I don't know, because I don't know what unit it was or what range it was. I do know that the DOD standard is if you're shooting indoors, you must shoot the 100gr frangible round. I forget the official designation for it. That's what we were shooting when we smashed all those guns.
The thing about the frang round isn't that it's especially hard on guns, it's that some lead free primers eat barrels alive. The stuff we shoot doesn't have a lead free primer so that's less of an issue.
Lead free primers are an issue but not the only issue with lead free rounds. When FLETC went lead free on most of their ranges we started seeing broken extractors and takedown levers on new officers guns within a year out of the academy. They determined the lead free ammo was hotter / higher pressure in order to function reliably with the lighter bullets. Solution was to simply replace the extractors and recoil springs on all guns before sending the newbies out to the field with them.
For most support units in the military, M9s are an afterthought. I knew multiple NCOs who went downrange with no handgun time (yet command ensured they attended Cultural Appreciation briefings). Between iffy maintenance at the armorer level and poorly educated end users , it’s no surprise to me the M9 has a bad reputation in the military.
The 1911 had the same problem in its day , and the M17 will acquire the same rep in the next war.
The Minority Marksman.
"When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: Do not recite poetry to one who is not a poet."
-a Ch'an Buddhist axiom.
Not in the absence of extreme heat and humidity, like the inside of a boiler.
Spraying a gun with chlorinated brake cleaner will do absolutely nothing to its steel and aluminum parts. Plastic parts? Not sure about those, not my area of expertise. The gun world is filled to the brim with serious misunderstanding and outright fabrications about materials and engineering concepts.
This place is fond of saying "stay in your lane". This is my lane.
Last edited by Alpha Sierra; 06-05-2019 at 10:53 AM.
Nobody's perfect, but there is this impression in the gun world that subcontract/outsourced parts are generally inferior and that OEM parts are generally superior. I doubt someone has the metrics to prove it one way or the other.
My experience in OEM and contract manufacturing says that there are shitty OEMs in about the same proportion as there are shitty subs.
If only someone would study whether rebuilt weapons work as well...
Soldiers issued a rebuilt weapon were more likely to report a repair while in theater. Soldiers carrying rebuilt M16s were 2.5 times more likely to have had or have needed a repair. Although not statistically significant by two thousandths, those issued a rebuilt M9 were much more likely to experience a repair (the lack of significance is likely due to the very few reports (6) of rebuilt M9s).. Center for Naval Analysis: Soldier Perspectives on Small Arms in Combat
"When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."