The Beretta 92F "Samurai Edge" is a fictional custom variant of the Beretta 92F handgun that has been featured in numerous games in the Resident Evil franchise.
Design
Origin
In December of 1996, the Raccoon City Police Department commissioned gunsmith Joseph Kendo to design a custom sidearm for the members of the newly-established S.T.A.R.S. teams. The contract required that the pistol meet a series of requirements:
- It had to be chambered for the 9mm Luger cartridge, allowing S.T.A.R.S. members be able to use the same ammunition as the Beretta 92F (the R.P.D.'s standard issue handgun).
- It had to use a removable magazine capable of holding more than 13 rounds.
- It had to have fixed dotted sights.
- It had to be accurate enough to produce at least a 2 inch grouping at 25 yards with no variation after 3,000 consecutive rounds.
- It had to be double-action.
- It had to be ambidextrous.
- It could weigh no more than 35 ounces when unloaded.
Kendo eventually settled on the Beretta 92F as a base model, as it already complied with the requirements for ambidextrous operation, DA-operation, and magazine capacity. In February of 1998, after approximately one year of testing, Police Chief Brian Irons approved the initial prototypes which were distributed to S.T.A.R.S. members Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burton, and Albert Wesker for initial testing. After a few further modifications, the first set of completed Samurai Edge pistols were issues to each S.T.A.R.S. member.1
Specifications
As with the unmodified Beretta 92F, the Samurai Edge is a short-recoil operated semi-automatic handgun chambered for the 9x19mm Parabellum (also known as the 9mm Luger) round that can be fired either in double-action or single-action mode. It features an ambidextrous safety that doubles as a decocker and a magazine catch that can be reversed for left-handed operation. It feeds from a double-stack 15 round magazine that is inserted into the grip and uses a barrel that travels along the bore line during cycling and is locked via a dropping wedge located beneath the barrel lug. The slide is Beretta's signature cut-away design, which leaves a large portion of the barrel exposed and results in a wide ejection port, reducing ejection failures. The ejector also doubles as a chamber load indicator.
The standard Samurai Edge features a large number of modifications not present on the standard 92F. It features the reinforced slide of the Beretta 92F Brigadier (distinguishable by the raised ridges on either side of the ejection port), target sights, an extended slidelock, forward serrations on the slide, a stainless guide rod, a hammer spring cap without a lanyard loop and a stainless steel barrel. The grips are a unique design consisting of two panels; an outer panel made of wood than extends down over the magazine floorplate and hammer spring housing, and an inner plastic component featuring a central medallion emblazoned with the S.T.A.R.S. logo against a blue background. The slide also features a unique set of engravings on each side beneath the ejection port; "S.T.A.R.S. R.P.D. Special Team" is engraved on the left side and "MOD. SAMURAI EDGE LAW ENFORCEMENT USE ONLY" on the right.
Variants
Many S.T.A.R.S. members had their sidearms further customized beyond Kendo's original design to meet their personal tastes and shooting styles.
Chris Redfield Version
Redfield's Samurai Edge features several minor internal modifications to make it a competition-ready pistol, the slide is milled from light-weight steel and the trigger pull has been custom adjusted. Externally, Chris's handgun can be distinguished externally by it's non-reflective blued finish, the stainless steel trigger and and the grip medallion, which features a darker blue background than the standard medallion.
Jill Valentine Version
Valentine's Samurai Edge is equipped with a standard-length slidelock, making it less likely to get caught on her clothing when drawn from being concealed in her waistband, and the background color of on the grip medallion, which has been redone in light blue at Jill's request.
Barry Burton Version
While most customized Samurai Edge handguns received moderate changes, Barry's weapon was extensively modified. The slide assembly (slide, recoil spring assembly, and barrel) have been replaced with those of a Beretta 96F Brigadier, converting it to the more powerful .40 S&W cartridge. An accessory rail has been added to the dustcover, which extends past the frame and is used to as a base mount for a weighted, ported compensator. The grip is composed entirely of plastic, and the grip medallion features a distinctive red background. The sear group has been modified to allow the weapon to fire in three-round bursts (likely using components from a Beretta 93R) and Barry uses an extended 20 round magazine instead of a standard capacity magazine.
Rebecca Chamber Model
Easily the least modified version, Rebecca's Samurai Edge is virtually identical to the standard model save for the medallion on the grip, which sports a green back-color instead of the standard blue. In Resident Evil 0, the player may choose to further modify her sidearm with the addition of a scope and mount.
Albert Wesker Model
Arguably the most heavily modified Samurai Edge (and by far the flashiest), Wesker's pistol sports a massive number of modifications. The frame is made of stainless steel and features a railed dustcover, square triggerguard and a beavertail horn (a feature not present on any production model Beretta 92 pistol, suggesting that he had the frame custom milled), an extended magazine catch, a skeleton hammer, stainless steel controls and Brigadier sights. According to the Samurai Edge Manual, Wesker also possessed a sound suppressor2 which could be quickly attached to the weapon via the rail mount and mated with the muzzle (while unconventional and not as efficient as a suppressor mounted directly to the barrel, this concept could be made to work due to the Beretta 92 barrel's in-line travel. This sound suppressor is never seen in any of the games.
Other Information
Replicas
- Tokyo Marui, a Japanese model company specializing in high-end airsoft guns, produced a "BioHazard" line to commemorate the release of the Resident Evil remake. The series included a "Samurai Edge Standard" (a replica of the model issued to most S.T.A.R.S. members), and three models labeled as the "Last Escape" models and consisted of Jill, Chris, and Barry's Samurai Edges3. Currently all of these are no longer produced save for the "Samurai Edge Standard". To commemorate the series' 15th anniversary, Marui offered a limited run re-release of the Chris Redfield model Samurai Edge.
- Ho Feng Corp. (HFC), a Taiwanese airsoft company, produced an unofficial clone of the Marui Samurai Edge known as the M190. Unlike Marui's Samurai Edge, the M190 featured an all-metal build, but was colored entirely black and sported an entirely different set of trademarks, standard 92F sights and a railed dustcover.
- CYMA, a Chinese airsoft manufacturer, also released several Samurai Edge replicas. Unlike the HFC clones, these replicas sported colors and trademarks that marked them as Samurai Edge pistols. Two versions were released; one was a full-sized Samurai Edge that included a large number of accessories never seen in the games (including a sound suppressor, extended magazine, and a thumbhole foregrip), the other was a "super-deformed" version of the Samurai Edge. Both models were single-shot spring operated pistol, composed entirely of cheap plastic components, and were of notoriously poor quality.
Trivia
- As with the Beretta 92F, most in-game descriptions of the Samurai Edge refer to it as a custom "Beretta M92F". This is technically incorrect, as Beretta does not use an "M" in the designation for any member of the Beretta 92 series. This confusion stems from the fact that the U.S. military uses the Beretta 92FS (with a different finish and a chrome-lined barrel) as the standard sidearm of most branches and designates the weapon as the "M9".
- In the Resident Evil REmake, the 9mm Samurai Edge pistols are referred to as "S.T.A.R.S. Beretta" in-game, and Barry's as the "Samurai Edge", causing some confusion as to the fact that all of the Beretta pistols used by the S.T.A.R.S. members are in fact Samurai Edge models.
- In Resident Evil 0, both Billy's handgun and the Samurai Edge can be modified using the same scope mount. This would be impossible to do in reality with two pistols that are this different without the use of an accessory rail.
- In Resident Evil 5, Wesker's Samurai Edge has a LAM unit unit mounted to the accessory rail.
- Early trailers for The Darkside Chronicles showed Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield using Samurai Edge pistols during the Raccoon City outbreak. The weapon was subsequently dropped from later trailers and the final game.
Footnotes
- 1. The Samurai Edge History
- 2. The Samurai Edge History
- 3. Samurai Edge History Page 1