Our newest Army handgun The M9A3!

14446 Views 88 Replies 23 Participants Last post by McCrapper, Jan 20, 2015

vz58kid

Discussion Starter · Dec 18, 2014

Now I will have to get 1 of these!:lol:New DOD Hangun

Reactions: 2

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IKEWarrior04

· #2 · Dec 18, 2014 (Edited)

I don't have a problem with the M9 personally. Ive seen A LOT of rounds go downrange with s**t frangible ammo without hiccups. However, my biggest dislike of the M9 is the locking block, if that fails it will put the gun down hard.

Beretta did the smart thing by upgrading the M9 to modern times.

Just by the armys history with competitions, this gun will be the winner.

Reactions: 3

Dirty_Harry

· #3 · Dec 18, 2014

It sure looks cool!

Reactions: 2

CPTdaz

· #4 · Dec 18, 2014

A better (what I really mean is one that I agree more with) article on the same topic:
"BUT BABY, I CAN CHANGE!" Beretta Attempts to "Win" MHS Contract By Derailing It - Bearing Arms

Reactions: 1

fnfalman

· #5 · Dec 18, 2014

Looks like the M9 but with minor cosmetic changes - not that there's anything wrong with minor changes.

The locking block on the M9 is a wear item. That way if it were to crack from wear or whatever, you don't have to throw away the whole barrel.

IKEWarrior04

· #6 · Dec 18, 2014

fnfalman said:
Looks like the M9 but with minor cosmetic changes - not that there's anything wrong with minor changes.

The locking block on the M9 is a wear item. That way if it were to crack from wear or whatever, you don't have to throw away the whole barrel.

Agreed, but that's assuming that inspections of the locking block are regularly performed to catch a crack before it causes a catastrophic failure. At any rate I've seen locking blocks fail in front of me and I don't like that aspect of the design.

vz58kid

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 19, 2014

The locking block issue was solved in 1985 after a few (6) broke after the Seals had tested some with all types of hot Ammo etc.. there were a few minor injuries and the failures did happ after 20.000 + rounds.

Beretta strengthened the metal in these blocks etc.. and this has not been an issue since 30 yrs. ago! However people always bring it up!::0::

Remember the early Catastrophic M-16 failures early in Nam!

Reactions: 1

IKEWarrior04

· #8 · Dec 19, 2014

vz58kid said:
The locking block issue was solved in 1985 after a few (6) broke after the Seals had tested some with all types of hot Ammo etc.. there were a few minor injuries and the failures did happ after 20.000 + rounds.

Beretta strengthened the metal in these blocks etc.. and this has not been an issue since 30 yrs. ago! However people always bring it up!::0::

Remember the early Catastrophic M-16 failures early in Nam!

It still happens so it is still relevant.

vz58kid

Discussion Starter · #9 · Dec 19, 2014

IKEWarrior04 said:
It still happens so it is still relevant.

Never heard of that, any links to this happ?

IKEWarrior04

· #10 · Dec 19, 2014

vz58kid said:
Never heard of that, any links to this happ?

My professional experience.

vz58kid

Discussion Starter · #11 · Dec 19, 2014

The Beretta M9 Debate: A look at the data - Guns.com

IKEWarrior04

· #12 · Dec 19, 2014

Thanks for that data. If I read it correctly, it indicated that OVER HALF of the locking blocks failed at the 17,000 round mark. It fails at a very high round count, but it does fail. Like I said, I've seen locking blocks fail and i don't like that aspect of the design.

vz58kid

Discussion Starter · #13 · Dec 19, 2014 (Edited)

QUOTE!The weapon reported to have an expected service life of only 5,000 rounds seems to hold up surprisingly well. Especially when you consider that the 5,000 round estimation is only for the receiver. Less than a third of the receivers were damaged by 30,000 rounds. Those that were damaged had an average lifespan of 26,224 rounds. The slides did even better. QUOTE!

Service life of the 1911 Colt was 5.000-10.000 8K rounds avg! Sure at some point anything can fail but 17K is almost 3 1/2 X the expected life span of the gun!

IKEWarrior04

· #14 · Dec 19, 2014

The data also shows that it is the weak part of the weapon, it fails the most and it is a catastrophic failure. The locking block will always make me weary about the gun.

Rizza32

· #15 · Dec 19, 2014

Looks attractive and sounds good, but come on. Its time for something different. The wife has a 96A1 at home and its nice being a full metal frame pistol, but the exposed barrel and safety on the moving slide is still weird.

E45811

· #16 · Dec 19, 2014

Not a fan of the m9, I carried one daily as a member of the Military Police in the Marine Corps. I qualified expert but I never was comfortable with the wide grips. I have short fingers and had trouble navigating the safety with shooting hand. I had to bring up my off hand to navigate the safety switch. I have carried worse weapons than this I must say.

Reactions: 1

vz58kid

Discussion Starter · #17 · Dec 19, 2014

The grips are perfect for me, but I don't like the old Glocks for me the grip is to wide and uncomfortable.

SDDuc996

· #18 · Dec 19, 2014 (Edited)

2

I've never been a fan of the M9 Burrito. I'm not saying it's a crap gun, but I've seen too many issues with them for them to still be considered for the Mil's replacement pistols.

-Issue: I've had numerous M9's fail to lock back into battery under recoil, and need the rear of the slide to be "tapped" forward.

-Issue: I've seen too many "trained" people inadvertently put the pistol into safe when sling-shotting the slide while performing an emergency reload.

-Issue: Usually female service members and short-statured dudes have a problem reaching the trigger, and females usually have an issue squeezing that first DA pull. I've seen quite a few used the forefinger from their support hand to "assist" their strong hand trigger finger.

-Issue: The Hammer Lock Release lever (lever that faces backwards on the frame next to the ejector that is depressed by safety lever to de-cock the hammer) is also a high breakage part that I've replaced quite a bit. Though the gun is still functional, to de-cock one must point in a safe direction, and control the hammer down as the trigger is pressed.

When I became an NSW support tech and got to move on to the P226, it was leaps and bounds better. Better ergos, better trigger, better accuracy, better reliability.

I believe the new Sig P320 would be just about perfect for Mil issue. Their submission features a frame mounted safety (Army Req) and has the option for grip size replacement for a variety of hand sizes/needs. Whether it's a user with small hands, full-sized field use, or a mission or unit requiring a more compact gun, the Sig has all bases covered. Not to mention, one of the smoothest triggers out there.

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Reactions: 1

vz58kid

Discussion Starter · #19 · Dec 19, 2014

Sig could not cut the mustard when it tried to become the Army's gun in the 80's, wonder why? Oh yea to unreliable!:lol::-D

KD85

· #20 · Dec 19, 2014

vz58kid said:
Sig could not cut the mustard when it tried to become the Army's gun in the 80's, wonder why? Oh yea to unreliable!:lol::-D

might want to double check on that one...

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