Bar-Sto Barrel Review Beretta 92F

Posted by Bill on Feb 15, 2013 in Articles, Bill, New Products | 0 comments

Back in the day the Military switched their standard service pistol to the M9 or Beretta 92F. There has been a lot of debate on choosing a 9mm but given its popularity and availability of numerous types of 9mm ammunition I consider this my primary SHTF Pistol. I purchased my 92F over 20 years ago about the same time the Military adopted her, and have seen well over 5-10K rounds through her. I doubt this is a record but have never seen a major malfunction or failure to feed. Without a doubt she has been more reliable and trustworthy than the women in my life. Honestly my only complaint is there is not a 10mm version… A few years back I put a 5 1/2″ Compensated Bar-Sto Barrel on my Glock20 and noticed an improvement in accuracy and a reduction in felt recoil. Will document the upgrades to this in a future post. Any way I was extremely impressed with the barrel then and very happy with the drop in fit. The Beretta Bar-Sto Barrel did not install easily. To the credit of Bar-Sto they have a warning noting this, and to quote them ” We would prefer that you have your match target barrel installed by us, but if not, please use a competent qualified gunsmith”… This Barrel did need custom fitting and would not work without. We rely heavily on precision gunsmiths but I wanted to try this one myself. By doing it myself I would have it much sooner as most quality gunsmiths are backlogged with work. I already waited 9 months for the barrel to ship. I wanted this ASAP. My applicable life experience is simple…Old school High School shop class.

In these pictures the new barrel would simply not slide in. Two choices…Open up the receiver or file down the barrel. The obvious solution is to adjust only the Bar-Sto Barrel with a simple gunsmith file.

After several hours of filing…some of which was done with my teenage daughter while watching the movie Taken. The Barrel fit perfectly with the frame however the slide was a no go. The Locking Block would not fit…More filing…This time while watching the movie Hope Floats by my self… Eventually it all came together with only a minor scuff on the barrel…My Bad…

The Lateral filing was about two hours the Vertical filing was about three hours. Overall I would do it again as I still change my own car oil. If you are the slightest bit unsure I would highly recommend you send your pistol to Bar-Sto and have their guys custom fit the barrel.

Over all the shooting experience was very pleasant. I was shooting my favorite 9mm hand load…A 147gr subsonic JHP Zero Bullet with Tight Group. There was a noticeable decrease in muzzle rise. Felt recoil I have to abstain as we are talking about a 9mm…Little or less than little…Any way a follow up second shot was much quicker. I can honestly say the sights never left the paper for more than a 1/4 second… Testing accuracy was very informal and not conclusive but at least worth a note. No Ransom Rest only me at Maxoms indoor range in a booth next to a guy firing a compensated 44 Revolver. My stance was a modified weaver and the range was 21 feet.  Compared to the 44 guy next to me  the Bar-Sto groups were tighter than a virgin on prom night. 10 Rounds through each barrel.

 

I did pull the first Bar-Sto shot to the right about 3/4-1″…Thanks 44 dude with compensated barrel in the next booth… I kept that aim point. Given no Ransom Rest, I would consider these results somewhat conclusive on accuracy but given the a lack of muzzle rise with the ported barrel  I give this barrel a double thumbs up and well worth the wait. These shots were done with a modified weaver stance at 21 feet…Yes I threw the first Bar-Sto Shot but with out a ransom rest I wanted this to be an accurate assessment a possible.  Later shots with the Bar-Sto by hand were both wider and tighter but not as loose as the well worn factory barrel.

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