FBI Plans to Spend $85 Million on New 9mm Pistols
FBI Photo shows a Glock Model 22, .40 S&W caliber. This will be replaced by new, striker-fired 9mm Luger pistols in both compact and full-size formats.
The Federal Government loves to spend your tax dollars, and the FBI wants its share of the action. The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the next generation of 9mm FBI pistols. At stake is $85,000,000 in Federal dollars for handguns, parts, and accessories. CLICK HERE to Download FBI RFP.
The FBI is actually seeking two 9x19mm pistols, one “Compact” and the other “Full-Size”. The pistols must be striker-fired, and capable of a “20,000 round endurance firing cycle”. Trigger pull weight shall be “no less than 4.5 pounds nor exceed 6 pounds”, with NO mag disconnect/safety. There will also be no manual external safety, no grip safety, and no de-cocking lever. Here are the RFP basic descriptions of the pistols:
Class I Compact Pistol: One (1) Class I Pistol with a barrel length of no less than 3.75” and no greater than 4.25”, minimum magazine capacity of 14 rounds, night sights, six (6) magazines, FBI approved gun lock. Firing pin/Striker fired only.
Class II Full Size Pistol: One (1) Class II Pistol with a barrel length of no less than 4.26” and no greater than 5.20”, minimum magazine capacity of 16 rounds, night sights, six (6) magazines, FBI approved gun lock. Firing pin/Striker fired only.
Why Change from .40 SW back to 9x19mm?
Last time we checked the FBI had more than enough firepower. The FBI’s stated need for $85 million dollars worth of 9mm pistols* certainly raises questions, while re-igniting the “great caliber debate”. In May 1997, the FBI officially adopted the Glock .40 S&W pistol for general agent use. Now it is going back to the 9mm Luger (aka 9x19mm), which it had used in Sig P226/228 pistols from 1988 to 1997.
Why make the change? Some people think advancements in propellants and 9mm bullets allow the smaller cartridge to rival the .40 SW for penetration and stopping power. Possibly the FBI learned that many of its agents couldn’t shoot the snappy, harder-recoiling .40 SW very well. So this change to a more user-friendly round may be all about compensating for lawmen who can’t shoot straight.
A report originating at the FBI Training Academy in Quantico, VA may explain why the FBI wants to dump the .40 SW in favor of the 9mm. Here are highlights from the Report’s Executive Summary:
- LEOs miss between 70 – 80 percent of the shots fired during a shooting incident.
- 9mm Luger now offers select projectiles which are, under identical testing conditions, outperforming most of the premium line .40 S&W and .45 Auto projectiles tested by the FBI.
- 9mm Luger offers higher magazine capacities, less recoil, lower cost (both in ammunition and wear on the weapons) and higher functional reliability rates (in FBI weapons).
- The majority of FBI shooters are both FASTER in shot strings fired and more ACCURATE with shooting a 9mm Luger vs shooting a .40 S&W (in similar sized weapons).
- There is little to no noticeable difference in the wound tracks between premium line law Auto enforcement projectiles from 9mm Luger through the .45 Auto.
Source: FBI Training Division, FBI Academy (Quantico, VA) Report quoted in LooseRounds.com.
* In addition to the Compact and Full-Size duty pistols, the FBI plans to acquire training pistols and spare parts: “Class I Inert Training Pistol (a.k.a. Red Handle); Class I Man Marker Training Pistol (a.k.a. SIMUNITION); Class I & Class II Pistol Replacement Parts”. The $85,000,000 contract price would include these additional items.
Similar Posts:
- HK Introduces New CC9 Micro-Compact 9mm Carry Pistol
- SIG Handgun Can Run Multiple Calibers and Frame Sizes
- New Compact Ruger American Pistol in 9mm Luger
- 30 Super Carry — New Pistol Cartridge from Federal
- Ruger Unveils Slim New LC9 9mm Carry Pistol
Tags: Bid Solicitation, Bureau, FBI, Glock, Handgun, Pistol, RFP, Striker Fired
LEOs miss between 70 – 80 percent of the shots fired during a shooting incident.
Wow, maybe they should switch to a rifle.
Just about the only thing I agree with Jeff Cooper is that a handgun is to fight your way back to the rifle you never should have dropped.
Makes you wonder where those 70-80% misses went! It’s only taxpayer dollars!
I have a family member that is an FBI special agent. He said the Glock 17 (9mm) they just gave him is a lot easier to shoot than the Glock 23 (.40) he turned in, and he is on the SWAT team, is well trained and is already a good shooter.
The article posted here seems to have a fairly negative slant. Let’s all remember that FBI special agents put themselves in harm’s way on our behalf trying to keep us safe. With all the stupid crap our government spends our money on, I am not going to feel bad about this particular expenditure, despite the obvious slant of the article.
The claim here is that LEOs miss 70-80% of the shots they take during a shooting incident. Go ahead and scoff, those of you who fire on a “one-way range” under controlled conditions with nothing but the pressure you put on yourselves to succeed. I support doing whatever we can to help the good guys in life-or-death situations with bad guys firing back at them.
So now what will the FBI do with the train load of .40 caliber ammo they just bought a few years ago.
That $85,000,000 cannot be correct.It would be enough to purchase over 100,000 new handguns. There about 14,000 FBI agents.
Editor: We have provided a link to the RFP. The $85,000,000 is the full contract amount for a 10-year period. Read Section B.3:
B.3 CONTRACT AND ORDER LIMITATIONS
Delivery shall be made only as authorized by orders issued in accordance with the Ordering clause. Under single award, the Contractor shall furnish to the Government, when and if ordered, the supplies or services specified in the Schedule up to and including the quantity designated in the Schedule as the “maximum,” hereby established as $85,000,000.00 (USD) over the life of the contract. The Government shall order at least the quantity of supplies or services designated in the Schedule as the “minimum,” hereby established as $20,000.00 over the life of the contract.
That 70-80% miss is based on stationary targets. When they evaluated moving targets hits are about 4%. What they are really looking for in 9mm is more bites at the apple (mag capacity) over real training. Their choice had little to do with new bullets and powder.
Besides if manufacturers load fighting ammo to FBI penetration specs, don’t you get essentially the same result across calibers with only marginal gains by increasing diameter and projectile weight?
I’d rather the government spend money on guns and support that industry than on 95% of other things the money could be spent on, such as about 3 Blackhawk helicopters or 1/2 a fighter plane, let alone someone’s research grants.
Lest we forget millions spent on shrimp on a treadmill!
It was Clint Smith from Thunder Ranch who said, “the only reason you fight with a handgun is to get back to the rifle or shotgun you shouldn’t have put down in the first place”.
The 70-80% miss rate figure is actually computed by looking at the total number of rounds fired by LEOs during an officer involved shooting and dividing by the total number of hits achieved. So, some agencies like NYPD who fire 78 rounds in an engagement and score 6 hits, skew the number one way. Then an agency like Battle Creek Michigan PD fire 26 shots in the last 6 years and scores 25 hits, brings the average back up a little. If you spend more time and look into it deeper, for the last few years, the national average hit rate has been hovering around 23%.
“Stationary” has nothing to do with it. These are gunfight statistics, not qualification rates.
And as for all of the misses, remember, every round fired has a lawyer attached to it.
and one other thing I neglected to mention; does no one else remember what started all this, where the .40 short and weak came from, have all the agents from Miami in 1986 retired or died? God bless Ed Mirales by the way, he was a true hero that day.
The FBI after analyzing their (meaning the bureau) abject failure, decided to blame and scapegoat a single 9mm Silvertip bullet, claiming that the bullet (which performed EXACTLY as it was designed) would’ve stopped the gunfight faster if only it would’ve penetrated 2″ deeper. It was poor tactics and poor decision making by the agents that caused that fight to go south, not one bullet.
Decades later we have every bullet manufacturer testing ammo to meet or exceed the FBI protocols. The FBI dumped the 9mm in 1988-9 and adopted the 10mm. Surprise! The smaller framed, inexperienced, new hires of the 1990’s couldn’t handle the big frame, big recoil 10mm’s. In comes the .40, which in the form of the Glock 22, occupies 65% of all law enforcement holsters in the US.
and now they say ammo has evolved to where there is little appreciable difference in performance between the 9, 40, and 45? They’re right, but…