U.S. Army Saying "Ciao" to Italy's M9 Beretta

[Spike]

"Beretta has set an unprecedented record for reliability with the M9 pistol... The average reliability of all M9 pistols tested at Beretta U.S.A. is 17,500 rounds without a stoppage. During one test of twelve pistols, fired at Beretta U.S.A. under Army supervision, Beretta-made M9 pistols shot 168,000 rounds without a single malfunction."

And yet, the U.S. Army is preparing to holster its Berettas and switch to a new standard-issue handgun. Why?

Last month, the Army announced plans for an "industry day" at which gun manufacturers such as Smith & Wesson , Sturm, Ruger , Colt, and Glock would be invited to show their wares and compete for a new contract. Its objective: to replace the M9 Beretta semiautomatic pistol.

The U.S. Army holds more than 200,000 M9 Berettas in its inventory. If it proceeds with plans to use a new handgun, tentatively monikered the "Modular Handgun System," all of these M9s could soon be replaced. In fact, Military.com reported that if other armed services follow the Army's lead, one lucky gun company could soon receive an order for as many as 400,000 handguns -- a significant contract in an era of declining civilian handgun sales .

According to Military.com , the Army's main concerns with the M9 are that it's insufficiently accurate, lethal, and reliable for the service's purposes. That's not entirely Beretta's fault. Project officer Daryl Easlick at the Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia, was quoted in the Military.com article as saying that many of the Berettas it has in inventory today are "old," adding that "it's costing us more to replace and repair M9s than it would cost to go get a new handgun."

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/us-ar...-m9-beretta-but-what-will-replace-it-cm376152

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soon we'll be flooded with cheap Beretta's?

woo-hoo

 

[EdReed4Prez]

No chance. Military doesn't sell surplus to the public any more. Look at any army navy store, all Vietnam era stuff or cheap Chinese knockoffs. If they won't sell us a canteen I doubt they'll sell a pistol.

 

[MT~Forged]

Too bad there is not a law that requires US Govt to buy from US Companies, based in the US.

 

[USDA#1]

'soon we'll be flooded with cheap Beretta's?

woo-hoo "


not us.....Mexico

and the Ukraine

and.....

probably some will make it back eventually, kinda like the Nam era 16's that are around.

 

[Omar10213245]

The only thing I disagree with is that its "insufficiently accurate". Thats bs; if you know how to shoot, you can be plenty accurate with an M9, its a solid firearm

 

[Hineswardkickedurpanzyass]

The only thing I disagree with is that its "insufficiently accurate". Thats bs; if you know how to shoot, you can be plenty accurate with an M9, its a solid firearm

If it is accurate then it is pretty lethal as well. A 9mm round is plenty nasty at anything resembling close range. 1100 fps combined with any decent round, well you do the math.

 

[Omar10213245]

Yup, no doubt about that. A well placed slug from an M9 will drop a man like a sack of doorknobs

 

[Steeltime]

M9 Beretta is an excellent gun. Excellent.

Still pissed I lost mine.

 

[Hineswardkickedurpanzyass]

M9 Beretta is an excellent gun. Excellent.

Still pissed I lost mine.

Handguns are so darn easy to lose. Especially right after you clean them with all that oil, damn things just disappear.

 

[SteelChip]

There are plenty of good hand guns out there for sale, the only way this would effect the market is if they were auctioned off to a public firm or enterprise and like ER4P says, it ain't gonna happen. They will be just more scrap iron ingots waiting for a home.

 

[Rod Farva]

For that matter the military should never have gone away from the good old .45 M1911A1. Still the most lethal handgun going, imo. 230 grains of bullet has very serious knock down / stopping power. Very good article below including some coop on how and why we ended up with the 9 Beretta.

"Legendary Manstopper"

The bolt-action 1903 Springfield and 1917 Enfield .30/06 battle rifles had proven themselves splendidly rugged and accurate when sniping at enemy soldiers across the battlefield. But, when the enemy was right there in the trenches with you, ready to spear you with the blood-stained bayonet of his Mauser, these long, heavy rifles that needed a four-step process to hand-cycle another cartridge into the firing chamber were not the optimum defensive tools. The 1911 pistol, on the other hand, proved to be in its element there. Eight quick flicks of the index finger unleashed eight heavy 230-grain bullets, almost half an inch in diameter and traveling some 830 feet per second. At close range, when a single .45 slug struck the enemy in the wishbone, he tended to be immediately rendered hors de combat. To hell with bayoneted rifles, said the doughboys; this Colt .45 automatic was the ticket to getting out of the trenches alive once the enemy hordes had flowed into those trenches with you.


A "snubby" with 3-inch barrel, the Springfield Armory Micro Compact 1911 .45 shot this impressive group in a police-style qualification.


Countless tales of up close and personal pistol fighting emerged from WWI. The bottom line was that when Americans shot Germans with Colt .45 automatics, the Germans tended to fall down and die. When Germans shot Americans with their 9mm Luger pistols, the Americans tended to become indignant and kill the German who shot them, and then walk to an aid station to either die a lingering death or recover completely. Thus was born the reputation of the .45 automatic as a "legendary manstopper," and the long-standing American conviction that the 9mm automatic was an impotent wimp thing that would make your wife a widow if you trusted your life to it.

Then came WWII. The .45 automatic was the standard military weapon then as well. Used heavily in both theaters of the war, it was particularly valued in the Pacific, where Japanese sappers tended to infiltrate through the wires and be on top of the Yank soldier with knife in hand when the American woke up to deal with it. And the legend of the .45 as the "one shot, one kill" weapon was reinforced. It did not hurt that reputation that the average target in the Pacific was a rice-fed, half-starved biped who weighed about 130 pounds.

Then came Korea, and then Vietnam. Nothing happened to change the image of the .45 automatic as a deadly manstopper. In the mid-1980s, several trends converged upon the one firearm that had served the American military the longest. NATO was pushing the USA for complete compatibility in small arms ammo, and every other nation carried 9mm pistols. Except for target pistols for the pistol teams, the US government had not purchased new 1911s since before the Korean War, and the old guns were getting pretty clapped out. Finally, it is said, the Pentagon wanted cruise missiles in Italy and Italy wanted a lucrative US military contract in return. In any case, it was at that time that the United States armed services adopted the Italian Beretta Model 92F, caliber 9mm, as the official US service handgun that would be designated the M9 and would replace the 1911.

Fast forward to the present. When the War Against Terrorism went into the caves of Afghanistan, pistols became the weapons of choice for soldiers working on point in very close quarters. It became apparent that the 9mm with full metal jacket Geneva Convention ammo was as impotent as it was in WWI, with Al-Queda fanatics soaking up several rounds before they gave up the ghost. Those Yanks fortunate enough to have .45s—Army Delta Force, who purchase their own 1911s out of a stipend provided, and all the Special Operations Command elite who have access to the HK SOCOM pistol in that caliber—found that one or two full metal jacket .45 hardball rounds were all it took to drop a terrorist in his tracks. The call went out again: "We need .45s."


For those who don't like cocked and locked, ParaOrdnance offers their LDA series in double action only. This is one of their concealed-carry models.


What goes around comes around. Santayana was right. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/ayoob83.html

 

[Steeltime]

Handguns are so darn easy to lose. Especially right after you clean them with all that oil, damn things just disappear.

100% truth. I so miss my .40 caliber, which shot really well and was quite easy to sight and use up to 30'. If I had not lost the damn thing, I would have been at the range this past Saturday giving what-for to a paper bad guy.

If only.

 

[Hineswardkickedurpanzyass]

by Farva "And the legend of the .45 as the "one shot, one kill" weapon was reinforced. It did not hurt that reputation that the average target in the Pacific was a rice-fed, half-starved biped who weighed about 130 pounds."

omg, that is so racist. BTW, my wife...up until this morning... had never heard that you could blindfold a Jap with dental floss. She was mad that I said it, but she knows it is true.

 

[Spike]

the military should never have gone away from the good old .45 M1911A1.

Except for the fact it only holds 9 rounds and people couldn't hit **** with it

 

[Superman]

I have no idea why anyone would want a 1911. Especially a Springfield 1911. Most especially a Springfield 1911 in .45. I mean, the absurdity of something like this is just baffling.

 

[Rod Farva]

To each his own I guess. The 1911a1 is not the 1911 but both have incredibly good track records and if you read the article the "Inaccuracy" myth is addressed. I haven't shot one since my military days but had no issues in that regard and know some competition combat shooters that swear by it. 230 gr bullets have an impact that pretty well incapacitate a person right now.

 

[Badcat]

I loved my Kimber 1911 in .45 with the crimson trace grips...but I lost her while fishing.

 

[Badcat]

I loved my Kimber 1911 in .45 with the crimson trace grips...but I lost her while fishing.