Beretta M9

Beretta M9

The Beretta M9, formerly Pistol, Semiautomatic, 9mm, M9, is a 9x19 Parabellum pistol of the United States military adopted in 1985. It is essentially a military specification Beretta 92F, later the 92FS.

The M9 won a competition in the 1980s to replace the M1911A1 as the primary handgun of the US military, beating many other contenders. It officially entered service in 1990. Some other models have been adopted to a lesser extent, namely the M11 pistol, and other models remain in use in certain niches.

History

In the 1970s, in an effort to make all of the five branches of US forces' weapons sync, the Joint Services Small Arms Planning Commission was formed to test a variety of guns to find a replacement for the M1911. The 9 mm round was selected for compliance with NATO standardization. In 1980, the Beretta 92S-1 design was chosen over many other entries.

M1911A1 and early M9 with magazines removed.

The result, however, was challenged by the Army, and new tests were done by the Army. In 1984, the trials started again with updated entries from Smith & Wesson, Beretta, SIG Sauer, H&K, Walther, Steyr, and Fabrique Nationale. Beretta won this competition, but there was a new trial, the XM10 competiton in 1988. This resulted in two different trials that were more limited but resulted in the Beretta being kept, with an update to it happening during the same time frame.

Concurrent to the pistol selection process, beginning in 1979 the Bianchi International holster company began its development of a multi-function military holster to be ready for the issuance of a new pistol. This holster, designated the M12, was adopted simultaneously with the adoption of the Beretta 92F in 1985.

The Beretta 92F survived exposure to temperatures from -40 to 140 degrees Farenheit, being soaked in salt water, being dropped repeatedly on concrete, and being buried in sand, snow, and mud. Additionally, the 92F proved a MRBF (mean rounds between failure) of 35,000 rounds.

Technology

US Marines train with the M9A1 on board the USS Blue Ridge.

The M9 is a short-recoil, semi-automatic, single-action / double-action pistol which uses a 15-round staggered box magazine with a reversible magazine release button that can be positioned for either right- or left-handed shooters. The M9 is used with the Bianchi M12 holster, though other holsters are often used. The specific modifications made from the Beretta 92 include:

• Design of all the parts to make them 100% interchangeable to simplify maintenance for large government orgainzations.
• Modified the front of the trigger guard so that one could use finger support for easier aiming.
• Recurved the forward base of the grip to aid aiming.
• Hard chromed the barrel bore to protect it from corrosion and to reduce wear.
• New surface coating on the slide called Brunition, which allegedly provides better corrosion resistance than the previous blued finish.

M9 during firing with cartridge casing being ejected.

It also has an enlarged hammer pin that fits into a groove on the underside of the slide. The main purpose is to stop the slide from flying off the frame to the rear if it cracks. This was in response to reported defective slides during US Military testing.

The M9 was updated to the M9A1 in 2006. It added-among other things-a Picatinny rail for the attachment of lights, lasers, and other accessories to the weapon. The M9A1 has more aggressive front and backstrap checkering and a beveled magazine well for easier reloading of the weapon. M9A1 pistols are sold with physical vapor deposition coated magazines developed to better withstand the conditions in the sandy environments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The M9 features multiple internal safties, including a firing pin block that prevents the firing pin from moving without the trigger being pulled, and a firing pin striker that rotats when the safety lever is engaged preventing the firing pin from being hit even if the hammer falls. The M9 also has an ambidextrious external safety lever allowing both left and right handed people to comfortably engage the safety mechanism.

Controversy

M9 partially field stripped.

Prior to its widespread adoption by the US military, questions were raised in a 1987 General Accounting Office report after an incident where a slide failure on a Beretta 92SB injured a Naval Special Warfare member, and two more failures were later observed in additional testing. These failures included both military and civilian Beretta models with very high round counts, and after investigation they were deemed the result of ammunition supplied by the US Army which exceeded the recommended pressures specified by NATO but nonetheless provoked a modification in the M9 design to prevent slide failure from causing injuries. Soldiers in the field had a lot of concerns with the M9, notably a lack of confidence in its stopping power resulting from the use of the 9mm ball ammunition, a significant factor in military evaluations.

US Navy sailors conduct small arms qualification.

In 2003-4 there were reported failures with the government-contracted 9mm magazines. After extensive testing and actual testimony given by the troops it was concluded that the failures were caused by the heavy phosphate finish called for in the government contract, conbined with the unique environmental conditions in Iraq.