POLICE PISTOL BATTLE ROYALE
Nine-mil service pistols compared
IICANR EMEMBER a time when, if you saw a police officer, you could bet cash money that the sidearm in his holster was a .38 Special revolver with a four-inch barrel and most likely a blue finish. From the 1960s the U.S. experienced growing urban violence which resulted in many police ageni s switching to more powerful .357 Magnum revolvers.
This all changed in 1985 when the U.S. Army adopted the Beretta 92 (M9) pistol chambered in 9mm Parabellum. It wasn’t long before police revolvers were replaced by‘ Wondernine’ semi-autos from Beretta, S&W, SIG Sauer, Walther and other manufacturers.
The introduction of the Glock G17 pistol started the Polymer Revolution and today, just about every handgun maker of note offers a ‘plastic’ pistol suitable for police/ military service.
Dissatisfaction with the performance of early 9mm hollow point ammunition led to the development of the .40 S&W cartridge. Introduced in January 1990, it quickly displaced the 9mm used by most departments. Currently the .40 is the most widely-used police handgun cartridge in the U.S., although it appears that the situation is changing. In recent years, the on-target performance of the 9mm has seen a marked improvement. Some 9mm loads now approximate the performance of larger-calibre cartridges with the added benefits of lower recoil, lighter weight and higher mag capacity.