What sidearm should replace the U.S. M9?

[amper]

A model 92 with a steel frame and a Brigadier slide would last decades with constant use.

So why not simply replace the regular M9 with a model with these features, plus a stronger locking block? It's not as if this would require much, and the only downsides are somewhat heavier weight and slightly higher cost, while obtaining much improved service life.

All you really have to do is take the Steel I frame and replace the Vertec grip with the original design, and pop on the Brigadier slide.

Leave it at 9mm. I don't see the need for a heavier round, unless you want to make the argument for .40 S&W becoming the new standard.

The Beretta 92 is a proven platform, even it if does have a few minor flaws. Those flaws can be easily corrected, but even in it's current guise, it more than surpasses the requirements set forth by the DoD.

 

[Doogy]

i carried the M9 in the Marine Corps without a hiccup, and own one now. I think it is a great weapon, and with the new purchase of 24,000 weapons by the DOD, they aren't going away anytime soon.

If they did go away, i'd like to see the FNP-45 take its place. FNP has a great track record with the US Military, and it is a very well made weapon, and being a double stack .45, would provide great firepower.

 

[RNB65]

Polymer framed .40 or .45. Doesn't really matter if it's a Glock, Beretta, S&W -- whichever one does best in the trials. I think the old school insistence on a manual safety is both unnecessary and silly.

 

[Mad Magyar]

So why not simply replace the regular M9 with a model with these features, plus a stronger locking block? It's not as if this would require much, and the only downsides are somewhat heavier weight and slightly higher cost, while obtaining much improved service life.

Just finished reading an interesting account of the M9 by Rick Hacker in a current gun rag....He admitted up front that he is a die-in-the wool 1911 .45 guy. It seems that many of the early faults have been corrected and gave some convincing data that this weapon has a lot going for it... P.S. He bought the test sample...I though they got freebies!

 

[BlindJustice]

Regardless of the platform,

I think we should go to the .40 S&W.

It would serve the Military well in the urban arena
that the troops in Iraq face. A 12 cap. magazine with
optional higher cap mags.

Open up a competition for an all steel DA/SA with Cocked
and Locked option - thumb safety like the 1911. As well as
a sub-machine gun along the lines of an MP5 with
full/3 rd burst,/ semi-auto

A 165 gr. bullet designed along the lines of the Fed. FMJ that
opens up for terminal performance as a standard round isn't that
radical in this day of claymores, napalm, cluster bombs, etc..

R-

 

[ceadermtnboy]

I agree with the FNP-45 as a good choice. I could also throw in the Springield XD & Smith & Wesson M&P in 45 caliber as well.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

US Model M1911B. Just like the M1911A1.

 

[mr.trooper]

CZ P01
CZ 97
Sig 220
Glock 17
1911, either 9mm or 45

Any of the usual suspects would be fine.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

US Model M1911B. Just like the M1911A1

I'd add higher and wider sights (perhaps tritium), a beavertail grip safety with a "bump" for positive disengagement when using Modern Pistol Technique, and a lowered and beveled ejection port.

It would look a lot like my Kimber Classic MKI.

 

[AK-47Ghost]

Hk Usp!!!

Gotta' go with the HK USP in .45 ACP:

.45ACP
12 + 1 capacity
Integrated light rail
slim polymer frame
manual thumb safety
rugged construction
more than combat accurate
cocked and locked carry

What's not to like?
As I understand things this model was built with the replacement of the 1911 in mind...and in my opinion one of the top three handguns built to date!!!!

 

[jeepmor]

bring back the 10mm

 

[Thin Black Line]

A lot of people here suggesting a hi-cap 45. Really? For an Army with females
and a lot of non-combat arms personnel deploying overseas who will be lucky
to shoot more than 50 rds before they get on a plane let alone get their hand
around the grip?

The M9 is good for what it is (a hi-cap 9mm). I carried the M9 on deployment,
but I own the Sig 226. Although the 226 was not selected years back due to cost,
it should be comparable now in cost.

 

[DougDubya]

The only thing that needs to be done is the use of hollowpoints in combat. And since we're not Hague accord signates we CAN!

 

[La Pistoletta]

The only thing that needs to be done is the use of hollowpoints in combat. And since we're not Hague accord signates we CAN!

I really don't get why they aren't used by the US. Not only is the prohibition of HP rounds retarded to begin with (case in point: for hunting they're mandated due to being more humane), but what would actually happen if the US were to start using HP's?

Complaints from the UN? I'm really trying not to be heavily sarcastic about that...let's just go with "who cares?". US armed forces should be equipped with the most effective weaponry. Soldiers, marines, special forces etc are not sarificial fodder for the benefit of terrorists, enemy combatants or foreign nations.

They are an end to themselves and to the preservation of the US. For those reasons - and those reasons alone - they should be equipped with hollow point ammunition.

Not one American life in exchange for the well being of those who would threaten the US enough to warrant military action against them to begin with. Not a single one. Preemptive or retaliative war implies that you're in the moral right to defeat your enemy. That right stems from your right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, and the necessity to defend them.

The decision to go to war assumes you've asserted that right. After this fact you do not hamstring your fighting troops. To do so is contradictory and perverse.

 

[jjohnson]

M1911A1. Again. Possibly Glock or Similar.

Well, call me old fashioned, but seems to me the M1911A1 did fairly well.

I know the military goes through considering this every now and then, and if I recall right, it wasn't but a couple years ago that for that very purpose, we had Taurus and others working on a new design to fit the bill in .45ACP.

Keeping to the question, since this isn't a SOCOM bid or anything, and we're talking about average troops, we can translate that to "idiot proof" as a requirement. Sorry, but I'm a vet, and though I teethed on the M1911A1, I knew troops that couln't remember how the safety worked.

That in mind, maybe another look at Glock type polymer pistols is in order. Simple design, rugged, higher cap than the M1911A1, and lighter to carry are all attributes that wouldn't bother me in an issue sidearm, even if I personally like the old GI 45 better. I'd really like to see the sidearm be 45 caliber again, and if the 1911 can be exceeded in a superior design (whatever THAT means) I'm all for it.

 

[abrink]

How about the gun it replaced?

Sound great to me but it'll never happen. I hear a few spec ops units still use them but i could be wrong.

 

[North of 49th]

Glock 17 or if it were dreamland; 1911's in .45

 

[Glock Glockler]

Ruger p89 or CZ75

 

[BigCompetator]

anything as long as its a glock .40 or .45

 

[Disaster]

I really don't get why they aren't used by the US. Not only is the prohibition of HP rounds retarded to begin with (case in point: for hunting they're mandated due to being more humane), but what would actually happen if the US were to start using HP's?

The logic between hunting and warfare is different. In hunting the goal is to kill quickly. In warfare the goal is to incapacitate. It is actually better if you incapacitate but don't kill because that leaves the other side with a casuality to care for.

The reasoning I read, that hollowpoints were disallowed was because they break apart and cause post operative difficulties. The Federal EMJ is being looked at but is only under consideration if the rubber tip is coated with a material that makes it easier to find during xrays.

Either way, I agree, the logic is stupid. There are lots of other nasty stuff going on in warfare, like bombs and land mines that kill with secondary projectiles that don't show up on x-rays.

 

[DEDON45]

I would like a 1911 ... but, the XD .45 with the manual safety (one of the new ones) would be pretty good too.

 

[mpmarty]

Forget the Glocks, never happen for many, many reasons not the least of which is their piss poor record with our Portland Oregon police dept. their refusal to "deal" with reality such as their infamous kabooms due to huge chamber gaps in early 40 caliber weapons and finally because they are Austrian owned and we don't need any bases or concessions from little Austria.

1. Any pistol issued to our military should be in 45acp.
2. Any pistol issued to our military will have an exposed hammer.
3. Any pistol issued to our military will have an external safety.

Any questions?

 

[KiltedClaymore]

something in .45acp using a high cap doublestack mag with tridium(sp?) night sights.

 

[PhillyGlocker]

Forget the Glocks, never happen for many, many reasons not the least of which is their piss poor record with our Portland Oregon police dept. their refusal to "deal" with reality such as their infamous kabooms due to huge chamber gaps in early 40 caliber weapons and finally because they are Austrian owned and we don't need any bases or concessions from little Austria.

1. Any pistol issued to our military should be in 45acp.
2. Any pistol issued to our military will have an exposed hammer.
3. Any pistol issued to our military will have an external safety.

If this is true, why do a great deal of agencies still carry them?

 

[Darthbauer]

IF they switch to another weapon they would stay with the same round due to having a surplus of 9mm.

Same reason they are testing new rifles that use the same mags and rounds as the M-16/M4.