“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
I don't know anything you don't. At the time, the P226 and the 92 seemed dead even for reliability, accuracy, and shootability. Not sure what happened with Italy, but had I been a soldier anticipating a land war in Europe I'd rather have a gun that can be reloaded with allies' ammo, and if it did come down to a choice of one sixteen-shot 9mm, or another similar quality 16-shot 9mm plus cruise missiles in Italy, well...
Perhaps, but I also think there was an institutional bias towards the .45 cartridge (if not the 1911) within the SOF community. The 90s and 2000s saw SOCOM repeatedly flirt with adopting a .45 handgun, whether in the form of the convoluted Offensive Handgun Weapon System trials that resulted in the HK Mk23 or the aborted Joint Combat Pistol program. The Mk23 didn't enjoy much success, but NSW eventually procured the HK45C as the Mk24. The Army varsity team never went to the M9 and stuck with their customized 1911s. When they moved on from .45 it wasn't to the 9mm but to the .40 (briefly adopting STI 2011s before transitioning to the Glock). Force Reconnaissance never stopped using their MEU(SOC) 1911s and only now is the M45A1 phasing out of service.
So while that's not data, it's hard not to notice when your sister units (not to mention the overarching organization) seem intent on adopting something else.
As for the emotional side, I always liked this story from Todd...
Last edited by JSGlock34; 10-18-2021 at 09:45 PM.
"When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."
Really enjoyable watch. Thank you for sharing. Im envious of his training at mid south
Last edited by High Cross; 10-22-2021 at 10:02 AM.
I found the video very interesting and illumating. Even among our "tier 1" forces, choices are susceptible to institutional inertia and bias.
This gets into speculative theory, but feel like some budget office politics must have been going in the background too, much like when the decision was made to turn the old stock of M14s into "precision rifles".
It seems like maybe it was, once upon a time, a hard sell to buy firearms without a NATO stock number from the open market, leaving the practical choice between clapped out M9s (with the atrocious DA/SA pull and slide-mounted decocker) and clapped out 1911s. I'm sure most people here would have chosen the clapped-out 1911s, too, in the same situation.