the New Beretta 92FS Combat combo

In the spring of 2014, Wilson Combat announced its line of accessories and custom options on Beretta 92/96 series pistols, with input from Ernest Langdon. Having been a satisfied user of Berettas for more than 50 years and of Bill Wilson’s products for decades, and having known Ernest Langdon for 15 years and won several matches with a Beretta 92 he had built for me, I had great expectations. When I got a Wilson custom Beretta in my hands, it lived up to those expectations.

Though Bill Wilson is synonymous with the 1911 pistols he first customized and then manufactured, I can remember decades ago when he said that for an out-of-the-box, standard-price gun, you couldn’t beat the Beretta 92 for reliability and performance. He pretty much restated that in his announcement of his company’s new Beretta options. Bill explained, “My first exposure to the Beretta 92/96 series pistol was back in the 1980s at a Second Chance bowling pin match in Michigan. I was visiting with the late Jack Robbins, who was doing testing for the military for selection of a new service pistol. He was telling me how soft shooting, incredibly reliable and above-average accurate the 92s he was testing were. Money was pretty tight back in the ’80s, but it wasn’t long before I had a Model 92, and Jack was right. Since that time I’ve always owned and shot Beretta 92 pistols. I shot a 92 in the inaugural IDPA Invitational and in at least one Nationals.” Bill went on, “Being an old revolver guy, mastering the double-action first shot was no issue for me. The Model 92 is the only service pistol that I shoot as well as a 1911. In addition to being a collector of custom 1911s and old Colts, I collect Beretta handguns of all types and have a pretty extensive collection, so my interest level is high. The guys at Wilson Combat have customized several model 92s for me, so it just seemed natural for us to offer these services to our customers. Besides, it created an economic reason to do some of the cool stuff I personally wanted!”

Ernest Langdon has won many national championships in practical shooting with the Beretta 92, and his Langdon Tactical is famous for superb custom Berettas. When I sat down for a while with Bill Wilson at a recent trade show, he told me that when he decided to offer Beretta work, he reached out to Ernest, and Langdon was at Wilson Combat two weeks later. “He trained four of our staff to do 92 actions,” said Bill, “and gave us solid new product ideas.”

This gun was so nice I hated to send it back, particularly since the schedule hadn’t allowed me to shoot a match with it. I liked it enough that I’ll be sending one of my own Berettas to Wilson Combat for similar treatment. Due to personal preference, I’ll ask them to leave the ambidextrous F-type safety/decocking lever as is. And since mine is stainless, I probably won’t opt for a different finish. But I do like those sights and the action work!