why did DoD reject the S&W M&P?

[agtman]

Why did DoD reject the S&W M&P?

Because it wasn't a Glock?

[JohnKSa]

Because it wasn't a Glock?

Yeah, that's probably the reason. Probably also the reason that they rejected the Glock entry.

If people have seen Glock frames melting then it must be true.

Maybe the car was on fire. A Glock frame should stand up to temps anywhere under 400 degrees F. It will not melt until it gets above 400 degrees F. The actual temperature limit is probably significantly higher than that, but that's a good safe number.

The plastic does soften somewhat (which is not the same as melting) at lower temps, but as long as the frame is under about 260 degrees F it should be strong enough to be fired without cooling it down first. If it's over 260 degrees F, it should be allowed to cool before firing.

260 degrees is well above the boiling point of water which is 212 degrees F. So as long as you're not getting a Glock frame up well over the boiling point of water, you can fire it (with gloves) without fear that it will be damaged.

This video shows a dashboard getting up over 190 degrees F with the outside temperature of about 110 degrees F.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnpSABil6zg

This study, performed in Iraq, suggests that temps can "approach" 212 degrees F (100 degrees C).

https://www.researchgate.net/publica...tomobile_Cabin

That is still not nearly hot enough to melt a Glock frame--or the frame of any other pistol made from a polymer similar to what Glock uses. In fact, it's not even hot enough to soften it to the point that it would be unsafe to use it.

By the way, here is the 350+ page document that the military put out to explain what they were looking for and how to submit entries.

https://www.fbo.gov/utils/view?id=6b...5fdbc3e97ee8e2

That doesn't include all the detailed specifications for the pistol. There are other documents that apparently aren't available for public download.

The above document does state that the reliability of the handgun would be evaluated "in both extreme high temperature and extreme low temperature environments". One could assume that the military wrote several hundred pages specifying what kind of pistol they wanted but then forgot that they should have reminded the manufacturer that it shouldn't melt when left in a vehicle in the desert. But I don't think that would be the most reasonable assumption to make.

[Texas45]

Likely because they wanted a MHS aka modular hand gun system. And SIG is the only one that is truly that.
SW nope
Glock nope
SIG yup the sn part is the trigger group which is swappable between the frames in different sizes and calibers.

Truly a modular set up.



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[zincwarrior]

Its almost like they wrote rules for the firearm manufacturer they wanted. Thats never ever happened before in government...

[tipoc]

This is an important part of the solicitation:

The MHS procurement is intended to be an open caliber competition, which means the choice of caliber is left to the discretion of the
Offeror. Offerors are permitted to submit up to two (2) proposals configured to the specific caliber it chooses for evaluation. If an
Offeror chooses to submit two (2) proposals, their submissions must each be chambered in a different cartridge of the Offeror's
choosing. In addition, each proposal must be submitted independently from each other.

Ya gotta like how they left this bit up to the manufacturers. They could not decide on a caliber. At first it was that they wanted something that hit harder than a 9mm. This sparked a few years of gun store and internet discussion about what they were maybe gonna switch to. Smart bets were they would stay with the 9mm and ball ammo, which is what they ended doing.

On the other hand it did present any manufacturer who had some new ammo they wanted the Army to look at, a chance. Well something that resembled a chance anyway. Mostly it gave the military an opportunity to say that they gave manufacturers a chance.

Someday we may learn exactly who, other than FN, submitted any guns in any other caliber than 9 and a few 40 S&Ws.

tipoc