The 9mm continues to be one of the country's preferred guns, if current manufacturing data are to be thought. According to the BATF's Annual Firearms Production and Export Report for 2001, 626,836 handguns were produced (the most recent year for which figures are readily available). Of that sum, 213,378 remained in qualities above.380 to 9mm. That's practically 30,000 more for the next-largest quality sector, guns above 9mm to.50 quality.
Unquestionably, then, the 9mm continues to discover wide favor among the basic shooting populace, and it continues to broaden its approval in niche locations of the market as well. On the planet of competitive shooting, particularly Action Handgun and Practical Shooting, the 9mm is being given a boost. The USPSA now allows the 9X19 case to be packed to major power consider its Open department. On both a nationwide and international scale the Production divisions in Practical Shooting favor 9mm pistols in their scoring. At the NRA Bianchi Cup the switch is on from.38 Super to 9mm as well.
Crucial, Weapon Tests readers continue to ask us for 9mm tests, and in this issue, we have actually reacted with a three-way comparison of the SIGArms P226, $830; the CZ-like Desert Eagle from Magnum Research Study, $499; and Beretta's 92FS, $676.
These handguns have always happy shooters with precision and lower recoil. But we felt if the 9mm handgun was going to stay up to date with the bigger quality guns, more aggressive ammunition might be essential. Our test ammo would not only consist of easy target rounds but likewise include broadening and fragmenting ammo for self-defense use. Here's what we discovered:
[PDFCAP( 1)] Considering its production as a military weapon (the M9), this pistol is among the largest selling sidearms in history. The 92FS and the other guns are standard double actions. The first shot is double action; subsequent shots are single action. The hammer can be decreased securely using the decocking lever discovered on both the right and left side of the slide. This lever will then stay down and, acting as a security, disconnect the trigger. Raising the lever returns the weapon to double action.
At least two functions make the Beretta 92 pistols special. One is that the slide exposes the majority of the barrel, and the other is that lockup is almost totally accomplished from below the chamber. A barrel-mounted falling locking block achieves lockup. This adds to the simpleness of field-stripping. On the left side of the frame is a button that when pushed permits the catch on the opposite of the frame to rotate and launch the slide. There is no slide stop to remove. As soon as eliminated, the top end breaks down to move, barrel with locking block attached, and the recoil spring with the guide rod. The recoil spring is a single-filament coil, and the guide rod is polymer. This mix enables this handgun to be reputable with low slide mass and reduced recoil.
The energy used up to operate the locking block likewise contributes to a decrease of felt recoil, as does the full-sized frame, which contributes outstanding ergonomics. The frame is alloy, with Beretta's Bruniton finish. Both the Beretta and SIGArms handguns in this test weighed in at 34 ounces. The all-steel Magnum Research handgun, although similar in total size, weighed 6 ounces more.
To evaluate the efficiency of each of our pistols, we set up a test apart from our typical benchrest session. We fired Buy Beretta APX Carry pairs of shots from 7 lawns at a NRA D-1 target, which is used in Action Handgun (Bianchi Cup) and resembles its nickname, the tombstone. It is made from corrugated cardboard showing concentric circles beginning with a 4-inch X-ring. Next is an 8-inch ring, referred to as the 10-ring, and a 10-inch ring, which ratings 8 points. Targeting at the X-ring we began firing double action, and followed as rapidly and as precisely as we could with a 2nd shot single action. This was repeated 15 times. We utilized a Competitive Edge Characteristics timer to record the divides, or time between shots. This gadget ($134.50 from Brownells, 800-741-0015) sounds a start signal and then shows elapsed time each time its internal microphone hears a shot. Split times are also shown.