Oh wow, maybe it was a temporary change, then. When beretta was full tilt making them back in 09 for the new contract, I couldn't find one with an angled dustcover. Some guys close to beretta stated that is because the m9 has a straight one and they were casting all frames like that. That and since the .40 was no longer going into production, they didn't need the angled/reinforced cover. They could be still building them on leftover frames.
Tag with interest in finding out if Beretta has gone back to the straight dust covers...I hope they also ditched the goofy radius on the back strap. blah
As for the 92...GET ONE! One of the sexiest guns every designed if you ask me...and they are so easy for field stripping and cleaning.
If you do decide to get one order a "D" spring to install in the pistol. It will help the trigger pull greatly...
Good friend of mine had a catastrophic failure during a match year before last. I picked up one a few months ago because they do work. They are ugly, don't fit my hand well and are not as accurate (for me anyway) as plenty of other pistols. But I am familiar with it and have several different holsters, mag carriers etc. And I need to practice with it so my thumb doesn't push down on auto pilot!!! cant post pics cause I'm a lurker and not a poster but I stuck a pic of it in my album. Only seen it once but the safety feature did work and the back half of the slide didn't come flying off of the rear.
I have had my 92fs for over a year now and have owned a 96 and 96 brigadier elite over the years all have been great guns my father carries the 84fs if it wasn't for someone slipping me the glock kool-aid recently I would be a devout Beretta follower buy one can't go wrong with it great for bedside defense and range time.
I have always thought that was one of the best looking guns ever. I was really torn when I bought my 23. It was between the two of them. I went with the 23 for everyday carrying purposes. I don't regret my decision at all, because I love my Glock, but my next will definitely be a Beretta.
I was issued a duty M9 that was assigned toe for two years and fired almost 200 rounds every two weeks. In that time I had one problem. I wanted to shoot more!