Beretta 96 - 10mm conversion

[rainsdrops]

I found a YouTube video and several posts of a beretta 96 converted to 10mm. 
Has anyone held one of these?   I'm tempted to ream my 96d's chamber to 10, & increase the recoil spring weight

[The_Shadow]

Well first do the 10mm cartridges fit inside the magazine? 
What's the longest 10mm cartridge to actually fit inside the magazine?

It looks like this guy actually was feeding them from the magazine but no mention cartridge overal length.

Here is a youtube;

[The_Shadow]

Cutting the chamber is the easy part, to actually have the cartridges feed reliably is the real issue.

[rw]

I have a 96 magazine around here someplace, I can check cartridge fit once I find it

[Rooster41]

I have a 96FS that I got about 18 years ago.  Thought about selling it but depending on cost and if this can be done and be reliable , I may change my mind.  I look tonight when I get home from work and see if the 10mm round will fit in a 96 magazine

[rainsdrops]

From what I've read, the barrel needs to be. Reamed.
The 96 mag will not hold a 10mm round.  A para p16 magazine is used.  The forward side of the magwell, is opened with a file to accommodate the mag. 

I have a cheap 96d. As soon as I finish one or two other projects, I'll see if it works, or if I can ruin a functioning 96

[BT8850]

I was reading on this thread yesterday and decided to take some pics last night. As you can see, the 10mm pokes out the front of the magazine when in the gun. The cartridge in the picture is at 1.250 OAL. Just shorten it up you say? You can see that the inside of a Italian 11 round mag is 1.194. I measured two of my Beretta USA 10 round mags and they were a touch shorter yet at 1.192 and 1.1915. I'll also add a pic in a separate post, you can see that there is a beveled edge to aid with mag insertion but there is not much material that could be removed once you get up into the magwell.

Also wanted to note that I was able to get a mag with one 10mm round in it to go all the way in but this was only because I had the cartidge positioned with the nose end way up in the air. I doubt that you could ever get any firearm to function properly with the rounds coming out of the mag at this steep of an angle. Food for thought 

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[BT8850]

See pic

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[The_Shadow]

Thanks for the nice report and that was exactly what I suspected and it is the same with many other 40S&W pistols.  Some 45ACP guns lend themselves to an easier conversion because the cartridge is loaded long to start.

[BT8850]

No problem! This 10mm Beretta had run through my mind before so I figured why not have a look. Would definitely be a neat piece. No doubt about 45 guns, a little more room to work with from the start I'm sure would make things a ton easier.

[10mmfan]

It strikes me as a bad idea with the early 92's failing with hotter 9mm ammo I know that was with a high round count but still.

[10mb]

Hay fellas. I registered for the soul purpose of replying to this thread. I've sort of moved on from the gun hobby to some extent so probably won't stick around. I just recently ended up in a series of conversations about 10mm guns and after mentioning to a few people that I have a 10mm Beretta and discussing how it was done, what I believe to be this thread was brought to my attention. Something about someone using a normal 96 to do such conversion so I just popped in to give some warning hoping that I'm not too late.

The gun you are talking about is a Beretta 96FS Brigadier Inox. You can see a still old but more recent video of it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7LL8aAd5Tk&list=UUgcZE5dwMHxNjv8nuowp0nQ&feature=player_detailpage#t=125

It took about 4 years of research SPECIFICALLY on the Brigadier revealing that a 10mm conversion should work just fine. The regular Beretta 96 slide was not part of that research but there are indications that it might not be strong enough. If you're going to try this conversion, please use nothing short of a Brigadier.

Also be forewarned that this is a very difficult conversion as the magazine well has to be enlarged to fit an EAA Witness 10mm magazine which there is just barely room for without compromising the structural integrity of the gun and when you're done some of the innards need to be refitted and moved around in order to continue to work as designed. Even after all that is done, cryo treatment is a good idea (I had mine therma cycled by metal science) and at least in my case there were a few bugs to work out (the video you folks put up was shot in the middle of that.

Also, please DO NOT use .40S&W or .45 Magazines. My conversion was done using Tanfoglio 10mm EAA Witness magazine tubes and floor plates and modified HK USP .45 followers and that mix has worked and at least for me, has withstood the test of time. Regular .40S&W magazines do not hold 10mm ammo correctly and double column .45ACP magazines require thinning of the frame beyond it's safe limits.

I think my conversion is 6 or 7 years old now and I've lost count of how many rounds I put through it and it still works fine. But it's a very difficult conversion that took me more then 50 hours of work and cost around $1500 when all was said and done. You better know what you're doing and only use the toughest Beretta 96 platform you can get.

If you are confident and willing to use good strong parts, contact me by youtube if you're unsure about anything and I'll share what I know when I have time. Just be careful. There's extremely little room for error or compromise in doing this conversion. That said, I personally think it was worth it. The gun and 10mm cartridge seam like they were made for one and other, at least IMO.