Mk 24 MOD O Combat Assault Pistol a foot in the door?

[Ping]

I was in the Air Force as a Security Police Armorer when we switched from Smith and Wesson .38 revolvers to the M9 Beretta. I liked the Beretta and had an opportunity to visit the Beretta Firearms Factory in Brescia, Italy with my NCOIC of the Armory and Operations Officer. The Beretta assigned to me was not very accurate but good enough to achieve expert marksman.

Once I got out into the civilian world I purchased my first Glock in 1992. Was overwhelmed how accurate it was straight out of the box and wished that I had it in the Air Force. Since then I have purchased 7 Glocks. Two in 9mm, 3 in .40 S&W and two in .45 ACP. Got rid of all my 9mm's and 40's and stuck with the .45's. Glock 21SF and Glock 30SF. Absolutely love them.

I think if the military was to go to another pistol, make it a .45 ACP. Can't beat that round.

[ellis4538]

Glock doesn't seem to want to cater to the US Military in that the Glock hasn't been developed as a modular weapon to the degree HK has done with their pistols or it doesn't seem so to me.

Richard

[MikeO]

When did that open ? I haven't been out of the state for more than 12 hours at a time in over a decade, 3 years were living in the next town over from Newington (Exeter, where Sig is ) and this is the 1st I've heard of it.

They snuck that 70,000 sq ft facility by ya sometime in late 2008. They make rifles there too. HK has been selling small arms to the US military since at least 2005 BTW.

From a Jan 09 HK press release:

“We’ve reached a major milestone in our objective to establish a production presence in the U.S.,” said Wayne Weber, executive vice president of the U.S. business unit of Heckler & Koch. “The new HK45 pistol is the first HK product officially ‘Made in the USA’. It is our goal to strategically transfer production of select HK products to the U.S., with the HK45 Compact being the next product to come off the U.S. production line and shortly thereafter, the HK MR series rifles.”

“It is our intention for all U.S. made HK products to equal the quality and reliability of the products made in Germany,” Weber added. “By establishing American-based manufacturing, we can compliment our German production and ensure that HK can be more competitive in the U.S. and comply with government contracts requiring U.S. manufacturing. HK products made in the USA will be fully compliant with federal solicitations giving preference to domestically produced products. Additionally, it will provide a boost to the U.S. economy by creating more opportunities and business for many of our U.S. subcontractors and suppliers.”

Where the Glock 45s run into their biggest trouble w the military specs:

Ergonomics. The Modular Handgun System must accommodate the 5th to 95th percentile of users. Determination will be made based on width, length, grip circumference, location of controls, ambidextrous controls, etc.

Lottsa smaller hands in the military these days...

[tombogan03884]

They snuck that 70,000 sq ft facility by ya sometime in late 2008. They make rifles there too. HK has been selling small arms to the US military since at least 2005 BTW.

From a Jan 09 HK press release:

“We’ve reached a major milestone in our objective to establish a production presence in the U.S.,” said Wayne Weber, executive vice president of the U.S. business unit of Heckler & Koch. “The new HK45 pistol is the first HK product officially ‘Made in the USA’. It is our goal to strategically transfer production of select HK products to the U.S., with the HK45 Compact being the next product to come off the U.S. production line and shortly thereafter, the HK MR series rifles.”

“It is our intention for all U.S. made HK products to equal the quality and reliability of the products made in Germany,” Weber added. “By establishing American-based manufacturing, we can compliment our German production and ensure that HK can be more competitive in the U.S. and comply with government contracts requiring U.S. manufacturing. HK products made in the USA will be fully compliant with federal solicitations giving preference to domestically produced products. Additionally, it will provide a boost to the U.S. economy by creating more opportunities and business for many of our U.S. subcontractors and suppliers.”

I'll be darned, I don't recall hearing anything in the local press about it. Hopefully some of my former co-workers from T/C got in there.
I knew they had been selling rifles to SOCOM but I'm pretty sure they have different purchasing guidelines.
Thanks for answering my question, you aren't on here very often and I was afraid I'd have to wait .

[Solus]

All of the Glock parts are not made here.

Well, they might be made here, but if they are, they are shipped overseas for the Tenifer Treatment (not a coating).

The last I  heard the Tenifer process violated Environmental Laws here and had to be done elsewhere.

[Sponsor]

[twyacht]

I have a G21, full size railroad tie with trigger, and can attest to an oversize grip, and not the ideal grip angle... Even with large hands. However, the darn thing always goes bang, regardless of ammo. So I keep it as a holstered "go to work" sidearm in a milsurp gas mask bag.

Perhaps its a marketing issue for other companies. The bread and butter of S&W, Wilson, Para, Ruger, etc,.. are retail civilian sales. As opposed to HK.

Given the parameters of the military, that eliminates a few manufacturers not interested in large scale issue. I know the Spec Ops folks can choose literally whatever they want, and should be able to do so, I just was wondering why S&W, Wilson Combat, Kimber, Para, Ruger, etc,... may not have tried to get the M9 replaced with say a .45 caliber.

 

If its cost,...I wonder, as our gov't  often has no issue with cost....Seems toilet seats, and hammers, were given no rationale to cost,....HK is proud of their stuff. I can't imagine the cost per pistol is that good.