Wednesday, August 24, 2016

M9-22 Compared to the M9 / 92f Beretta - A Five Star 22 Pistol!

If you are familiar with my horror story on my Chiappa M9-22 you will be glad to know I have found a replacement. Not going to the Shot Shot makes it tough for me to search out new and interesting guns. So when a fellow youtuber told me about the Beretta M9-22 pistol, I had to take a look. Within 10 minutes of reading the specs and seeing probably the only video online of the gun (a useless video of the creator rambling and providing no real true info on the gun), I bought one from Buds GunShop. You can see my more in-depth video on this gun HERE (A MUCH BETTER VIDEO I MUST SAY) as well as some detailed pictures of this rimfire and the center fire version below.

M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon

When my M9-22 arrived I was immediately impressed. It felt exactly like my Beretta 92f 9mm pistol that I use in Production Division to shoot USPSA matches. If you have not seen USPSA or IPSC style shooting you can see some heart pounding first person shooter video on my YouTube channel. Anyway, right out of the box, the pistol felt the same in my hands with the exception of a few missing ounces in weight. Additionally the trigger feels the same with no changes in geometry. The decocker works just like any other but is a bit harder to disengage. It's unclear if it is just stiff due to the newness of the parts, or if its plastic construction has more friction than the metal parts found on the 9mm version. Either way, the controls work exactly the same. The take down lever works in the same manner as the 92 series pistols separating the slide, barrel and recoil spring from the frame. Different from my 92f 9mm model is a captured recoil spring with a plastic guide rod on the M9_22.

The gun itself is not made by Beretta, but made by Umarex who makes many other 22 clones, like the Colt 1911-22 and Smith & Wesson M&P22 pistols. My gun came with one 15 round magazine. I deem this a High Capacity mag since most .22lr pistols have only 10 round factory mags and require special UPGRADE KITS to get additional rounds in the magazine. At the time of this article, finding replacement magazines for the M9 22lr pistol might be challenging but we found some HERE.

Also a very note worthy aspect of the mags, or rather how the magazines fit into the frame of the pistol... If you shoot many rim-fire pistols you know how delicate the insertion of these magazines can be when putting one in the gun. The narrowness of the magazine in conjunction with the opening in the butt of the pistol make inserting a mag less fluid than with a center-fire pistol. The M9-22 does not have this problem. The 92 series pistols have a rather large pistol grip to accommodate the double stack magazines and this 22 version is nothing different. However, Beretta has made what I like to call an internal magwell inside the pistol grip. When looking at the opening for the magazine, it almost looks as if a full sized double stack magazine might fit but the opening narrows down quickly like funnel. This funnel or internal magwell allows this shooter to insert a fresh magazine much more quicker than traditional 22 pistols.

M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon

Sights on the M9-22 are just like what came on my 92f way back in 1989, a plain and simple 3-dot system. Just like my 9mm version, my new 22 caliber M9 would not hit for me. Mine shoots low and even after putting on a shorter front sight (the gun came with two front sights of different heights), mine still shot low. I guess my only option is to fit it with an adjustable rear sight or file down one of the plastic front sights.

M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon

M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon

At a quick glance the internals look very similar to the centerfire models but I'm sure they are not interchangeable. You can not put a 22 slide on a 9mm frame and vice versa. The barrels can not be switched between guns and the trigger can not be swapped. I'm sure that was done for safety reasons but I find the similarities between the 22 version and 9mm version the coolest. Even though the parts are not the same, it's clear that Umarex closely followed the 92 series design.

M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon

M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon

M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon


M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon

Another cool feature of the M9 22lr is that the grip panels are interchangeable with centerfire panels. This is a good thing since my 22 pistol came with what I can only assume was lesser quality plastic grips. Yes they were branded with the Beretta logo and all but the trigger bar spring on my gun that sits behind the right hand grip pushed my grip out and away from the gun. This created an unsightly gap that was quickly fixed by putting on an old pair of plastic grips I had sitting around. It should be noted if you plan to "bling up" your M9 with some after market grip screws, they appear to NOT be standard to the normal 92 series pistols. So you may need to find (if you can) some screws that are specifically for the 22 version.

M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon

M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon

M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon

M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon

M9_22, M9A1_22, 92FS_22, 92f, 92fs, M9, M9-22, M9A1-22, 92FS-22, Beretta, 9mm, .22, .22LR, trainer, 40S&W, Military, weapon

My pistol shot everything I put it in from inexpensive bulk ammo to the high dollar CCI Mini Mags. Only failures was a couple of misfires with the bulk ammo where the round failed to go off when the hammer fell. This is easily fixed with the pull of the double action trigger with the hammer down on the dud. The second pull of the trigger set off the rounds. Having the ability to pull the trigger again on a dud is a great big positive for me since I love to shoot the least expensive ammo I can find. My only regret is that my gun does not have a threaded barrel for a suppressor. Hopefully that will be an upgrade offered in the near future. Aside from my love of the Beretta 92, this is one of the best 22 pistols I have run across in a very long time.







16 comments:

  1. Do you think these metal mags will fit the Chiappa M9-22?

    ReplyDelete
  2. No they will not. The metal mags are too narrow. We have Chiappa M9-22 mags here: https://www.taylor-tactical-supply.com/magazines-s/130.htm

    If they are not listed, email me at sales@taylortacticalsupply.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great Post! Really you have an amazing knowledge about guns. Describe very well with related pictures. this blog is really helping me to know more about guns. I am just check a website moriartiarmaments.com, for purchasing 9mm pistol & kit online, which provides different kinds of qualitative guns and rifles online.

    ReplyDelete
  4. https://www.file4.net/f-Att Animation bretta 92fs free download mp4

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  5. Noticed on the bottom right of the inside of the slide is peened from making contact with something inside of the gun I sent it back and Berreta gave a whole new gun and I noticed some markings on the new gun where it's making contact in the same place guess this is normal??

    ReplyDelete
  6. Please recommend a small Red Dot sight for the M9-22. And, a sight base if required. Thanks in advance.

    ReplyDelete
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  8. ARE THESE RELIABLE AND DURABLE PISTOLS?

    ReplyDelete
  9. What is the difference between the M9A1_22 and the 92FSR_22? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I saw an advertisement for a 17 round magazine for the VP9 / P30... I know you were looking to add capacity, and then I saw these. It is made by "ProMag", so it is not an H&K factory mag, but it is all metal with some plastic bits just like the factory ones. But the real kicker is that they are only $16.39 if you are a member at the "Sportsman's Guide" I am thinking of getting at least one just to see how the quality is. If it is good quality, then I may have found a source of inexpensive magazines for my P30 that have 17 rounds standard... Not too shabby!

    https://jacksonvillegunrunners.com/2018/05/17/smallest-9mm-pocket-pistol/

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anyone have an idea if sights for the Beretta 92A1 are interchangeable with the M9-22?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Did you ever get a resolution for the Beretta 92FSR shooting low? I have the suppressor height sights on mine and I actually do shoot it with a suppressor. It prints about 4 inches low at 25 yards... kind of a pain in the ass. I attempted to contact Beretta but never got a response. Other than that I love the pistol and it is a valuable trainer for my Beretta 92FS Centurion.

    ReplyDelete
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