Seeking a Beretta gunsmith

[benenglish]

Is there anyone near Houston who is particularly good with Beretta pistols? I have an 86 with a sticky barrel and I need someone much more knowledgeable than me to tell me if it's an adjustment or a total loss.

If I have to ship it off, is there a shop known for this type of work?

TIA for any help.

 

[justmax]

following

 

[leVieux]

Is there anyone near Houston who is particularly good with Beretta pistols? I have an 86 with a sticky barrel and I need someone much more knowledgeable than me to tell me if it's an adjustment or a total loss.

If I have to ship it off, is there a shop known for this type of work?

TIA for any help.

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Please visit Jess Briley Machine Works out Katy FWY @ Sam Houston Loop neighborhood. It is a truly amazing place.

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[smittyb]

This seems like something @shipwreck would know.

 

[Lead Belly]

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Please visit Jess Briley Machine Works out Katy FWY @ Sam Houston Loop neighborhood. It is a truly amazing place.

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Great suggestion. I need to get over there myself.

Clay Target Nation June 2023: PROFILE: BRILEY MANUFACTURING

From a modest start evolved a world-class operation. It could be said the late Jess Briley embodied the American Dream. Born in west Texas in 1927, Mr. Briley …

www.claytargetnation-digital.com

 

[Moonpie]

Curious. What do you mean by "sticky"?

 

[Polkwright]

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Please visit Jess Briley Machine Works out Katy FWY @ Sam Houston Loop neighborhood. It is a truly amazing place.

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You beat me to it. Briley is the place to go for anything. I first went there figuring that guys who work on $40,000 shotguns must be pretty good. But they aren't cheap. Not that they aren't worth it and a cheap gunsmith might not be a good thing.

Another suggestion would be OFM Corp/Interarmstx. They are handgun-centric. That's where my High Standards go as they are the remnants of High Standard of Texas. They don't have much of a web presence, you might have to go old school and call them. I'd feel comfortable taking them any handgun. I have no experience with them and long guns but I imagine they work on everything.

REPAIRS – InterArms Inc.

 

[leVieux]

Great suggestion. I need to get over there myself.

Clay Target Nation June 2023: PROFILE: BRILEY MANUFACTURING

From a modest start evolved a world-class operation. It could be said the late Jess Briley embodied the American Dream. Born in west Texas in 1927, Mr. Briley …

www.claytargetnation-digital.com

<>

I knew Briley existed for decades but was unaware of their scale or levels of expertise. Usually associated them w/ changeable shotgun chokes.

Then after Texas Gun in Texas City completely ruined my favorite rifle, i had a problem w/ an L.C. Smith &. didn’t want to risk it. Went to Briley and was amazed by what I found there.

A true Texas TREASURE !

leVieux

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[ronr68]

Just wondering if a new replacement barrel might easier and cheaper.

 

[Polkwright]

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I knew Briley existed for decades but was unaware of their scale or levels of expertise. Usually associated them w/ changeable shotgun chokes.

Then after Texas Gun in Texas City completely ruined my favorite rifle, i had a problem w/ an L.C. Smith&. didn’t want to risk it. Went to Briley and was amazed by what I found there.

A true Texas TREASURE !

leVieux

<>

I first went there a long time ago when a "gunsmith" completely messed up a 1911. They fixed all the issues and I learned my lesson. I also shoot a lot of revolvers and you definitely want to be careful who works on those, as these days it seems the "gunsmiths" are all AR armorers.

OFM is more recently established. The gunsmiths are from the defunct High Standard and seem to be really good with any handgun. They even manufacture a couple of models but I think these are assembled one at a time. Check out the Lugers....

High Standard Firearms USA

highstandardfirearmsusa.com

 

[Gordo]

Do you see any rub or scuff marks on the barrel?
Picture if you do.
Stainless or carbon steel?

Could also be an issue with the slide rails.

 

[benenglish]

Curious. What do you mean by "sticky"?

When you hit the control to pop up the barrel, it doesn't want to. Sometimes it does but not usually. It's also a little reticent to be closed. There's some odd resistance at the very end.

It's not a cleaning issue; I've taken care of that.

It feels like something is bent just a bit out of tolerance. It's going to take someone with more measuring tools and mechanical aptitude than me to figure out if something's seriously wrong or just a little wrong. I know these guns have gotten incredibly expensive but I'm not willing to sink the cost of the pistol into getting it fixed. Thus, I need someone who can diagnose the problem. That ain't me.

 

[benenglish]

Do you see any rub or scuff marks on the barrel?
Picture if you do.
Stainless or carbon steel?

Could also be an issue with the slide rails.

It's been a while since I had it in hand so I don't remember at this moment. I'll look and take pictures if anything is obvious.

 

[Lead Belly]

To assist in armchair gunsmithing

 

[Gordo]

Ouch!
Some of those had barrel strength issues, the larger calibers were bursting the barrels, and cracking frames, mostly due to the variable case pressure for .32 auto and/or .380.
There was a lot of variances in loads from one manufacturer to another, since there were machine guns in Europe that took those calibers.
Look closely for cracks starting on the frame or barrel.

 

[justmax]

Ouch!
Some of those had barrel strength issues, the larger calibers were bursting the barrels, and cracking frames, mostly due to the variable case pressure for .32 auto and/or .380.
There was a lot of variances in loads from one manufacturer to another, since there were machine guns in Europe that took those calibers.
Look closely for cracks starting on the frame or barrel.

I had heard of this issue, and seen some evidence of it myself, in the early 3032 alloy frame guns. I had not heard of this being an issue with any of the all steel midsize guns.

 

[justmax]

You probably already done the first part of this, but if it was me, I would do the following. First I would contact Bretta USA on the phone, explain my problem, and ask if there is a local authorized dealer that I could go take it to.

If so, I would take it to them, show it to them and see what they recommend. It should be under warranty, regardless of age as no reputable manufacturer wants to have a problem out there with one of their non-modified guns.

I would make sure that this, if there is one, certified or authorized repair center wasn’t just going to send it back to the factory for you. You could do that yourself directly with Beretta USA.

 

[justmax]

I hit “post reply“ too soon.

To continue, the last thing I would do, would be to take it to a non-Barretta authorized gunsmith, and have them do anything, even putting a file to a burr, or trying to tweak the slide rails, could void a warranty altogether, to say nothing of having to pay for the damage, if any.

Lastly, sell it to someone else with full disclosure of the problem, and let them handle it.

Just my two cents worth. Max out for the moment.

 

[benenglish]

...ask if there is a local authorized dealer that I could go take it to.

I went through that once. The authorized repair facilities are few and the closest one only works on shotguns, iirc. I'll re-check, though.

 

[justmax]

I went through that once. The authorized repair facilities are few and the closest one only works on shotguns, iirc. I'll re-check, though.