Beretta 92 The Beretta 92 is the primary sidearm of The U . S . military , replacing the Colt . 45 . The M9 is a 9mm handgun with a 15 - round staggered magazine with a reversible magazine release button that can be positioned for either right - or left - handed shooters . It weights very little being just over 2 pounds . Description . Originally designed for the Italian Army and police , the Model 92 pistols earned most of their fame ( both good and bad ) as the standard sidearm of the United States Armed Forces . It was developed between 1970 and 1975 as a possible replacement for ageing Beretta M951 pistol , and entered production in Italy in 1976 . First adopted by the Brazilian Army in 1977 , this pistol was later adopted in Italy in its Model 92S , “ SB ” , and finally “ F ” modifications . The US military adopted the Model 92SB - F ( later renamed to model 92F ) in 1985 , as a result of the highly controversial XM9 trials . In the late 1980s and 1990s , these pistols were also adopted in France . It must be noted that , while being entirely adequate as a combat pistol , the Beretta 92 is somewhat bulky for its caliber and magazine capacity , thus less suitable for users with average or smaller hands . Other than the basic 9mm , Beretta also makes these pistols in other calibers , such as . 40 S & W ( model 96 ) and 9x21 IMI ( Model 98 , available for civilian users in certain European countries , including Italy ) . Beretta also makes a wide variety of models based on the same design ; these include not only variations in finishes and sights , but also different trigger types ( DA / SA , DA / SA with decock only , DAO , DAO with manual safety ) . Beretta 92 pistols are short - recoil operated , locked - breech weapons with an aluminium frame . The locking system is of the Walther type , with a vertically - tilting locking piece located below the breech area of the barrel . The trigger is double - action , with an exposed hammer . Original Model 92 pistols had a frame - mounted safety which was applied only when hammer was cocked ; all subsequent pistols ( except for some limited production civilian - only sporting models ) either had a slide - mounted safety lever or no safety lever at all . On some pistols , such as the Model 92G adopted in France , the levers do not lock themselves in the lowered position but return to the “ fire ” position once released – their function is limited only to safe decocking of the hammer . Some other models , such as the Model 92D , are double - action - only pistols with no manual safety or decocker . All pistols of current production are fitted with an automatic firing pin block safety . Magazines are double stack , with the magazine release button located in the base of the trigger - guard on all 92 - series pistols made since 1981 . Sights on service models are of fixed type , with a dovetailed rear blade , usually with high - contrast inserts . With the introduction of the Model 92FS in the late 1980s , another unusual safety feature was fitted in the form of an enlarged head to the hammer pin . The purpose of this safety is to prevent the rear of the slide from flying back into the firer ’ s face in the case of the slide failure . This happened several times during the earlier years of Model 92F service in US military , apparently because of metallurgical problems , combined with the “ built - in ” weak points in the slide where the locking block cuts are made . Recognizing these weak points , the US INS ( Immigration and Naturalization Service ) requested Beretta to make their model 96 ( . 40 S & W caliber version of Model 92 ) with reinforced slides . This resulted in appearance of the Model 96 Brigadier pistols , and , later on , the same modification was applied to 9mm pistols , available as Model 92 Brigadier . Beretta also produced a number of compact versions of their basic , full - size Model 92 variations . These compact versions had shortened grips , slides and barrels ; Compact Type M versions also featured single - stack magazines with appropriately thinned grips . At the present time , Beretta no longer makes Compact versions of the Model 92 ; in the firm ' s product line these were replaced by the entirely different Beretta 8000 Cougar pistols .