The History of U.S. Military-Issue Sidearms: From Flintlocks to the M17

The history of sidearms carried by the United States military actually predates the founding of the nation, as militia units formed in the colonies were typically armed in a similar fashion to their English/British Army counterparts. At the time of the American Revolution, flintlock pistols were used primarily for personal purposes — and were much like private purchase sidearms used in later conflicts. Many officers and men of higher stature carried these as an extra weapon.

The first true sidearm of the U.S. military was the Flintlock Model 1775, which was, in essence, a direct copy of the British Model 1760. A few thousand were produced at Rappahannock Forge in Virginia for the Continental Army. The accuracy of those early pistols of the era was not very good, and most had an effective range of less than 20 feet, while the loading time was still limited to just two or three rounds a minute. In a pinch, these could be, and often were, used as clubs.

In the early 19th century, what we now describe as handguns advanced slowly. A new version of the flintlock was introduced as the Model 1805, made at the famous Harper’s Ferry arsenal. The .62 caliber smoothbore firearm is now the symbol of the U.S. Army Military Police Corps, while the pistol is also seen on the U.S. Navy SEAL trident.

Flintlock pistols were favored by officers but also issued to dragoons — the forerunners of the U.S. Cavalry — and carried in a saddle holster during the First Dragoon Expedition into the Great Plains. These included the S. North Model 1819 Flintlock Pistol, the Johnson Model 1836 Flintlock Pistol, both in .54 caliber, as well as the Model 1842 Percussion Pistol, which was introduced just prior to the outbreak of the Mexican-American War (1846 to 1848).

Enter the Revolver

The U.S. military hasn’t always been that open to embracing change, but some forward thinkers saw the advantages of the early revolvers, which offered the ability to fire multiple rounds without the need to reload. The Colt 1847 and the Colt Model 1848 Dragoon were among the earliest adopted by U.S. military personnel.

By the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, a variety of revolvers were used by cavalry and light artillery, as well as being carried by officers. The most common were the .44 Caliber Colt Army Model 1860, the .36 Caliber Colt Navy Model 1851, and the .44 Caliber Remington Army Model Revolver.

Though Smith & Wesson provided the U.S. Army with the .45 Schofield Model 3 — the first metallic cartridge firearm — Colt followed up with the .45-caliber Colt’s Single Action Army (aka “Peacemaker”). Known today as “the gun that won the West,” it has remained among the most iconic American firearms of the 19th century. General George S. Patton even carried a Colt SAA during the Second World War!

It is never easy to improve upon perfection, but Colt attempted to do so with its double-action Model 1892, which was chambered for the .38 Long Colt round. It featured a counter-clockwise rotating cylinder, and it could be opened for loading and ejection by simply pulling back on a catch mounted on the left side of the frame. Empty cases could be easily removed by simply pushing back on an ejector rod to activate a star extractor. The six-shooter revolver could be quickly reloaded and the cylinder clicked back into place.

On paper, it was a solid step forward, even if the reloading was a bit complex by today’s standards.

Though it was seen as up to the task during the Spanish-American War (1898), the revolver proved to be unreliable in stopping the Moro warriors in the Philippines in the decade that followed, and some officers resorted to carrying the aging SAA.

The .38 revolver’s lack of stopping power led to the development of a new firearm chambered for a heavier round. The result was the .45 ACP cartridge and the now iconic Colt Model 1911, designed by John Moses Browning.

The Iconic M1911

The M1911 beat out rival designs from the Savage Arms Company and the German Deutsche Waffen and Munitionsfabriken (DWM). Had DWM not bowed out of the competition, the U.S. military could have adopted the P08 Luger!

Though the competition with Savage was quite fierce at times, the Colt M1911 was unanimously approved by the U.S. Army Testing Board and adopted on March 28, 1911. By late April of that same year, contracts totaling more than 30,000 pistols began a relationship between the U.S. military and Colt that would last 75 years and produce a total of more than 6 million pistols.

Even as it has been replaced by more modern firearms, some U.S. special operations units continue to carry the M1911.

The Forgotten Colt Revolvers

Because of the success of the Model 1911, somewhat forgotten is the Colt New Service, a large frame, double-action revolver produced by the firearms maker from 1898 until 1941. It was first introduced in 1898 as an upsized and strengthened version of the Colt M1892 — and it would go on to be produced in a variety of calibers and with different barrel lengths.

In 1899, reports came that the .38 caliber wasn’t quite up to the task. Even as the U.S. Army was focused on developing the M1911, the military also called for the revolver to be chambered in the .45 caliber revolver ball cartridge, which was .03 inches wider than the original .45 Colt cartridge. The U.S. military adopted it as the Model 1909, and that might have been the end of the line for the New Service Revolver.

However, with the United States entry into the First World War in 1917, there were insufficient stocks of M1911 pistols for the troops going “Over There,” and as a result, the Colt Model 1917 was introduced with a cylinder bored to take the .45 ACP cartridge and the half-moon clips to hold the rimless cartridges in position. The New Service Revolver saw use again in the Second World War, where it found favor with some tankers and artillery personnel. It also saw limited use in Korea and Vietnam, where in the latter conflict, its reliability was noted by “tunnel rats.”

The M9 Beretta

Though the M1911 is still considered a timeless classic by many firearms enthusiasts today, in the late 1970s, the United States military sought to adopt a newer sidearm — one that could be chambered for the 9mm cartridge that had become standard across NATO. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) also recognized that the M1911s in service were a bit past their sell-by date.

In 1980, the Beretta 92S-1 design was chosen over entries from Colt, Smith & Wesson, and Walther, as well as the Star M28 and various Fabrique Nationale (FN) and Heckler & Koch models. However, some old-timers in the U.S. military weren’t impressed, and a series of new tests were conducted by the U.S. Army.

In 1984, the trials started again with updated entries from Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Sig Sauer, Heckler & Koch, Walther, Steyr, and FN. The Beretta offering won out and was officially adopted as the service pistol in 1985. It was based on the Beretta 92FS, a short recoil, semi-automatic, single-action/double-action pistol that employs a 15-round staggered box magazine with a reversible magazine release button that can be positioned for either right or left-handed shooters.

It was officially designated “Pistol, Semiautomatic, 9mm, M9.”

Upgraded as the M9A1 in 2006, it added a one-slot Picatinny rail for mounting lights, lasers, and other accessories while also featuring a more aggressive front, backstrap checkering, and a beveled magazine well for easier reloading. The M9A1 was also offered with Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) coated magazines, which were developed to address the sandy environments found in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The M9 was again further updated in M9A3, which included a 3-slot Picatinny rail, an Earth-tone finish, and a 17-round magazine. This version, introduced in 2016, also featured a removable wrap-around grip that can be swapped between the Vertec-style and the former M9 style.

The M17/M18

The DoD had great confidence in the M9 and bought more than 600,000 of the semi-automatic pistols, but it had some reliability problems and had gained a bad reputation by the 2010s. In 2015, the U.S. Army and Air Force began searching for its replacement.

Thus began the XM17 Modular Handgun Systems competition, which called for two variants: a full-sized M17 and the compact M18. A full dozen pistols were entered into the competition, which called for a non-caliber-specific weapon with modular features to allow for the adaption of different fire control devices, pistol grips, and alternate magazine options.

In January 2017, Sig Sauer’s P320 was announced as the winner of the XM17 Modular Handgun System competition. The P320 platform had numerous features that the U.S. Army found to be appealing, including the fact that it was designed to be ambidextrous in handling while sporting a catch lever on both sides of the slide. It also featured a user-reversible magazine, while other operating controls were designed to be easily operated from either side.

The pistol has two variants: the full-length M17 and the compact M18. The Pentagon has announced plans to buy 420,000 M17s and M18s for $580 million over 10 years.

American military sidearms have come a long way in the past 250 years!

The post The History of U.S. Military-Issue Sidearms: From Flintlocks to the M17 appeared first on The Mag Life.

Read the full article here