# 92FS Jammed Solid



## HighPower56 (Jun 22, 2018)

Greetings,

I was out shooting yesterday with my 92FS and had put perhaps 300 rounds through it when it froze as you can see in the photograph. Hammer is back, the slide will not rack and there is a live round sitting inside. I may add the latter precludes me from sending this to Beretta.

Any idea what may have caused this? Ammo is Winchester 9mm FMJ and I've never had any issues with it.

Any input greatly appreciated. I am thinking maybe a cracked Locking Block? The trigger will move freely if that help, and you can rotate the stainless steel guide rod.

Thanks,

Lyman

View attachment 14962


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## hillman (Jul 27, 2014)

The trigger 'moves freely' but the hammer doesn't fall with the safety off?


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## Goldwing (Nov 5, 2014)

The hammer won't fall because the slide has not returned to battery.

I suspect that the last shot left something behind that is preventing the slide from moving forward.

A good gunsmith should be able to clear it for you.

GW


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## Craigh (Jul 29, 2016)

I don't have experience with Berettas, but over the years, I've noticed a lot of problems with the blocks locking up, whatever that means. People ask if the firing pin block is locked up. I couldn't find solution in my quick and dirty search, other than the gunsmith route.

It might just be my imagination, but I see a lot of this on forums as well as at the range. Again, maybe my imagination. Personally, I'd take it to a qualified local gunsmith, letting him know up front that it's loaded. I'd bring it in a hard case, if you have one, not that this would stop a bullet, but I'd think it would make the gunsmith feel more secure and remind him it's loaded.

Please keep us notified here as to the results. Let us know what the made it do this and what fixed it after you find out.


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## pblanc (Mar 3, 2015)

Craigh, you may be thinking of the Beretta 92 locking block which rides beneath the barrel and locks slide and barrel together when the pistol is in battery and during the early portion of slide cycling in recoil. The locking block is something of a weak point in the design of the Beretta 92. They can and do break, but they also allow the barrel to remain in-line which promotes outstanding reliability of feeding.

I had my Beretta lock up like this with a live round although the slide was a bit closer to being in battery. The safest course of action is probably to take the pistol to a gunsmith. But if you want to try to tackle this yourself, here are some suggestions to try at your own risk.

If you have a bench vise, pad the jaws and clamp the slide of the pistol in the vise with the grip of the frame pointing up. Construct a suitable bullet trap just in case. You could put a couple of reams of copy paper in front of the muzzle, for example. Have eye and hearing protection on. With the slide solidly clamped, push hard forward on the grip of the pistol. If that does not free the slide, you could try pounding on the rear of the frame with a rubber mallet.

If you lack a bench vise, you could get a fairly thick block of wood and drill a hole in it near the edge big enough to accept the barrel. The hole needs to be positioned so that the dust cover of the pistols frame and the guide rod will clear the edge of the wood. Place the block solidly on the ground and with eye and ear protection, put the barrel in the hole int the block and apply your body weight on the grip.

In my case, after I got my pistol unjammed I examined it carefully as well as the round that had been chambered. I saw no evidence of damage to the locking block, barrel, or any other part of the pistol. I measured the case and cartridge with a caliper and did not find anything out of spec. The round even passed the "plunk" test. So I really have no idea why the pistol locked up. I have shot many hundreds of rounds through that pistol since that event with no parts swaps and have not had a single additional malfunction. For what it is worth, the ammunition in question was Winchester 124 grain NATO.


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## BigHead (Jul 5, 2015)

Have you tried to dislodge the round with a cleaning rod, or a wooden dowel? Tapping a cleaning rod against the obstruction might dislodge the round, and clear the obstruction.

[PS: if everything goes to Hell, and my suggestion makes everything worse, I disavow every word that I wrote. It is a nasty habit that I have.]
View attachment 14970


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## Craigh (Jul 29, 2016)

BigHead said:


> Have you tried to dislodge the round with a cleaning rod, or a wooden dowel? Tapping a cleaning rod against the obstruction might dislodge the round, and clear the obstruction.
> 
> [PS: if everything goes to Hell, and my suggestion makes everything worse, I disavow every word that I wrote. It is a nasty habit that I have.]
> View attachment 14970


My friend, I don't know and I might be off my rocker, but it'd scare me good to stick something down the barrel of a jammed firearm. I could be wrong, but I'd imagine if it fired, the barrel and slide could rupture just like firing with a squib in the barrel.


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## Goldwing (Nov 5, 2014)

BigHead said:


> Have you tried to dislodge the round with a cleaning rod, or a wooden dowel? Tapping a cleaning rod against the obstruction might dislodge the round, and clear the obstruction.
> 
> [PS: if everything goes to Hell, and my suggestion makes everything worse, I disavow every word that I wrote. It is a nasty habit that I have.]
> View attachment 14970


Bad plan, that one. If there is something broken in the gun and by sheer bad luck it is in contact with the primer, very bad things could happen. My vote goes for the gunsmith taking the lead on this one.

GW


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Submerge the gun in oil , wipe the gun down, remove the grip covers, put the handle in a vise, using a piece of wood n mallet ,,try working the slide loose.
The oil and vibration from the mallet, might loosen the slide.
The direction of the tapping should be to open the slide. Not closing the slide.
If your uncomfortable ,take it to the shop.


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## denner12 (Oct 14, 2017)

I'll add my 2 cents. I'd try pulling the recoil rod forward, enough to push the take down lever down to see if you can take the slide off. The recoil rod may have moved off it's cutout somehow.


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## BigHead (Jul 5, 2015)

BigHead said:


> Have you tried to dislodge the round with a cleaning rod, or a wooden dowel? Tapping a cleaning rod against the obstruction might dislodge the round, and clear the obstruction.
> 
> [PS: if everything goes to Hell, and my suggestion makes everything worse, I disavow every word that I wrote. It is a nasty habit that I have.]
> View attachment 14970





Craigh said:


> My friend, I don't know and I might be off my rocker, but it'd scare me good to stick something down the barrel of a jammed firearm. I could be wrong, but I'd imagine if it fired, the barrel and slide could rupture just like firing with a squib in the barrel.





goldwing said:


> Bad plan, that one. If there is something broken in the gun and by sheer bad luck it is in contact with the primer, very bad things could happen. My vote goes for the gunsmith taking the lead on this one.
> GW


OK, I may have had a dumb attack, so scratch my advice off your list. It seemed like a good idea at the time.


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## JGrill (Feb 1, 2015)

LGLDSR73 said:


> Greetings,
> 
> I was out shooting yesterday with my 92FS and had put perhaps 300 rounds through it when it froze as you can see in the photograph. Hammer is back, the slide will not rack and there is a live round sitting inside. I may add the latter precludes me from sending this to Beretta.
> 
> ...


That could be a cracked frame. I had that problem with a Beretta Tomcat. Have a gunsmith check it out.


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## AZdave (Oct 23, 2015)

Have you tried to remove slide and barrel? This is the easiest gun to field strip. blind kung fu artists do this all the time in the movies.


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## TAPnRACK (Jan 30, 2013)

I've seen this quite a few times over the last few years... mostly with M&P pistols. The round was fired and the casing didn't eject, leaving the slide out of battery (seized up). This sounds similar, except your round didn't fire, correct?... and you can't easily bump the slide back into battery.

My fix is to hold the slide with your non-dominant (left?) hand with an overhand grip. Use your dominant hand to "punch" the grip forward (open hand in a "V" shape) with force while maintaining the death grip on the slide. 

Once the slide is free, lock it to the rear. You will most likely see the brass casing still lodged into barrel. Use a brass punch (plastic tool) and insert it into the muzzle end and pop the brass out. Function check and closely inspect the pistol (and casing). Load some rounds and continue shooting. I can add pics if that helps.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


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## TAPnRACK (Jan 30, 2013)

A student had one today during a class... live round stuck this time. Same technique worked great. Upon inspection, I noticed the casing was crimped where the bullet goes into the top of the casing. 

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


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