Iraq Veterans, what is your true opinion on the M9 Beretta 9mm?

FoghornLeghorn said:
Back to the springs in mags. Have you ever noticed that they work the same even if you insert them backwards?
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The spring will work the same, because springs don't know upside down from right-side up -- but the magazine might not work the same.

It can depend on how the spring is designed, especially if the ends of the spring are made/shaped differently.

With some (maybe MOST) mags, unless a spring loop is under the front of the follower, the follower can dip when the round is being stripped from the mag, and that might lead to a mis-feed. (That can happen with some springs if the top and bottom are reversed, or if the spring is rotated 180 degrees.)
 
I was in the military when they first decided to replace the 1911 with the Beretta M9. Was highly disappointed when I first attempted to qualify with the M9. I could not hit the target at 25m. I had to ask the Range Officer to change the procedural protocol on my 2nd attempt as all hits were off the target. He allowed me to shoot three rounds and we both noticed the hits were a couple of feet off. I had to aim at the 7o'clock position edge of the target for the rounds to hit the X. Got to a score of 248 after my second attempt. All M9's had fixed sight and not all were true. Wrote a review to DOD but the red tape is huge so I do not even know if it made it or if I made an impact at all.
 
He allowed me to shoot three rounds and we both noticed the hits were a couple of feet off.
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Something's broken in a gun that shoots that far off at 25m. If the sights were off enough for that much error, they would be visibly misaligned.
 
JohnKSa said:
Something's broken in a gun that shoots that far off at 25m. If the sights were off enough for that much error, they would be visibly misaligned.
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They did not look misaligned, but that was where they were hitting. Never had that problem with my assigned 1911.
 
I was issued a M16A2 during Desert Shield/Storm, so the M9 was never my primary weapon (unless I was driving ordnance), but fired my SSNCOs' M9s plenty of times during training. The guns were new and still in good shape since this was '90-'91. We were one of the last units to transition from the M1911A1 to the M9. Never experienced or saw any issues with the guns themselves, and we ran a lot of ammo through them.

We just didn't like the 9mm after having been weened on the .45 since boot camp.

I'm still a 1911 guy these days, but have come to respect the Beretta after all these years. Have a 92fs myself now.
 
"Has anyone here actually had to fire an M-9 in combat, and what were your impressions?
Yes. It is already posted in the thread. "

Here's what I got from a scan of previous posts:

"I was in a combat brigade in Iraq. Thankfully I was issued an M4. I would feel terribly under-armed with only an M9 in combat."

"Never unholstered mine except at the e"

"I never had to get any farther than unholstering i"
 
In a few minutes reading...

The M9 is a great service pistol. I carried a 1911 in 1/75th...the M9 was more reliable. The Batt 1911's were worn out so not a condemnation of the pistol.
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The M9 looks and feels like a toaster next to an M&P9. Mine worked fine, but was in VERY bad shape.
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All in all, a smaller, lighter pistol with either a bigger or better bullet would be nice.
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Very accurate, very reliable...and just as cumbersome as the old 1911's that I carried when I started my career. I have trusted my life to it and did so with reservation
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I had no problems with it, it went bang when it had to...
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fixed sights.
need i say more?

carried it thru haiti, and iraq. the one in iraq was the "vehicle" weapon, left in the TC hatch.
both were terribly inacurate, jammed constantly no matter how well maintained, ammo sucked, literaly bounced off tires.

any modern .40, or .45 would be better.
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All that said, the M9 is extremely valuable and effective in Iraq.
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I'm an Iraqi Vet AND was a MP. I dislike the Beretta and I would prefer to have a Glock or a 1911.
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Went bang everytime I pulled the trigger.
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No opinion, because I always managed to find a Chief or Gunny who managed to have a .45 squirreled away in a locker during Gulf War part I, part II and when I was in Afghanistan in 2003.
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Quite the interesting thread. Some wildly contrasting opinions on the M9. I'm strictly a civilian recreational shooter and my 92FS is simply outstanding in accuracy and function, but again this is a recreational usage opinion. I do agree in the slightly bulky feel of the grip.
 
Fishbed77 said:
And most seem to be related directly to the physical condition of the individual pistol or magazines in question.
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Which leads me to believe that changing platform but still using guns until they are worse out wont make much of a difference.
 
Now, how about the opinion of the street cop? Those who used that weapon as their duty sidearm through service in the capacity of lawfully appointed peace officers in some of the most dangerous and what often can be described as the most heinous of scenarios anyone from anywhere could imagine being involved? Too wordy? ??? hahah. A lot of local law enforcement departments did employ that pistol as service weapons but the trend didn't seem to last long.
 
I carried a 92S as a street cop from 1983 until I left the streets in 2008. I was involved in one shooting on a cold dark night and my pistol got me home. It never saw any of the environmental conditions that the military weapons saw in the Middle East. The only time it wasn't cleaned hours after shooting was during the time it was held by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the sheriff's office during the investigation of my shooting. I got it back 7 weeks later, and immediately cleaned it. It's never failed me or failed to shoot. I did have one bad commercially purchased reloaded round (back in the early 1980s) that had no powder and lodged the bullet in the barrel and needed to be pushed out. Now retired, it is never far away even though I have several other pistols. It gets carried concealed in cooler weather.
 
My son and I went through about 400 rounds today in my M9 at 5-25 yards. He has to requal for 'Expert' next week. Very smooth, accurate. The only gun I have that shoots as good as the M9, sometimes slightly tighter patterns, is a P226 Mastershop X-5, a $3K gun.
 
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