First off, I received a mint Beretta 81 with the recent trade-ins that came in. I just bought the regular option from DK Firearms and couldn't be more happy with the condition, it maybe shot 5 rounds through it its whole life.

Anyway, I take it apart to lube and clean it, the takedown lever was stuck like glue even after pushing the release button down. It looked and smelled like maybe there was some dried cosmolene in there so I gave it some taps with the back of my screwdriver and that did the trick. I clean it all and go to reassemble after watching several Youtube videos and after owning a 92.

I CANNOT get that takedown lever to swing back up. Magazine is out of the gun. Lever is lubed and swings freely. Barrel and guide rod are in the correct spots.

Take a look at this video:


At 1:13 what the guy is doing, that's where it all goes wrong. My barrel will be sticking forward a bit, but pushing back on it doesn't give me a click and my guiderod is still forward of my barrel. I can have the release button down and be pushing on the takedown lever and see the guiderod move slightly, but it doesn't swing behind it and pull it tight and lock everything into place.

I don't think I buggered anything with my screwdriver taps taking this thing apart, but this has me baffled. I hear these can be a pain to take down and put together, but this is really something. Any thoughts?

Your guide rod is not quite seated at the rear. There's a very tiny cutout at the bottom where the end of the rod needs to seat. Otherwise, the slide dislodges it and you end up like this. Here are some instructions I got years ago from somewhere about the 84. Same gun, different caliber.

"When I disassemble the 84, I drop the mag and clear the gun first. That means the hammer is back. Then I push the takedown lever button, rotate the lever from 3:00 to 6:00, and remove the slide. Simple.

When I reassemble, I make sure the guide rod and spring are in the barrel lug notch correctly and straight. Proper lube includes a drop on the inside of the frame, at the takedown lever pin. I replace the slide on the frame. The slide will be under some spring pressure in the last fraction of an inch. At that point I place my right hand on the grip, trigger finger pressing in on the takedown lever release pin. Then I point the pistol straight down on my table and gently push down until the slide is in the correct position on the frame, (it is under tension), and with my left hand, rotate the lever back into it's 3:00 position.

The next time the pistol is disassembled, check that the lever freely moves."

This works for me.

Yes, quite common. Move the guide rod a bit and it'll seat.

^^^^
Yup. I've found that with my 84 and 87 the guide rod has to be seated about perfect to get it reassembled.

I was having the same issue from my pistol. If you use your other hand to push the barrel and rod flush to the frame the lever turns like butter.

Good Luck. I am still trying to find ammo locally so I can test mine out.

Thanks, I'll give it some more whirls after the kids go to bed. I was pretty certain it was sitting right in the little groove for it under the barrel. The U slot in the frame is mangled a bit, I don't think from me, because the op rod would have to be woefully not aligned and not even be able to protrude through the hole in the end for that to happen as it is all towards the muzzle end of the frame and not in the saddle of the slot. It doesn't look like that area needs filed or is causing the problem though. I ended up buying a 81BB from AIM, so maybe when that comes in I'll look closely at it before I break it to see how to fix this one....if I haven't had success by then.

Still not happening. I need the guide rod end in the U slot under the barrel, not that miniscule notch PAST the U slot, correct? If I was up against that notch the guide rod would be sitting against the flat area under the barrel. If I go that route I end up having an inch or more of the guide rod sticking out of the slide. In the U slot the guide rod ends up being a hair less than 1/4" further out of the slide than the barrel and the lever refuses to cam up with the slide locked back.

Common issue and easy fix; with the palm of your hand (really the meat of your thumb), bang the muzzle end of the barrel rear-ward (assuming everything else is installed correctly and lined up).

The barrel is not in the correct position to allow the take-down lever to rotate up. DO NOT FORCE the lever into place...it should move on it's own if things are correct.

I received my 81BB today and took it apart and reassembled it twice without issue. I showed the 81 to the gunsmith there and he couldn't put it together either, its like the barrel wasn't fit. He showed where I probably need to grind to give the takedown lever more clearance to spin. At least I feel better that I am not a moron and now have one working gun and TWO mags...

quote:

Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:
I received my 81BB today and took it apart and reassembled it twice without issue. I showed the 81 to the gunsmith there and he couldn't put it together either, its like the barrel wasn't fit. He showed where I probably need to grind to give the takedown lever more clearance to spin. At least I feel better that I am not a moron and now have one working gun and TWO mags...

Don't grind anything. I have had the same problems with all my Cheetah Beretta's. You just have to have everything in the right position and then the lever will rotate home.

Trooper Joe

Trooper Joe is correct. There is a sweet spot just past where the slide is where it looks like it's where it should be assembled. Hard to explain but once you do it you'll know. Don't grind anything regardless of what any smithy says.

quote:

Trooper Joe is correct. There is a sweet spot just past where the slide is where it looks like it's where it should be assembled. Hard to explain but once you do it you'll know. Don't grind anything regardless of what any smithy says.

I have to agree. Kind of like the Ruger Mark II.

Alright, I'll tinker with it for another 2 hours. If I get it to work I'll let you know. If you're in the neighborhood I challenge anyone to put it back together again and I'll give the successful 'smith a free beer.

SUCCESS! I locked the slide back, pointed it muzzle down into an old table and pushed down on the grip like I was shooting the table, all with the extended guide rod hanging over the edge of the table and it worked. The barrel was that tight and it wouldn't push back up against the feed ramp enough.

'Av a beer, mate!

It's like I even posted that or something.

quote:

Originally posted by PGT:
It's like I even posted that or something.

This wasn't pushing the muzzle with the meat of your hand but completely leaning into the gun with my entire upper body weight as I tried to drive the muzzle through a table while simultaneously barely flipping the takedown lever up.

I know this is an old thread, but I found it search for the answer to the assembly/disassembly process for my Beretta 84.

The solution involves NOT locking the slide back.

Clear the pistol, remove the magazine, lock the hammer back.

With the slide in its normal position (not locked back) there is no tension between the spring and the frame and the disassembly lever and be easily flicked down.

Then the slide is slid forward.

To reassemble:

When the spring and guide rod are seated properly in the barrel & slide, when the slide is slid onto the frame there will only be about 1/8 and inch of gap where the spring and guide rod are visible. Then push the frame back just enough to close that gap and flip the lever back. If you lock the slide back there will be so much tension on the spring and frame that you’ll never be able to flip the disassembly switch.

That’s exactly how I do mine. Easy, very easy to take down & re-assemble.