Sunday, January 29, 2006

 

Long Live the "half-ninety"!

After two decades of NATO-inspired silliness, the U.S. Department of Defense is fianlly getting rid of its Beretta M9 9mm pistol, and going back to the grand-old .45 caliber! The .45 has always been the favorite of civillian and military gun enthusiasts alike, and there have been constant complaints about the lesser (compared to the .45) hitting power of the 9mm. The M1911 .45 caliber pistol was replaced by the 9mm Beretta in 1985 but in the last few years, SOCOM (Special Operations Command) and the Marines have officially adopted .45 caliber pistols as “official alternatives” to the M9 Beretta. There are several modern designs out there for .45 caliber pistols that are lighter, carry more ammo and are easier to maintain than the pre-World War I M1911 (which is actually about a century old, as a design). The Department of Defense plans to buy 645,000 of the new, more powerful weapon.

posted by huggy 9:21 PM