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Colt Defense, based in Hartford, Conn., will supply as many as 12,000 of the 200,000 U.S. Marines with semi-automatic, tan-colored M45 Close Quarter Battle Pistols, and they will include spare parts and logistical support. The gun has long been the weapon of choice for special operations agents, thanks to its reliability and the stopping power of its massive bullets.
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12,000 .45 caliber 1911s is barely a dent in the overall 9mm M9 platform, of which there are probably hundreds of thousands of M9s in service. In 2009, the military ordered 450,000 M9s alone, adding to the already massive inventory dating back to 1985. Wiki says that the military has over 2,000,000 M9 mags (assuming these are $10 each, that's $20,000,000 in just magazines! Mind boggling.).
I served in the Special Ops community. Some guys carried Glocks and some carried 1911s. I actually held a 1911 with a WWII serial number that had never been issued until OIF. CID carries Sig Sauers. Other services carry other pistols. Anyway, where am I going with this...? Ordering some .45 pistols isn't going to dethrone the common 9mm, which has a loyal following by the Armed Services for cost, logistics, weight, and training. The Marines are unique in that they are across the board bigger, stronger, and do more heavy lifting than the average Soldier, Airman, or Seaman. The 1911 .45 may be more well suited to the average Marine than the other services. (FYI, I'm not a M9 or 9mm fanboy, just stating observations.)
Back on point. I saw your posting. I understand it. I just disagree with it. I form my disagreement from many years and many combat deployments in the military.
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Either way it wouldn't have much effect on snipers (though it could) because snipers use match ammo, not regular ball ammo. Plus they could always upgrade to .300 win mag.
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I never saw these guys draw special ammo. Perhaps. My neighbor is a Special Forces sniper and sniper instructor. I'll ask him for the real info when I next get a chance. I'd be surprised though if they are drawing match grade ammo and not just bulk ammo for their shots. They are shooting to hit man sized targets, not for 1/2 MOA. 1 MOA still connects on a person at 1,000 yards. Good enough for government work.
I've done inventory of our arms rooms before. Got to handle a lot of cool stuff. Never saw a single .300 win mag in our inventory. Also never saw a single .300 win mag round in theater on 4 deployments. Saw lots of M24, suppressed M4 sniper setups, and the .50 Barrett. These are the near perfect incremental platforms. Adding yet another caliber just complicates logistics. A rifle is no use without ammo or parts.
Perhaps the most important point is a number. $17 Trillion. Massive budget cuts will effectively castrate pet projects any anything that doesn't turn on the lights and run the military. Things that work, like the 9x19, 5.56, and .308, and .50 are here for the duration until energy weapons. (I will caveat that by saying that absent some company producing a new caliber and platform that far surpasses these, and effectively donating so many guns and ammo that it makes sense to switch.)
The .308 ain't going anywhere in my lifetime.