PDWs Replacing Pistols January 5, 2004: Bye Bye Beretta, Hello PDW? The 9mm pistol cartridge has been in use for over 100 years by militaries and civilian law enforcement, but renewed efforts are underway both in the U.S. and European military establishments to field a replacement round, and a new type of weapon to fire it. The new weapon has been dubbed the Personal Defense Weapon (PDW) by NATO. This spring, the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab at Quantico, Virginia will be holding an evaluation between PDW contenders from FN Herstal and Hecker & Koch (H&K) in order to find a...