So yesterday I picked up my holy grail of handguns.
I was not much into firearms growing up; my Dad taught me nothing about them.
In the early 1990s, in my early 30s, I wanted a handgun.
The then-wife wanted no firearms in the house; years after our divorce, she bought her own.
So when we divorced in 1994, I set out to buy my first handgun.

I didn't really know what I wanted or know much about them.
Most firearm knowledge came from gun magazines back then.
Berettas, Sigs, 1911s, Glocks were getting popular, but the purists shunned the plastic pistol.

Beretta 92s were big in the movies and TV shows back in the 1990s, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, TV cop shows, etc.
I ended up with a Beretta 92FS Inox, made in Italy, which looked something like this.
Stainless, black controls, white 3 dot sights.



I didn't shoot it well, high and left, and blamed it on the gun instead of me not knowing what I was doing.
Traded the 92FS in for a Sig P228, didn't shoot it well either.
Took a basic gun class and learned how to shoot; it wasn't the Beretta, it was me.
Eventually learned that trading in guns to a gun shop was stupid, and to sell or trade privately if I didn't want something.

I've bought and sold a lot of firearms, very few I regret, but this one, being my first, I regretted it.
Always in the back of my mind for 31 years, I recently set out to find another one.
Went to a few gun shows, found a few, but in bad shape and priced too high for their condition.
Almost settled for an Italian blued 92FS, but knew I should get what I wanted.
I wanted a 1990s 92FS Italian INOX, mint condition, no scratches or blemishes, no nanny engraving, and started my Gunbroker search.

I finally found one a couple of weeks ago from a guy in Montana.
I did a 'buy it now' purchase on it, paid, and had it shipped to my FFL.
I was concerned that I probably paid too much for it, but it was exactly the pistol I wanted.

My fears diminished when I picked it up yesterday.
The firearm is pristine, almost like new, and appears to still have the original lubrication on it, which might take a little scrubbing to get off.
Even my FFL commented on the excellent condition of a 33-year-old firearm.
He asked if I wouldn't mind telling him what I paid, and I told him, he felt it was a fair price.
From what I researched, the BB stamp designates it was made in 1992.

This model is a 'GHOST' INOX; it has the silver controls, red dot sights, and even the mag baseplate is silver.
I would have liked the original box and paperwork as I have for my collectable Sigs, but I'll get over that.
These are Houge rubber grips, so I might look into finding something more stock with the Beretta emblem on it.
Besides that, I'll just buy some MecGar mags and hit the range.

This is the third Beretta pistol I've bought in 3 months.

Thanks for reading and letting me share my story.









With one of my WG P226 pistols.
The 92 is certainly my biggest and heaviest handgun.

Nice gun. Glad you ended up with your grail gun.
The orig box and docs would have been nice but the condition is whats really important.

Congrats on the acquisition! For those into Beretta 92s, the Ghost Inox is highly coveted. Do you plan on shooting it, or is it strictly for collecting?

Congratulations! Love the Inox 92FS.

Btw, while it looks stainless, only the slide and barrel are. The frame is anodized aluminum alloy, just colored white to match the upper.

Btw, I just noticed, the first 4 posts are all from Texans.

What a journey.
That is a dead sexy hand gun.
Congratulations.

Fifth post from Texas.

Very nice! A 92FS was my first handgun back when I turned 21. Mine is black, but I was pretty active on the Beretta forum back then and it was right around the time that they switched the stainless guns over to black controls, and started putting plastic in places that it hadn't been before. Even back then, the all stainless-colored (12131 is correct, the frame is aluminum) Inoxes were coveted. I think there were some gray Berrtta-logoed grips that were pretty popular and looked good on the gun...IIRC they may have been made by Hogue.

Congratulations! It is always a great feeling to finally acquire a model you have wanted for a loooooong time.

I picked up a used ghost Inox Italian 92 in 2012 for a very reasonable price. In my ‘roller coaster’ journey in firearm ownership I sold it when going through a ‘condensing’ phase. My first 92FS was a Maryland-made blued/black model and one I will never sell, so during that condensing phase I decided to sell the ‘duplicate’ 92. I should have kept it…

I later snagged a FDE M9A3 to hang a can off of, and really enjoy shooting it suppressed, but the ghost Inox is one of the few specimens I regret letting go. Enjoy yours!

I love all my 92's. After you shoot it and want a better trigger, install some LTT parts. Their trigger job in a bag (TJIAB) is amazing.

Sweet!

Congratulations on the purchase, such a beautiful gun!
I picked up my Inox not too long ago, did a bunch of LTT/WC upgrades, and it has become my second favorite range gun...second only to my P210 Standard.

Congrats man. She's a beauty. Can't go wrong with a 92.... Cheers!

Beautiful 92 Inox. I sold one just like that one of during the ban and it’s one of the few guns I regret selling. It’s one of the few I may end up buying again someday.

Thank you all for your kind words and support.

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:
Congrats on the acquisition! For those into Beretta 92s, the Ghost Inox is highly coveted. Do you plan on shooting it, or is it strictly for collecting?

I'll do a range session; I did buy three MecGar 15-round nickel finish magazines for it.
Nickel for the INOX and to differentiate it from other magazines.
I usually stow away original magazines as I do for my collectable Sig pistols.
It will become more of a safe queen, along with a few other handguns.
Every firearm I buy these days will be given to my kids when the time comes.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
I love all my 92's. After you shoot it and want a better trigger, install some LTT parts. Their trigger job in a bag (TJIAB) is amazing.

This is the third Beretta I've bought since I retired 4 months ago.
Police trade in 84BB, very happy with it, and 21A that shoots high and left, I probably just need to spend more time with it.
Since I have more time these days, I might buy another less expensive 92 to tinker with.
Thank you for the parts suggestion.
I know little to nothing about Berettas and the internals.
Just one more thing for me to obsess over and over research.

I suppose if I can take down a classic Sig and reassemble it, I'll eventually be able to do the same with a Beretta.



Happy New Year all..

Nice. I have the same one and an American one with the black controls

Who doesn't like a 'Sexy Italian'...

The beretta 92 served me well for many years, both as a member of a military shooting team required to use the issue pistol ( never felt handicapped by that) and 2 combat deployments carrying one.

I suspect it would be very easy to swap in the blue/ black parts to recreate the look of your original if you want.

Back in the day, we were getting complaints from units about the inaccuracies of the M9, which I called BS. I had the “arduous task” of ransom resting a couple racks full of M9’s. At 25 yards all of them shot sub 3” groups with over half the guns doing sub 2”. Accuracy myth busted!

Berettas are easy to disassemble and put back together. Perhaps the easiest of all metal guns. The TJIAB will look indistinguishable but is markedly better in operation. They are collectible but they aren’t THAT collectible that I wouldn’t shoot it a bunch.

Very nice, congrats. The 92fs is the only gun I ever shot that feels like the slide and frame run on ball bearings. They are about the smoothest cycling gun out there in my opinion.

Congratulations. It is one of the most beautiful handguns with that finish, IMO.

Get a set of Aluminum grips from Hogue and make your ghost disappear.