History of the Beretta M9 in this months NRA mag

[Pilgrims Pride]

I read the history of the Beretta M9 over the past 25 years today.
It seemed to me that the decision to go 9 MM had been made from jump street and just had to be pushed long enough. .45 always did the trick for me, but then no one asked us ground pounders what we thought.
Did anyone else read it that way?

 

[Mike S]

I haven't made it past the Zorro Pistol ad yet...

 

[Chris]

Zorro pistol... $2k Right....

The 9mm was always a political choice, not a tactical one. There is a reason that a number of groups do NOT use that pistol or cartridge - mainly because they want one that will do the job. (^_^)

Nice article, but hopefully there won't be a 30th anniversary.

 

[terraformer]

Zorro pistol... $2k Right....

The 9mm was always a political choice, not a tactical one. There is a reason that a number of groups do NOT use that pistol or cartridge - mainly because they want one that will do the job. (^_^)

Nice article, but hopefully there won't be a 30th anniversary.

Hey, it works on bears!

 

[S. Kelly]

I think a 9MM's a good choice for the military. The ability to carry more ammo is one point. My opinion comes from my father, who saw lots of heavy combat in Korea with the USMC. He was issued a .45 (anti-tank company, so they used crew served weapons like recoiless rifles) which he thought was garbage due to the poor condition they were in. When he was issued a Glock 19 as a police officer, he remarked he'd carry that over a .45 any day due to the hi-capacity and reliability. He always said you can't have too much ammo in combat.

 

[dfritz]

I am issued an M9 (or was) as a platoon corpsman for 1/25. I Liked it and bought my own. But I was told that TO&E had changed again and they took away the corpsmans M9 weapons cards and we are back to the M4's after they took those away for 6 months. Of course I havent used one in combat but a few of my fellow corpsman have and seemed to like them a lot. I do enjoy the ease of taking them down compared to a 1911a1.

 

[kapow]

When he was issued a Glock 19 as a police officer, he remarked he'd carry that over a .45 any day due to the hi-capacity and reliability. He always said you can't have too much ammo in combat.

Great advice!

 

[garandman]

I read the history of the Beretta M9 over the past 25 years today.
It seemed to me that the decision to go 9 MM had been made from jump street and just had to be pushed long enough. .45 always did the trick for me, but then no one asked us ground pounders what we thought.
Did anyone else read it that way?

Well, the article does mention that the Army was officially disapproving of the move away from the M1911 and .45 ACP. Congress responded by officially eliminating budget support for .45 ammo or spares purchases.

But logistically, it makes all the sense in the world to go to 9mmP. It was one thing to us .45 ACP when we had Thompsons and M3's firing the cartridge as well. As they say "Amateurs talk tactics and professionals talk logistics." And while the M1911 has many plusses, it was big, heavy, and the inventory was very old. While on border duty in the Army in Germany in the mid-80's, I carried a .45 and six magazines (three were issued normally) and the prospect of participating in the beginning of WWIII with 21 rounds of .45 was not as appealing as say, 60.

I always questioned why such a large pistol was selected for a sidearm. Seems to me something like one of the compact SIGs was a better choice. I think the M9 is a fine pistol but one of the SIG P-series would be better.

 

[rwl1955]

M9

I read the history of the Beretta M9 over the past 25 years today.
It seemed to me that the decision to go 9 MM had been made from jump street and just had to be pushed long enough. .45 always did the trick for me, but then no one asked us ground pounders what we thought.
Did anyone else read it that way?

*****
Was adopted so we could standardize our ammo w/NATO. It`s time for a new sidearm, one that could be adapted to the size of different shooters hands. One size does not fit all.

 

[Gonzo]

Well, the article does mention that the Army was officially disapproving of the move away from the M1911 and .45 ACP. Congress responded by officially eliminating budget support for .45 ammo or spares purchases.

But logistically, it makes all the sense in the world to go to 9mmP. It was one thing to us .45 ACP when we had Thompsons and M3's firing the cartridge as well. As they say "Amateurs talk tactics and professionals talk logistics." And while the M1911 has many plusses, it was big, heavy, and the inventory was very old. While on border duty in the Army in Germany in the mid-80's, I carried a .45 and six magazines (three were issued normally) and the prospect of participating in the beginning of WWIII with 21 rounds of .45 was not as appealing as say, 60.

I always questioned why such a large pistol was selected for a sidearm. Seems to me something like one of the compact SIGs was a better choice. I think the M9 is a fine pistol but one of the SIG P-series would be better.

Sig's are issued to a lot of different jobs, it's just not the standard. Navy aircrews, among others, run them.

 

[Pilgrims Pride]

I haven't made it past the Zorro Pistol ad yet...

Ya I got a chuckle out of that too.

 

[yanici]

OK I know it's OT but really what the heck would anyone want with a Zorro pistiol? A gay blade is more suitable, no?

 

[Baystatesuks]

I think I would choose a gun that would fire over one that wouldn't. Which is why I believe the M9 got the contract - reliability. I do think that now there exist 45's that are just as reliable. But the M9 is so widespread that going back to the 45 on a uniform basis is unlikely to happen.

 

[KMaurer]

There were M1911A1s that were even more reliable before people started to "improve" the design and try to turn them into Gold Cup knock-offs.

Ken

 

[Jose]

I think a 9MM's a good choice for the military. The ability to carry more ammo is one point. My opinion comes from my father, who saw lots of heavy combat in Korea with the USMC. He was issued a .45 (anti-tank company, so they used crew served weapons like recoiless rifles) which he thought was garbage due to the poor condition they were in. When he was issued a Glock 19 as a police officer, he remarked he'd carry that over a .45 any day due to the hi-capacity and reliability. He always said you can't have too much ammo in combat.

Your father is a smart man.

 

[garandman]

Sig's are issued to a lot of different jobs, it's just not the standard. Navy aircrews, among others, run them.

Sure, and Army CID and other Army units have purchased over 3,000 of them. But the M9 is the standard: the article said the military has just placed another large order.