Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Massad Ayoob
Read between
December 22, 2023 - February 21, 2024
or you can do the same thing by simply flicking down the slide stop lever with your weak hand.
Careful; some experts wax apoplectic over this method.
The index finger of the support hand will work best if it’s under the trigger guard, not in front of it.
Ayoob Wedge!
Now take your stance. You can pick from any of several, but execute your stance strongly.
Not specifically advocating for the Isosceles over the Weaver in this instance; much appreciated, Mas!
You’ll have more leverage if you can put the last crease on the finger (the palmar surface of the distal joint, if you want to get technical) center on the trigger. If the finger doesn’t reach that far, you can get by with the pad of the trigger finger, which is generally defined as the center of the whorl of the fingerprint.
It has a famously smooth trigger pull. The Beretta is a classic example of a pistol more appreciated by shooters than theoreticians.
And now, as your Beretta discharges for the first time, there’s a surprise for you: the pistol’s famously light recoil. Across their entire line of semiautomatics, the Berettas are light-kicking guns.
Ah, so it’s not just me then!
The 9mm Beretta is famous in the military and at Camp Perry and on the police firing ranges for its easy kick. Yes, it’s a 9mm, but it’s a particularly soft-shooting 9mm.
Power up to the Beretta 96 in caliber .40 S&W. This cartridge is notorious for its high slide velocity, relatively high pressure, and snappy recoil. Yet in the Beretta, a 180-grain subsonic .40 caliber round feels about like firing a +P 9mm.
Try the Cougar in any of its four calibers: 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, .357 SIG, and .45 ACP. The rotary breech mechanism really does seem to reduce recoil.
Ditto for the PX4 Storm in .45 ACP!
Each of us there had other .45s with us. They included Glock, SIG, and numerous 1911 pistols. The unanimous consensus was that with the same ammunition, the Beretta .45 kicked the least of all.
If you’ve done your job as far as holding and squeezing, the shots should be in a nice, tight cluster. Pocket pistol and service pistol alike, Berettas are famous for their accuracy. You’ve just learned why the Beretta is a shooter’s gun.
It’s why those who hate the Beretta tend to be internet jockeys who collect often unverifiable beefs about a gun they’ve rarely if ever shot, and why those who love the Beretta tend to be serious shooters who shoot a lot. In the end, the latter have more credibility than the former.
BaZINGa!!
The U.S. Military Beretta M9 pistol must appear complicated to the novice. After all, there is that bewildering array of levers and buttons. The fact is, though, that it’s not particularly difficult to learn to operate and maintain. Field-stripping and reassembly are easy.
Yep; no separate barrel bushing, recoil spring plug, or slide stop pin & barrel link to deal with.
One of the greatest legacies of gun guru Jeff Cooper is his streamlined list of four gun safety rules.
Over the years, I’ve learned to modify Rule Three slightly to make it clearer: •Do not let the finger be in the trigger guard unless you are in the act of intentionally firing the weapon.
For left-handed shooting, the trigger finger indexes on the frame behind the takedown lever. This position is called having the trigger finger “in register.”
postural disturbance, startle response, or interlimb response. These were defined as the primary causative factors in unintentional discharges many years ago by Dr. Roger Enoka, the first highly credentialed physiologist to directly address the problem.
Keep the operating arm and hand clear of the business end. The tapered front of the slide on the Beretta 92 and 96 seems to invite the support hand to pinch it to push back the slide. Politely decline the invitation. This places the hand too close to the muzzle of what might be a loaded gun.
Like that silly old “press-check” (pinch-check) that so many old-school M1911 buffs advocated?
The safe, efficient Israeli Method for operating a Beretta’s slide. The frame is grasped in firing hand, finger on frame, and support hand grasps slide as shown … … he gun hand pushes forward, the support hand pulls back, exerting great force on the gun with minimum effort. Force can be magnified by putting your whole body into the technique …
Toda raba! 🇮🇱
Note that on F-model Berettas, if the safety has been engaged prior, it remains on throughout the procedure and the pistol safely decocks itself. The Israeli technique holds the lever in the position it was in to start.
Be careful though; it’s easy to inadvertently place the Beretta 92F back “on-safe”during a manual slide rack—as I experienced firsthand during an IDPA match!
A left-handed shooter can activate a right-handed button with his trigger finger faster than most right-handers can do it with their thumbs.
When I shoot the .22 LR Beretta M9A1-22 left-handed, for whatever reason I actually find my middle-finger to be most optimal for activating the mag release.
Some older Berettas, such as the Model 34, have a conventional “European style” butt-heel magazine release catch. The most efficient way to operate one of these is to press the catch to the rear with the ball of the thumb, and use the middle finger to catch the lip of the floorplate and sort of “hook” the magazine out of the pistol.
This is variously known as “jacking” the slide, “racking” the slide, “running,” the slide, etc. Two primary techniques have evolved over the years. They are known as “American style” and “Israeli style.”
The “American” technique has also been called the “overhand” technique, and was dubbed the “straddle” technique by gun expert Dave Spaulding, a term which aptly describes the manner in which the digits of the hand straddle the slide. This technique causes two concerns, one of which is specific to Beretta-type pistols.
Second, with the Beretta Model 92 style (or S&W, or Ruger, or Walther PPK, or any other autoloader with a wing-shaped, slide-mounted safety) this movement will tend to push the lever down into the “on-safe” position.
Yes!!! This happened to me during an IDPA match!!
My friend and colleague Ken Hackathorn is a Beretta fan, as are many of his students, and he has always used the American technique. He told me that it so often inadvertently on-safed the Beretta, that he had to teach his students a drill that included “work the slide, off safe the pistol again, and prepare to continue firing.”
Both of these concerns are effectively eliminated by the second method, the “Israeli style,” also known as the “slingshot.”
The support hand’s grasp in the Israeli technique is opposite that of the American method, in that the left hand will grab the slide with the thumb on the right and the fingers on the left.
This is commonly done in a sloppy fashion, with only thumb and forefinger in contact with the slide. That’s weak, and doing it wrong has given the slingshot method an undeserved reputation as a feeble technique. To do it properly, place the entire weak hand thumb on the slide, from thumbprint to “drumstick,” and securely grasp the other side of the slide with all four fingers. Now, maintaining firm grasp with both hands and of course keeping fingers out of the trigger guard, turn the entire body as if throwing a karate-style reverse punch. That is, the dominant side leg is at the rear, the
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The Israeli technique tends to keep the muzzle pointed straight ahead, preventing the dangers of the muzzle sweeping the forward arm, the body, or an adjacent shooter as often occurs with the American technique. Moreover, it is “Beretta friendly.” The thumb and its drumstick on one side of the slide, and the fingers on the other, tend to pinch the safety lever into the position it was in when the hand came onto the slide. That is, if the movement began with the safety catch in the “fire” position, it will remain in the “fire” position. If it began with the gun on safe, it will stay on safe.
The open slide design of the Beretta 92 and similar pistols is, to my way of thinking, a safety feature. An enclosed slide, when retracted, often creates an overhang in which a live cartridge can “hide” in the firing chamber.
I visually examine the empty firing chamber and the empty magazine well (strip search). I then probe the magazine well and firing chamber with the little finger to confirm that they are empty (cavity search). Finally, I snap the unloaded training gun back in its holster (secured in its cell). It’s a simple analogy, and it works.
The eyes may be able to see cartridges in the magazine windows, as those openings in the magazine are called.
The slide should be retracted just enough to see if there is a round in the chamber. The index finger of the dominant hand, which should have been lying dormant along the frame during this procedure, can now be lifted until its tip enters the chamber area, where it should be able to feel the cartridge casing. We now have both visual and tactile confirmation of a loaded chamber.
However, an even simpler and more efficient technique exists, though it will only work with those pistols which have ambidextrous slide-mounted safety/decocking levers
Keep the pistol in the dominant hand, grasped around the grip frame, trigger finger on frame. Bring the support hand in from behind. Curl the middle finger and index finger of the support hand like hooks and use them to press the slide-mounted levers down and then pull to the rear, while the support thumb braces on the grip tang as shown in the photos. Even a G series 92, 96, or Cougar will in effect be “on safe” while the fingers are holding the levers in this position. Pushing toward the muzzle with the thumb and pulling toward the rear with the middle and index fingers of the supporting
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On the day in question, he had to shoot a vicious pit bull. It took several rounds of the low-velocity 9mm ammunition to stop the dog, and when the time came to holster his weapon, the deputy was understandably quite shaken.
While this writer generally prefers to holster by feel for tactical reasons (i.e., not having to take the eyes off the danger zone in front of the shooter), I will make a point of glancing down when holstering a striker-fired pistol to assure
Well hell, you shouldn’t reholster ‘til you’ve affirmed that the danger is neutralized anyway (as Gabe Suarez points out)!
the proximate cause – the legal term for “the real reason it happened” –
The most efficient draw will be a “rock and lock,” in which as soon as the muzzle has cleared the forward part of the holster, the muzzle is rocked upward parallel to the ground and in line with the target the shooter is facing. This allows the gun to be fired with effect as soon as the muzzle clears holster in case the target is a fast-closing threat. The gun is now pushed forward to the target, rising until the sights or at least the top of the pistol are in line with the shooter’s eyes. If the shooter is drawing to a two-handed stance, the support hand should come in from behind the muzzle
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the role model factor needs to be considered when we adopt a “manual of arms” for any given firearm.
cross-draw position. This style of carry has fallen increasingly out of favor in past decades, but has seen a small return to popularity in two areas. One is wear by females, and the other is wear while seated.
Wow, looks like Mas is using the Classic Weaver Stance here!
long, gross motor movement is required to open the pouch before the drawing hand can reach in to achieve access. This is most efficiently done with the weak hand ripping open the fanny pack, and the strong hand making the draw.
You need a small pistol for an ankle holster. The only time I’ve ever seen anyone draw a full-size Beretta 92 from an ankle rig was in the movie Kindergarten Cop, and the guy making the draw was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, in real life, even a guy Schwarzenegger’s size would need billowing bell-bottoms to make that work. It’s clear watching the movie that the only time he actually wore the humongous ankle holster was in the scenes when it was being strapped on or the big pistol was actually being drawn.
“Ees not a tumah (It’s not a tumor)!”
To work an ankle holster, position the rig so the butt of the gun is to the rear, on the inside of the ankle of the non-gun-hand-side leg. Reach down with the weak hand and grab a fistful of trouser material and pull it upward, before you begin to bend the knees.
A 9mm Beretta’s light recoil aids fast shooting. The spent casing is just above the gun, but the muzzle is in line for the next head shot.
Vive Le Head Shot!
I’m a big fan of the “crush grip,” in which you grasp as hard as you can. Ignore any minor tremor this may produce: you may shake in the moment of truth you are training for, so you may as well get used to it now.
Solid rollover prone lets the shooter take advantage of the Beretta’s high order of accuracy; here,
Yet as of 2010, FLETC was teaching the more outmoded and uncomfortable prone technique instead.
Chapman always emphasized that the shoulder should be at least slightly forward of the hip to get effective recoil control with this technique.
