Army dumping M9?????

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I have owned, carried and shot the 92F/M9 variants in both military and LEO applications for more than a decade. I own a couple besides the ones that have been issued to me.

Is it old technology? Yes.
Is it due for a refresh? Maybe.
Is it entirely adequate for a self defense handgun? Hell Yes.

I have shot the crap out of numerous M9 variants. No weapon failures, no broken locking blocks, etc. I have seen poorly maintained military M9's fail to cycle properly but that is the fault of the operator, not the weapon. My personally owned or issued weapons, properly maintained, have had a total of ZERO malfunctions with any type of ammunition.

[tacticalcity]

Pick one.

Glock did it twice, they can do it again.

I'll say it again. Completely defeats the purpose.

[negolien]

[RRangel]

I actually really like the M9, except that I think the safety should be a decocker. The problem is really poor PMI. And people with little girly hands.



LOL, yeah that could be a problem, but I think a redesign fixed that and there is a redundancy now to prevent the slide from entering your head (which apparently happened at least once).

Oh, and I hate the 9mm ball round, but you can't blame the pistol for that.

I'm actually ok with it too. I just don't buy the locking block story. That's probably the weakest link in whole design of the gun. Whatever it's replaced with will most likely be an improvement given the advancements made in the last 25 years.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I'm not a ballistics expert, but those that are within my particular department have concluded that the difference between 9mm and .45 ACP hollow point rounds is nominal. Therefore the lesser recoil and higher capacity tilts the advantage toward the 9mm. In a military FMJ round scenario the .45 obviously has a ballistic advantage due to the larger, slower moving round.

I love Kimber's and I love 1911's. These however are NOT pistols for the masses. The higher learning curve and need for regular maintenance makes a 1911 a less than stellar choice to issue to thousands of 'non-gun' type people. SF? SWAT? Absolutely. Your average soldier with bare minimum pistol training and experience? No.

[SGT Loco]

I love Kimber's and I love 1911's. These however are NOT pistols for the masses. The higher learning curve and need for regular maintenance makes a 1911 a less than stellar choice to issue to thousands of 'non-gun' type people. SF? SWAT? Absolutely. Your average soldier with bare minimum pistol training and experience? No.

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend 1911s to people who will probably only see and lay hands on it a couple times a year....

[steelrain82]

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend 1911s to people who will probably only see and lay hands on it a couple times a year....

this is why the m9 "sucks" its issued mainly to people who only qualify with it once a year and thats it. so i think even if you had a 1911 you would get the same results, especially since there is more recoil and less shots to get on target with.

[SGT Loco]

this is why the m9 "sucks" its issued mainly to people who only qualify with it once a year and thats it. so i think even if you had a 1911 you would get the same results, especially since there is more recoil and less shots to get on target with.

During qual rounds I think the biggest magazines are only 7 or 9 rounds anyway. I know I've never been given more than 10 rounds at once, even for fam fire.

My personal problems with the M9, even though I don't think it's a bad gun by any means, are ergonomic. I think the grip is unnecessarily large, and I can't stand the placement of the safety on the top of the slide, plus, I feel like it has more felt recoil than it should for a steel 9mm. That's just me personally.

[defplayr]

Good. They should replace it with the M4.

Agreed. Wasn't the Army supposedly going to a H&K .45 ACP like back in 2005?

Right. I'll believe it when I see it.

Either way, I reiterate: I hope it gets replaced with the M4.

What is this M4 they refer to? I assume they don't mean the carbine.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I think part of the 'problem' with the M9 is the brevity of training and familiarity time spent with this weapon. 7-9 rounds in a magazine maybe once a year? Come on.... Any weapon to carried into harm's way deserves more than that. I went to a training class recently where we shot nearly 500 rounds in a single day. Our troops deserve nothing less.

[SGT Loco]

I think part of the 'problem' with the M9 is the brevity of training and familiarity time spent with this weapon. 7-9 rounds in a magazine maybe once a year? Come on.... Any weapon to carried into harm's way deserves more than that. I went to a training class recently where we shot nearly 500 rounds in a single day. Our troops deserve nothing less.

I don't think I've gotten that many rounds out of my rifle in the last two years, much less my M9, much less in a single day.

[negolien]

Agreed. Just because something has been around the block once or twice doesn't mean it needs to be replaced.

Ma Deuce has been around since the 20's and it's still going strong:



The M14 has been around since the 50's, and has since been pulled out of retirement to fill the DMR role which the M16 is mediocre at. It is better than ever in it's new incarnation as the M14EBR-RI!!! They literally take the barreled action out of the old wood stock, and drop them into the new solid, machined aluminum stock, and it's shooting .86 MOA! It's the M14 at it's full potential.

dude you just made me slobber all over myself.. I'd give up all my guns for that 1.

[Quiet]

The .Mil will not be dropping the Beretta M9 anytime soon.
In 2009, they purchased 450,000 Beretta M9s and M9A1s that will be delivered over a 5 year span.

The Modular Handgun System program is currently a study to see if there is a viable commerical replacement for the Beretta M9.
If funds are available, testing of the viable commerical replacements will occur.

Likely viable commerically available replacements will most likely be from the many pistols that spawned from the Joint Combat Pistol program.
AFAIK... the H&K HK-45/HK-45C was considered the lead contender amongst those pistols.

With budget cuts on the horizon, spending money for a new sidearm after spending $220 million for 450,000 Berettas is not likely to occur.

[Snoopy47]

The .Mil will not be dropping the Beretta M9 anytime soon.
In 2009, they purchased 450,000 Beretta M9s and M9A1s that will be delivered over a 5 year span.

That's for "all" branches and services, correct?

[Quiet]

That's for "all" branches and services, correct?

Yes.
M9s for Air Force, Army & Navy and M9A1s for Marine Corps.