TFB Review: Beretta 92GTS Full Size Standard
The Beretta 92GTS is one of Beretta’s newest versions of its famous 92 line. If you’re unfamiliar with the 92 line, it is an aluminum-framed, hammer-fired legend of a pistol. The 92GTS is different from the 92 of old, but it isn’t a full redesign. I bought a certified used Beretta 92GTS. I shot about 500 rounds through it, both in a match and at a range, and I’m ready to give an opinion and review.
The Beretta 92GTS is a hammer-fired double/single-action firearm, with an aluminum frame. Beretta markets the 92GTS as a home-defense firearm, and I think it’s best suited for that role. I’ve also found the Beretta 92GTS to be pretty decent in competition as well. Depending on your body size and clothing choices, you could probably conceal carry this firearm, although I wouldn’t recommend it. In 2024 there are a plethora of handguns that lend themselves to concealed carry, but the large, thick, and heavy Beretta 92 series isn’t one of them.
The Beretta 92GTS differs from the Beretta M9 or 92FS, by way of large frame-mounted decocking levers. The G in GTS denotes the firearm as a decocker model. The G is an old holdover from Beretta’s Gendarmerie Nationale compliant models of the 92, that were created before the 92GTS. The TS in GTS stands for twin sear. In the 92G models, the decocking action happened in the slide. No decocking action occurs in the slide of the 92GTS. The twin sear system allows for the safe decocking action to happen in the frame so that the handgun can be equipped with frame-mounted decocking levers.
The pistol’s design is both old and new in a sense. It retains the same magazine design and feeding characteristics of the ultra-reliable M9 or 92FS. The magazines, barrels, and locking blocks are completely forward and backward-compatible. The feeding and cycling of the firearm remains pretty much unchanged.
The 92GTS retains parts compatibility with the 90 series of Berettas, except for the hammer, grips, safeties, G-kits, and 22LR conversion kits. Trigger shoes, trigger bars, trigger springs, recoil springs, and guide rods can all be interchanged per Beretta. The main parts that can’t be interchanged have to do with the big decocker levers on both sides of the firearm, the grips that have cutouts for the decocker levers, the firing pin parts, and the parts for the twin sear.
Personally, I could take or leave the frame-mounted decockers. The decocking levers dug into my hand during the first range session and didn’t lend themselves to the best shooting experience. I didn’t want to give up on the platform, so I reached out to LOK Grips for a solution. They sent out a pair of palm swell, and non-palm swell wrap-around grips to include in the review. I’ll include more info on the LOK grips in this review, but the grips and an altered thumb placement made the decockers a non-issue. It doesn’t bite into my thumb knuckle anymore, and I actually enjoy shooting the pistol now. I can also prevent the decocking lever from hitting my thumb by going thumb over knuckle.
The 92GTS offers additional enhancements over the older Beretta 92FS. The trigger components are DLC, and the hammer has been skeletonized. Theoretically, this should lead to better trigger action, and my copy does have a smooth double action and single action pull. The double action trigger pull weight is too high for my trigger scale to weigh, but is probably around 9-11 lbs, and is about half an inch pull in the decocked position. The single-action trigger pull feels somewhat close to a two-stage trigger pull. There is a 2.5-pound take-up until you get to a firm, crisp wall. The single-stage trigger breaks at about 4 or 4.5 lbs total on my model, depending on where you press on the trigger shoe. The single action reset length is about a quarter inch on my model. The trigger is pretty decent out of the box.
The pistol came tight-fitting and feels high quality. The slide fitment is great. If you compare the slide-to-rail fitment on the 92GTS versus a polymer frame handgun, the 92GTS is much tighter. The firearm instills confidence in the hand. My firearm is a Y model and has some slight cosmetic blemishes, but that comes with the territory. I was going to beat it up anyway.
The firearm also features a blacked-out rear sight and a fiber optic front sight. Unlike the original 92FS, the 92GTS front sights are dovetailed and can be swapped out for night sights, suppressor height sights, or target sights if you’d like. The biggest selling point for me is the optic-ready slide. I prefer to shoot with a red dot nowadays, and the 92GTS allows you to do that with optic plates. The optic does sit a little bit taller on the 92GTS than other modern firearm designs. The optic plate wraps around the top of the slide kind of like a saddle bag, and also notches into it. One benefit that I found to this is, you can use exceptionally long screws to mount the optic to the plate, which is nice.
The firearm also features a Vertec frame which is nice for those with smaller hands. I wear a size Large glove, and the Vertec frame did not fit my hand very well. Wraparound grips were a must for me. I found that the 92GTS is not compatible with most grips from the 92 series, but 92XI grips do work. If you see a pair of grips online, and they’re not directly listed as 92GTS or 92XI grips, they’re probably not going to work. 92X grips may work as well, however, they will be short due to the 92X series having a built-in mag well.
My recommendation for grips for this platform is LOK grips. LOK as a company is well-regarded and has a good reputation with the competition shooters I’ve spoken with. Before I got these LOK grips in the mail, I tried to make a surplus Beretta M9A3 wraparound grip work with a Dremel, and it just didn’t work. Lok sent out two sets of grips to include in this review. The solid black version includes a palm swell. The Gray Black version has no palm swell. The grips are lightweight and aren’t meant to add weight to the firearm. They both offer much better traction than the factory grips. They are made of a hard material, even though they kind of look like softer rubber online. The palm swell version feels like a hand-tailored custom grip. The non-palm swell version has flat sides and still shoots well. Both options in tandem with a bent thumb position brought the sharp part of the deckocking lever off my knuckle and made the pistol usable. They offer wraparound and non-wraparound grips on their website for the 92GTS, in a wide variety of colors.
The “Y” model firearm I bought came with a case, two 18-round Beretta magazines, a gun lock, and a certificate from Beretta showing the grade of the firearm. Mine was denoted a Y-1, which means it’s been shot before or has cosmetic flaws. The firearm did not come with any optic plate from the factory.
My “Y” model pistol had a small hairline crack in the left decocker. It didn’t affect safety or function, I just noticed it and thought it was odd. I later removed the grip panel, and it looked like the pistol may have been dropped at one point. The firearm had passed through a lot of different hands at this point, so who’s to say. I should also mention I got a pretty good deal on this firearm and didn’t mind if it had cosmetic flaws. I called Beretta’s customer service line to see if they’d send out a new decocking lever. I also mentioned I had some light primer strikes on some local range reman ammo. The customer service rep was very knowledgeable, and helpful. He encouraged me to shoot some factory ammo through the firearm and reach back out if there were any more light strikes while I waited for the decocker lever in the mail.
I shot about 100 more rounds of factory ammo through the pistol and had a few light primer strikes. I called Beretta’s customer service back and got the same agent. Beretta paid for the firearm to be shipped back to them, fixed the light primer issue and cracked decocker, and paid for the shipping back to me. It took around 4 weeks, but the issues were resolved.
The light primer strikes were due to an out-of-spec firing pin block lever. I’m still not sure what caused the crack on the decocker, but Beretta repaired it. I don’t believe they warranty their firearms for life, or warranty used firearms, but they do warranty new and Y model firearms. Either way, Beretta’s customer service was great and took care of my bargain basement Y model without issue. I did not tell them I was reviewing the firearm, and still had a great customer service experience. I shot around 300-400 rounds through the handgun after the repairs and had no more issues.
At the range
The pistol has some pros and cons. I’m very used to polymer, striker-fired pistols. Shooting the 92GTS for the first time with the decocking lever felt odd. The gun felt sharp and unusual, and the double-action first shot took some getting used to.
The Beretta 92 line has a very pleasant recoil impulse, and this pistol is no exception. The recoil feels great, and the firearm is well-balanced. It is very easy to do fast double taps with acceptable accuracy with this firearm. I’ve always loved the way the Beretta 92 recoils. They are very soft shooting.
The double action first trigger pull is a little bit difficult to master. It does slow down the first shot if you’re on the clock, and I found it caused me to shoot stages differently. I do find myself decocking the firearm and shooting in double action when shooting in a stall. It’s fun to get the double-action practice in, and I’m hoping the double-action experience translates to revolvers since I haven’t shot a revolver in a few years. The double action trigger on this model is smooth all the way through.
The single-action trigger pull is pretty good. If I have to give the design a criticism, I’d say the reset is a little bit long. In action, it works almost like a two-stage trigger, except the first stage is pretty long, and my finger gains too much momentum for the wall. I’ve noticed I’ve blown past the wall a few times, not because the trigger weight is too light, but because I’m trying to take up the pre-travel too quickly.
I’d say the pistol in my hands is accurate enough for practical shooting, but it isn’t a precise bullseye shooting pistol. It’s very easy to rapidly transition to multiple targets, and shoot rapid follow-up shots accurately. It’s hard for me to hit the X out of the bullseye with this firearm. I had such a hard time hitting a bullseye at the range, that I switched ammo and optics around. I tested it with both a Holsun and Meprolight red dot sight. For testing purposes, I shot the 92GTS in single action-only mode, with iron sights against a VP9 tactical. I shot 5 rounds at 7 yards in 10 seconds, then 5 rounds at 15 yards in 8 seconds with each pistol. I scored a much tighter group with the VP9 at 7 yards and stacked the shots on top of each other. I was able to score more points on paper at 15 yards with the VP9, but the Beretta technically held a tighter group. I even shot the Beretta on a rest. I’m not able to stack shots on top of each other with the Beretta 92GTS, but the average of the shots has good placement. I can’t make snowmen with my bullet holes with the 92GTS. Keep in mind my model is a Y model, so there’s no telling if the barrel rifling was damaged, etc. I know some model Ys were floor models, and I’ve seen a lot of vendors use steel pegs that go into the firearm’s muzzle to hold them on stands. I’m also not able to adjust the elevation of the sights without swapping them out. I found the accuracy to be good enough at the Steel Challenge match, and I’m sure it would be fine in a self-defense scenario as well. I just wouldn’t call it a tack driver in my hands.
At a match
I shot the 92 GTS in a local Steel Challenge match. The 92GTS beat my scores with a Glock 19 but did not beat my scores with the competition-orientated P320Max. I felt like the firearm was enough gun to get the job done, and actually performed pretty well.
I had to pick up another spare mag for the match, and my local surplus store had exactly one in stock. It was pitted, held 15 rounds, and showed some age. After a quick Google search, the magazine may be from the early 90s. It still fed and functioned fine. The Beretta 92 line has been around for a long time, so it’s easy to get your hands on gear and accessories for the platform. Good quality 10, 15, 17, and 18-round mags can all be had for around $30. Mec-Gar also makes a 20-round magazine, and only slightly extends further than a standard magazine. It was also fun to shop around for surplus holsters. The gun already has good aftermarket and surplus support.
The pistol performs well enough to take to a local shooting match, and I’m sure could be really competitive in the right hands. Its aluminum frame and added weight tame the recoil. The long double action first trigger pull may make you want to shoot closer targets first. The single action is nice and fast.
I’d wager I’d be able to shoot the 92GTS better in competition than a lot of duty-orientated polymer pistols on the market, but not as well as competition-built firearms. The competition-built pistols usually come with high price tags though. Like everything in life, there’s a cost and tradeoff. A good optics-ready competition pistol like the Beretta 92X Performance Carry Optic has an MSRP of around $1,800 at the time of this article. Many good quality and reliable self-defense-orientated polymer pistols go for around $500-$600 at this time. If someone wanted a good home defense pistol that they sometimes take to competition, I could see them meeting in the middle with the 92GTS and it’s $899 MSRP.
Final thoughts and opinions
The Beretta 92GTS is not a target pistol but is a pretty good option for home defense and local competition duty. The size of the firearm doesn’t lend itself to concealed carry but is good for its intended role. The firearm recoils very smoothly. It has a double/ single action, and pretty good trigger pulls for each action. The frame-mounted decocker may need some work, but is a feature that has been requested by users. Traditionalists may want to stick with the 92FS and have the slide custom-cut for an optic if desired. Those who regularly use firearms that feature thumb safeties may see a benefit in the 92GTS. The 92GTS does not feature a thumb safety, but there is a lever to push down on with your thumb if you’re trying to build that into your muscle memory. I’d recommend picking one up if you’re a Beretta fan, and want the extra features that come with the firearm. If an optics-ready slide, frame-mounted decocker, and good iron sights excite you, the Beretta 92GTS may be your pick. I’d recommend renting one at a local gun range to see if you like the shooting experience, and double/single-action trigger system if you have the option though.
Beretta 92GTS Full Size Standard
Read more about the Beretta 92GTS from Beretta’s product site here:
Check out LOK Grips, and their selection of 92GTS grips here. They also offer very nice grips and grip configurations for a ton of other firearms:
Beretta 92Xi Veloce Wraparound
Read more about Beretta’s at The Firearm Blog:
- TFB Review: Dlah Designs Beretta 92 RDO Flush Optics Plate | thefirearmblog.com
- TFB Armorer’s Bench: Beretta 92X RDO Optic Installation | thefirearmblog.com
- How a Beretta 92 is made: Touring Beretta’s Italian Factory | thefirearmblog.com
- TFB Review: 1,000 Rounds On The Beretta 80x – Part I | thefirearmblog.com
- TFB Review: 1,000 Rounds On The Beretta 80x, Part II | thefirearmblog.com
We are committed to finding, researching, and recommending the best products. We earn commissions from purchases you make using the retail links in our product reviews. Learn more about how this works.
