US Military replaced the 1911 with M9 Beretta. Why?

[surprise_i'm_armed]

The model 1911 is well-loved by military and civilians alike.

Why did the US military feel that they had to have a replacement for the 1911?

Trading down in caliber from .45 to a 9mm seems counter-intuitive for battle use.

Is the Beretta M9 the proper sidearm for our troops? Has it performed well?

Don't special forces still prefer 1911's?

Anyone familiar with this government move in year 19nn?

SIA

[Keith B]

The JSSAP was the reason http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Serv ... ms_Program" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Keith B:
Thanks for the link. It doesn't seem to state WHY the military felt they needed
to go with a 9.

I wonder if the Sig P228 emerged from this testing to become a standard weapon
for some Federal LEO's.

SIA

[Keith B]

I think a big part was the 9mm is a NATO round. They were also looking for a weapon with a higher round capacity. The Beretta is a little lighter too, 34oz vs the 1911 at 39oz.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

"9mm's were invented by Europeans to annoy their neighbors."
Author unknown.

IIRC, NATO doesn't even have fully integrated radio equipment, but the US
decided that our ammo needed to match theirs?

Do you think the M9 has been a quality sidearm?
Other Beretta owners here on the forum seem to like theirs, except for the
large size hindering concealability.

SIA

[AEA]

Yup, that NATO thing.....long before it was fashion with our current President! Wonder if he can figur out a way to claim that he made that happen too? Oh wait, Biden should be able to do that.......

[Oldgringo]

I had a Beretta 92 FS (M9) and it was great to shoot and maintain. OTOH, it was about like a football cleat under my shirt. I wish I had it back???

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

"the US
decided that our ammo needed to match theirs?



SIA

Along with the 9mm being a NATO round the 92 has a higher mag capacity (I personally do not like it and wish we would have stuck to the 1911 as it is 45 and IMO a much better gun...no offense to 92 users, just my opinion).

We use NATO rounds so that when we fight along side other NATO countries we can swap out ammo easily in the heat of battle. This is why we use the 5.56 for our M16/M4 instead of the 7.62 that the AK47 uses, even though the 7.62 is a larger round and is what our enemies use in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[pbwalker]

I like the M9 when I was in. If I had known about the 1911 (I didn't really know much about handguns back when I was 18), I probably would have still picked the M9 just for capacity. Knowing what I know now (about calibers, etc.), I'd want the 1911.

I still like the M9 and really want to pick one up when the funds allow it.

[MoJo]

It had to do with NATO standardization every army in NATO except the U.S. was using the 9mm as a handgun/sub machine-gun round. The U.S. military was wanting a double action pistol because the average soldier couldn't be trusted with cocked and locked carry. Conversion systems were tried and failed, a number of other guns were tested Ruger and S&W were two that fared well. Even though it wasn't the first choice, the Beretta was selected. Most of the guys I've talked to that have used the M9 don't like it.

When I was in the Army (1967-'70) lots of GIs didn't like the 1911 because it was "too big, too hard to shoot, kicked too much, wasn't accurate, and jammed."

About the only thing a GI approves of is free cold beer.

The first NATO rifle round was the 7.62 NATO (.308 Win) then came the 5.56 both were American designed rounds so I guess one European round is allowed to be adopted.

[srothstein]

I was told when I was in (1975-1983) that the NATO treaty required any new weapon systems adopted by the member nations to be of NATO caliber. Back then we knew that the days of the 1911 were numbered. I know the Army in the mid-80's was looking at trying to get a better weapon system for pistols that would reduce the logistic and training problems. Just in my MP unit, we had 1911 for the male MP's, S&W Model 10 .38 spl for the female MP's, and Colt 2 in barrel revolvers (.38 spl) for the undercover/plain clothes agents. I know there were several other different make, model, and style weapons in use by various types of units. Even though the 1911 is generally thought of as the "issue" pistol of the time, there were many different ones.

It makes sense to have just one pistol or pistol family to support. Having the common ammo with our allies also makes some sense. So we all knew it would be a 9mm and that it was just a matter of time until the switch.

[YabuUS]

I thought I read somewhere (and I can't remember exactly where) that the military, or a portion of it at least, had decided to go back to the 1911. Can anyone confirm that?

[LostInAustin]

I like my 92FS...Great for paper punching!

I like my 1911's...Great for putting holes in BG's!



Just kidding guys....I like them both!

[tboesche]

Hated the M9. Long trigger pull and uncomfortable in my hand. It was a sad day when I had to stop carrying my 1911.

But now I carry a 1911 everyday!