Echo23,
The only Armory I ever worked in that had the M9 was in an overseas Marine Corps Security Force Company. Everything else was M1911A1.
I was NCOIC in that Armory and of 30 M9s in inventory, 6 of them suffered locking block failure. A ratio of 1 in 5!
The failures were so identical, (seperation of the port side locking lug) that you could ALMOST interchange the broken lug from one pistol and the breech block from another.
Carbon copy failures.
In my QDR, (wish I could find my copy, yes I kept copies.) I stated that the reason for this was DESIGN FLAW.
Surprisingly, the cause of the breakage is not within the FIRING portion of the Cycle of Operations, but rather in the LOCKING portion.
As the pistol returns to battery, ALL the energy of the forward moving slide assembly is transfered to one area on the left/portside locking lug. (I don't know why that side, but I never EVER saw a breakage on the RIGHT side.) After repeated impact, eventually, the lug cracks off like an iceberg calving off of a glacier. BAM. From appearing perfectly functional to total part failure in ONE pull of the trigger.
Interestingly, the QDR was forwarded to Beretta and they did NOT contest my assertion that it was a design flaw.
They just took the attitude, "Hey, you can bust 5000 rounds before it happens, what's your beef?"
Steve in PA...
"Do you really think any gun manufacturer would produce a pistol that would need to have a part changed at 5,000 rounds?"
I don't think so, I KNOW so.
I'm also not holding one pistol up over another saying
"1911 good" "Beretta bad" although I DO believe that statement is true. Buy a Glock! (I did!) Buy a Sig, buy anything you like but if I am aware of a problem with that pistol that may cost you your life, I will make my BEST effort to inform you of it. Whether you choose to act on what I tell you is up to you and is no longer my problem. If nothing happens, great! If there IS a failure however, at least I won't lose sleep wishing I'd told you because I hadn't.
GSB
Welcome to TFL!
Everyone...
I have absolutely NO Armory experience with the civilian models and I do not in ANY way mean to imply otherwise. You'll notice that I do not refer at any time to 92s, only M9s.
However, the acorn doesn't often fall too far from the tree does it?