Beretta USA is releasing a lot of exciting updates to the 92-series of pistols, including this M9A3. In this Beretta M9A3 gun review we go out to the range and run it through several courses of fire while using Federal American Eagle 147gr FMJ.
The M9A3 has a number of improvements over the standard 92-series pistols, including night sights, a threaded barrel, and a factory G-model decocker, instead of the stock 92 style safety. The decocker improves the Beretta by making sure it can never be accidentally placed on safe. In this video I’m also using a Dark Star Gear Orion Holster for all the work from concealment. The Orion allows me to conceal a full size pistol at the appendix position without hating my life, and yes I can sit down when I’m wearing it.
One of the courses of fire I use in the video is the IDPA 5×5 classifier, which is a simple 25 round course of fire that you can set up on any range where you’re allowed to draw from the holster. The strings of fire create a straightforward test of marksmanship that gets increasingly more difficult the faster you go. To make a Master class time with the Beretta M9A3, you’ll need to shoot the entire course of fire in 19.07 seconds or even faster. During the Beretta M9A3 gun review, I was just short of making a Master class time.
The Beretta M9A3 was intended to serve as an iterative replacement for the M9 pistol, but Beretta’s offer was rejected by the Army in favor of continuing the Modular Handgun System program. The MHS eventually selected a military version of the Sig Sauer P320, dubbing it the M17/M18. The M17 entered service with the Army last year, and the M18 is entering service with the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps this year.
