[smokingfrog]

Beretta M9 25th Anniversary Edition

[Domalais]

I really dislike my M9.

[SkyDancer]

The 1911A1 .45 has been around for over a hundred years and used in five wars.

[Farmer Dean]

I’ve owned a Beretta 92FS since 1992.It’s never failed to fire and has never jammed.My main fault with it is it’s a 9mm,a nice plinking round but not my choice to carry into a shooting situation.

[yarddog]

I have no idea why the 5000 round figure got out there. I never did like the grip on the Beretta but it simply is a very very reliable gun.

I recall some of the old Star model 28 and 30 models went over 100,000 rounds at rental ranges.

[Yossarian]

Any opinions on the Beretta PX4 Storms, either the .40 or 9mm, now that they’ve been out for a while?

[stevem]

My son is a Navy pilot. When he was commissioned we bought him a Beretta for a gift. I judge from this article it may have been a bad choice.

I've shot it and like it. I also like that you can afford to shoot it with factory ammunition.

Neither he nor I have ever used it in combat. I was able to hit my target despite my aging depth perception. He passed his markmanship test two or three years running with it or one just like it the Navy gave him for the test.

Maybe it's only a toy, but it's a fun toy.

[2banana]

But women can shoot the M9. They can't shoot anything with a bigger round.

The M9 is an outcome of PC in the army.

Just like easier physical fitness tests for female soldiers. And quotas for hard to get slots. And when they get pregnant they are non-deployable.

But who needs an army that can fight anyways?

Just wait until the new gay army...

[FlyingEagle]

Sig 229 is a masterpiece.

[yarddog]

I remember when the first tests were conducted back around 1980 by the Air Force. All the pistols went through the regular series of torture, reliability, mud, dirt etc. and the Beretta won easily.

The Army refused to accept the Air Force results and did their own. The Beretta won again tho the SIG P226 was just about as good.

Smith & Wesson persuaded some politicians to have the tests done again and the Beretta again came out on top tho both the S&W and SIG did well, some say just as well.

Whatever one thinks, the Beretta is reliable and performs well under stress tests.

[grobdriver]

Time to return to the 1911.

[Darksheare]

The M9 felt like a VCR tape in my hands.
I refused to attempt to qualify with it back in ‘99.
It did not inspire confidence while I was holding it.

Though I did find a Kimber .45 that DID inspire confidence while I was holding it.
The brass won’t go to ‘old’ tech though.

[Azeem]

My choice is the M&P .45

[taxcontrol]

1911 style double stack 9x23

[Malone LaVeigh]

IIRC, at the time the Beretta was adopted, there was a push to achieve commonality with our allies. During WWII, we used the .30'06 the Brits used the .303, the French were using the 7.5x57. We had the .45 ACP, the Brits had the.455 Webley. It was a quartermasters nightmare, especially when allied troops operated together.
Following the war, when NATO was in it's heyday, an effort was made to have everyone using the same ammo. Most of our allies had adopted the 9mm by this time. The smaller caliber was also easier for most troops to handle. The Beretta was one of the few platforms at the time which offered a pistol that met the criteria for military use.
To be honest, the 1911 was still in service when I served in the Army. The issue 1911's were so old and worn out by that time that I wondered if throwing one at the enemy wouldn't be more effective than shooting one. I wasn't very impressed with them. Years later, I've changed my opinion. I own 3 1911's and would have more if I could. They are the most inherently accurate pistols I shoot, and there's no question about their stopping power. I doubt that the military will ever go back to them, but there are other pistols chambered for the .45 ACP that would serve well. And the .45ACP is such an American cartridge. I think that commonality in this case could be done away with.

[FW190]

"“The M9 is at the end of its lifecycle,” declared Maj. Art Thomas [not shown], small arms branch chief at the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, GA. “It is an old weapon.”

For sure it's an "old weapon!”

The first time I saw one disassembled, I recognized what I was looking at. It's A WW II GERMAN P-38! With a longer slide and a couple of other minor improvements. DOD bought a 70 year old design in a "NEW" envelope. LOL

[Mr Rogers]

My preference:

A bit more seriously, the 45 ACP is an outstanding self-defense choice. Less power than a .357, but a bigger diameter hole. Glocks aren't quite my thing, but would probably make a great service weapon.

[crazydad]

I like my M9. Matter of opinion I guess. I had a Rock Island .45 and it kept jamming even when it was new..

[MarkL]

I can't speak for the modern M9, which is based on the modern PT-92/99 series. But I've got an old Taurus PT-99, which was made on Baretta equipment in Brazil. It's the old-style PT-99 with a 1911 style, frame mounted safety. It's been incredibly reliable, and for 3 years I used it for USPSA shooting, putting about 35,000 rounds through it in those 3 years. During those 3 years I only had 2 problems. The first was after loading up some "interesting" rounds with IMI 169gr FMJBT bullets... Which I later learned to be +P+ SMG rounds. After about 9 rounds the weapon refused to cycle. It has broken one of the two locking lugs, jamming the weapon closed. It was easy to clear, but I was impressed with the strength of the gun, even with the open slide. The second problem was during a match where I noticed something had changed, but I couldn't quite put my finger on the problem: After the stage I found that the rear sight had fallen off the gun.

In both cases, Taurus fixed the problems with no questions asked.

Mark

[The Pack Knight]

This is seriously long overdue. Ditch the Beretta AND the 9mm.

If I was in a situation where I actually had to use a sidearm in combat, I think I’d rather not do it with a failure-prone pistol with no stopping power.

[Still Thinking]

Uh, gee, not to be too radical here, but how about a 1911 in, oh I don’t know....45 ACP! Might that sidearm be serviceable for the military? [facepalm]