was primarily only with meals.
Yup! At work i pack the issued glock 22 but when i get home its all about the beretta. Like you said, its the heft and feeling of security. Im 100% sold on the beretta.
Lever action shotguns go well with motorcycles…
Unless you happen to be riding a Vincent black lightning, 1952.
Yesterday I took a friend to Bud’s Gun shop and after shooting several pistols he picked up his first gun, a 92A1.
I like my Sig and I like to carry my Glock, but I must say the Beretta was really nice to shoot. We did have to work out that the POA and POI are a little different for the Beretta over the Glock or Sig, but the thing hummed along like a sewing machine of destruction. I liked it.
He has no plans to carry the gun so he went with what fit his hand the best and felt the nicest to shoot.
My only critic is the DA trigger pull is heavy and long. I understand why it is that way, but I still prefer my Sig SRT DA’s.
I’ve never had the hate for the Beretta 92/M9 pistol that seems to be such an issue in service weapon discussions. I’ve used the Beretta in both permissive and non-permissive environments. I’ve had no problems concealing it, when using a quality holster and thinking about my attire. The pistol is reliable, and accurate. I’ve got no problem relying on it, and I have. However, I do not own one. Maybe I will some day.
I agree with all of the points about packing a full-sized pistol. But the effort seems wasted on a 9mm. I know premium ammo is a lot better today, and the magic bullet does’nt exist, but in a serious size gun I’d just prefer .45 or a full 10mm. guess I’m old-school that way….
Hell, lately my go-to gun is a 1917 S&W, when it’s not the riot gun….
I think the Big B just looks modern or space age-ish. Offered my son a Glock or Beretta for his 21st. After shooting both and a HI Power he took the B. “It just looks so cool!”… I agree the B just has “the look”.
First AR’s and now 9mm *shakes head*. Nah, seriously…the easiest gun I ever packed was a FN 5.7. The hardest was a HK P7E. Go figure. I plan on trying a G34 next.
If they offered the 92fs with a de-cocking lever only, no safety (like Sig) then I would like it a bit more.
As a result of many hours shooting my Sigs, on a qual line I once drew the M9 and attempted the hard DA pull with the safety on. Fortunately it was just a qual shoot and I just lost a second or two of time to get my rounds in…..
Mike… They Do.
Sure enough, 92G. I had no idea. Thanks for the enlightenment.
Well if you want space age looks there are the Beretta PX4 storm series. They are hammer fired and you can get them DA/SA, decocker, and DOA. The DOA has a reported pull of about 8 pounds and a long reset as compared to a Glock. It has the rotating barrel lock up of the old Cougar. Has a plastic frame with replaceable palm swells, available in 9mm,.40 S&W, and .45acp. About three different barrel lengths if IIRC. About 14 rounds of .40 s&w in the magazine. Reportedly very soft on the recoil and accurate. None of the calibers are what I’d call game rounds. I’d guess the .40 s&w in the heaviest bullet weight would give you the best penetration??? It does have a rail for mounting stuff. I remember seeing a review photo with a shorty bayonet attached.
I have heard of one (1) self defense instance of a bear killed with a 9mm. It was shot at touching distance, the round went up the nasal cavity into the brain.
That was the polar bear on LOST?
What is “lost?”
This was a guy fishing in AK, he was charged by a bear while in the water .killed it with one shot IIRC.
Standard advice on big bears is to break them down with a crippling shot to the shoulders, and not to try for some difficult kill shot-as they have very tough skulls- and a heart shot is just way to slow in it’s effect.
Agitated bears are really scary- not just the size, but the nearly mystical agility-they move like a 700 lb ballerina on meth.
Interesting story George. Do y’all have feral hogs up yonder?
They’ll darn near wander people’s neighborhoods around here. Very very bad news to be on the wrong end of one of them. 9mm prolly give ’em some heartburn but I hope my 12 ga. is near if I ever see one in my yard.
#4 Buck works well.
No, no feral hogs. Wish we did though. Wild Bacon…
We (in WA) had a dad kill a black bear climbing up the stairs to the upper level of his house, had broken through the back kitchen door, with a Glock .40 shot to the head, one round, one dead bear.