Combat handgun. What do you want?

[bafsu92]

I never tried the Victory mags but I heard that's who makes the hi-cap mags for Kriss. If that's the case they must be good because those work well.

[justbill]

Let's just pretend you were in charge of buying a new pistol for the Army, as someone is as we speak. What would your specs be and why?

No good reason to radically change anything. The 92A1 is a refinement of the pistol everyone already knows how to use and maintain. Like any other firearm, it works well with a modicum of maintenance. Existing M9 holsters, magazines and ammo are fully compatible. I would attrition replace the existing stock of 15 rd mags with MDS or Mec Gar 17's. No more low bid junk mags please.

[tombogan03884]

No good reason to radically change anything. The 92A1 is a refinement of the pistol everyone already knows how to use and maintain. Like any other firearm, it works well with a modicum of maintenance. Existing M9 holsters, magazines and ammo are fully compatible. I would attrition replace the existing stock of 15 rd mags with MDS or Mec Gar 17's. No more low bid junk mags please.

I would argue that "low bid magazines" may not work for us since we buy a few and reuse them for years.
For the military on the other hand, which buys them by the 10's of thousands, while reliability is important, buying top dollar magazines which will be abused and lost is wasteful.

[bafsu92]

I would argue that "low bid magazines" may not work for us since we buy a few and reuse them for years.
For the military on the other hand, which buys them by the 10's of thousands, while reliability is important, buying top dollar magazines which will be abused and lost is wasteful.

Yes but there is low bid cost and then there's just crap. Some of the mags we're expecting our soldiers to use are just crap. I actually just mailed 5 mec-gar mags to a buddy in Kabul a few weeks ago. Almost everyone I know who has or is deployed take their own personal mags.

[fightingquaker13]

Yes but there is low bid cost and then there's just crap. Some of the mags we're expecting our soldiers to use are just crap. I actually just mailed 5 mec-gar mags to a buddy in Kabul a few weeks ago. Almost everyone I know who has or is deployed take their own personal mags.

Amen! Remember that regardless of the weapon's pros and cons, first and foremost it has to go bang every time. Everything else is just details.
FQ13

[Sponsor]

[Magoo541]

Yes but there is low bid cost and then there's just crap. Some of the mags we're expecting our soldiers to use are just crap. I actually just mailed 5 mec-gar mags to a buddy in Kabul a few weeks ago. Almost everyone I know who has or is deployed take their own personal mags.

Like Tom Gresham says, and others too, a semi-auto without a magazine is a cumbersome single shot!

[jaybet]

If Beretta made something like the 92A1 in 45, that would be a nice gun.  Not talking about the new stuff (PX4?)

[billt]

If Beretta made something like the 92A1 in 45, that would be a nice gun.

It's certainly big enough!

[bafsu92]

I've always wondered why they didn't as well. If you lay an M9 down next to a full sized USP 45 they're about the same size. I'm sure they could build a 10-12 shot 45 in the same sized package. Even though I think long term a Glock 21 or FNP-45 would be a better pick a 45 version of the M9 would be an easy transition with no retraining needed. It shouldn't be about compromise but that would be a decent choice.

[billt]

If you lay an M9 down next to a full sized USP 45 they're about the same size.

Mec-Gar makes 20 round 9 MM magazines for the 92/M-9 with a +2 extention, so it would be no trouble to get 13 rounds of .45 ACP in the handle, maybe more.