Shootout over the Army's new $580 million handgun

[Gman]

Shootout over the Army's new $580 million handgun

Since the first Glock was designed and built by an Austrian curtain-rod manufacturer, Gaston Glock, in 1982, the sleek weapon has become the most popular handgun in America among both cops and criminals. In fact, the company claims that some 65 percent of U.S. police departments use Glocks, often the lightweight Glock 19 with its 15-round magazine.

But when the Army decided to replace the M9 Beretta, the sidearm that’s been on the hips of soldiers for the past 30 years, it bypassed Smith & Wesson and Glock and handed a potential $580 million contract for its Modular Handgun System (MHS) to Sig Sauer. The German-controlled company will manufacture the Sig Sauer P320 in New Hampshire.

However, as Bloomberg Businessweek writer Paul Barrett made clear in his 2012 book Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun, Glock doesn’t like to lose. It has filed a protest with the General Accounting Office, contesting the awarding of the contract to Sig Sauer.

The basis for contesting the contract is not clear from the filing, but by law, the GAO has 100 days from a bid protest filing to render a decision on whether the procurement process was flawed, so a judgment is due by early June.

The attorney for Glock was not immediately available for comment. But the website Bearing Arms says, “The fact Glock is protesting the decision strongly suggests that the company developed a ‘modular mystery Glock’ that has not yet been seen by the public. None of Glock’s existing handgun designs come close to being ‘modular.’”

This could be interesting.

[.455_Hunter]

But, but, but, Perfection....

I think they both suck.

Nothing wrong with the M9A3 that Beretta promoted, but was summarily rejected as not cool and trendy enough.

If I was a Commander, I would make sure my PBO kept misplacing the turn-in paperwork for our M9s.

[Aloha_Shooter]

But, but, but, Perfection....

I think they both suck.

Nothing wrong with the M9A3 that Beretta promoted, but was summarily rejected as not cool and trendy enough.

If I was a Commander, I would make sure my PBO kept misplacing the turn-in paperwork for our M9s.

I'd dispute that. The M9 is a nice design, good mag capacity and easy to clean, but sucks horribly for people with smaller hands. The new configurable design not only lets them customize the grips for the shooters but provides a transition path from 9x19 mm to a more powerful round.

[Bailey Guns]

Exactly what Aloha said. The M9 is far too big for most shooters with even averaged sized hands. Not just women, either. A person needs large hands to properly grip that gun. Other than that, function and durability seem to be on par with most other quality, modern guns.

[waxthis]

It's all about SAFETY Boys...

"The P320 maximizes peace of mind with a robust safety system. Never again will you need to pull the trigger to disassemble your pistol."

[CS1983]

It's all about SAFETY Boys...

"The P320 maximizes peace of mind with a robust safety system. Never again will you need to pull the trigger to disassemble your pistol."

LOL not the dreaded trigger! God forbid we should have it drilled into our heads that we drop a mag and triple check clear before disassembling. All hail the god of fallible, man-made parts!

[MarkCO]

That 65% claim by Glock is no longer valid. Some industry folks who track that kind of thing told me at SHOT that Glock has dropped to about 40%. Big wins for SIG and Winchester and the filing by Glock is pretty much standard fare. If Glock had won, S&W or SIG would have done the same thing.

[bobbyfairbanks]

M9 are crap guns. Weigh to much and shitty triggers. Glocks work all the time. Fire the officers that are running this put SOF NCO's in charge and you'll get a handgun that always works and magazines that don't wear out. Oh not to mention cheap.

[Fmedges]

I have an M9A3 and smaller sized hands and the pistol works great for me. Since it uses the vertec grip it is smaller than the M9 or M9A1.

[.455_Hunter]

I have an M9A3 and smaller sized hands and the pistol works great for me. Since it uses the vertec grip it is smaller than the M9 or M9A1.

+1000. The original M9/92 grip is definitely kind of a cow, but the Vertec corrects this deficiency.