Combining his life long passion for lego with an admiration of Beretta’s 9mm, IT manager Jeff Boen created the 1st Generation lego pistol in about 2 hours, using only memories from movies, video games and his friend’s Series 92 for reference. It has since evolved into a functional model complete with simulated firing mechanism.

"I'm a 33 year old IT manager. Growing up my favorite toy was Lego, by far. I would draft my creations on middle-school graph paper so that I could build them again and again. Somewhere around age 15 I put them away and grew up. Years later I stumbled across a community of adults who never gave up their love for Lego and were creating some of the most unbelievable things. Best of all, there were software packages available to CAD and render creations in ways I never dreamed all those years ago.
I've been an admirer of Beretta handguns for years. It all started when I saw a friend's .380 (actually an 85 FS Cheetah). He had never dismantled the gun and I was able to do so within seconds. I was amazed at how simple the firearm was when broken down into its components. I remember hearing once that Berettas are the most efficient handguns in the world and are renowned for not jamming or misfiring, at that moment I could see why.
Just like Ferraris and the sculpture of Michelangelo, Italian design has a sensuality that is unparalleled by the rest of the world. One does not try to improve upon perfection, one merely accepts it."

Jeff Boen

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The Story
The 1st generation model was simply an exercise in form.
It had no moving parts and was lacking quite a few details, but I was actually quite happy with what I had been able to accomplish.

The first model was also not very sturdy so I began to think about reinforcing the grip with internal Technic components. I have always liked the action of "racking" the slide on blowback semi-autos so I started to think about incorporating a rackable slide as well.

The Next Step
The 2nd generation model had a stronger grip (thanks to a Technic axle running through a few 2x2 round bricks inside) and a rubber-band-actuated slide mechanism. Pull back the slide and it snaps forcefully back into place.

I'm aware that the front of the slide doesn't remain in place on a real Beretta, but I couldn't find a way to get the barrel to go through the 2x2 slope elements and still look the way I wanted it to. I tend to favor form over function, so if it's a matter of destroying the "look" just to get something to operate realistically, I'll typically let style win.

This cutout shows how the rubber band is connected inside the slide and breech to create the action. The band is shown in red for clarity, but in reality I used a medium-sized black.
Trying different sizes and number of twists may be necessary to get the tension just right.

Bringing it all together
When I decided to create the 3rd generation model I tried to incorporate as much of the mechanical workings of the gun as possible.

I wanted the slide to lock (just like an actual Beretta) using a small lever on the side of the grip. I also wanted a working trigger and hammer and hopefully the ability to create a double-action system that would remain true to the actual design.

If I tried hard enough I was pretty sure I could fit everything in and even increase the strength and sturdiness of the overall design.
I totally redesigned the slide mechanism and how it joins to the breech.

This allowed for more rubber bands to be connected internally without causing the gun to self-destruct, which would be essential since every action I had planned would rely on a rubber band for actuation.

I redesigned the internals of the grip using Technic liftarms connected to one another down the length so that the breech and grip became more unified.

This closeup of the breech shows how the rubber bands are connected to create a functioning hammer/trigger. Again, the bands are shown in color, but in reality I used 2 medium blacks.

This composite closeup shows how the rubber bands are connected to the breech and slide, creating the rack action. The red band is actually a small black and the blue band is a medium black.

The hammer can be cocked either by pulling it down with the thumb or by "racking" the slide. Pulling the trigger then causes the hammer to flip up and hit the breech. This makes the gun a "single-action" weapon.
True series 92 pistols are double/single action because pulling the trigger will also cock the hammer.
I wasn't able to incorporate this in my model.
Also, with real world pistols the "blowback" of a shot will cause the slide to retract, thus automatically cocking the hammer for another shot (hence, semi-automatic).
The only way to create this process is to have bullets that are actually fired, which this model does not.

Once the slide is pulled back, it can be locked open by flipping up the lever on the side of the grip. On actual Berettas, the slide will lock open once the clip is empty. This is the time when you see our hero drop the clip, slip in another and then flip the lock lever, letting the slide close again with a round ready in in the chamber.

The slide is back and a round is in the chamber.

Hollow point ammo for maximum stopping power.