I- Development History The United States Pistol, Caliber 9mm, M9 was derived from the first 9mm Parabellum pistol made by Beretta, the Model 951 of the 1950s. During the first fifty years of the Twentieth Century, the Beretta design team, headed by Pietro Beretta and his chief designer, Tullio Marengoni, built some very sturdy and reliable pistols for the Italian military. The only problems with these pistols were the calibers they used: the .32ACP(7.65mm Browning) and the .380ACP(9mm Short). These two calibers, considered more than adequate in Europe prior to World War II, were considered underpowered and inadequate for military use afterward. The 9mm Parabellum round had risen to the top. The 9mm Parabellum round?s only problem was its greatly increased power and pressure levels required any pistol firing this round to have a locked breech to contain the firing pressures.1 Model 1938 With the war?s end, Marengoni took his pre-war Model 1938 9mm Parabellum prototype off the shelf and redesigned it to use a modification of the Walther P-38?s locking block to contain the firing pressures. The revised design also included several improvements over all the previous Beretta pistols, like a cross-bolt push-button safety, an external slide release and a push-button magazine release in the pistol?s butt.2 While the design was finalized in 1951, the pistol was not put into full production until 1956. Model 951 This was due to an attempt at weight reduction using aluminum alloys for the pistol?s frame, resulting in poor ergonomic and firing characteristics.3 When the design reverted back to all-steel construction and entered full production in 1956 as the Model 951, it was immediately adopted by the Italian Army and Navy and by the militaries of Egypt, Israel and Nigeria.4 Nearly fifteen years passed before Beretta, now headed by Pietro?s son, Carlo, with Vittorio Valle as the top designer, looked at modernizing the design. Model 92 Desiring military sales outside the Mediterranean Sea basin, Beretta began redesigning the 951 around 1970 and by 1975, the Model 92, appeared, featuring a light aluminum alloy frame, the familiar Beretta open-top slide and a double-action trigger mechanism. In 1976, the Italian military and Italian police agencies adopted the Model 92.5 In 1977, Model 92S Beretta modified the Model 92 by moving the safety from the frame to the slide, changing how the safety functioned from affecting the sear to affecting the firing pin. The new design was called the Model 92S.6 In 1979, the United States Air Force was assigned to testing 9mm pistol designs for the Joint Services Small Arms Program (JSSAP) with an eye to replace all .38 Special revolvers and all M1911A1 pistols in the entire military inventory. For this test, Beretta submitted a modified 92S to compete against many other designs: Colt SSP; Smith & Wesson Model 459; Fabrique Nationale DA, FA and High Power; Star M28; and the Heckler and Koch P95 and VP70. The modified design, called the 92S-1, featured a reversible magazine release button in the American position at the base of the triggerguard, an ambidextrous slide-mounted safety and vertical grooves on the front and back of the pistol?s frame for better handling in wet conditions.7 Model 92SB While the tests were under way, Beretta again modified the safety system to allow firing only if the trigger was pulled all the way to the rear. The revised design was called the Model 92SB.8 At the end of testing in 1980, the USAF declared the Beretta Model 92S-1 the winner, but in 1981, the U.S. Army challenged the Air Force?s test results. The Army said the Air Force had used "the wrong kind of mud" in its testing and generally favored the Beretta in its tests, so the Department of Defense voided all previous tests and ordered the Army to start from scratch. In 1982, the Army began testing once again, but by May, declared all the submitted pistols had failed and testing was halted again.9 In 1983, the U.S. Congress urged the Army to start tests again. The testing was now given the designation of the XM9 Service Pistol Trial. In the meantime, Beretta revised the 92SB again, with a matte black Bruniton protective finish, chrome-plated barrel and chamber, recurved triggerguard and a new grip shape and grips, calling the result the Model 92SB-F, later shortened to the Model 92F.10 Model 92F In early 1984, Beretta submitted the 92F to compete against a new group of designs: Smith & Wesson Model 459A, Sig-Sauer P226, Heckler & Koch P7M8 and P7M13, Walther P88, Steyr GB and Fabrique Nationale ADA. Testing lasted until September, but the announcement of the winner was delayed by legal action on behalf of both Smith & Wesson and Heckler & Koch, whose designs were eliminated early in the testing. On 14 January 1985, the U.S. Army adopted the Beretta Model 92F as the United States Pistol, Caliber 9mm, M9. Beretta received a five-year contract worth $75 million for 315,930 pistols. It should be noted the 92F won based solely on a lower price per unit basis because the Sig-Sauer P226 also completed all the tests satisfactorily. With this announcement, the M9 became the first handgun to be adopted by all branches of the military. The contract also had provisions for domestic production, so Beretta USA Corporation would take over full production of the M9 by the start of the contract?s third year.11 This did not sit well with Smith & Wesson, who convinced Congress to reopen the tests as the XM10 trials.12 With the new trials set to begin, a major problem occurred with service use of the M9. Several pistols used by Navy SEALs suffered catastrophic slide failures, where the slide split in two after firing and the back half of the slide struck the shooter in the face. (Author?s Note: the SEAL sense of humor was quite apparent after this incident with the catch phrase "You?re not a Navy SEAL until you?ve tasted Italian steel" coined rather quickly afterward...)13 Supply of the M9 to the military was halted until the cause of these accidents was determined. The investigation took a few months before the cause was determined to be the ammunition used in the SEALs? pistols. Normal firing pressures for the 9mm Parabellum round are in the order of between 31,000 to 35,000 PSI. The ammunition used by the SEALs was found to be of an extremely high pressure, in excess of 70,000 PSI. But this failure caused Beretta designers to develop a slide over-travel stop for the pistol. While the stop cannot prevent a failure due to faulty ammunition, it prevents a damaged slide from striking a shooter in the face in the event of failure. The revised pistol was named the 92FS.14 Model 92FS In early 1989, the XM10 trials began. Ruger submitted its P85 pistol, Smith & Wesson submitted another modified Model 459 and the Army randomly selected 30 M9s for the trials. Testing began and was quickly concluded as the M9 won yet again. On 22 May 1989, Beretta received another contract for 57,000 M9s worth $9.9 million.15 Suppressed M9 Also that year, a few M9s were modified by the military to accept a sound suppressor. The sound suppressor, normally used by Special Forces teams and by pilots shot down behind enemy lines, is built by Knight?s Manufacturing Company of Vero Beach, Florida and weighs just six ounces (.17Kg) and is only 5.5"(139.7mm) in length, yet gives the suppressor-equipped M9 a sound pressure level drop of 32dB. An ambidextrous slide lock is also mounted on the pistol, locking the slide during firing because the sound of slide movement actually becomes the most notable sound produced when the pistol is fired suppressed.16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II - Service History The M9 is a very durable, accurate and reliable pistol. A six-year test of the M9 by military showed the slide had an average life of 75,250 rounds, while the frame had a 35,732 round life span, which exceeds military requirements by six-fold.17 During the Persian Gulf War, it was reported many American servicemen wrote to Beretta expressing their thanks and gratitude for the reliability and durability of their M9s. While it took some time to overcome the prejudices against it, the M9 has proven to be a winner in every respect and has been adopted by militaries and police agencies across the U.S. and around the globe. The Beretta M9, and its civilian variants, will continue to be one of the best tools for those who place themselves in harm?s way, to protect and defend life and limb. The Beretta tradition of making firearms of the highest quality, started in 1680, continues through the present day and should be around for many years to come. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III - Pistol Picture United States Pistol Caliber 9mm M9 Adopted: 14 January 1985 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV - Conflict Use Conflicts Used Conflict Date Operation Just Cause (Panama) 1989 - 1990 Operation Desert Shield (Saudi Arabia) 1990 - 1991 Persian Gulf War 1991 Operation Provide Comfort (Iraq) 1991 Operation Sea Angel (Bangladesh) 1991 Operation Restore Hope (Somalia) 1992 - 1993 Operation Restore Democracy (Haiti) 1995 Bosnian Peacekeeping Mission 1995 - ???? Operation Silver Wake (Albania) 1997 - ???? Zairian Emergency Evacuation 1997 - ????