• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

NEWS M9 DoD Pistol Replacement Announced (Joint Handgun winner)

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Navy dudes in here have mentioned that they fly combat sorties with their ammo separate and sealed, and it's a big no-no to open it. No idea if that still goes on but I figured I'd tease them. I flew with a round chambered every single time, and I'm pretty sure I would make a point of ripping open the ammo and chambering a round if I was faced with such a policy.

It's all fun and games until they send you home for doing that . . . don't know if they'd follow through on the threat, but that's what we were told at an AOM in no uncertain terms.

Is that because of the CAG that shot a RR chair? We didn't have to do that way back in the dark ages.
 

Treetop Flyer

Well-Known Member
pilot
It's absolutely bonkers that we think members of an armed force can't handle loaded weapons in a combat environment.
Agreed. Of course, the solution to someone having a "desk pop" is to prohibit any familiarity with their issued firearm.

Sorry for the thread derail.
 

scoolbubba

Brett327 gargles ballsacks
pilot
Contributor
I just thought it was an MPRA thing...I didn't realize anyone else flew shortbus style.

As it is, I fly with my m11 condition three....but no one would blink an eye if I chambered a round and put it back into my vest.
 

HokiePilot

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
The only time I ever flew armed was during earthquake response in Haiti. Then it had to be condition 4 and concealed (i.e. in your helmet bag) The magazines were in a MAF bag with a piece of ordie tape over the top round. Even in 5th fleet, we did not fly with sidearms.
 

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Personally never understood the M9 hate. It's like hating vanilla ice cream. It does the job. I shot the Sig and the M9 back to back once (at the 50 yard line!), and shot the M9 better -though that could be a function of being more used to it. That said, it's getting old, and we could use an update for material condition reasons, if nothing else.
If it works for you, more power to you. The problem is that for some of us, the ergonomics completely suck. The safety works backwards, and whoever designed the pistol seems to have assumed that all the users will have huge gorilla mitts. So the double action trigger pull is too long and too heavy, and it's harder to reach the mag release. It's more like hating butter pecan or rocky road; some people legitimately don't like it.

For guys like me with smaller hands, the M11 fits better. I can drop the mag with either thumb without having to break my grip. The decocking lever moves in the correct direction. And I can actually use the double-action trigger. I think if I tried that on the M9, I'd put a round over the freaking berm. TL;DR, for guys with smaller hands, and thus I'd guess most women, the damned thing is a boat anchor. I'm glad the M17 is going to be adjustable.

I shot expert twice in a row in one day with the M9 on the Navy qualification course, two points off a perfect score both times. Then I got 18/18 on the handgun practical weapons course. I still can't stand the thing.
 
Last edited:

scoolbubba

Brett327 gargles ballsacks
pilot
Contributor
The only time I ever flew armed was during earthquake response in Haiti. Then it had to be condition 4 and concealed (i.e. in your helmet bag) The magazines were in a MAF bag with a piece of ordie tape over the top round. Even in 5th fleet, we did not fly with sidearms.

Dumb for not having them in 5th fleet.

Yea...that's how it was in my first squadron. When I pointed out that 1. if I'm down to one usable hand, I might as well throw the weapon at bad guys for all the good it'll do me trying to untape them, put one in and rack a round into the weapon, and 2. duct tape resin probably isn't the best thing to shove in the mag well. I got told to shut up and color and keep my magazines taped up in their plastic bag. More of the same in that you trust me to fly with mavericks on the wings, but I can't be trusted with a 9mm because people are stupid and not trained.

At least I'm in a better place as far as having a more serious operational mentality/less CYA now.
 

AULANI

Well-Known Member
Have you guys ever shot pistols with RMRs? I have, a lot, and I find the dot harder to pick-up then just using iron sights. I thought it would make it easier to shoot a pistol more accurately, since I have T-1s on all my rifles and obviously that RDS helps a bunch but it just doesn't work for me. Holding the pistol out at arms length and trying to pick up that red dot is way harder then using an RDS on a rifle where your check weld has your face basically right next to the RDS.
 

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
It takes some practice to be sure! As a long time IPSC/USPSA competitor, I jumped in on the new equipment divisions created for slide mounted optics and boy was it difficult to adjust as first - RMR on M&P Pro Series. After some coaching and practice, once I learned how to index the gun and bring the sight to my eye and not my eye to the gun, well things started connecting and the reflex enabled optic enabled speed and accuracy above what I could get with the best of iron sights!

Chuck
 

AULANI

Well-Known Member
Who in the Navy is still using the M9? I haven't seen one in the realm of aviation since the late 1990s.

I flew with two different P-3 squadrons from 2000-2005 and everyone onboard had M-9s.

I just graduated OCS a few months ago and we still trained on the M-9 there. I was hoping we’d get to shoot the M-11 or something “newer” but no luck.
 
Last edited:

AULANI

Well-Known Member
It takes some practice to be sure! As a long time IPSC/USPSA competitor, I jumped in on the new equipment divisions created for slide mounted optics and boy was it difficult to adjust as first - RMR on M&P Pro Series. After some coaching and practice, once I learned how to index the gun and bring the sight to my eye and not my eye to the gun, well things started connecting and the reflex enabled optic enabled speed and accuracy above what I could get with the best of iron sights!

Chuck
Yeah, I find that my eyes find the iron sights as soon as I bring the pistol up and then I search for the red dot. Just need more practice I guess.
 
Last edited:

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
Ceremonial M17's in use by the guards at Tomb of Unknown... wondering if carried loaded (I would think). Ceremonial M9's all retired at this point.

DpQbEzhUYAApqce-920x613.jpg
 
Top