If you could change the U.S. Army standard issue pistol

[dodging230grainers]

If you could change the standard issue pistol caliber, not gun, of the U.S. Army, what caliber would you choose?

EDIT: I meant to add a poll with .45ACP, 9MM, .357SIG, .40 S&W, and 10mm. Can a mod help me out? Much thanks.

 

[.40-.45]

i would change it to 40 s & w

that would flood the market with .40

and bring the price down to 9mm

 

[Harry Paget Flashman]

7.62X25 Tokarev. Muzzle velocity, muzzle energy, penetration and that loud "Bang" and blinding flash combine to make it my pick. Though logic should dictate otherwise.

Add a hardened/modified Broomhandle Mauser and a German pickle helmet and I'll forsake my 1911.

 

[DMF]

I wouldn't. We operate worldwide, and 9mm is availabe in large quantities worldwide.

While the M9 is a fine gun, I personally don't shoot it well, which why I'm glad I now get to use the M11 when doing my Reserve duty, but for operating globally the 9mm is a good choice.

Plus with +P rounds 9mm is more than adequate for the job. There's lots of bodies 6 feet under, all around the globe, who were dropped by 9mm rounds. While I like .40 S&W and .45ACP, I carry 9mm everyday, and never feel outgunned. If I can't solve my problem, get to a long gun, or at least hold off the trouble until backup arrives, with 39 rounds of 9mm then my problem isn't caliber specific.

Just my 2 cents. YMMV.

 

[Sean Smith]

My personal take on it is this:

A handgun is never going to be a really effective weapon against body armor, and we hardly ever fight anybody in modern body armor anyway. Heck, some of our enemies are lucky if they are wearing pants. Therefore, we should choose a handgun caliber based on its anti-personnel effectiveness when using full metal jacket ammunition. On that basis, .45 ACP is probably the best choice available. It might be possible to improve the effectiveness of .45 ACP FMJ a bit by using a flat-point bullet or even a jacketed semi-wadcutter, but that's a whole other topic.

 

[Bostonterrier97]

A Handgun chambered in 45 Super or 50 AE. Probably a scaled up version of the Sig P210 or Browning High Power to handle the cartridge pressure.

 

[GaryP]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS[B]].45acp [/B] [/FONT]

 

[Bufford t. Justice]

45acp

 

[psyopspec]

I'm comfortable carrying anything 9mm or larger, and for logisitcal purchases it still seems like the best choice. However, if I could have any caliber in my sidearm for combat I'd choose .357 SIG. It's fast and makes big holes, plus the scaled down casing equals less weight in bulk transport. .45 ACP would be a close second.

 

[Hatchett]

They obviously need .500 S&W handguns so they can shoot down enemy aircraft like the VPC said they can.

 

[tlhelmer]

A Glock 17!

 

[Black Majik]

Back to the .45 ACP.

 

[Cosmoline]

There's so much 1911 goodness out there right now, it's hard to say anything except .45 ACP. However I would add concealable handguns in both .45 and .357 as an option for soldiers having to move around potentially hostile "rear" areas.

 

[gvass]

9 mm Luger _is_ the NATO handgun ammo. It is almost impossible to change.

But, what about the HK MP7 PDW in 9x19 (nonexistent yet) with 20 round flush mag, and 3-rd burst mode? Slightly larger than a pistol, can be carried in a normal belt holster, and the manual of arms (safety, cocking piece) is similar to M16/M4 rifles. There are standard mounting rails on the gun for red dots, also the same as on the battle rifles today.

 

[Seraph]

There's so much 1911 goodness out there right now, it's hard to say anything except .45 ACP. However I would add concealable handguns in both .45 and .357 as an option for soldiers having to move around potentially hostile "rear" areas.

So Colt pre-S80 1911 Governtment Model and Commander pistols, in .45 ACP, then. Even the full size Governtment Model is easily concealable, for most people.

 

[Krag]

9mm

It's the most widely distributed handgun cartridge in the world; all of our allies (and many of our enemies) use it; it is more then powerful enough for 99% of anything a handgun might be called upon to do; good penetration; light weight; the M9 and M11 are excellent service pistols.

Let's be perfectly honest about it. Damn few hostiles are every taken down with handguns. I know a number of SpecOps guys from Ft. Bragg and when in the field many of them don't even carry handguns. They say they are excess weight and they'd rather carry more ammo for their primary weapon/water/comgear/rations.

When they do carry a handgun, they want one that is light weight and holds beaucoups rounds.

I've said this before and will say it again, the army will readopt the .45 ACP and 1911 pistol right after they realize the error of their ways and go back to the M1873 Trapdoor Springfield rifle!

 

[Boats]

I am as big a proponent of the .45ACP as one could want. However, I'd keep the 9mm as the service round. All FMJ rounds pretty much suck, so you might be better served by having a lot of them if for no other reason than to keep the enemys' heads down making noise, hopefully while bugging out if one is fighting with a pistol in the first place.

 

[JeepDriver]

Change the ammo to a quality JHP like Gold Dots or Rangers. That's all it needs!

 

[Island Beretta]

Criteria for a global military pistol round:

Ammo widely available

Ammo able to function under adverse circumstances

Ammo cheap

Ammo effective for its intended purpose

Ammo reliable and accurate

When all is said and done, right now, only the 9x19mm fits all this!!

 

[Sean Smith]

Change the ammo to a quality JHP like Gold Dots or Rangers. That's all it needs!

Not an option. See our interpretation of the Hague conventions for details.

 

[Third_Rail]

Really? Gee, here I was, thinking that our designated marksmen had JHPBT bullets in .308....


Let's say that JHP Gold Dots in 9mm simply improve accuracy, and ta-da you have effective ammo.

 

[chaim]

Never thought I'd say this, but I think the .40S&W is perfect for the military's needs. Since no JHP a larger caliber makes a difference and it is decidedly larger than the 9mm. Still, it also keeps many of the 9mm's advantages- not nearly as large as .45acp so both in space and weight more rounds are easily carriable, high velocity and thus high penatration, high cap mags in a reasonable sized weapon, etc.

A second area I thought I'd never be "won" over by, make the military side arm a polymer handgun. You can keep most or all of the strength and ruggedness of steel without the weight. Especially for infantry and special ops types keeping the weight down on any particular piece of equipment is important. I would say something like the Walther P99, SW99, SA XD40, HKs, SIG Pro, and even Taurus 24/7 (if it proves itself a little longer) or a .40S&W version of the Ruger P345 would be just about perfect.

As for availability- the military will certainly supply ammo, if you need to do a battlefield pick up of ammo you can also pick up the pistol from the same source, and if we issue a caliber it will likely become a (if not the) NATO standard quite quickly.

 

[Shear_stress]

Not trying to incur the wrath of hardcore caliber fans, but, if it were up to me, I would have them stick with the 9mm. Based on what little I know, there just doesn't seem to be enough of a difference in effectiveness between the major auto pistol calibers in order to make that the main criterium for choosing one over the other. A lot of the 9mm versus 45 debate seems to be based on anecdotal evidence--and a lot of that evidence is of the "9mm didn't drop the guy instantly, so 45 is better" variety. One may be 2.4mm larger in diameter, one may be a few hundred feet per second faster, but they both get the job done about as well. Neither is a thunderbolt from the gods.

That said, to me, the caliber choice would be based on logistics and magazine capacity. For now, 9mm is still the best choice.

 

[jeff-10]

A matte black version of the 1076 in 10mm or a 10 round P220 in 10mm.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

A lot of comments have been made about the wide availability of 9mm ammo.

But the US Army doesn't forage for ammunition! We're not dependent on what we find lying on the ground, or in an ammo dump the enemy abandoned. We produce plenty of ammo here, and use US-made ammo almost exclusively.

And it's not that we fire thousands of tons of pistol ammo in combat -- I took 150 rounds of .357 to Viet Nam my first tour as an adviser, and fired exactly two in combat -- and that probably makes me a statistical anomaly, because I know lots of people who were in combat just as heavy, and never had occasion to fire a pistol.

But when you NEED a pistol, you need an EFFECTIVE, RELIABLE pistol. The .45 ACP and it's classic pistol, the M1911 fills that bill.