Originally posted by eagl
Downsides - it's a bit heavy if you hang it on a crummy belt, and I've heard that there is a part or two that may break if heavily used or abused. I haven't had mine break and I try not to abuse it, so YMMV.
Back in 1997, the INS gave me three 96Ds to test (we manufacture a sensor that is mounted in the right-side grip that counts rounds fired, time and dates stamps each firing and stores the data for future download).
These consisted of a brand new weapon and two "service trials" pistols that already had about 10,000 rounds through them and had been overhauled prior to giving them to us.
We experienced failures in both of the "service trials" guns and the new pistol as well.
At around 11,000 rounds, the front sight fell off one. I used a special loctite to repair this (worked great). Around 12,000 rounds the second gun had the slide lock cam pin fail and the slide, barrel and recoil spring went down range when returning to battery. This gun was returned to the INS, and then to Beretta for evaluation.
Around 4,000 rounds, the new 96D suffered a broken trigger spring. This was replaced and failed again just short of 9,000 rounds. We ceased testing at that point.
So, my suggestion is that you replace the trigger spring every 3,500 rounds as preventative maintenance. I doubt that you will have to worry about putting 10,000 rounds through the gun, so the other failures are probably not a concern.
The most amusing thing was the look on our receiving clerk's face when the INS delivered 25 cases of .40 Remington Golden Sabre +P ammo. We did all this testing with just 12 magazines, wearing out thumbs rather quickly. Every 100 rounds we downloaded the stored data. Over the course of the testing, the sensor system exhibited just 7 count errors, all double counts. However, every round was hand-fired and we had two guys with battered hands. The Remington .40 +P offers a moderate recoil in the 96D, but after a few thousand rounds, the hands get well and truly beat up.
My regards,
Widewing
