Every
once in a while, the United States Army makes it known that they are opening up
competition to see if the current designs and technology are what they are
looking for to replace the Beretta M9. Essentially, every time the Beretta
contract begins winding down, there is new talk as to what will be the next
sidearm issued to soldiers in the Army. While talks are frequent, it doesn’t
mean that a change will be made as since 1911 the Army has only had 2 pistols,
the aforementioned M9 adopted in 1985 and the M1911A1 adopted in 1911.
There
are numerous factors that will be considered this time around that weren’t
really part of the equation 30 years ago. Polymer frames have become an
industry standard and preferred material for modern shooters, modularity is
both readily available and cost effective as modern materials make for the
faster and easier production of such parts, and manufacturing costs have gone
down considerably with the advent of new processes and materials.
So
what criteria will hold over from the last trial?
While
there are some forces that prefer the larger .45ACP round, the Army is still
set on issuing 9mm NATO rounds which provide greater round count, better recoil
management, and less wear and tear on firearms in comparison to higher pressure
rounds such as .40 S&W and .357 Sig. Parts interchangeability will be essential
as servicing the sidearm will require readily available and standard sized
parts… they want the armorer to be able to drop in a new barrel rather than
have to fit it to the individual gun. Cost will be a major consideration as
well especially given the history of Sig Sauer previously falling short to Beretta
based on this criteria. Also, all firearms must be manufactured in the US.
Of
course, the biggest requirements of them all are durability and combat accuracy.
As was outlined in a recent Guns America article on the subject:
Whichever guns get
entered will have to average 2,000 rounds between stoppages. The guns will have
to run an average of 10,000 rounds before a true failure. And the guns will
need a service life of 35,000 rounds. They will need to put 90% of rounds within
a 4″ circle at 50 meters, which breaks down to about 7MOA. And they’ll need to
be able to handle hot loads (at least 20% over SAAMI specs for their caliber).
While
there are hundreds of potential participants, and even more opinions in the
community as to what should be selected, there will no doubt be designs that we
have seen previously and ones that will be a complete surprise. Those mystery
entries are what is going to really make this competition interesting as there
are always designs or features that will be developed for this competition that
will eventually make it to the civilian market. I guess, in the end, the real
question is how the previous finalists will fair against newer and younger
competition?
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