It’s official… the U.S. Army is replacing the M9 Pistol made by Beretta. On August 28, 2015, the Army released the official solicitation for the XM17 MHS Pistol, a modular design that will replace the M9, the Army’s version of Beretta’s model 92. This is a big contract — the Army intends to acquire at least 300,000 pistols, all from one manufacturer.
According to Military.com: “One of the major goals of the MHS [Modular Handgun System] effort is to adopt a pistol chambered for a more potent round than the current 9mm[.] The U.S. military replaced the .45 caliber 1911 pistol with the M9 in 1985 and began using the 9mm NATO round at that time.” It is unclear what chambering the U.S. Army wants instead of the 9x19mm. Some pundits suggest the Army wants a larger-diameter bullet, while others think the Army is looking for a higher velocity projectile that can penetrate body armor. While the Army has not specified a particular cartridge, the XM17 spec requires that the pistol’s projectile penetrate at least 14″ of ballistics gel at 50 meters. The Army also hopes that the new pistol will be more durable and easier to maintain than the M9.
This XM17 solicitation document, a whopping 351 pages long, contains detailed specs for the pistol, accessories, along with performance standards. Guns.com says the specification includes accuracy standards as well as modular design requirements: “The Army said the handgun should be able to hit a 4-inch target at a 50-meter range at least 90 percent of the time throughout the gun’s lifespan. To compete in the Modular Handgun System, and the XM17 designation, the pistol needs modifiable grips, varied magazine options, ambidextrous controls, and rails for accessories.”
Believe it or not, legendary German gun-maker Walther Arms has never produced a .45 ACP pistol. Until now that is. You see Walther just announced that it will (finally) build a handgun, the .45 ACP PPQ, chambered for the classic .45 ACP cartridge. John Moses Browning would approve.
The striker-fired, polymer-framed .45 ACP PPQ boasts a smooth, 5.6-lb trigger with a 0.4″ normal travel and a 0.1″ reset. The 4.25-inch barrel features polygonal rifling (like HK barrels). Both slide and barrel have a hard Tenifer finish (like Glocks). The new .45 ACP PPQ includes ambidextrous controls, slide serrations, and front Picatinny rail for mounting accessories. The pistol holds 12 rounds and is equipped with three internal safeties. Overall length is 7.4 inches, and width is 1.3 inches.
Walther Arms’ VP of Sales and Marketing, Cyndi Flannigan, states: “This new caliber and product offering is a benchmark for Walther and the PPQ. We have built it to the same exacting German standards that deliver the ultimate home defense and personal protection firearm.” The new M2 .45 ACP PPQ pistol is expected to ship to dealers in early October, 2015.
More guns, less crime — that’s the conclusion of a recently-issued report from the Crime Prevention Resource Center (CPRC). The CPRC Concealed Carry Report attributes some of the drop in crime rates to the fact that more Americans than ever before are carrying handguns for protection. In the past eight years, the number of concealed handgun permits has soared, growing from 4.6 million in 2007 to over 12.8 million this year. Overall, 5.2% of the U.S. adult population, i.e roughly one in twenty American adults, now has a concealed carry permit.
Here are some interesting findings in the 2015 CPRC Report:
5.2% of the total adult U.S. population has a concealed carry permit.
The number of concealed handgun permits is growing at an ever-increasing rate. Over the past year, 1.7 million additional new permits have been issued – a 15.4% increase in just one single year. This is the largest ever single-year increase in the number of concealed handgun permits.
Five states now have more than 10% of their adult population with concealed handgun permits.
In ten states, a permit is no longer required to carry in all or virtually all of the state. This is a major reason why legal carrying handguns is growing so much faster than the number of permits.
Since 2007, permits for women has increased by 270% and for men by 156%.
Some evidence suggests that permit holding by minorities is increasing more than twice as fast as for whites.
Between 2007 and 2014, murder rates have fallen from 5.6 to 4.2 (preliminary estimates) per 100,000. This represents a 25% drop in the murder rate at the same time that the percentage of the adult population with permits soared by 156%. Overall violent crime also fell by 25 percent over that period of time.
States with the largest increase in permits have seen the largest relative drops in murder rates.
Carry Permit Holders are Law-Abiding
Interestingly, concealed handgun permit holders are extremely law-abiding. In fact, police officers commit crimes at a higher rate (103 per 100,000, national average) than do concealed carry permit holders in Florida (12.8 per 100,000) and Texas (22.8 per 100,000).
Report by Kyle Jillson from NRABlog.com. Sergeant First Class (SFC) Keith Sanderson of the U.S. Army Reserve has been crowned the 2015 NRA National Pistol Champion. After six wet days at Camp Perry along the shores of Lake Erie, Sanderson unseated defending champion Brian Zins by 14 points – 2655 to 2641.
Sanderson, who served eight years in the Marine Corps and eight years in the U.S. Army, is a renowned sport shooter who holds an Olympic record and won an unprecedented three medals (gold, silver, and bronze) in three World Cups in 2009.
Wet Conditions at Camp Perry this Year
At Camp Perry, you can always expect a little rain to come off the lake, but the midwest is experiencing torrential storms this summer and parts of the range – especially along the firing line – became flooded ponds. This year some shooters even stuck “No Wake” signs in the larger puddles to keep attitudes light despite the muddy situation.
Some competitors wore rubber boots to help navigate the puddles.
Here’s a handy new item, particularly if you load large quantities of bulk ammo for a variety of firearms. Lyman’s new Ammo Checkers check the diameters of reloaded rounds and factory ammo, so you can quickly confirm that your ammo fits a standard chamber. Just drop your loaded rounds in the Ammo Checker, and if the round fits into the gauge, it will fit in the gun’s chamber.
Lyman Ammo Checkers are multi-caliber — each orange block checks six or eight different cartridge types, with each caliber/cartridge name engraved on the gauge. Ammo Checkers are machined to SAAMI minimum chamber dimensions from solid blocks of 6061 T6 aluminum. Ammo Checkers are available in three versions covering most common handgun and rifle calibers:
Why Use a Case Gauge?
We find that case gauges like the Lyman Ammo Checker are particularly useful for handgun reloaders using progressive presses. The chambers of many popular semi-auto pistols are partly unsupported. This allows the case to swell in the bottom quarter. The case may not be sized adequately by your sizing die, which can lead to misfeeds or malfunctions.
Additionally, if you have loaded a large quantity of ammo for a semi-auto rifle such as an AR15, it’s not a bad idea to check your cartridges before you load them into your magazines. All you need is one mis-sized round to cause a stoppage. That will ruin your day if you are competing in a Service Rifle match or 3-Gun event.
Meet the new PL-14 9x19mm pistol, also called the “Pistolet Lebedev” (Пистолет Лебедева), after its designer. This new pistol comes from Russian arms-maker Kalashnikov Concern. Notably, it is designed for both sport and war. Two versions will be produced — one for military use, and another for competition. The match version will have a lighter pull-weight trigger. “The versatility of our new pistol allows [use] not only as a military weapon for the military forces and police, but also as a pistol for different shooting competitions,” said Kalashnikov CEO Alexey Krivoruchko.
This new pistol was developed with input from both IPSC shooters and Russian Special Forces (Spetsnaz) soldiers. A lot of smart thinking went into this ergonomic design. We were pleased to see the ultra-low bore axis and a grip that does NOT copy the worst features of the Glock design. Fully loaded, the PL-14 weighs 1 kg (2.2 lbs). The PL-14 prototype frame is aluminum. We’re informed that the production military version will have a polymer frame.
This week, the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit is pleased to host pistol teams from the various U.S. Armed Services in the 56th Annual Interservice Pistol Championship. Our Handloading Shop members have enjoyed discussing pistol accuracy and enjoying the camaraderie of competitive shooters from all over. In that spirit, this week’s topic will focus on handloading for best pistol accuracy, rather than our usual rifle-oriented information.
Optimize the Taper Crimp
One often-overlooked aspect of handloading highly-accurate pistol ammunition is the amount of crimp and its effect on accuracy. Different amounts of taper crimp are used with various handloads to obtain best accuracy. The amount is based on bullet weight, powder burn rate and charge, plus other factors. It is not unusual for our Shop to vary a load’s crimp in degrees of 0.001″ and re-test for finest accuracy.
Story based on report by Kyle Jillson forNRABlog.com.
Doug Koenig secured his 16th NRA Action Pistol title this week at the 2015 NRA Bianchi Cup in Columbia, Missouri. Koenig’s final score was a perfect 1920 with 180 tie-breaking Xs. Koenig needed all those Xs to win — runner-up Jeremy Newell (1920-166X) also racked up a perfect 1920 score, but with 14 fewer Xs. Carl Bernosky, a ten-time NRA High Power Rifle Champion, placed third overall with 1918-180X. Australian shooter Anita Mackiewicz set a new record for a female shooter with a 1916-166X.
Koenig’s success at the Bianchi Cup is unparalleled. Doug’s 16 titles account for nearly half of the 37 total Bianchi championships held. Bruce Piatt has the next best career Bianchi Cup record, with five Bianchi titles, less than one-third of Koenig’s total.
The NRA Bianchi Cup kicked off yesterday under wet, gray skies. Despite the rain, many shooters still managed to pull off perfect scores through the first day, including defending champion Kevin Angstadt and 15-time winner Doug Koenig. Today sunshine greeted the shooters and the action continues…
Most of us have a single-stack pistol in our collection. If you want to see how quickly (and accurately) a single-stack can be shot, check out the two videos below showing Jessie Duff at the 2015 Single Stack Nationals, a big event with 400+ competitors. Jessie won the 2015 Ladies’ Division Single Stack Championship this past weekend. The victory marked Jessie’s third straight Single Stack Nationals title. Duff secured her “Three-Peat” with a dominant performance, winning 8 out of 14 stages!
Sergeant First Class (SFC) Keith Sanderson of the U.S. Army Reserve has been crowned the 2015 NRA National Pistol Champion. After six wet days at Camp Perry along the shores of Lake Erie, Sanderson unseated defending champion Brian Zins by 14 points – 2655 to 2641.
