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.”
Thank you for the tip, and thank you for your service to our nation. Salute!
I carry a full sized .45 as my daily carry weapon. That being said, the 9mm is an excellent weapon that's superior to the .45 in many respects. A sissy pistol it's not.
SO9
For those of you unsure of what frangible ammunition is, do a google search for Glaser Safety Slugs, or MAG SAFE ammunition.
That should explain it to you presently.
As for my bedstand gun, it is a 4 inch Smith model 19-5 357 magnum loaded with glaser silver 38 special frangible rounds.
It is, however, NOT what I carry on the street.
Wasn't feasible. The .45 is an excellent weapon, but for military applications, the ability to carry more rounds far outweighs any advantage in stopping power the .45 has.
And another thing while I am at it.
The 9mm is only a mousey, underpowered round for those folks limited to full metal jacket ball ammunition.
There are many rounds out there that are close to, or as good as 357 magnum ammunition.
Chosen properly, it the ammo is nearly or AS good as the new flavor of the month handgun round that all the police departments are wanting to go to..the 357 SIG.
See #64
Hey Tonk ~ when you be getting yours? :)
My 9mm spits 145 grain jacketed hollow points like a hose. never a jam
How many S&W products made during the time you mention do you own? I have eight revolvers from that era, they are flawless. All of them are stainless and all had heavy DA triggers, but the SA trigger pull was superb right out of the box and the DA pull was fixed with an after market main spring/trigger return spring set that cost $14. Model 629 revolvers will digest heavy loads better than anything made before, especially the ones made in the 50's and 60's. The 625's rule IPSC and IDPA revolver classes.
A .45 Super on a Para-Ordnance frame, actually.
14 rounds, 230 gr. JHP @1100fps.
I think Boarding Teams, like most police SWAT Teams and Entry Teams should have a big boy's gun. A .45ACP at minimum.
I am considering a new 1911 in .50GI from Guncrafter.
a .50 cal 300gr JHP @ 900fps, but only 6 in the magazine.
SO9
I cant even imagine trying to hold on to that! If you can control that monster I dont think you'll need six rounds. ;^)
.50 1911 only 3 grand? ;^) Im not worthy L0L
My Glock 30 carries 10 with one in the pipe and its a small gun. Strap on a pair of extra magazines and you've got 28 rounds (9 X 3 plus one in the pipe) ready for action.
Point well taken.
I still drool over the .357 sig. I want one so badly I can taste it.
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 [semi] automatic.
Probably just an editorial oversight.
5.56mm
I have a Taurus Titanium .357 with a snubby ported barrel. The muzzle flip is negligible and it's hard to distinguish between the feel of .357 and .38 Spl. The muzzle flash and the noise are really something though.
I took a look at a factory new Mountain Gun during those couple years and didn't buy it because it didn't look "right". Bought a used Mod 29 instead.
Hey, maybe it was an abberation.
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