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I've noticed that as time progresses and I shoot more...
The M9 doesn't bother me near so much.
I wonder, now, that I've learned more about shooting if it was the lack of teaching the US Army gave me that made the M9 seem so wrong.
I got a lot more instruction on the M1911A1, and put many more rounds downrange with it before we got our M9s.
Even so, it was a Glock 17 that fired my first non-45 pistol qual.
Nostalgia led me to get an M9 and it's not such a horse pistol to me now that I've learned some shooty that isn't anchored in the US Military's past.
It's an interesting place to be. I hated the M9 when I first fired it in the familiarization session.
Now... It's just another 9mm.
Though I find I prefer the S&W mod 59 to it.
Same era, maybe five minutes earlier than yours.
ReplyDeleteThe M1911A1 literally from WWII they handed me in a rice paddy near the DMZ 2 minutes before an ad hoc qual was so shot out, the barrel clanked back and forth in the barrel bushing like a clapper in a bell. And shot accordingly. The bullets came out and went pretty much whichever way the barrel was pointed at that moment, up/down/left/right/whatever, in the general direction of the targets, but my efforts, and use of the nominal sights, had little to do with where they precisely impacted downrange. I qualled, but keyholing and a dumbass captain cost me a higher ranking for two bullets through one hole, and frankly, at the max range, I coulda been more accurate with a sawed-off Remington 870. Blindfolded.
This after routinely scoring high expert tallies on civvie street with a Series 70, long before I was in the service.
But the instruction on the M1911 was mature, and top notch; just the pistols themselves were shot to sh*t.
Come the M9, nobody knew whatinhell they were doing, it was horseleg fat in the grip, but the pellets always went where they were aimed, and the pistols were all brand new, so everybody's scores went up markedly. So on returning to civilian life, and angling for a PD job in LA at the time, who had just adopted it after decades of the M10 S&W, I acquired an M92 (so early it was all made in Italy, not MD), long before I got my own 1911.
I still like both, and prefer the .45, but anyone who doesn't like the M92 prima facie is just speaking from bias, or judging it on merits other than what it does and doesn't do. A lot of it I've seen is "I don't like it because I've never tried it", which most of us grew out of around 3rd grade.
But it's still best that there's so many options to choose from, and we can all have and pick our most favorite toys.
Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors meets the gun store is always a win for everyone.
Being at the sacrificial point of the sharp-end in Germany meant that we got the cream of the M1911A1 crop. Our pistols did shoot point of aim and went bang every time. I qualified expert both times.
DeleteUsing what they'd taught me on the 1911 with the M9 just didn't work for me. They did go bang every time, I just couldn't score better than marksman. Thinking about it, I believe it was because we'd learned to grip the front of the trigger guard with our off-hand and that pulls me off target to the left.
I've since learned to not do that.
I don't even shoot my 1911 like that any more. (Look Ma, I can be taught!)
The best gun is:
ReplyDeleteThe one you have when you need to shoot something/someone. And it really oughta be kept unlocked and fully loaded. At hand. Ready for use.
Not surprising. Being Marines, we got the hand-me-downs, and not being grunt, we got the orphan hand-me-downs. They always went bang, but where the bullet went...
ReplyDeleteIf I had qualified stateside instead of in Hu Flung Poo SK, I literally could have brought the Series 70 from home, no one the wiser, and probably near-maxxed out the course. Even slipping in a new barrel and bushing would have turned the tide in Korea. The CoF really wasn't that tough.
But having to launch hardballs too-whom-it-may-concern kinda pissed me off.
Pistols that sorry should have been refurbed, or else retired after Nam.
To the Corps' credit, the rifles were in much better shape, even the recruit A1s.
But I'll never forget hustling over the firing range with the barrel in the .45 holster clanging back and forth like a cowbell with every step.
As Hognose said, the value of the pistol is nugatory. The Corps put their effort into keeping the rifles working right rather than the pistols.
DeleteIIRC it was a Marine general who said something along the lines of, "Gimme a credit card big enough and I'll just go get Glock 17's for everyone and it will be OK, and save millions."
My drill sergeant once told us, as we came off the pistol range, "If you find yourself using this thing in combat, you have to ask yourself, 'WHERE THE FUCK DID THE TANK GO?'"
Pistols were once every year for quals, time permitting. The tanks went downrange twice a year and time was made for it. I'm pretty sure I fired more 105 and 120mm than .45 ACP total in my short career.
Grew up in the 1911, but didn't learn to shoot it well until I was commissioned. Went to SIG 226 for a time then the M9 because we were "Joint". Learned to shoot it well and taught many others to do so, but never could love it. Used to teach the women (small hands) to cheat and thumb-cock it on the way up, which served them well. I had been doing the same until our 1SG caught me and delivered the challenge to " master the DA trigger, sir" which I did. While I've mellowed toward the gun, I don't own one and I'll probably never love it.
ReplyDeleteBoat Guy
Personally I've yet to warm to the entire concept of DA/SA. I can do it, but I'm not warmed up to it.
DeleteStriker pistols have put paid the whole DA/SA thing. No point in "warming up" to the concept. If you can run one, that's plenty.
ReplyDeleteBoat Guy