#9x19mm

Since the Government Accountability Office’s decision to reject Glock’s protest of the Modular Handgun System contract award to SIG Sauer, the GAO has released a statement. The 17 page document outlines not only the reason for the GAO’s decision, but provides insight as to the deciding factors in the MHS contract award as well. Chiefly, the document reveals that SIG substantially underbid Glock, and that this – and not any technical difference between the competitors’ pistols – was the deciding factor in the contract award:

During MILEX-2017 military exhibition, a Belarusian company called BSVT has introduced a new compact semi-auto pistol. The pistol is called PSN-V which is an abbreviation meaning “Vasilyev Concealed Carry Pistol” (ПСН-В – Пистолет Скрытого Ношения Васильева). It is chambered in 9x19mm and dedicated for undercover concealed carry use by law enforcement officers.

We fired Speer 124 gr Short Barrel Gold Dot from a S&W Shield through heavy clothing and bare gel to assess penetration, expansion, and retained weight. The Speer Gold Dot is one of the most highly regarded handgun projectiles for defense, but we find some surprising results with this load.

Brazil’s Forjas Taurus, following  a particularly difficult year dealing with much publicized market/users complaints about safety/functioning aspects of some of its guns (pistols, mainly), appears to be entering 2017 with a serious commitment towards products quality.  Other than simply updating its long-established bull logo, the company is in the process of undergoing wide changes in its organizational and industrial aspects, the later being the full transfer of its main Brazilian production facilities from Porto Alegre to São Leopoldo, both in the Rio Grande do Sul State.

While at Latin America Aerospace and Defence 2017 (LAAD 2017), Israeli Weapon Industries released the latest in their line of Jericho handguns. The 9x19mm NATO/.40 S&W/.45 ACP Jericho 941 PL Enhanced handgun is a move towards bringing the Jericho into motion with numerous changes in recent modular pistol design. This includes a flattened polymer frame, interchangable backstraps, a rounded trigger guard, and more picatinny rail-estate on the forend. The 941 PL comes in two sizes, a full size and a compact version. So far the only difference between the two that we can tell is that the full size has one more picatinny cross section and might be somewhat longer in the grip. The handgun comes in Black, Green, and FDE. Offering this handgun in FDE appears to be a first in terms of finish FDE options for IWI as well.

One potential solution to the problem of a suitable anti-armor pistol and submachine gun round is to take the existing ammunition system and introduce one or more new kinds of ammunition which provide additional armor piercing capability through higher muzzle velocity and tougher core material. This is the route taken in Russia, where in the mid-1990s was introduced several loads for the Western 9x19mm caliber, as well as a new but fairly conventional round, the 9x21mm, also with optional AP load.

Is the Steyr 1907 Still Relevant?

From Switzerland to Las Vegas and back, B&T seem to have had an excellent SHOT Show with a booth flooded by visitors.

“It’s Over. Glock Won.” Hognose writes. What did Glock win? Total domination in the US Special Operations world, and (my speculation) possibly the Modular Handgun System contract as well, by extension. Hognose doesn’t explicitly say that the Glock is destined to be the next US Army service handgun, but go says just about everything short of it:

Gone is the Caracal CC10 pistol caliber carbine from the UAE-owned company’s website, but in its place is a new, modern-looking submachine gun called the CMP9. This new weapon features integral 1913 rail mounting points on its aircraft-grade aluminum receiver, and a wraparound telescoping bolt system using the blowback principle. From Aftermath Gun Club:

TFB has written several articles about the H&K SP5K, and it’s easy to understand why.

According to sources at the Eurosatory exposition in Paris, France, the Russian Army has nearly completed tests on the new pistol design likely to be adopted to replace the 9x18mm PMM Makarov and 9x19mm PYa Yargin pistols currently in service. The Udav (Russian for “Boa”) pistol is based on the previous Serdyukov SR-1 “Gyurka” (the Russian name for a kind of desert viper), and like it is chambered for the Russian 9x21mm armor-piercing caliber, what was developed for it. This means that at least for a time the Russian Army will be fielding no less than three 9mm calibers (x18, x19, and x21), until the Udav can replace the other two pistols entirely. According to IHS Jane’s:

One week ago, we reported that Remington had distributed letters to owners of the troubled first generation R51 pistols that their replacements from the new second-generation were ready to be shipped. Since then, YouTuber and R51 buyer RyeOnHam has received his second generation R51 replacement pistol, and released a first look video on the weapon, embedded below:

The US Army’s Modular Handgun System is slated to move forward, downselecting in August of this year from a reported 12 submitted proposals to only three, in preparation for the final competition. The program solicitation was released in September with a deadline of the 1st of February, but the deadline for submissions was extended to February 12th. Now, it seems the Army is in review of the proposals and is poised to choose the final three entrants, one of which will become the next US military standard issue pistol. IHS Jane’s reports:

The US Army announced today that it is advancing the Modular Handgun System program ahead of its schedule. Due to pressure from Chief of Staff Milley, and a lack of entrants in the competition, the Army is dropping all solicitations for the existing 9x19mm NATO cartridge and focusing on the .40 S&W round. Further, program manager Colonel Scott Armstrong said to the press that only three packages submitted to the PEO Soldier office were complete enough to advance to the next phase of testing and evaluation: