Here's What You Need to Know: Beretta has crafted an excellent semi-automatic, 9mm pistol with the 92X.

While there have been many copycats of the legendary Beretta 92, nothing has ever lived up to it—until now! Beretta recently upgraded their much-loved model to create the 92X. They kept all the key features that users loved about the original, forty-plus-year-old model, but made the ergonomic improvements that people asked for. The result is a dependable 9mm handgun that is perfect for self-defense and competitive, dynamic shooting!

The 92X comes standard with a high-visibility orange front sight and a black rear ledge sight. They work very well for target acquisition but can be easily adjusted or replaced if they aren’t quite doing it for you. The rear, dovetailed sight features a serrated back surface and a short front ledge, making it slightly angled to get an ideal view with your front sight. It comes with a three-slot Picatinny rail, and there’s lots of aftermarket support if you’d like to replace them with a red dot sight.

Accuracy is about what you would expect from a 9mm self-defense handgun. From fifteen yards, my average five-shot group was just around two inches. It’s very reliable, and you shouldn’t have any issues with feeding, firing, or ejecting.

One improvement Beretta has made can be seen in the grip. There’s the perfect amount of front and back cross-checkering on the polymer Vertec grip’s frame, and you can choose between a flat or wraparound grip. If you like the grip on the original 92 handgun, I’d recommend going with the wraparound. It very closely resembles that traditional, arched housing.

The Beretta 92X’s barrel is chrome-lined and includes a recessed target crown. If you’d like a barrel that’s ready for a suppressor, you can order one directly from Beretta. You’ll have either a fifteen-, seventeen-, or ten-round capacity, depending on which model you choose, and the 92X ships with three of them. The extended, reversible magazine release is very easy to use, and the handgun features a beveled magazine well for better consistency.

The trigger is still double/single-action, with a double-action pull around eleven pounds and a single-action pull around six pounds. Although it’s a bit heavy, the double-action pull is smooth and the single-action is crisp, with about a half-inch reset.

Unloaded, the full-size 92X weighs around thirty-three ounces. The barrel is 4.25 inches, and the overall length is 8.5 inches. It’s a bit large for pocket concealed carry, so you might want to try using a leather holster attached to your waist instead. The Beretta 92X MSRPs for $699, which is the price you’ll find it for at most retailers.

Beretta has crafted an excellent semi-automatic, 9mm pistol with the 92X. There’s tons of aftermarket support, both from Beretta and third-party retailers, and it’s as accurate and reliable as a defense handgun can get.

Richard Douglas writes on firearms, defense, and security issues. He is the founder and editor of Scopes Field, and a columnist at The National Interest, 1945, Daily Caller, and other publications.

This article first appeared in August 2021 is being republished due to reader interest.

Image: Wikimedia.