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Makers Compete To Produce US Army's Next Official Handgun (military.com)
HughPickens.com writes: After 30 years in use, the U.S. Army's official handgun, the Beretta M9 pistol, is being retired. The AP reports that firearms manufacturers are competing for a rare chance to sell the U.S. Army a new handgun that would replace the current Cold War-era model. Critics say the M9 is too bulky for small-handed shooters. Troops who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan complain it's not as hard-hitting as they would like, and it can't easily accommodate the accessories now common in the civilian firearms market, such as swappable gun-sights or gun-mounted lights. "It's a little one size-fits-most" says Rodney Briggs.. "It's been around for a really, really long time, and it's just old and outdated." Read more, below.
Hugh Pickens continues: Army has a lengthy list of requirements. Among them, it wants a handgun with an adjustable grip that can easily fit large or small hands. That way, shooters don't have to adjust their grip mid-fight to operate hard-to-reach buttons or levers. The gun should accommodate sights that make it easier to shoot in low light. It should have a rail on which soldiers can easily attach additional equipment, like infrared pointers. The military also wants a gun that can be equipped with a suppressor, which muffles the sound of gunshots. Beretta intends to enter a new pistol called the APX into the competition. The new gun is a major engineering departure from the M9. It has a polymer frame like more recent handguns and can meet the Army's other requirements. Beretta has publicly complained that the government never formally requested efforts to improve its M9, which the company said is a standard procedure for upgrading platforms. "If you look at the history for a variety of weapons, you'll find all along we'll have used spiral development, product improvement. Where was the requirement they notify prime contractor with an opportunity to fix the problem?" says Howard Yellen, a military adviser for Beretta.
Hugh Pickens continues: Army has a lengthy list of requirements. Among them, it wants a handgun with an adjustable grip that can easily fit large or small hands. That way, shooters don't have to adjust their grip mid-fight to operate hard-to-reach buttons or levers. The gun should accommodate sights that make it easier to shoot in low light. It should have a rail on which soldiers can easily attach additional equipment, like infrared pointers. The military also wants a gun that can be equipped with a suppressor, which muffles the sound of gunshots. Beretta intends to enter a new pistol called the APX into the competition. The new gun is a major engineering departure from the M9. It has a polymer frame like more recent handguns and can meet the Army's other requirements. Beretta has publicly complained that the government never formally requested efforts to improve its M9, which the company said is a standard procedure for upgrading platforms. "If you look at the history for a variety of weapons, you'll find all along we'll have used spiral development, product improvement. Where was the requirement they notify prime contractor with an opportunity to fix the problem?" says Howard Yellen, a military adviser for Beretta.
He's not sexist. I spent almost 10 years in the Marine Corps in a combat MOS. I can tell you first hand you man up or you shut up. The military doesn't need to cater to everyone. People need to learn how to use the tools. No one babied me or the thousands of other Marines I served with. We were expected to learn the tools of the trade, service rifle and handgun, as well as some crew served weapons like M249 SAW and M60, Mk19, as well as others. There were some small male Marines who had some issues with the 1911, but they made do and everyone had everyone else's respect.
Women have no place in combat MOSs. Period. We had women in our unit -- they worked in S1, S2, S3, S4 -- basically administrative roles. They could barely make the runs we did three days a week, and we ran a mere 5 miles each time, and in formation with someone calling cadence, which helps to regulate your breathing and keep you working alongside your peers. Standards need to be kept high and never lowered. If a woman wants to be a combat Marine, let her be exceptional and meet the standard. I never had an issue carrying my ALICE pack, which weighed about 60LBS, along with two full canteens, 180 rounds of ammo, handgun, etool, bedroll, rifle, and other stuff -- for 20 miles at a go. Very few women can do this. And during these marches, the AT4 and mortar base plates and mortar tubes are passed to each man so everyone gets a chance to carry them, ON TOP OF YOUR EXISTING GEAR that you are already carrying. If a woman cannot do this, I do not want her near me in combat. How many women can carry a 200lb. Marine for several hundred yards while carrying your own gear. If she cannot do this, I do not want her in combat.
I carried a 1911 for 5 or 6 years, and my final summary is: what a piece of shit.
Too heavy, not enough rounds, clunky as fuck. They CAN and DO jam no matter what the 1911 fanbois say. The whole grip-safety thing is pointless as fuck.
Yes, it's durable. So fucking what. Glocks are durable as hell, almost to the point of being "dishwasher safe".
I switched to a Glock 17, later to the Glock 19 and I carried that for the next 25 years. No complaints whatsoever. (These days I carry a S&W MP Shield, but only because I need something a bit slimmer.) The 3rd Gen Glocks are excellent and would recommend them without a moment's hesitation.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
I once talked with a law enforcement officer who was deeply involved in choosing the next sidearm that a major city's police department would be carrying, and he said it really came down to two choices for them:
If you want durable and reliable, you go with a Sig Sauer.
If you want durable, reliable, and light, you go with a Glock.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Reading the summary, it sounds like the army has looked at a Glock brochure and just listed everything there as their requirements.
Of course this is a military procurement so the requirements will change at the behest of vested interests until the gun is unsuitable for the dozens of new roles it's required to fill and many times the original estimated cost. Then it will be put into production and the soldiers will be forced to use them -- then the smart soldiers will just bring their own Glocks to work.
"Grab them by the pussy" -- President of the United States of America
It means that the very elite of female soccer players at the peak of their skill and fitness, loose to male players who are still developing physically and have less technical experience.. Heck even the williams sisters have lost to a male player ranked above 200.
Very few elite women can compete with (below) average men in most physical activities. Being a vet myself, I've seen it due to lower female physical standards and higher incidence of injuries.
Bring back the old version of slashdot.
Off-topic, but hopefully interesting. .40 S&W was invented because .45 ACP already existed.
Basically, the FBI standardized on 9mm instead of .45 ACP for various reasons. They then got into a shootout with armored criminals and "learned" what everyone already knew: 9mm doesn't have enough energy for serious work.
They should have picked the 45 in the first place, but rather than admit that they chose wrong, they invented a shitty new cartridge for political reasons. Many police departments followed their lead because they didn't know any better and assumed that the FBI had developed a better round.
Because of this, most law enforcement agencies were, for decades, stuck with a low energy 10mm-short round with excessive pressure that wears guns out prematurely and is needlessly painful to train with.
Today, it is almost random. Lots of departments around here aren't even standardized, but let the officer choose 9mm, 40 or 45. This isn't as crazy as it sounds. Each squad car has an M-4 between the front seats that, in most situations, would make an appearance long before the inability to share pistol magazines became a problem.
See that "Preview" button?