There's been a lot of talk about the shortcomings of the Beretta open top slide--mostly related to performance in sandy conditions. I had a couple of interesting thoughts...
1. The Helwan (a Beretta open top style pistol) and various other copies of the single stack 9mm Beretta that predated the 92 have enjoyed a LONG and successful service life...IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
2. The people blaming the open top slide for dirt related issues seldom have anything bad to say about the M1 Garand or M14/M1A which both have an open top design (as opposed to designs like the AK-47 and the FAL which have a top cover to help prevent dirt from getting at the bolt).
If there really are performance issues with the M9s that relate to sandy conditions; based on the above observations, it would seem that they must be magazine issues, NOT anything related to an open top design.
1. The Helwan (a Beretta open top style pistol) and various other copies of the single stack 9mm Beretta that predated the 92 have enjoyed a LONG and successful service life...IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
2. The people blaming the open top slide for dirt related issues seldom have anything bad to say about the M1 Garand or M14/M1A which both have an open top design (as opposed to designs like the AK-47 and the FAL which have a top cover to help prevent dirt from getting at the bolt).
If there really are performance issues with the M9s that relate to sandy conditions; based on the above observations, it would seem that they must be magazine issues, NOT anything related to an open top design.