Obama's army would like a caliber measured in fluid ounces.
Posted on 01/15/2015 9:47:42 AM PST by shove_it
The U.S. Army has declined to evaluate the Beretta M9A3, an updated, heavily-modified variant of the M9 and M9A1, as a part of the ongoing contract for service pistols. Officials may continue to order M9A1 pistols until they select a new design.
The Army has been using the Beretta M9 since 1985, but the guns are showing their age, so officials are looking for a new standard-issue sidearm. While the Army adopted the M9A1, an updated variant of the M9 introduced in 2006, maintenance costs are pushing the Army to look for something more modern and more affordable.
In cooperation with the Air Force, the Army started the Modular Handgun System project in 2013 to evaluate possible replacements for the M9 series and select a new service pistol that has more features and addresses the shortcomings identified with the basic M9 design.
In the meanwhile the Army has an open contract with Beretta for M9A1s to stock armories as necessary. In a bid to extend that contract, Beretta developed the M9A3, which sports many of the features the Army is looking for at a lower price per unit than their current M9A1 contract is set at.
Despite the listed improvements and lower price, the Army will not be looking at the M9A3 to finish out the current contract with Beretta, the Military Times reports...
...The Modular Handgun System calls for a pistol with a closed slide design and a modular grip system that can accommodate all hand sizes. The MHS is also evaluating handguns chambered for calibers other than 9mm NATO, including .40 S&W and .45 ACP.
(Excerpt) Read more at guns.com ...
Bang List ping
M1911A1. There. I said it. They work great.
M1911A1. There. I said it. They work great.
You can say that again. US Army wants a sidearm in a caliber starting with a four.
Woo Hoo!!!
I’m shocked as the dear leader I figured would have done it just to slap SWHC in the face...must have been distracted by the football and golf. Rush is discussing the white h0use being a sl33per c3ll right now...I agree!
You can say that again!
Obama's army would like a caliber measured in fluid ounces.
The perfect tends to be the enemy of the good in this sort of discussion, and I do think it’s time to reconsider the roles of handguns in the military from a more basic standpoint. Sentry duty is one profile, last-ditch combat usage is quite another (and hopefully rare), and it’s difficult to imagine one platform satisfying both roles. Maybe we should consider two guns?
They already have two guns... The M9 and the SIG M11 (P228).
In the distant past, government firearms were considered PUBLIC PROPERTY, and when their useful life was done they were sold back to the public at auction.
Now they are destroyed rather than allow the public, who purchased them for the Government, take possession of THEIR PROPERTY.
I hope they are considering .357 SIG. It is a better penetrator than 9mm, .40, or .45.
(And just think: if the military went to a .357 SIG standard, the price of ammo in that caliber would drop!)
Beretta used to be a brand I avoided like the plague because I had the notion that since WWII, they made little other than "Fudd Specials," but as time has gone by and people have let me try their Berettas, I find that - in general - they are easy to live with and I don't need to do much to make consistent hits with them. If niteowl77 would just agree on releasing the necessary funds, I'd dump the levergun and put a Cx4 Storm carbine in its place.
Mr. niteowl77
The COLT 1911 in .45 ACP was designed to put down moslem Juramentados.
Why not bring it back!
The COLT 1911A1 in .38 Super was designed to pierce the bullet “proof” vests the criminals were using back in the 1920s and 30s.
How about one gun, two different ammo loads? A heavy hollow point for sentry, and a hot jacketed round for combat.
The Cx4 is a nice rifle. Love mine in 9mm.
Darned good round. Very popular in Mexico where caliber size is restricted by the government.
Glocks are far better in operational environment...however, as another poster just stated - the 1911 is the superior sidearm to have in combat!
What a waste to re-issue these M9A3 sidearms...
IMO, the Army needs to replace the elderly M16/M4 before they need a new pistol.
Glock 17 in 9MM, Glock 21 in .45ACP and Glock 22 in .40 S&W.
Gen 4 Glocks have a modular grip system.
The only confusion would be magazines in 9MM and .40 are nearly identical, so drop the .40 and issue 9MM +P ammo.
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