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The Washington Post is reporting that the FBI is going to equip approximately 13,000 agents, by 2016, with a new 9mm pistol. The FBI does not know which pistol it will be, yet. This is big news in the handgun world.
One reason for the upcoming change is that the FBI has been testing various state of the art production 9mm rounds, and found that the Speer 147 gr Gold Dot G2 is extremely effective and suitable for their requirements. You can look up the story on the internet.
That round is currently priced at $1.15 per round for a box of 20 at MidwayUSA, and is out of stock at the moment, so this will never be cheap practice ammo. You can assume that it'll be very hard to find for awhile when the FBI starts ramping up its purchases. But we can also assume that Speer's competitors already have brought out, or soon will offer competing products.
Believe it or not, 9mm ammo has evolved quite a bit from its original form, and the modern loads are serious business. FBI testing is seriously respected by many law enforcement agencies. I'm a stubborn, one-caliber 9mm fan; that's my story and I'm sticking with it! I'm not posting this to start a debate about .45acp or change the minds of 1911 fans, so please don't go there. I just thought this was pretty significant news of interest to hand gunners.
I'm currently using Hornady 115 gr FTX Critical Defense as the nightstand duty load, another pricey modern cartridge. Maybe I should move to a heavier round. It's the old question of balancing velocity vs. bullet weight vs. expansion vs. penetration, and many a pitcher of beer has been consumed while trying to resolve the question. It appears that the FBI has decided that Speer got it right.
One reason for the upcoming change is that the FBI has been testing various state of the art production 9mm rounds, and found that the Speer 147 gr Gold Dot G2 is extremely effective and suitable for their requirements. You can look up the story on the internet.
That round is currently priced at $1.15 per round for a box of 20 at MidwayUSA, and is out of stock at the moment, so this will never be cheap practice ammo. You can assume that it'll be very hard to find for awhile when the FBI starts ramping up its purchases. But we can also assume that Speer's competitors already have brought out, or soon will offer competing products.
Believe it or not, 9mm ammo has evolved quite a bit from its original form, and the modern loads are serious business. FBI testing is seriously respected by many law enforcement agencies. I'm a stubborn, one-caliber 9mm fan; that's my story and I'm sticking with it! I'm not posting this to start a debate about .45acp or change the minds of 1911 fans, so please don't go there. I just thought this was pretty significant news of interest to hand gunners.
I'm currently using Hornady 115 gr FTX Critical Defense as the nightstand duty load, another pricey modern cartridge. Maybe I should move to a heavier round. It's the old question of balancing velocity vs. bullet weight vs. expansion vs. penetration, and many a pitcher of beer has been consumed while trying to resolve the question. It appears that the FBI has decided that Speer got it right.
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