Beretta Web - Model 86 Beretta a tip up barrel pistol

LOADING AND FIRING

The Model 86 Beretta pistol is loaded by the following procedure:
Put the SAFETY LEVER in the ON position with the RED DOT completely covered. Be sure the safety lever is all the way up and the Red Dot is covered.
Put the hammer in the half cock position.
ROTATE THE BARREL LATCH 180 DEGREES, COUNTERCILOCKWISE, . one half way around. This will allow you to tilt the barrel open.
At this point you can insert a cartridge directly into the chamber of the barrel. Be sure the cartridge is fully inserted. DO NOT TRY TO FORCE the barrel closed if the cartridge is not fully into the chamber. A clean chamber will make loading simple. Once the chamber is loaded, press the barrel] down and ROTATE THE BARREL CATCH 180 DEGREES CLOCKWISE to assure that the barrel catch has fully engaged. Now you can insert the loaded magazine into the grip frame of the pistol. Push the magazine in until the magazine catch locks it in place

FIRING

When ready to fire, move the safety lever all the way down. The RED DOT is fully exposed.
Aim the pistol and align the front and rear sights on the target by placing all three dots in a straight line.
Squeeze the trigger and the pistol will fire. When the hammer is down, you can fire the pistol double action. Once the pistol is fired, the hammer will stay back and the pistol will fire single action.

UNLOADING THE PISTOL AND THE CARTRIDGE CHAMBER

With the manual safety engaged, remove the magazine from the pistol.
lf you do not shoot all the cartridges in the magazine and wish to unload the pistol, you can rotate the barrel latch 180 degrees counterclockwise and tip the barrel up. Remove the cartridge manually from the chamber.
lf you shoot all the cartridges in the magazine, the slide will stay back on the last shot.

MAINTENANCE

Every time the pistol is fired, cleaning and lubrication of the barrel is recommended. This operation can be easily performed with the barrel tipped up.
Clean combustion residues from breech face. The breech face is accessible when the slide is retracted and held back by the slide stop.

CAUTION: RECOIL SPRING IS UNDER MAXIMUM TENSION. Keep fingers out of the action. Use a brush to clean the breech face.

Lightly oil the slide guides or rails. A very slight amount of oil is sufficient.
After prolonged use, it may be necessary to fully remove the slide from the pistol for a more thorough cleaning and lubricating. This operation should be carried out by a competent gunsmith. Do not attempt to remove the spring pin without the proper tools and experience.

To remove the slide from the pistol, first push out barrel axis retaining spring pin. Then remove the barrel from the pistol frame.

PAY ATTENTION TO THE RECOIL SPRING AND BARREL SPRING WHICH ARE UNDER TENSION. lf necessary, replace barrel axis spring pin. (A few spare spring pins are supplied with the pistol together with a drift and a pin assembly tool)