# 92S Hammer Pin Function



## pcmacd (Apr 26, 2018)

I've just received a vintage 92S w/o the hammer pin (well, at least there is no HEAD on it); I just happened to notice it! Pistol dry fires OK. Everthing appears operational. Likely not more than 300 rounds thru it but it does show significant handling / holster wear.

ONE: What does this missing sucker do? I've poked all round but can't seem to isolate "hammer" from "hammer pin".

TWO: The price for a new hammer pin from Brownell's would be about $12 or so delivered (if it is of the right vintage), so would it be easier to replace it myself then to return it?

tanks

mac


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## pcmacd (Apr 26, 2018)

UPDATE:

Consider this: it has a VERY SMALL HEAD HAMMER PIN?

ONE: Who in the what has seen one of these on a 92S?

TWO: Are there consequences to this, as opposed to the original config.?

tanks.

mac


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## denner12 (Oct 14, 2017)

The 92S wasn't made with the oversized head on the hammer pin. That was incorporated later into the 92FS model. The 92FS has the oversized head which rides in a groove under the the left rear side of the slide preventing the slide from coming off the frame rearward.

Very rare that this would happen, actually my research leans toward bad metallurgy of the slide combined with shooting machine gun ammo which created the issues with a very limited number of early slides before the enlarged hammer pin in the 92FS.

Here's the evolution of the Beretta 92 pistol:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_92


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## pcmacd (Apr 26, 2018)

Thanks.

What is interesting is that the other two 92S I acquired at the same time have the very large hammer pin.
*
Thoughts?*

tanks


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## denner12 (Oct 14, 2017)

"A good number of those guns that were recently imported through PW Arms have 92FS parts in them including the current safety lever and large FS hammer pin (required milling the slot in the slide for the pin though...) since these were actively used by the Italian police force(s)"

Looks like some were updated to include the large FS hammer pin and having the slot in the slide milled or perhaps using a 92FS slide?

Here's the evolution of the 92 pistol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_92


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## Craigh (Jul 29, 2016)

pcmacd said:


> tanks


I doubt any pins and hammers from a tank will fit your Beretta 92S.

Thanks


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## pcmacd (Apr 26, 2018)

denner12 said:


> "A good number of those guns that were recently imported through PW Arms have 92FS parts in them including the current safety lever and large FS hammer pin (required milling the slot in the slide for the pin though...) since these were actively used by the Italian police force(s)"
> 
> Looks like some were updated to include the large FS hammer pin and having the slot in the slide milled or perhaps using a 92FS slide?
> 
> Here's the evolution of the 92 pistol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_92


Thanks. I've studied that link previously. Mine all have the mag release on the left bottom of the grip, and I believe that is exclusive to the 92S?

They were sold as 92S, imported by R Guns.

So, perhaps two were modified to take the large hammer pin. What benefit would that offer?


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## kaiser mike (Jan 25, 2020)

denner12 said:


> The 92S wasn't made with the oversized head on the hammer pin. That was incorporated later into the 92FS model. The 92FS has the oversized head which rides in a groove under the the left rear side of the slide preventing the slide from coming off the frame rearward.
> 
> Very rare that this would happen, actually my research leans toward bad metallurgy of the slide combined with shooting machine gun ammo which created the issues with a very limited number of early slides before the enlarged hammer pin in the 92FS.
> 
> ...


No disrespect but thats incorrect on hammer pin modification. My 92S has one. If I recall, my serial puts this at a late 70's issue. Just prior to US requesting the FS design.

On the slide coming off? That was never a pistol issue. The US military was shooting what amounted to near proof loads. The pin was a "Just in case". Beretta sued for defamation...and won.


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## ZipperLips (Jul 31, 2020)

I have a beautiful 92S that I received yesterday. Everything is in near perfect condition except for the grips. I am looking for grips for it but no luck because it has the large FS style hammer pin. Does anyone know where I can find stock checkered ones? If not does anyone know if the hammer pin can be replaced with a pin from an earlier 92S that had the small head? Thanks in advance


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

ZipperLips said:


> I have a beautiful 92S that I received yesterday. Everything is in near perfect condition except for the grips. I am looking for grips for it but no luck because it has the large FS style hammer pin. Does anyone know where I can find stock checkered ones? If not does anyone know if the hammer pin can be replaced with a pin from an earlier 92S that had the small head? Thanks in advance


I would think that if your gun is a 92S that the FS hammer pin would be incorrect for that gun? That being the case you should replace it with the correct one if you want to use the stock set of grips. Then see if you can find a correct a set of grips for that gun. Which may be difficult as it is out of production and I don't know if they are being reproduced or not? Your other alternatives are a set of aftermarket grips. Or buying a set of grips for the FS model and modifying them to clear the magazine release button.

https://lokgrips.com/beretta/beretta-92?sort=bestselling&page=1 makes grips for the FS in a variety of different materials. You just have to select the "heel cut" option which clears the magazine release button. Since those grips are made for the FS models I'm assuming that they are made to work with the FS hammer pin as well? Their number is 616-389-0666 you may want to call them before ordering.


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## ZipperLips (Jul 31, 2020)

Thanks for the reply desertman... I did find grips from NC Ordnance, they have an online store and also on Gunbroker. I did some research into that gun and at some point they started using some parts from the FS on the 92S. I have the bruniton coated slide with the milled groove to accommodate the large hammer pin. I believe the safety/decocker is different as well. The grips I'm getting aren't perfect but they are brand new. They apparently take a mold from an existing set of grips and the grips they used had a few scratches in them, but it was the best set they could find. They sure do look better than what I have! Thanks again.


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

ZipperLips said:


> Thanks for the reply desertman... I did find grips from NC Ordnance, they have an online store and also on Gunbroker. I did some research into that gun and at some point they started using some parts from the FS on the 92S. I have the bruniton coated slide with the milled groove to accommodate the large hammer pin. I believe the safety/decocker is different as well. The grips I'm getting aren't perfect but they are brand new. They apparently take a mold from an existing set of grips and the grips they used had a few scratches in them, but it was the best set they could find. They sure do look better than what I have! Thanks again.


Your always welcome. Glad to be of service.

I have a 92FS Inox and an M9A3. I'm just starting to learn of all the little nuances of the 92 series Beretta's. The way I understand it is that the oversized hammer pin head was a request from the U.S. Army to prevent the slide from accidentally coming off. Which also explains the milled groove in the slide to accommodate it. How that is even remotely possible is beyond me? I have a wide variety of other make DA/SA semi auto's none of which has that feature.


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## ZipperLips (Jul 31, 2020)

Love the Inox!! I wanted to grab an M9 but too pricey right now. I read the same thing about the slide problems years ago. I saw that Beretta sued the Marines or whomever it was that was complaining about it happening because apparently they were running ammo through them that they weren't designed for. Beretta won the suit incidentally. I'll post a picture when the grips come, I ordered them a few hours ago and they shipped them already!!


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

ZipperLips said:


> Love the Inox!! I wanted to grab an M9 but too pricey right now. I read the same thing about the slide problems years ago. I saw that Beretta sued the Marines or whomever it was that was complaining about it happening because apparently they were running ammo through them that they weren't designed for. Beretta won the suit incidentally. I'll post a picture when the grips come, I ordered them a few hours ago and they shipped them already!!


I bought the Inox used several years ago. I couldn't pass it up. It is in excellent like new condition, no holster or excess wear. I took it apart and polished the flats on the slide along with the barrel and controls. When I got it they all had the same sandblasted finish. It adds a little bling to it. The M9A3 was an impulse buy and the only one available at the time. I've only had it about a month.

Indeed post some pictures when the grips come. I only found out about Lokgrips when I bought a Walther Q4. I'd like to swap out the black grips although I'm hoping someone comes out with some nice wood grips for that gun. When I bought it, it was all black, I changed the trigger, polished the flats on the sides of the barrel and filled the roll marks with white enamel to give it some contrast. Some nice wood grips would make it really look sharp.


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

desertman said:


> The way I understand it is that the oversized hammer pin head was a request from the U.S. Army to prevent the slide from accidentally coming off. Which also explains the milled groove in the slide to accommodate it. How that is even remotely possible is beyond me?


During training firing, the U.S. military had a few M9 slides fracture at the locking-block notch cut in the slide while being fired. When that happens, the slide breaks into two pieces, front and rear. If the slide is cracked but stays together long enough to get one more round chambered, on firing the slide breaks in half and the rear half separates from the frame and flies rearward, usually impacting the shooter in the face/jaw area hard enough to cause serious injury (and I assume a nasty pistol-shooting flinch, from that moment on).

The first few times this happened, they were high-round-count pistols, so they sent out a safety bulletin that restricted M9 firing to a certain number of rounds. Then it happened with 1-2 low-round-count pistols, and they decided they needed to do something to keep the troops safe and restore some confidence in the pistol. The notched slide and large-head hammer pin was the quick solution. If the slide breaks and moves rearward farther than it's normal range of travel, the hammer pin jams in the short notch, preventing the rear half of the slide from leaving the frame and smacking the shooter in the face.

I was supervising a USAF Combat Arms Training and Maintenance section when the order to modify the existing stocks of Beretta M9 models came down. They sent us a "kit" for each pistol which included a new slide with the short notch on the left-rear-bottom edge, a new hammer pin with the large head, and a new left-side grip panel (because it needed to have a larger cutout to cover the large-headed hammer pin).

As I recall, they didn't have very many of these slide separations to begin with, and I'm not sure if any more happened once the M9s were modded. All civilian-sale M92F models made after a certain date had the same modification right from the factory (I believe that was when they changed the model number to the M92FS, with the "S" indicating the "Safety" modification), as did all newer M9 pistols.

The large-head hammer pin MUST be used with a slide that has been notched to accept the edge of the head, but the older small-head pin will work with the old slide OR new notched slide (it just won't stop the rear of the slide from exiting the frame if the slide breaks); so if you don't know what you need, the old small-head pin will always work. If you have a large-head pin that needs replacing (why, I would not know), replace it only with the same size pin.


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

DJ Niner said:


> During training firing, the U.S. military had a few M9 slides fracture at the locking-block notch cut in the slide while being fired. When that happens, the slide breaks into two pieces, front and rear. If the slide is cracked but stays together long enough to get one more round chambered, on firing the slide breaks in half and the rear half separates from the frame and flies rearward, usually impacting the shooter in the face/jaw area hard enough to cause serious injury (and I assume a nasty pistol-shooting flinch, from that moment on).
> 
> The first few times this happened, they were high-round-count pistols, so they sent out a safety bulletin that restricted M9 firing to a certain number of rounds. Then it happened with 1-2 low-round-count pistols, and they decided they needed to do something to keep the troops safe and restore some confidence in the pistol. The notched slide and large-head hammer pin was the quick solution. If the slide breaks and moves rearward farther than it's normal range of travel, the hammer pin jams in the short notch, preventing the rear half of the slide from leaving the frame and smacking the shooter in the face.
> 
> ...


That explains that, thanks!


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## ZipperLips (Jul 31, 2020)

Thanks DJ Niner. Nice job on the pain fill desertman!! I think the Walther looks great just as it sits.


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## desertman (Aug 29, 2013)

ZipperLips said:


> Thanks DJ Niner. Nice job on the pain fill desertman!! I think the Walther looks great just as it sits.


Thank You!

That Walther is one of thee highest quality firearms that I own. All steel and made in Germany. It's like holding a solid piece of steel, there's no rattles and the machining is second to none. There's not a tool mark on it both inside and out. It's every bit as good as my Wilson EDC X9 and half the price.


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## ZipperLips (Jul 31, 2020)

Beautiful piece right there


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