Beretta 9000S Type F

3/15/2005

An actual "in service" update.

This pistol was purchased for self defense so obviously, becoming familiar with it and learning how to shoot it are top priority.

I have now run a little over 400 rounds through it and I am much more comfortable with it. I joined a bowling pin shooting league and continue to attempt to improve my speed.

Sometimes my times are bad and sometimes they are even worse, however, I would not want to be on the receiving end.

This was done at 21 feet with a single full magazine. I wasn't going for speed, just accuracy. I was pretty pleased with it.

Third week on the league and I had switched to nickel cases. It sounded like a good idea only because I had them and wanted to recover my brass at the range. I figured they would be easy to spot in the heap on the floor. The Beretta didn't care much for them. Several jams and terrible scores.

I did have an experienced shooter tell me that he thinks the jams are due in part to my holding method when firing. He said that my hold is not rigid enough and the action is failing to cycle properly. While this makes sense, I have to look back to the week before. I was using regular brass and only had 1 or 2 jams.

Starting with nearly zero experience with auto's, I figure it makes good sense to listen to everything and then pick and choose the advice that suits me.

One of my biggest concerns with the new auto was understanding how it functions and learning how to handle it. It has not been hard to figure out but it's like getting in a car you have never driven. You know there is a headlight switch somewhere but you have to find it.

The jams that have occurred have been a failure to eject the spent case. I had to learn that to get the spent case out, I must first put backward pressure on the slide, drop the mag, drop the slide and then cycle it. Works perfect but must be done in that order, so learning the order and remembering the order with the clock running has been good for me.

Bottom line is I love the gun and I am really enjoying the learning process. So I'll keep throwing lead and keep learning and before you know it, I'll be ready for another handgun of some sort. That is the way it works isn't it ?

Bill