38 Special ammunition its airmen could trust to function.ĪFAL began testing 10 examples each of nine different pistol designs, but quickly down-selected to six: two from Fabrique Nationale (FN) by way of Browning, one from Colt, one from Smith & Wesson, and one each from foreign brands Star and Beretta. Each time a defective round created a catastrophic failure, the entire lot of ammunition had to be marked as unsafe and removed from stockpiles the Air Force found itself facing a shortage of. Beginning in the 1970s, however, the Air Force began to encounter problems, mainly squib loads, with their M41 ball service ammunition. 38-caliber M15 revolver to arm its security forces since at least the early 1960s. Because the last M1911A1s were manufactured in 1945 and the Department of Defense would not authorize further orders, the Air Force had instead relied on the smaller and lighter. As the service rapidly expanded through the 1950s and ’60s, its security forces needed to expand their arsenal. Armed Forces, it took with it whatever small arms it had in inventory as part of the Army. When the Air Force became an independent branch of the U.S. Marines who favor the classic M1911A1 over the M9 platform will rejoice to know that they can blame the Army and Air Force for causing the beloved. A cutaway model of a Beretta 92SB-F 9 mm semiautomatic pistol showing some of its internal mechanisms for demonstration purposes, 1986. The story of the Beretta M9 is a complicated one, poorly documented and fraught with political scandal, public controversy, and inter-service rivalry from the very beginning. To uncover the truth behind these claims, one must understand the history behind them. Depending on who’s talking, the M9 is either one of the finest service pistols of its time or an inherently flawed design totally unsuited for military use. Those who trained on it alternately praise and criticize the pistol’s attributes. military service, the Beretta M9 leaves behind a mixed legacy. As it is finally replaced by the M17 and M18 Modular Handgun System (MHS) after 32 years in U.S. Because they are mainly issued to personnel who are not expected to need them, their importance is often overlooked those who carry handguns, however, rely on them as a weapon of last resort in case all else should fail. Yarbrough, USMC)Carried by many but seldom fired at the enemy, handguns fill a somewhat strange niche in the Marine Corps’ arsenal. Last Line of Defense: A History of the Beretta M9 Posted on March 15, 2023Ĭapt Jeremy Nelson fires the Beretta M9 during a weapons marksmanship course at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Oct.
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