The Secret For 9mm Firearms Revealed In Ten Simple Steps
Accurizing the Beretta M9 (or 92FS, which is the model number given to the version that is available to the civilian population in general) is one area that competitive shooters are already doing for a while in essence, but just how to do it really is a relatively unknown art.
Basically a simple little survey of sorts. We currently have the M9 (Beretta 92FS 9mm) as the common issue side arm for many military MOS's.
Luckily, it is not that much different from what you should have to do to make just about any gun accurate. You will find some options that can also make the gun last a whole lot longer in the event you are a competitive shooter and need the frame (made of aluminum) to last for 10,000 rounds or maybe more.
The most challenging a part of the whole process will be the trigger job itself, which allows the shooter to fire the gun accurately without disturbing the sight alignment. Most military-grade guns "out of the box" have a relatively heavy "single action" trigger pull of between 5 and 8 pounds for safety reasons (i.e. to avoid accidentally discharging the gun). For many marksmanship competitions, trigger pull must be at least 2.5 to 3 pounds. For "Service Pistol" competitions, the rule is 4 pounds minimum. If you are not only a professional gunsmith: take the gun to a gunsmith, let him/her handle that included in the work. You will be happier with the result for a variety of reasons, not the very least of which is the fact that doing a trigger job on a Beretta is a major pain. It takes several iterations of taking the sear out of the frame and re-installing it to test pull weight, and getting the sear in and out of the gun is difficult even if you've done it a hundred times. So do yourself a big favor and just tell your gunsmith what your minimum trigger pull needs to be.
Sear and hammer surfaces. The sear has a return spring which must be carefully removed and re-installed correctly whenever work is performed on the sear. Take pictures prior to removal to make certain you can replace it the way it's supposed to be. The sear surface must be polished (buffing wheel or rotary tool) and a relief angle cut (similar to what you will do when doing sear work on a 1911) but do not modify the sear angle itself, or perhaps the gun could be unsafe. The hammer hooks need to be polished with a stone. Apply pressure-sensitive marking material (Dykem or any other layout fluid), re-assemble everything and test everything. Disassemble and observe the bearing surfaces of the sear and hammer hooks to ensure there is consistent sear contact throughout the entire width of both the hammer hooks.
If you are a professional, qualified and insured: the trigger pull weight on a Beretta 9mm results from a combination of the condition of the sear surface and hammer hook surface, plus spring condition.
