Finished my Carry Builds: Custom Beretta 92A1G Brigadier Elite(And others, with pictures!)

[Mr. Melon]

Man, it's cool what you've done with your stuff. I know there'll always be naysayers, but if it's a gun YOU own and WANT to keep for life, do whatever you want with it. I mean, I wouldn't recommend modding an antique like a Colt SAA, but anything more "modern" is fair game. 😂

Heck, I had Shep drill and tap a picatinny rail on my 870 Police Magnum department-owned trade-in and I installed a new tactical stock to it because I wanted to make it my own. I've got two more I'm planning to do some fun stuff to, but nothing too crazy (one rifle, one AR pistol).

I don't dare mess with my wife's steel Baby Desert Eagle, though; it's the most accurate handgun I've probably ever shot and she absolutely loves it (I don't get out much), especially after I sold/traded the last one for a revolver I ended up hating.

It was honestly a mentality. SAR 6114 knows me better than anyone, and I was a gun goblin for a good few years. Buying, selling, acquiring, trading. Keeping the things that tickeled my fancy.

Hell, I've owned a P250 TWICE(Both times traded away here!).

Once I got past that, realized I actually COULD modify my stuff(As I I had the mental capability to understand it, turns out, pretty easy if you have patience), I started looking for stuff that suited my taste. DA/SA is one(This cut out most modern stuff), user serviceable was another. Once I realize I wasn't beholden to whatever the market deems good(Modularity, Products over platforms, everything being indexted off of the comp community over the combat community), boom. Easy.

I upgraded an 870 Police myself(On the left). It's got a tacstar sidesaddle(THe Mesa Tactical sits in the **** it bucket, becasue replacing surgical tubing for your shotgun is stupid when the cheap plastic side saddes outperform it), Surefire Foreend(FOund New old stock in a gun store), a +3 tube, (I modified the follower to allow it to hold 3, easy as this is a wilson combat tube, not the stock Rem +2), and a hogue stock. Barrel date code says it was made in 89(Like me, lol), and the action is like glass. Zero hangups, and I can hold the shotgun straight up, hit the release, and it will eject a shell.

I lament the fact that they do not make them like they used to. They can, they're just being dicks.

Also, I ain't seen a naysayer yet about this setup. What are they gonna say? "Too much blue?"

 

[jonsmith6391]

Buying, selling, acquiring, trading. Keeping the things that tickeled my fancy.

This is how I was when I joined ODT in 2017. 26 years old, wading more into firearms. I was wet behind the ears still. Now? My mentality has changed a ton. I am trying to build my “permanent” collection.

I got past that, realized I actually COULD modify my stuff(As I I had the mental capability to understand it, turns out, pretty easy if you have patience), I started looking for stuff that suited my taste.

Yeah, I got a crash course on torque recently and why that’s important when mounting a red dot on a gun I regularly shoot and rapid fire. I am not good with stuff like this, but want to learn, especially doing full breakdown and cleaning. I think it’s embarrassing to ask, but the best of the best learned somewhere.

Once I realize I wasn't beholden to whatever the market deems good(Modularity, Products over platforms, everything being indexted off of the comp community over the combat community)

Yeah, this took me awhile to get used to. For example, I love bullpups. I know many despise them overall, including a buddy of mine, which is why I never got into them. Once I bought and SBR’ed my first one, I was hooked. Now I own two.

Same goes for buying off name rather than what feels good for me and what I would trust my life with. I’ve owned Beretta and Glock guns before. Very likely wouldn’t do so again. Absolutely nothing wrong with either; in fact, the only Beretta I want is an old, somewhat rare one, that has a history with Mossad. I liked my Gen 3 Glock 19, but again, just couldn’t mesh with it like I wanted. Frankly, I’m still trying to find “the” handgun I am comfortable with and that’s been a journey; so far, it’s my IWI Masada, which is my EDC, and my wife’s Baby Eagle are the only two I am comfortable with. I’m still testing an FN Reflex XL I bought and need to tweak the cheap red dot it came with. It’s snappier than I expected, though, but it’s fun to shoot.

 

[Mr. Melon]

the only Beretta I want is an old, somewhat rare one, that has a history with Mossad.

87. Suppressed. Right?

I’m still trying to find “the” handgun I am comfortable with and that’s been a journey; so far, it’s my IWI Masada, which is my EDC, and my wife’s Baby Eagle are the only two I am comfortable with. I’m still testing an FN Reflex XL I bought and need to tweak the cheap red dot it came with. It’s snappier than I expected, though, but it’s fun to shoot.

Have you thought about going backwards? Browning Hi power, perhaps?

 

[jonsmith6391]

87. Suppressed. Right?

I think it’s an M71 or M70. I bought an M70 previously and sold it as I had a misfire on it that resulted in a squib that nearly blew up in my face.

Have you thought about going backwards? Browning Hi power, perhaps?

Never have fired a Browning Hi-Power. What do you think would make this a worthwhile one to try out?

 

[Mr. Melon]

I think it’s an M71 or M70. I bought an M70 previously and sold it as I had a misfire on it that resulted in a squib that nearly blew up in my face.

Never have fired a Browning Hi-Power. What do you think would make this a worthwhile one to try out?

Yeesh on the squib.

Well, they're excellent firearms, with deep rich histories in multiple countires, reliable as hell, and even though they're not nearly as proliferatnt as other platforms(1911, 92FS, CZ, etc), there still are plenty of aftermarkets for them, and new ones are being churned out all the time. Springfield Armory's Version, plus tons of surplus Hungarian(FEGs, but be careful, there are some weird DA/SA guns that LOOk like hi powers but aren't).

I personally don't like them because I have giant hands, and it eats up the web of my hand, but most normal-hand-sized-people find them to be just enough. If you want to try one out, look for a used model. FEG, Maybe an Israeli old school trade in(Though those are rare now, but still around), an actual Hi power(They are around on gunbroker, people are not paying attention to them like they used to) or a Girsan if you are more budget minded. Rent one somewhere, or try it out. That's essentially the sane version of what I did, except I went on a 10 year buying and selling spree.

As for the gun itself? Mecgar makes 15 rounder flush mags, and they are very shootable guns. The long barrel, good sight radius, and pointable nature and the trigger(Though the reset is noticeably quiet) of them make them very good shooters.

 

[jonsmith6391]

Yeesh on the squib.

Well, they're excellent firearms, with deep rich histories in multiple countires, reliable as hell, and even though they're not nearly as proliferatnt as other platforms(1911, 92FS, CZ, etc), there still are plenty of aftermarkets for them, and new ones are being churned out all the time. Springfield Armory's Version, plus tons of surplus Hungarian(FEGs, but be careful, there are some weird DA/SA guns that LOOk like hi powers but aren't).

I personally don't like them because I have giant hands, and it eats up the web of my hand, but most normal-hand-sized-people find them to be just enough. If you want to try one out, look for a used model. FEG, Maybe an Israeli old school trade in(Though those are rare now, but still around), an actual Hi power(They are around on gunbroker, people are not paying attention to them like they used to) or a Girsan if you are more budget minded. Rent one somewhere, or try it out. That's essentially the sane version of what I did, except I went on a 10 year buying and selling spree.

As for the gun itself? Mecgar makes 15 rounder flush mags, and they are very shootable guns. The long barrel, good sight radius, and pointable nature and the trigger(Though the reset is noticeably quiet) of them make them very good shooters.

I think my LGS may have these for rental, so what's $5 or $10 to rent it and see if I like it? My hands, I think, are normal size (5'8" tall, around 200 LB). Is it pretty snappy or flat shooting?

 

[Nus96]

It was honestly a mentality. SAR 6114 knows me better than anyone, and I was a gun goblin for a good few years. Buying, selling, acquiring, trading. Keeping the things that tickeled my fancy.

Hell, I've owned a P250 TWICE(Both times traded away here!).

Once I got past that, realized I actually COULD modify my stuff(As I I had the mental capability to understand it, turns out, pretty easy if you have patience), I started looking for stuff that suited my taste. DA/SA is one(This cut out most modern stuff), user serviceable was another. Once I realize I wasn't beholden to whatever the market deems good(Modularity, Products over platforms, everything being indexted off of the comp community over the combat community), boom. Easy.

I upgraded an 870 Police myself(On the left). It's got a tacstar sidesaddle(THe Mesa Tactical sits in the **** it bucket, becasue replacing surgical tubing for your shotgun is stupid when the cheap plastic side saddes outperform it), Surefire Foreend(FOund New old stock in a gun store), a +3 tube, (I modified the follower to allow it to hold 3, easy as this is a wilson combat tube, not the stock Rem +2), and a hogue stock. Barrel date code says it was made in 89(Like me, lol), and the action is like glass. Zero hangups, and I can hold the shotgun straight up, hit the release, and it will eject a shell.

I lament the fact that they do not make them like they used to. They can, they're just being dicks.

Also, I ain't seen a naysayer yet about this setup. What are they gonna say? "Too much blue?"

Cool melons

 

[Mr. Melon]

I think my LGS may have these for rental, so what's $5 or $10 to rent it and see if I like it? My hands, I think, are normal size (5'8" tall, around 200 LB). Is it pretty snappy or flat shooting?

A full size steel frame 9mm handgun with a 5 inch barrel is anything but snappy.

Welcome to the Metal frame club, my friend.

 

[Mr. Melon]

Cool melons

Thanks! They're fake but they look great!

 

[CorvZ061]

I’ll add in, since I’m more looking for information than anything else. I’ve wanted a Beretta 92 since I was a kid and it never happened, had to get my 1911 collection where I wanted it first. So I was looking for a threaded barrel model and was leaning towards an M9A4 or A3. But I walked into a gun store and saw something slightly unusual and bought it. It’s an OD green 92fs, I want to convert it to decock only, no big deal there. What I want some recommendations on from experience is a trigger. The stock trigger is very heavy in DA and just heavy in SA. I haven’t put a gauge on it yet, but it’s heavier than my DA revolvers. Any recommendations for an at home trigger job or is it a spring kit or the likes? I’m not afraid of home gunsmithing, and have done all my triggers on 1911’s without buying anything.