Among the many things my friends and I talk about, our handguns are among them. And while we all disagree on various things, one thing we all can agree is that we love our Glocks. Some of us prefer the full-size, some the sub-compact (I prefer the compact which is the middle size.) We mostly can agree on the .40 and .45 ACP calibers - I own a .45 ACP, the Glock 30. And we also can agree that it is without a doubt, the most reliable handgun in the world. I personally have never seen one jam. Nor do I personally know anyone who has (though, I'm told the can, but usually it is a feed problem.)
This leads me to wonder, why the heck isn't the US military using them? I mean really, the 9mm Beretta has been a disaster. It's unreliable and it has no stopping power (and yes, I have fired it.) And, chances are, if you have fired one, then you've had it "bite" you. In fact, it's such a horrid weapon, that special operations units have gone BACK to the Colt 1911, though a slightly modified version. Even MEU(SOC)'s are using the 1911 again.
Seriously, why are we continuing to use the Beretta, which sucks, and not using a Glock 22 or a Glock 21? It can't be cost, since the Glock is comparable.
Posted by Skywalker at September 20, 2005 01:18 AMI can assume the same reason they are dumping the M-16A2's for the XM8, their dumb.
Posted by: Muddy at September 20, 2005 01:44 AMM16A4s nowadays...and that isn't official yet. And as far as I know, that's only the Army.
Posted by: skywalker at September 20, 2005 08:53 AMTheyre not dumb, just the ol' boys club at work. Im sure there are several Stars that sit on the boards of these defense contractors and act as lobbyist. The Stars and Eagles then approve the purchase of unnecesary or items, and a few years down the line theyre making a fat 6 figures as lobbyist and executives at these companies, and the cycle continues. The Pentagon is one of the most bloated and wasteful buraucracies in government.
Posted by: mooseboy84 at September 20, 2005 01:23 PMmooseboy: Beretta is an Italian company. It was chosen to make our ammunition common with all of NATO, which BTW, is also why the M16 is 5.56 even though most of NATO now uses 7.62, but that's another issue. At the time, Beretta's were the best available choice, more ammunition and the most reliable weapon on the market - but they're not anymore, not even close.
Posted by: skywalker at September 20, 2005 11:55 PM