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Convert Beretta DAO to SA/DA

gravediggergravedigger Member Posts: 945 ✭✭✭✭
edited October 2002 in Ask the Experts
My brother-in-law has a Beretta 96D (DAO-.40)he would like to convert to SA/DA. It does not have an exposed hammer, so that would have to be added too. How costly and difficult would this conversion be? Also, are there any places on the web that sell the parts to do this?-Marcus
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Comments

  • KadaverKadaver Member Posts: 333 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    hmmm i didnt think it was possible to convert actions back and forth like that
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  • leeblackmanleeblackman Member Posts: 5,303 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yes, its very possible and practical. Just find a Beretta certified armorer, ship it off to him and get it converted. Yes, its that easy, and probably wont cost much at all. You should probably find a dealer who sales Beretta, its a good place to start.
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  • lrarmsxlrarmsx Member Posts: 791 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    For the gun to have a safety once the conversion is complete, you'll need to replace the entire slide or find original 92 (not 92S, 92SB, 92F,or 92FS) safety parts and retro fit into the lower receiver. You can also use modified Taurus 92 parts, they are easier to find and probably cheaper. Either way the safety would then be in the lower receiver in basically the same place as they are on a 1911. The DAO 92/96 does not have any provision for a safety/decocking lever in the slide. The cost of machining the slide and putting a safety into it would be more than buying a new/used slide. Some other manufacturers use the same slide on their DAO as they do their standard gun, they just don't install the safety/decocking parts, they use a filler plug. Beretta uses a slide on their DAO that is devoid of any place to put a safety. If you did the conversion without adding a safety, just changing the hammer to a standard, you would still have the firing pin block, but that is all. You'd have to lower the hammer manually. Without a safety, you couldn't even carry the gun cocked and locked, (no safety to lock it with the hammer back).I'd think about this before getting too involved.I do know this can be done I've watched it being done. A good friend, who is a gunsmith by trade, did it to his. However given the complexity and time, I wouldn't want to be paying to have it done. On his own gun, it was a labor of love. On someone elses, it could run some serious bucks between all the parts and the time of the labor.
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  • gravediggergravedigger Member Posts: 945 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Would changing it from DAO to SA/DA affect accuracy in any way? The gun is very accurate, especially for a DAO. I rented a 96 FS this weekend and that DAO smoked it in accuracy.-Marcus
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  • leeblackmanleeblackman Member Posts: 5,303 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    No it shouldn't, other than user interface. It should be more accurate for you because you have less lentgh to pull the trigger meaning you wouldn't yank the gun to the side as much.
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  • jeenyesjeenyes Member Posts: 330 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I converted mine over, is no big deal. But as the above post said, you lose some safety features which to me was no big deal as I don't carry cocked. And it did improve my shooting score.
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  • chunkstylechunkstyle Member Posts: 2,463 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If anyone finds such an armorer, please let me know? Beretta says the only armorer they would recommend is shipping the gun into the factory in Maryland, and they won't do any such conversion.
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  • JudgeColtJudgeColt Member Posts: 1,790 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    As lrarmsx says, this is really not practical unless you have the parts for next to nothing, and have a burning desire to do the impractical. Just sell the DAO pistol and buy a standard SA/DA pistol. The hard-to-sell DAO will bring enough when applied to purchase of a SA/DA pistol to more than cover what it would cost to convert the DAO, plus you will not have the liability and safety issues of creating a non-standard pistol with missing safety features.
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