# Locking Block, 92FS



## LGLDSR (May 1, 2015)

Greetings,

Great forum here! Couple of questions having recently acquired a 92FS.

(1) What is the function of the Locking Block, and 

(2) When cleaning the 92FS last evening I was able to easily remove and replace the Locking Block, yet videos are showing that a hammer, punch, etc., are necessary to remove it. Why is this?

Many thanks!

Lyman


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

As the gun gets broken in, its very common for the block to be able to come out. It's no biggie. I've owned 23 Beretta 92 varients over the years. And, this gets asked a lot on various gun forums.

Some stay in, some don't, when the gun is disassembled. As long as you put it back, it's no big deal.

As for the function - instead of having the barrel "tilt" as the slide opens (like the Browning style of gun - which Glocks, Sigs and most other semi autos use), Beretta uses the locking block. It takes the brunt of the force of the slide opening and closing when the gun is fired. The design also tends to keep the barrel more in line with the target as the gun is fired, instead of tilting up like other designs do. The design also allows a straighter flow for the bullet from the magazine into the throat of the barrel. That makes it less likely to have a feeding jam.

The locking block is a disposable part, though. It has a 20k round lifetime. But, changing it at the 15k mark is probably a good idea. I've seen many, many reports of them breaking just a few rounds after the 20k mark. Some people have them last longer, though.

But, changing out your recoil spring will get the most life out of your locking block. THe recoil spring should be changed out every 3-5k rounds. Failure to do that greatly increases early breakage after 10k rounds.

Now, at another forum, someone contacted Beretta a couple of weeks ago, and they were told to change the locking block every 10k. That's being overly safe, based on past recommendations. But I personally wouldn't go 15k without changing it. And, I usually change the recoil spring at about 3750 rounds.


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

On the function of the locking block, it basically "locks" the barrel and slide together when the slide is in the closed position. When the pistol is fired, the locked-closed slide and barrel unit contains the pressure of the fired cartridge until the bullet leaves the barrel and the pressure drops to a safe level. By that time, the slide and barrel have traveled to the rear, together, about one-quarter of an inch (estimated from memory), at which point the locking block is cammed downward by the locking block plunger, unlocking the barrel from the slide, and allowing the slide to extract the fired case from the now-stationary barrel with the extractor and throw it clear of the action by using the ejector.


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## berettatoter (Sep 1, 2011)

This locking block comes out easily on my 92FS. I never have had to use a hammer to tap it. My Walther P1 is very similar to the Beretta...or I should say the Beretta is similar to the Walther, seeing as though the P-38 came first, of which the P1 came from. I would not sweat it OP. Welcome to the forum!


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## LGLDSR (May 1, 2015)

berettatoter said:


> This locking block comes out easily on my 92FS. I never have had to use a hammer to tap it. My Walther P1 is very similar to the Beretta...or I should say the Beretta is similar to the Walther, seeing as though the P-38 came first, of which the P1 came from. I would not sweat it OP. Welcome to the forum!


Thanks to everyone for your great input, much appreciated!


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## denner (Jun 3, 2011)

Very good answers above, and I'll be one more to chime in, yes, before I changed out my locking block in my "ole" 1993 92G a few years back I had well over 20,000 rounds with it with no issue, but thought time for a change. I was extremely cognizant of recoil spring changes and always ran at least a fairly fresh, or fresh, 14lb Wolff spring, perhaps that had something to do with it.

The locking block had always done exactly what your's is doing since the get go in "93". I always perceived it to be normal and once it's assembled it rides within the rails so you will have no issue whatsoever. The pistol never malfunctioned through all those years and went over 20,000 rounds on that locking block, and I know I shot at least 1,200 rounds a year, so, that should tell you something.

So in my experience it may be a good thing. Going forward, I'd follow the reccomendation of Shipwreck.


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