Beretta owners rejoice! Ernest Langdon at Langdon Tactical has provided a solution to a problem many 92 owners face, namely, proper mounting of optics.  For years the solution has been dovetail mounted plates but those faced the problem of sitting far too high above the bore and looking out of place on any handgun. Thankfully Beretta God Ernest Langdon has provided a solution. For years Langdon has been providing upgrades to 92 series pistols and even working with Beretta themselves to make the Elite series of pistols. Langdon’s skill is so legendary that when Wilson Combat decided to start making 92s, they called him to train their staff. So leave it to him to solve one of the Berettas most annoying problems.

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One of the main problems with mounting an optic to the 92 was the need to modify internal parts to allow the optic to sit on top without interfering with the mechanics of the pistol.  Langdon’s system replaces many of the internal mechanisms of the slide in order to facilitate the mounting of optics.  The LTT optics cut mills .140” into the slide necessitating the modifications.  Langdon’s team had to re-engineer the inner workings of the pistol modifying the firing pin block, firing pin, safety plunger, extractor pin and decocking lever.

Modified parts

I chose to order the drop-in slide replacement for my LTT elite although you may also send your slide in to be modified.  The modifications only work for certain models of 92 so check to make sure you have a compatible slide before sending it in.  Thankfully, Langdon makes a handy chart detailing which models are compatible.

Slide compatibility chart

The optic ready slide comes with everything you’ll need except a barrel, recoil spring and guide rod.  Installing the slide gave me no problems, the barrel dropped right in and the slide mounted perfectly with no fitment issues.  I have put about 5000 rounds through the pistol with the new slide and noticed zero issues with the mounting of the optic between a Trijicon RMR as well as Holosun 507k and 508t.  The optics held zero through many one-handed manipulations racking off the optic onto a 2×4 and never loosened or caused damage to the mounting plate.  The optics plate comes torqued to the slide and marked for easy reinstallation if you should ever need to remove it – a much appreciated extra touch from them.  The instruction manual is clear and precise listing proper torque specs for optics as well as instructions for the 2 screw sets that they provide, one being for Holosun optics and the other for the Trijicon family.

Optics plate markings

The slide ships with black front and rear backup iron sights that sit comfortably in the lower third of an optic.  I found them to be unobtrusive and useful. Normally I would prefer a fiber optic front but thankfully, the front sight is replaceable.  The dot tracks very well and I found follow-up shots to be extremely easy.  Despite the added weight of the optic and mounting plate, I had zero issues with reliability using a variety of ammo.

The slide comes in the G, decocker-only configuration, a choice that I much appreciated as I convert every Beretta I own to a G model to avoid the infamous safety activation issue when racking the slide.  The LTT slide also includes front serrations for easier manipulations with the optic mounted.

Slide side view

The slide serrations make manipulating the slide easy despite the lost real estate caused by the optic plate.  Running the pistol with the optics-ready slide has made me appreciate the work Langdon and his team must have put into developing this technology.  It feels as comfortable as any other red dot capable pistol and quickly became my favorite becoming my new carry optics pistol of choice edging out my P320 and my CZ 75.

LTT offers the drop-in slide in a multitude of colors for the full-size and compact Beretta 92s.  Prices start at $572 for the black models and bump to $599 for the colored variations.  If you want to send your slide to Langdon for conversion prices start at $352 and at the time of writing are sitting at a 6-10 week lead time.

The conversion includes

• A full top end rebuild to replace all of your stock components with replacement components
• Slide milling, and prep for our proprietary RDO plate as well as cerakote on the slide in Elite Black or whatever color it comes in as. IE: M9A3 FDE slides, will be coated in FDE.
• Our proprietary optic plate in the Trijicon RMR footprint (fits RMR, SRO, Holosun 507C and others that fit the RMR footprint)
• Red dot height front sight that matches the adaptor plate built in rear sight
• Return shipping to the same address the slide was shipped from

LTT slide color options

You can also purchase entire pistols from Langdon with the RDO slide with prices varying depending on the configuration.  Options include NP3 coated controls as well as Langdon’s carry bevel option where they round off any sharp edges that may cause concealed carry to be uncomfortable.  He also offers the option to install his trigger job from the factory, something I highly recommend.

All in all, Langdon and his team knocked it out of the park with this one me into even more of a fan of the 92 platform and Langdon Tactical Technologies.  The addition of a red dot turns what was already one of my favorite pistols into my go-to for anything, be that home defense, competition or range plinking.  If you want to pick one up for yourself check out the LTT store.