laststandonzombieisland

Tullio Marengoni developed an innovative locked-breech pistol for Beretta in the late 1940s as the company was restructuring following WWII. Borrowing the open-slide format of the earlier 9mm Glisenti M1923, his much more modern design reached the market as the M1951 (or just 951) and only reached full production in 1956.

The single stack 9mm led to the Brigadier and other variants then, with some further growth and a conversion to a double stack, became Beretta’s Model 92 in the early 1970s (although it should be pointed out that the 951 is still very much in active production and use in Third World countries today).

Fast forward to this week, and Beretta has introduced the latest tranche of the Model 92 series, the 92X during a “Pistol Summit” held this week for a few select gun media folks– somehow including your’s truly.

The four new Beretta 92X pistols all use the “thin” Vertec profile frame, but are still backward compatible with legacy 92 parts. Top left to right: the railed Compact; Centurion; (rail-less) Compact, and, bottom, is the 92X Full-Size (All Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Built on the Vertec profile frame with a straight backstrap and updated grip options, the guns all feature a round trigger guard, beveled magazine well, chrome-lined barrel with a recessed target crown, front and back cross checkering on the grip frame, and combat sights with dovetailed fronts. The guns use a steel trigger and mag release.

To understand where the new handgun line falls inside Beretta’s expansive Model 92 line, the 92X series is loaded with features and upgrades not found in the more vanilla 92FS/M9 pistols while coming in at a price that is more affordable than the M9A3 and the semi-custom Langdon Tactical/Wilson Combat 92G series guns.

And they shoot great.

More in my column at Guns.com.