Guns of the Cold War: The Beretta M9 Pistol
Was the M9 Beretta a pistol perfect? No, but its adoption was responsible for a big advance in handgun training and the M9 is the pistol that carried us over from the Cold War into the modern era.
Was the M9 Beretta a pistol perfect? No, but its adoption was responsible for a big advance in handgun training and the M9 is the pistol that carried us over from the Cold War into the modern era.
We’ve seen videos that show the P320 is either dangerous or every bit as safe as any other striker-fired pistol on the market. The reality is…we don’t know which is true. Also, neither do you. And in the end, it probably doesn’t matter any more.
The Kodiak is bound to be a hit. It’s a big, beautiful, powerful weapon. It would carry well enough on the hip, and perfectly in a chest holster or under the arm in bear country.
In the first article of this series, I gave you my first impressions of Ross Martin’s new RM1C-Comp. Now that I’ve had a chance to put some rounds down range, let’s see how my initial impressions hold up, and how I’m setting up this pistol for carry.
I remember seeing a Diamondback DB9 in my gun store long ago and thinking it was perfect for concealed carry. However, I never bit the bullet and bought one. Now, years later, an old Gen1 became mine for a mere $100.
While a smattering of shooting and training facilities had banned use of P320 platform pistols in the past, the exclusions accelerated following the death of the airman, with bans by groups like A Girl & a Gun and Gunsite prominent among them.
The guts are thoroughly modern, but the look is a throwback to classics that haven’t been seen since the hard-boiled detective classics were on broadcast TV. I still can’t believe Colt made this gun, but man, I’m sure glad they did.
Gunsite will allow Military or Law Enforcement students to use their P320 government-issued duty pistols, but will try to discourage those students from using it as well.
By Matt Berger Last summer, I got the itch to get one of Rock Island Armory’s 1911 variants to see