Posted on 06/30/2016 3:44:49 PM PDT by PROCON
The Federal Bureau of Investigation awarded Glock an $85 million contract to produce 9mm handguns for the better part of a decade, according to the notice published Wednesday.
The contract marks a milestone in the history of FBI weapons as the agency famously ditched 9mm in the mid-1980s for a larger .40-caliber handgun. The return comes after 30 years of ballistic improvements to 9mm ammunition.
The contract covers five items that include a compact pistol, a full-size pistol, an inert training pistol, a Simunition training pistol, and replacement parts, according to the solicitation.
Specifications in the solicitation suggest Glock will be supplying the FBI with a Glock 19 compact and a Glock 17 for the full-size pistol.
Initial requests included a compact pistol with a barrel length between 3.75-4.25 inches, a minimum 14-round capacity, and night sights. And the full-size with a barrel 4.26-5.2 inches, minimum mag capacity of 16 rounds and night sights.
The FBI estimates spending between $20 million to $85 million in the next 10 years under the contact.
While the price may seem excessive, the contract may also equip 10 federal law enforcement agencies — ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals, etc — and the Office of Inspector General for all federal agencies.
The caliber change comes 30 years after the agency’s high-profile response (dramatic among handgun aficionados) to a shootout that ended with the deaths of two agents who were essentially outgunned. The agency formally switched from revolvers to semi-auto pistols.
According to the American Rifleman, initially, the change was to a Smith & Wesson Model 1076 chambered in 10mm, which is on par with .40 caliber. But the results were poor and the agency replaced it with Sig 226 as a temporary fix. In 1997, the FBI officially adopted Glock .40 S&W pistols as the service pistol for agents.
I have shot Glocks a bunch,
I still like my Kimber.
Lot of Glocks out there though
RE Gen 4:
They did a really nice job with it. Grip feels nice. Not as fat as my older one.
But... the older girl just rests in the hand nicely.
Wifey likes the Gen 4 better. So, when we do the range, she likes to shoot that one. Good with it, too.
I have been known to have a trunk gun though. AK with 5 or 6 loaded mags in a cloth grocery bag.
With some of the weak 10-mm factory loads this is somewhat true. But not so when you are using the loads like I do. No way does a 9-mm even +P+ come close to the real hot original Norma 10-mm loads like I do which are in the 41 Magnum equivalency. It is over 40% more muzzle energy and can handle 200 grain slugs. The 9-mm +P+ can just about get 500 ft.lbs but can only propel 147 grains at the most. Bullet weight has a lot to do with terminal ballistics.
I guess Glocks are fine, I just don’t like the feel of them. Which is a pretty important thing for a gun owner, but at the same time is not necessarily a criticism of Glocks as such.
I keep coming back to the model 19 because of the round it chambers.
I wish Sig and HK would compete against each other for a compact semiauto in .357. The results would be awesome, incredible, gaga-goo-goo for quality gun lovers.
I did read an in depth piece on how / why the switch to 9mm came about. Logical move IMO.
Hadn’t seen those. Kinda cool.
I’m about to learn me some shootin with a Springfield XDM 9mm. Have heard some great things about it. The owner of said gun is the most accurate shooter at his range.
It’s a nice little piece. I’ve had mine for while. Nice to have a wheelgun that uses the same ammo. Got it used a few years ago.
My G-17 disagrees. :-)
Modern 9mm has 5p% expansion.....for a .355 this means the caliber is actually. 5325 once it hits flash and expands. Any increase in caliber size does little additional damage. You can think it does, but in reality a .5325 caliber is about as effective as a 60 caliber.
My G-17 disagrees. :-)
5p% = 50%
I love my original 19, incredibly reliable, easy to disassemble and clean, and durable, but the one weakness is the frame is so light, as the mag empties the balance changes quite dramatically, and you have to learn to compensate for it.
Why were the results poor?
10mm is a good round, but I can see how some people wouldn't be able to handle it.
The 40 S&W is basically a 10mm with a smaller cartridge (and less powder, and less recoil). I'm not sure why they are abandoning that.
I've shot a 40 S&W all day in competition. In a full-size gun, it's easy to handle. It can be a handful in a sub-compact handgun, but I'm referring to the G-27. The G-23 is the compact (same size as the G-19) the FBI was using, and a good balance between size and recoil.
The G-23 has two less rounds in the magazine, but I'm not sure why that would be an issue. I can swap magazines as almost as fast as I would be shooting outside a competition.
The article claims "30 years of ballistic improvements" to the 9mm. What exactly would this be, and does it include higher-pressure loading that would have as much recoil as the 40 S&W?
Well, you know as well as I do that there are many other fine handguns out there, the article just happens to be about Glocks.
Try hunting a 400 lb boar with a 9-mm +P+ and see how fast you kill it. You will likely have to empty the magazine and end up getting mauled. The 10-mm does it with one or two shots. Weight makes a big difference as it is constrained by F=ma which never fails to prove itself true. Bigger bullets like any other projectiles do much greater damage to tissue or hardened structures.
I just picked up a Gen 4 21 .45. I am looking forward to shooting it!
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