This post was originally published here.
I remember a time before the rainbow of color options on pistols, made possible by the wonders of Cerakote and other finishes. Back in the day, a two-tone pistol with black/blue and stainless components was all the hotness. I’m not ashamed to say that I still find two-tone pistols extremely appealing. When one includes the beautifully sexy lines of a Beretta 92, well, I just can’t walk by without giving it a closer look. Such was the case with the Langdon Tactical collaboration with Beretta on the 92G Elite LTT II.
The Langdon Tactical Beretta 92G Elite LTT II
When I saw Langdon Tactical’s announcement about the new 92G Elite LTT II, I got on the horn immediately to get one in for review. And I’ll say up front that there may be some bias in this review. I love Beretta firearms, and every Langdon Tactical pistol I’ve tried has been a banger.
I’ll do the best I can for objectivity’s sake, and we’ll start from the beginning with Beretta’s newest entry.
At the Factory
Over the past decade, Beretta has been making more variations of the venerable Model 92 than you can shake a stick at. To make a somewhat older design more relevant and appealing to up-and-coming shooters, lots of models have been released. Some have had more success than others.
There have been combat-oriented models and race-gun models. The new 92G Elite LTT II is more of a defensive piece with tweaks to optimize its already legendary performance.
Beretta collaborated with Ernest Langdon on the design of the company’s latest 92 iteration. Langdon served in the military as a Marine and then became a force of nature in competitive shooting. He earned the Grand Master Class rating and has won over 12 national/world champion titles.
Along the way, he’s mentored and taught a few thousand students in the craft of competitive shooting. Likewise, he also started his own custom gunsmithing company, Langdon Tactical (LTT). At LTT, he has spent a lot of time and energy developing modifications and improvements to Beretta firearms and firearms from other manufacturers.
Noticing the popularity of Langdon’s work on their factory pistols, Beretta worked with him to develop and release the new 92G Elite LTT II. The base pistol is a Model 92 with a Vertec frame (for a more comfortable grip) and the G-style decocker.
The slide-mounted lever does not function as a safety. Instead, it is a decocker only, and once engaged, it returns to its natural upward resting position so that the pistol may be fired with a pull of the trigger.
The 92G Elite LTT II
The Model 92G has been around for just about 50 years. So, most firearms enthusiasts are aware of its features like its open-slide design, double-stack capacity, and its usual DA/SA operating system. I say usual because there are a few SAO 92s in the wild, and there have been a few DAO 92s as well. However, today we’re focusing on the upgrades Beretta made to the 92G Elite LTT II in conjunction with Langdon.
The first and most noticeable feature is the Inox slide and Inox barrel that contrast sweetly with the 92G’s black aluminum frame. Despite its minimal size, the slide features a new and very functional serration pattern that offers a secure grip for easy manipulation. The barrel itself undergoes additional machining, including a combat target crown to help preserve accuracy.
The upgrades don’t stop there, though. Its frame has also been upgraded with additional beveling around the trigger guard for a more comfortable grip while shooting. Likewise, the frontstrap has increased checkering for even better recoil control. On top of that, the 92G Elite LTT II features a checkered, wraparound grip with variable-density checkering on the Vertec frame to further enhance the shooter’s grip on the pistol.
The final upgrade at the factory is the inclusion of Langdon’s own patented Low Mount red-dot optic mounting machine cut in the slide.
Aside from upgrades resulting from the Langdon collaboration, the 92G Elite LTT II includes some familiar features that are just as important as ever. There’s a Picatinny rail out front for your favorite weapon light or other accessory. There’s also a set of blacked-out and serrated suppressor-height sights to co-witness with the optic.
And the pistol includes a reversible magazine release and an ambidextrous decocker, though there is no ambi slide stop/release.
The Langdon Touch
There’s only so much a gun company can do at the factory and keep it economically accessible to the masses. That’s where Langdon Tactical comes into the picture.
Despite the collaboration on the 92G Elite LTT II, there’s a lot more that Langdon and his employees can do to elevate the pistol in both appearance and functionality. So, Langdon gets a bunch of 92G Elite LTT II pistols directly from Beretta to do even more work for customers who are willing to pay for further customization.
Every 92G Elite LTT II that leaves Langdon Tactical at least has the company’s trademark trigger job. It lightens and smooths out the double-action trigger pull. This modification alone is worth taking the extra step to acquire the pistol from Langdon Tactical. Other upgrades include a Volker Flat trigger, an optimized Performance (or spurless) Hammer, and barrel porting.
The customer can also choose to have a bevy of parts treated with an NP3 finish. Such parts include the disassembly lever, magazine release, decocker, and so forth. Those who want a bit more unique flair can have the barrel cut flush to match the length of the slide and re-crowned for the accuracy preservation discussed earlier.
There’s also a Carry Bevel package, optics plates, and optics, and if you’re not a fan of the Inox slide, you can get a nitride finish on it as well. You name it, and Langdon can do it where your 92G Elite LTT II is concerned.
The Langdon Treatment of the Reviewed 92G Elite LTT II
For example, the pistol I received for this review included the trigger job, an NP3 finish on several parts, an RMR plate, and a Trijicon SRO already installed—ready to rock and roll. The price for the pistol I received as it’s configured is $1974. It would be $1685 without the SRO installed.
The MSRP on the factory model is $1249. So, I don’t think the pricing on the work done by Langdon is at all out of bounds. Of course, that statement is really only correct if everything performs at the level it should. We would only be able to find that out at the range.
Shooting the 92G Elite LTT II
I had a couple of friends join me to try out the 92G Elite LTT II. However, I got to the range early because I had to test the accuracy of six different pistols. It would be a little boring for them to stand around while I did that, since it takes a good long while. So, that was my first order of business with the 92G when I arrived.
I’m getting up there in years, and trying to see, much less shoot, a 1.5-inch red bullseye at 25 yards is getting harder and harder with each passing year. Having a consistent trigger pull for five shots each of at least nine groups makes it even tougher. Suffice to say, a machine rest where you can lock the pistol in will definitely get more consistent and better groups than what I, or anyone, can get manually.
Even so, I was still very pleased with the accuracy results I got with the 92G Elite LTT II at 25 yards from the bench. In fact, something happened that’s never happened before in the 15 years I’ve been testing pistols and writing articles.
Out of nine five-shot groups, I had three of them measure the same for the best result–1.68 inches. Two of the groups were shot with Remington’s 147-grain Golden Saber Bonded load. The other 1.68-inch group was shot with Hornady’s 115-grain Critical Defense load.
Range Results
While doing the math on the groups, I could have followed the decimal out a couple of more places and come up with the ultimate best group of all. But I always round to the nearest hundredth, and I stuck with that method this time, too. There’s absolutely no practical difference.
The bigger story is that all three loads I tried averaged under two inches across the board. The best three-group average was the Golden Saber load at 1.73 inches, and the average for all nine groups was 1.85 inches. And yes, a machine rest would still have gotten even better results since that Beretta 92G could definitely outshoot me.
When my friend showed up, and we got down to the practical shooting with the 92G Elite LTT II, there were a lot of positive comments about it, including my own.
My buddy, Jamie, was issued an M9 during his time as a sniper with the Air Force. So, he is very familiar with the platform and shoots it very, very well. He’s a fan of two-tone pistols like I am. Right out of the gate, he talked about how snazzy it looked with his words being “The cosmetics were sharp.”
More importantly, Jamie, his wife Ashley, and I all agreed that the trigger pull was the best and most important part of the work Langdon Tactical did on the pistol. The double-action pull was extremely smooth with an average pull weight of 8.38 pounds. The single-action pull was nice and crisp after an average pull of 4.56 pounds.
That’s not as light as a 1911’s trigger, but for a duty/defensive pistol like this, it’s probably a wise compromise. Only the most experienced shooters could tell a real difference in the single-action pull.
Exceptional Reliability
As with 92 models I’ve shot in the past, the 92G Elite LTT II was exceptionally reliable with everything we put through it. There were at least five different types of hollowpoints, FMJs, copper-solid bullets, and flex-tip bullets. The pistol chewed through everything without a single issue.
On top of that, the 92G was very easy to control during fire. Part of this was due to the size and extra weight, and the other part was due to the excellent checkered, wrap-around grip and extra checking on the frame, all of which provided excellent traction for fantastic control.
Beretta and Langdon Tactical Get the 92G Elite LTT II Right
One does not need, nor does one have to have, a 92G Elite LTT II to defend oneself or one’s family capably. There are plenty of sub-$1K firearms out there for that task. The 92G Elite LTT II is more of a personal statement, allowing an individual to take one of the most beloved and time-proven platforms still available and turn it into something uniquely their own.
Modified as much or as little as the buyer wants, the 92G Elite LTT II delivers stellar accuracy, excellent recoil control, and rock-solid reliability in a package that’s more than just a step up from a standard factory pistol. It’s an expression of their personality and an extension of their priorities in a defensive sidearm.
That expression comes at a price, though. But if you’re a Beretta 92 fan and have the money to spare for a little extra performance and flair, Langdon Tactical offers one of the very best aftermarket options available today.
Beretta 92G Elite LTT II Specs
| Caliber | 9mm |
| Barrel | 4.7 inches |
| Overall Length | 8.5 inches |
| Width | 1.4 inches |
| Weight | 34.9 ounces |
| Grips | Beretta Wrap-Around |
| Sights | Suppressor-Height, Blacked Out |
| Action | Double Action |
| Finish | Inox Stainless |
| Capacity | 18+1 |
| MSRP | $1974 (as configured w/SRO) |
Performance
| Federal Premium 147gr. +P HST | |
| Velocity | 1016 |
| Accuracy Average (at 25 yards) | 1.93 |
| Accuracy Best (at 25 yards) | 1.75 |
| Hornady 115gr. Critical Defense FTX | |
| Velocity | 1164 |
| Accuracy Average (at 25 yards) | 1.89 |
| Accuracy Best (at 25 yards) | 1.68 |
| Remington 147gr. Golden Saber Bonded | |
| Velocity | 987 |
| Accuracy Average (at 25 yards) | 1.73 |
| Accuracy Best (at 25 yards) | 1.68 |
Bullet weight measured in grains, velocity in feet per second from the muzzle by a Garmin Xero C1 Pro Chronograph, and accuracy in inches for three, five-shot groups at 25 yards.
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The post Upgrading a Masterpiece: The Langdon Tactical Beretta 92G Elite LTT II appeared first on Athlon Outdoors Exclusive Firearm Updates, Reviews & News.
