The adoption of the M9 was jump started by the Air Force’s own testing of 9-mm pistols. Once the Air Force released their results it sparked an interest in the adoption of a force-wide 9-mm pistol. This initiative was backed up because the House Appropriation Committee was calling for a more unified pistol model. The reason being it would simplify the procurement of parts and bullets along with answering the call to convert to the NATO’s standard 9-mm.
The 9-mm bullet had benefits on both the field and in the office. On the field the 9-mm had much less kick than the common .45 cal, allowing one to realign their aim much quicker. The other benefit of adopting the (-mm was that it was again smaller and therefore cheaper to buy.
The Air Force …show more content…
1981 the Army began by inviting several pistol makers to submit their 9-mm pistol to compete for a contract. Every pistol was to satisfy a list of definite requirements and had little leeway in others. With these requirements not being clear to the pistol manufactures every submission in 1981 was immediately rejected. The Army realized their requirement were not only too strict for a custom military made firearm but in disqualifying the commercially available guns they weren’t prepared to host a competition. During the next three year the rules where revised and even lighten too allow for the higher grade pistols to feasibly make the cut. They also made changes in what ammo to use changing the manufacture. The pistol companies also researched and developed modified version of their commercial pistol that had changes to better suit the Army’s standards. In 1984 the next completion was held and the Army yet again sent out request to arms makers for a submission. The makers SACO, Beretta, S&W, and H&K submitted their version of a 9-mm pistol. Preliminary test include simple frame features like trigger design and how the sights are placed. Then the practical test began, the pistols would go through several test and be compared to a control of a .45 cal pistol. The service life test is one where they take 3 sample pistols from each maker and …show more content…
They were then hand wiped and then fired for reliability, the next phase was to let the mud dry for four hours and then test for reliability once again. The test surprisingly flipped the norm of results being that the H&K had a nearly perfect score of99, the Beretta had earned a 97 but the SACO received an 88. This being a mandatory event it was reviewed later and determined the SACO shouldn’t be dropped due to its outstanding performance in other test. The H&W however didn’t have the same grace with the results of the salt water test. The next test was the firing pin test where it was a measurement of the amount of force the pin produced and how deep of an indent does it leave on a bullets casing. All pistols passes the test fine except for S&W. Their gun didn’t produce enough firing pin energy. This was heavily fought because it only failed 1/7 of the test and the failing numbers were ten-thousandth of an inch off. This along with the previous failing of the service life test left the pistol company at ends with the Army. The two finalist were Beretta and SACO and their final compassion was a final quote price. Beretta won the bid by completely bottoming out their price of the
The 9-mm bullet had benefits on both the field and in the office. On the field the 9-mm had much less kick than the common .45 cal, allowing one to realign their aim much quicker. The other benefit of adopting the (-mm was that it was again smaller and therefore cheaper to buy.
The Air Force …show more content…
1981 the Army began by inviting several pistol makers to submit their 9-mm pistol to compete for a contract. Every pistol was to satisfy a list of definite requirements and had little leeway in others. With these requirements not being clear to the pistol manufactures every submission in 1981 was immediately rejected. The Army realized their requirement were not only too strict for a custom military made firearm but in disqualifying the commercially available guns they weren’t prepared to host a competition. During the next three year the rules where revised and even lighten too allow for the higher grade pistols to feasibly make the cut. They also made changes in what ammo to use changing the manufacture. The pistol companies also researched and developed modified version of their commercial pistol that had changes to better suit the Army’s standards. In 1984 the next completion was held and the Army yet again sent out request to arms makers for a submission. The makers SACO, Beretta, S&W, and H&K submitted their version of a 9-mm pistol. Preliminary test include simple frame features like trigger design and how the sights are placed. Then the practical test began, the pistols would go through several test and be compared to a control of a .45 cal pistol. The service life test is one where they take 3 sample pistols from each maker and …show more content…
They were then hand wiped and then fired for reliability, the next phase was to let the mud dry for four hours and then test for reliability once again. The test surprisingly flipped the norm of results being that the H&K had a nearly perfect score of99, the Beretta had earned a 97 but the SACO received an 88. This being a mandatory event it was reviewed later and determined the SACO shouldn’t be dropped due to its outstanding performance in other test. The H&W however didn’t have the same grace with the results of the salt water test. The next test was the firing pin test where it was a measurement of the amount of force the pin produced and how deep of an indent does it leave on a bullets casing. All pistols passes the test fine except for S&W. Their gun didn’t produce enough firing pin energy. This was heavily fought because it only failed 1/7 of the test and the failing numbers were ten-thousandth of an inch off. This along with the previous failing of the service life test left the pistol company at ends with the Army. The two finalist were Beretta and SACO and their final compassion was a final quote price. Beretta won the bid by completely bottoming out their price of the