Heres my RIA 45
Posted on 12/11/2004 6:12:01 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
The Coast Guard is trading in the 9 mm sidearms it has used for 18 years in favor of a more powerful pistol, the Sig Sauer .40-caliber automatic.
Lt. j.g. John Strasburg of the Office of Cutter Forces at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., said the service has started to take delivery on the first of 12,000 handguns to be purchased under a $4.2 million contract. Field units will start to get them next September.
“It's going to take a while to get all the weapons out to the fleet,” Strasburg said. “The transition plans are still in development in terms of who's going to get them first. The target date of September 2005 is only when we're going to start the transition. It may take a year after that to get it out to the entire Coast Guard.”
Eventually personnel authorized to carry sidearms at Station New London and the Coast Guard Academy will have the guns.
He said 22 Coast Guard marksmen helped to evaluate 46 models of handguns from six major vendors, firing 15,000 rounds during three weeks of tests in Altoona, Pa., and Fort Benning, Ga. The guns were each rated on 53 characteristics, and the shooters kept detailed logs about the rounds they fired.
“It was a very extensive evaluation,” Strasburg said. “It's all they did for three weeks.”
The testers were looking for a gun with a low-profile hammer so it would not catch on life vests at sea, and they wanted a particular type of rail that would allow the service to mount lights for a laser sight or illumination on top of the gun.
He said this is the first time the service has adopted a handgun other than the one used by the Department of Defense, which still uses the 9 mm.
The acquisition program coincides with the acquisition of new guns by the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of the Coast Guard. The department is outfitting its offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, Transportation Security Administration and Federal Law Enforcement Training Center with Sig Sauer and Heckler & Koch handguns in 9 mm as well as .357- and .40-caliber.
At the time it was put into use, the 9 mm was hailed for its large magazine — 17 rounds — and long-range accuracy. It replaced the .45-caliber automatic, which was heavy and had limited accuracy, but had enormous stopping power.
One Coast Guard officer said the Sig Sauer .40 makes more sense for boarding teams and other law enforcement functions because its heavier round provides greater stopping power, and when it is used it will probably be at close range and in a situation where the Sig Sauer's 12 rounds will be more than sufficient.
Strasburg said another problem is that the 9 mm pistols are aging. They were designed to fire up to 5,000 rounds, but Coast Guard guns fire an average of 500 rounds per year, mostly in training, so the average 9 mm in service now has fired almost twice that number of rounds.
“The Berettas have gone long beyond their service life,” Strasburg said. “We're getting a lot of frame failures, and there are other unreliability issues.”
The .40-caliber Sig Sauer emerged from the tests as the top choice of the testers, he said.
“The .45 has the stopping power, the 9 mm has the penetrating power, so this gives us something in between,” Strasburg said.
The gun that the Coast Guard has selected is a variation of the popular Sig Sauer P229 known as the P229R-DAK.
This will also be the first time that the Coast Guard will provide its forces with three different types of ammunition, which can be tailored to a particular mission. The types will be:
•Jacketed ball ammunition, the only type that is in use now, which is designed to pass cleanly through a target. This will be the only ammunition authorized for use in joint operations with the Department of Defense.
•Hollow point, a type of bullet designed to mushroom on impact, causing a more devastating wound.
•Frangible or “soft” rounds, made of ceramic or metal powder that are designed to break apart into dust when they hit something hard, to prevent ricochets during close-quarters combat.
“The reactions so far have been phenomenal,” Strasburg said. “We have a lot of experienced shooters in the office, people with a lot of trigger time, and they all say it fires great.”
Heres my RIA 45
Now isn't tat cute, shakey goes from feeding at one govt. trough to another.
I hope to never find out if they work as advertised.
I always found my Mod 29 6 inch came right back to center after firing. Maybe it was the rubber Pachmyer grips.
It's probably best for open carry, too big for CC. But huge fun to target practice in that last 1/2 hour before twilight and see the 1 1/2 foot diameter flash that surrounds the cylinder, like a little cannon.
I'm looking for a self-Christmas present and may go for a used S&W Mountain Gun or maybe a new Trail Boss. Plus a Kel-Tec 3AT to replace a P32.
I dont have a taurus rvolver but have my eye on the 608 Lemme know how you like the 44
My PT99 works great and taurus does have a lifetime transferable warrenty
You do understand that was all in jest?
.40's nice, but .45 is my favorite. Wish they'd have gone back to that.
True,and their products became pretty darned shoddy at the same time. But they've been owned by a more enlightened company for several years now and have redeemed themselves in the eye of many.
"The M-14 felt like a rifle."
I prefer the M14 over the M16, too. I carried an M14 in basic (Ft. Lewis 1969). I'd like to have an M14, but the M1A is the closest thing I can find and pricey. I have 2 M1's; one in '06 and one in .308.
That said, If I ever absolutely needed that sort of stopping power, I'd want the best.
Agree. 1960s S&Ws were the smoothest ever.
Automatic? Really?
If I were looking for something in the nightstand, I'd go for 38 SP DA only revolver with frangibles. That's just me, I'm a bit skittish of semis or SA in the dark.
I would not want to be in the boarding party that had to manhandle that piece into the Zodiac.
I also shot what I think was a 6 1/2 inch 29. It was really nice, and just a bit more than a 4 inch .357. The shorter .44 was brutal.
Try West Coast Bullets (Carson City, NV) or Sinterfire.
Either of these outfits will accommodate you.
Be careful after seating frangible rounds - none or next to no crimp. Too much & the projectile will break around the mouth of the case.
Frangible bullets are made of a lighter (less dense) material than a traditional all lead or jacketed ones. The material is actually compressed metal powder (zinc, copper etc).
Adjust your charge weight accordingly if you adhere to IDPA or IPSC power factors.
For ex. a 9mm bullet of similar size to a 124 gr. FMJ will weigh in at around 100 gr. (West Coast Bullets) These work great for Steel Challenge!!!!!!!
Happy shooting.......
Regards
LFOD - IRAQ
You need to apply the "it's a journalist, so therefore uninformed," factor.
I'D even buy one for that price.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.