[45Auto]

Hackworth notwithstanding, I personally perfer the .45 ACP to the 9mm; but I wouldn't want to get hit with either one, especially at close range.

[Sparta]

Hackworth is a prick , but the M9 sucks!!!! We need to return to the .45 because it has better stopping power.

[Knitebane]

The 9mm is just a .45 set on "stun."

[Bob]

...police fired 19 9 mm full-metal-jacket bullets...

FMJ??? I find that incredible. Why the he!! would police not be using hollow points?

Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't the stopping power would be a lot better and the reduced overpenetration minimize danger to bystanders? FMJ for police use just doesn't make sense to me.

[PatrioticAmerican]

"Nine soldiers completed surveys for the M-9 pistol."

9? 9???? Nine soldiers makes for a scientific study leading to conclusive proof??? Hack, get a real job, and not one of any scientific value.

[caisson71]

As a VietNam vet who carried a .45 pistol, illegal M-1 carbine, M-79 and an M-16,I will disagree with Hackworth as to the M-16 causing "thousands" of our troops to die. There were problems but I'm not sure it was in the thousands My best weapon was the M-16, my worse was the M-1
I preferred to use the M-79 and our chopper pilots quickly switched BACK to the bulky .45s after horror stories about the snub-nosed .38s that could not put a Charlie down like a .45. Of course, my most favorite weapon was a 105, fired by Americans or Thai Cobras. We had ton of options in the cav.

[Billthedrill]

I'd like to see a .45 in the field as well, but there are a couple of caveats: first, most of the 1911s left in inventory are pretty worn-out by now, and second, while seven-in-the-stack, one-up-the-spout is a bit passe these days, the staggered box mags of the Para-Ordnance description result in a grip that is quite thick by comparison, and some troops may not take to that without extra training.

[yarddog]

I like the .45 auto, in fact, I like it a lot but I also think the Beretta is a fine weapon and in some ways even better than the Colt.

The Beretta is about as reliable as a pistol can be. It is more reliable than the M1911. That is not a criticism of the Colt as it is famous for it's reliability, but the fact is the Beretta has done better in tests conducted by the U.S. military.

[El Sordo]

A 9mm is fine for shooting Europeans, but to kill a real man you need a .45.

[Batrachian]

It's funny how history repeats itself. Earlier this century our boys had trouble stopping Moro tribesmen in the Phillipines with their .38 Colts, which led the military to adopt a .45 later on, and now our boys are having trouble knocking down Muslims in Afghanistan with their 9mm's (also a .38, sort of). Assuming there is any truth to these stories, that is.

[Dogrobber]

IMHO the use of a handgun in combat is lunacy. To make clear; NO REGULAR SOLDIER SHOULD EVER BE ISSUED A HANDGUN. Soldiers should either be issued a main battle rifle or a shortstocked sub-machine gun or carbine. Handguns may have their place for doctors, pilots and others who have little need for a weapon other than personal protection in rear areas, but regular troops need a decent round in a decent weapon which can engage targets to a minimum of 100 meters.

In the hands of a pro a pistol is good to 60-75 meters, but the regular pistol shoot is only good out to 15 to 20 meters. Longer ranges need a stock. Short carbines or sub-machine guns are the ticket. Leave pistols for the REMF'ers and issue effective weapons.

H&K MP5, the Colt short carbines and other major makers have weapons which will serve. If they don't, lets develop one. It can't be that hard, this is America for goodness sake. We can build almost anything, we can certainly build a decent carbine or sub-gun

[Blood of Tyrants]

The problem with the 9mm is that most al Queda haven't seen thousands of movies. They don't understand that you are SUPPOSED to fall down when you are shot and instead keep on fighting.

[Hugin]

To make matters worse, the 9 mm hardball round we use is a joke.

Perhaps it's time to rewrite the Geneva Convention to allow the use of expanding bullets in combat. The idea of using "safer bullets" never made a lot of sense to me. Loaded with +p hollow points the 9mm will stop as well or better than a 45 FMJ.

[IronJack]

I'll go to bat for the Baretta. I've got two of them, and they are both accurate and extremely reliable (this coming from a shooter who may not clean his guns as consistently as he should). I can't testify to the knockdown power of the 9mm, but common sense tells you it will pale beside the flying anvil that is a 230-grain .45 slug. Whether a 9 is appropriate for military use is debatable; even cops say it is a timid round, and many have opted for the .40 Smith.

I like it, and I like the Baretta that shoots it. But I don't know that I'd want to depend on it at bad-breath distance against a khat-inspired Yemeni.

[xm177e2]

Even the Stars and Stripes puts dashes between the M and the number? What's this world coming to???

[wildbill]

The problem may be in the fact that the ammunition required by the Geneva Convention requies a non-expandable full metal jacket. No dum-dums allowed.

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

“I hit a number of enemy 30-40 yards away who went down immediately from my .45 rounds."

That's what I call gun control.

There's been complaints about the stopping power of the M-16 in Afghanistan as well. I suspect that the 9mm and the 5.23mm are easier on the ladies.

It's worth noting that the FBI SWAT teams carry the 45 cal.

[Lloyd227]

"The military is restricted to using, in general application, hardball rounds. "

Did I just read that right?

Who's f%&*$#g law restricts what the U.S. military is allowed to use in combat? The entire point of shooting a man is that he be severely incapacitated and go down, as fast as practical.

If these light, hardball bullets are not doing the job, then screw any U.N. sponsored law to the contrary and switch ammunition!

[PoorMuttly]

I read a letter from a Beretta factory rep., which said "after 10,000 rounds, throw it away." It wears out even on the range. Add abrasive dust...

The 9mm is no .45. Many pathologists have seen lots of failures to stop, and even shallow penetration, strange as that may sound. .45ACP's work. Proven.

[Tailback]

The answer to the problem is the Sig P220 in .45 cal ACP. The best of the old and new combined.