Why hasn't Beretta been booted out?

Ummm,

Just 300,000 in the entire US Military? I'm not sure what all the pilots are carrying, but a lot of Military Law Enforcement personnel carry them. Officers, medics, some aviation guys, and a few others carry them routinely. Not that they shoot them very much. US Army Military Police not only carry an M-16, M-249 SAW, MK-19, or a combination, everyone also carries the Beretta in combat. Most of the Army SF guys carry one as a backup, too. The only people who shoot them a lot though, are the MP's and the SF, plus the Rangers that are issued them.

As far as reliability goes, I've never had a problem with mine, but when we went to Yakima on a 3 week Field Training Exercise once, I did find mine kind of dusty and in an inoperable condition, and it hadn't left the holster. Admittedly, I had taken the suicide flap off and replaced it with a thumb-break, and never bothered to check it since 1) I didn't realize it could get so dirty in the holster (that's how young soldiers learn) and 2)everyone said they would function full of sand. Now I know that's a myth and not one to be taken lightly. I didn't have to fire it, but I did have a hard time locking the slide back. So they do need just a little bit of TLC, like every weapon does.

And as everyone has so graciously pointed out, I have also seen some atrocious gunhandling in the military, even among the Infantry. You would think everyone knew to keep the finger out of the trigger guard, but so few do...

Anyways, with almost 6 years experience with the Beretta, I own a USP, but I'd take the Beretta into combat anyday.

Chuck
 
Good post Chuck.

The math is pretty simple - There are only 700k soldiers and Marines. About another 300k Navy and Air Force. Not sure what the ratio of rifles to handguns is in the Navy and Air Force, but in the Army it's probably 1 to ten at the best. As for TO&E numbers, when you take the TDA slots into account, there are only 400k soldiers in field organizations.

So - 700k slots minus non-field positions (200k) equals about 500k slots. Figure a best case 1 to 10 ratio and it looks like 50,000 pistols. Double that for the Guard/Reserves and add in the other two services and it looks like 300k to me.

Giz

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Vote Democratic! 1 Billion Chinese can't be wrong......
 
I had the opportunity to be around during JSSAP trials...and fire the original test weapons (Berettas, that is). I have 23 years of comparitive carry experience using M1911A1 and M9 (as both a primary and secondary weapon). Overall opinion of the M9/92F series is that it would be a perfectly great pistol except for one little problem...durability. Not reliability. DURABILITY. It breaks. While you are firing it. When you need it. It is accurate, easy to handle, reliably cycles, feeds most ammo, and is safe to carry and handle. It breaks. Not everyday. Not always. But frequently enough to be an everyday occurance where I work. An event that no one is suprised about anymore. We have replaced every M9 we own after 5 years of usage. We have new ones. They also break. I am talking 90 weapons. We have carried them in Bosnia, Kosovo, etc.. We have shot people with them. But they still BREAK! When I hear about contract specs...I have to laugh. Our locking blocks last about 4000-5000 rounds. I fired 2000 rds in the last month. My new locking block broke. The contract specs were for NATO Ball! Its not that hot! I've fired it for years in CZ-75/85s, Hi-Powers, Walthers, SIGs, and Glocks...nemo problemo. NATO ball is not some super hot fireball...its stiff enough to cycle reliably but has a lot less recoil than GI .45 ACP. Glad I've got an M4...
 
Hey Chindo,

Welcome to the group. Nice to have a "QP" around to keep things straight.

Hope we get the benifit of your experiance!

Giz

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"I don't make enough money to buy cheap stuff" - Mark Manning
 
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