Army looking to replace the M9

[daschnoz]

Army wants a harder-hitting pistol

By Matthew Cox
Published July 03, 2014



The U.S. Army is moving forward to replace the Cold War-era M9 9mm pistol with a more powerful handgun that also meets the needs of the other services.

As the lead agent for small arms, the Army will hold an industry day July 29 to talk to gun makers about the joint, Modular Handgun System or MHS.

The MHS would replace the Army's inventory of more than 200,000 outdated M9 pistols and several thousand M11 9mm pistols with one that has greater accuracy, lethality, reliability and durability, according to Daryl Easlick, a project officer with the Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia.

"It's a total system replacement -- new gun, new ammo, new holster, everything," Easlick said.

More here:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/07/...ntcmp=features

[wakefield724]

I aint gonna say it but we all know the hard hitting american made rugged pistol i would recommend.

[Maquis]

Bet we won't see any M9s on the surplus market..

[Brian Ahearn]

1911 with 8 rounds to old school not a large enough in the mag capacity, This is coming from a USMC 2011 armorer who used to service them ,kinda tells my age. I own them and love them, but if I had to go into battle today it would be with the Sar K2 15 round capacity 45 acp handgun essentially a CZ 75 / EAA Tanfolglio Clone. The custom K2 that I built out performs my ten round custom CZ97 45 acp pistol. The standard K2 would bet job done in battle no sweat.

[Mitch10mm]

45 GAP

[dkf]

The .357sig would fit the bill well IMO. More capacity than the .45acp with less weight per round than .40. A 115gr at 1,550 fps or 125gr bullet at 1,450 out of a full sized pistol should work nicely for them. Maybe they could come up with a bullet design that yaws and maximizes damage.

[raxar]

Hasn't the military been looking to replace the m9 for a decade or so? I recall seeing many articles saying the exact same thing over the years

The .357sig would fit the bill well IMO. More capacity than the .45acp with less weight per round than .40. A 115gr at 1,550 fps or 125gr bullet at 1,450 out of a full sized pistol should work nicely for them. Maybe they could come up with a bullet design that yaws and maximizes damage.

Problem is that light weight/high velocity pistol rounds just don't work all that well. You'd be gaining what, 300 FPS over a 9mm? With hollow points it would be an improvement but with FMJ you need bullet weight over speed

[unclejumbo]

In honor of Valorious and because I think it makes sense, the FN 5.7.

[dkf]

Problem is that light weight/high velocity pistol rounds just don't work all that well. You'd be gaining what, 300 FPS over a 9mm? With hollow points it would be an improvement but with FMJ you need bullet weight over speed

There is plenty of weight in a 115gr -125gr bullet to work properly. Weight has little to do with it. You need energy transfer and tissue crushing. The increased diameter helps but compare the permanent cavity of a 9mm fmj to the permanent cavity and damage of a .45acp fmj. Difference is basically nil. And 300 fps in a pistol round can make a difference in the damage path. As a whole pistol rounds are weak.

The big problem here is the lack of being able to use JHP ammo. However the military should be able to come up with a design that gets around the treaty restrictions and help increase damage. They are better off IMO watching the weight and staying with a smaller diameter lighter bullet and working on the design. The capacity and weight woes of the .45acp is not worth it IMO, especially when you look at real world performance.

[ianb1116]

As an insider on this issue, the Army is looking for something much more than just a caliber change. Think along the lines of something like the FNX45 + Sig P250 + Glock.....Hope this helps steer thoughts in the right direction.