Erik
Amateur
I wanted to do a quick write up on two pistols that I really enjoy shooting, the Beretta M9A3 and 92 Elite LTT. I was in the Army and had a hate, hate relationship with the Beretta M9 and stepped into the M9A3 through a reluctant trade offer I could not pass up. The M9A3 had a night and day feel to that of my previous issue M9’s. When I took the M9A3 for its first range trip I was pleasantly surprised at how well the gun shot. Fast forward several months later, upon seeing the Langdon Tactical and Beretta collaboration then finding out he is relatively local to me I jumped on the chance to own one. The Elite LTT has a retail price of $999 the M9A3 has a retail price south of $900 (better deals can be had and used models go online in the $700’s). The most notable differences of the M9A3 and the Elite LTT is the barrel with the M9A3 coming with a threaded barrel and the LTT with a shorter target crown stainless barrel. The M9A3 is built on a Vertec frame and the LTT is built on an M9A1 frame. Both guns have similar undercuts and extended magazine release. M9A3 comes with high visibility Night Sights and the LTT has serrated fiber optic front sights with serrated black rears. The two pistols are extremely similar with the Langdon taking the slight edge. The rounding on the underside of the slide and trigger guard (something that bothered me on military models) was rounded to limit pressure spots and slide bite. The LTT came with a stainless-steel guide rod versus the plastic guide rod on the M9A3. The LTT had no lanyard loops and grips were tacky and felt slightly better to shoot than the M9A3.
Bottom Line.
If you have an M9A3 and thinking of selling to get a superior shooting gun, don’t. The differences (at least to me) were minimal and I would save the time and effort to send in your M9A3 for trigger work or order the LTT trigger kit in a box. If you plan on shooting suppressed I would stick with the M9A3. However, if you have the choice between the LTT and M9A3 and do not require a threaded barrel, the edge goes to the Langdon Tactical. In the end, they are different pistols with different mission sets, that said I am keeping both the M9A3 and LTT in my safe.
Bottom Line.
If you have an M9A3 and thinking of selling to get a superior shooting gun, don’t. The differences (at least to me) were minimal and I would save the time and effort to send in your M9A3 for trigger work or order the LTT trigger kit in a box. If you plan on shooting suppressed I would stick with the M9A3. However, if you have the choice between the LTT and M9A3 and do not require a threaded barrel, the edge goes to the Langdon Tactical. In the end, they are different pistols with different mission sets, that said I am keeping both the M9A3 and LTT in my safe.