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Old November 19, 2012, 01:11 PM   #1
simonrichter
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Why doesn't the US military use Glocks?

While many PDs (I reckon the majority...) seem to use Glocks and also an lot of Fed Agencies do, the military seems to shun this gun for no obvious reason. I'm well aware of the fact that there are long-term and high quantity contracts for the M9, yet there are some SIGs and Kimbers (or other M1911 derivates) and HKs with the military and the special forces, but no Glocks...

Is it about the striker-firing issue? Or the missing external safeties? I'm pretty sure someone of those experts out there knows the answer...
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:14 PM   #2
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Because the U.S. government has no interest in basing missiles in Austria?
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:14 PM   #3
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I "think" that military pistols have to have an external hammer and a decocking lever, like FNPs, Sigs and Berettas. I have a few friends in the military and thats what was told to me.
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:14 PM   #4
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External safety is/was the biggest reason.
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:19 PM   #5
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Because there are better options.
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:28 PM   #6
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Quote:
I "think" that military pistols have to have an external hammer and a decocking lever
1911s? No decocking lever.

Could it just be an external hammer for pistols? Or the external safety? Or both?
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:30 PM   #7
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I was under the impression that an external hammer and a manual safety were preferred.
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:36 PM   #8
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If we'd just stuck with what worked with the .45 we wouldn't be going through all the wasted time and money looking for a new handgun every few years.
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:37 PM   #9
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Because they only go for the aesthetically pleasing.
1911, M9,.... Han Solo's blaster...
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:42 PM   #10
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Why not the S&W M&P as well. Why advertise M&P when only police use it, not the military. I always thought any military issue "stuff" was the lowest bid. Plus any unknown shady negotiations that we the public are unaware of.
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:43 PM   #11
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If we'd just stuck with what worked with the .45 we wouldn't be going through all the wasted time and money looking for a new handgun every few years.
I think far more speculation about service sidearms occurs on the internet than the actual military. The Join Combat Pistol program is long dead, as is its successor the Combat Pistol program. The US military recently bought a large quantity of new Berettas. The M9, or M9A1, isn't going anywhere any time soon. There are a lot more important problems on the table right now.
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:44 PM   #12
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Why advertise M&P when only police use it, not the military.
It's the spiritual successor to their older M&P line of revolvers.
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:46 PM   #13
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Actually some of them do.

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=115792

1st SFOD-D has been using them for a while and according to my Glock Armorer's course they were the driving force behind the creation of the extended .40 Glock magazine. I think there may be others that use them as well. But they are highly trained units that get to pick what they want, not a general issue item.

There hasn't been a Joint Service Pistol trial for Glock or any of the new polymer handguns to compete in.

The one that chose the Beretta happened before most of the polymer 9's existed.
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Old November 19, 2012, 01:48 PM   #14
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Its possible that the M9 could be replaced, at least according to the article below, from last years Army Times.

Pistols with a shot at replacing the M9
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Old November 19, 2012, 02:33 PM   #15
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There's a number of reasons, from features not present (decocker/safety) to location of manufacture (the US government prefers its weapons to be produced on our own shores; Glock until recently has only made them in Austria), to other things too.

Moreover, the G17 was developed in 1982; the Beretta M9 was selected in trials in 1985; while the G17 could have taken part in that trial (it was in existence), it wasn't part of them.

The Glock design makes for a good gun, but it's hardly the only good pistol out there. Short of a huge advantage (which, in truth, it doesn't have), there's little point in switching everything over from the M9 on a large scale. It's not good enough for a potential replacement to be marginally better, it has to be good enough to justify millions (if not billions) of dollars spent to buy the guns, train the troops, get all the spare parts and magazines, and so on. I just don't know that anything out there is good enough to justify a change of that scale.
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Old November 19, 2012, 02:47 PM   #16
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Funny thing is I was in the service when we switched over from 1911's to the M9. Before the M9 came into service everyone hated their 1911's and couldn't shoot them from crap. No sooner then we get the M9's everyone started saying I miss my 1911 even though their qualification scores improved. I've bet a dollar to a doughnut that if the military today switched to the latest wiz bang handgun a majority of service members would cry foul and say how they miss the M9.
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Old November 19, 2012, 02:47 PM   #17
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I would bet that Glock could produce a model with a safety if that would land them a lucrative contract with the US military.
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Old November 19, 2012, 02:52 PM   #18
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As I have stated before I would prefer, for the size and weight, to carry an extra fully loaded rifle magazine and/or a hand grenade or two and skip the pistol.

That being said if I was going back into combat and had to carry a handgun, I would pick the Glock. If you have ever lived out of a rucksack, with everything food, water, shelter, defense being carried in a pack on your back, you want to shave every ounce that you can....the last time I did a comparison the Glock while not the best at anything was the best compromise and the lightest still reliable still combat accurate high capacity handgun made.

The Military does not like it because it has no safety,,,I see that as a huge advantage as no handgun should be carried without a holster that completely protects the trigger guard and if I draw the handgun I intend to use it and the safety is just something to get in the way and take precious time even if it is just a split second, also something to potentially forget in the stress of potential death.

Remember Mil-Spec,,,is not always the best but the best the Military is willing to pay for that gets the job done,,,if you have the time to do the research and the extra money to spend you can in many cases find better than Mil-Spec but as the other posters have noted,,,it probably makes no sense economically or politically to replace the Beretta at this time except for special missions requiring a special handgun somewhat better for the job.
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Old November 19, 2012, 02:52 PM   #19
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I agree with Leadchucker, if it had a safety switch it would be no contest. Especially if they fielded a G34.
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Last edited by Eppie; November 19, 2012 at 02:57 PM. Reason: I agree wit Leadchucker
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Old November 19, 2012, 02:54 PM   #20
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Short answer:

Because the military already has hundreds of thousands of M9s, and the Glock does not offer enough advantage to justify their replacement (and associated training & parts costs). So what if the Glock offers some incremental advantages (lighter weight, etc.). The M9 is already "good enough".
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Old November 19, 2012, 03:30 PM   #21
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What they're interested in doing is going back to a .45. The 9mm in FMJ just isn't good enough. So the question isn't why not Glocks, its why not a .45. The answer is money and politics. The military isn't in the habit of buying the best of anything. Cost plays a much larger role.
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Old November 19, 2012, 03:33 PM   #22
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"Because the U.S. doesn't need cruise missile bases in Austria." LOL, there's more truth to that statement than you would probably believe. Defense spending is all about politicians making money for their buddies.

Last edited by drail; November 19, 2012 at 03:39 PM.
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Old November 19, 2012, 03:35 PM   #23
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Unless NATO adopts the .45acp as the standard the US military will not go back to it. Yes I know the Marines Special Ops is going with the .45 but thats a different story all together. What SOCOM wants SOCOM gets.
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Old November 19, 2012, 04:02 PM   #24
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All hail SOCOM.
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Old November 19, 2012, 04:09 PM   #25
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Quote:
I've bet a dollar to a doughnut that if the military today switched to the latest wiz bang handgun a majority of service members would cry foul and say how they miss the M9.
+1x10^9.

Quote:
I agree with Leadchucker, if it had a safety switch it would be no contest. Especially if they fielded a G34.
There are striker-fired pistols out there with safeties and have been so for years. Honestly I still think they'll prefer a hammer fired gun. Think about Tevye in Fiddler on the Rood: "Tradition!". (and yes I know that striker fired pistols have been around a long time).

Quote:
The military isn't in the habit of buying the best of anything. Cost plays a much larger role.
Yes and no. The idea that all military gear is crap is simply wrong. The M9, the M16, the M1A1 Abrams, from small to big these are all decent tools. Are they the absolute best? No probably not, though I'd argue "best" is subjective. In terms of performance, in terms of cost, or in terms of a mixture of both?

I'll say this again, how important is a military sidearm, really? Now for us civilians who mostly carry sidearms, it can be very important. But wars are not won/lost on pistols. The primary issue to US soldiers is a rifle for good reason. A pistol is a last ditch defense. In the grand scheme they are not that important, and with the deficit we're facing and the DoD cuts to come it isn't even on the list to worry about.

Quote:
What SOCOM wants SOCOM gets.
This is no exaggeration. The amount of sway they have and their budget per capita are nuts.
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