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The Federal Bureau of Investigation is ditching the .40 caliber Smith & Wesson to return to the 9mm jacketed hollow-point luger, The Washington Post reports. The 9mm was once the standard round for the FBI, but after the infamous 1986 Miami shootoutthat left 2 agents dead and five agents wounded the Bureau surmised that the 9mm did not have the firepower to effectively pierce body armor. The FBI tried a new round, the 10mm, before settling on the shorter .40 S&W, which is used by many law enforcement agencies today. However, according to Ray Cook, the chief of the FBI’s Defensive Systems Unit, the bureau began to reconsider the 9mm as early as 2007 because of advances in technology. Ballistics tests showed the rounds used in the 1986 shootout tested lowest on the scale while new 9mm rounds like the 147 grain Speer Gold Dot G2 allow for more penetration, the most important facet of the FBI’s testing. Cook says the lighter bullet yields 12 to 18 inches of penetration into a human target and is more effective than the rounds carried in 1986. The lighter round also allows agents to fire more accurately in high-pressure situations like shootouts. This change can have far-reaching implications for other law enforcement agencies and police departments, who often follow the FBI’s lead on choices like ammunition.
“When we do something, local departments take note,” Cook said. “They see that if it works for us, it’ll work for them, too.” When the bureau changes ammunition it will also change what firearms their 13,000 agents use. The FBI has used Glock variants chambered in .40 S&W since 1997, but a request for proposal (RFP) on a new handgun was posted in early October with an anticipated award date of June 2016. The contract, potentially worth $85 million, has very specific guidelines for both compact and full-size pistols. According to the RFP, they must be striker fired, have ambidextrous magazine catches and slide stop levers, no manual external safety, no de-cocking lever, and no finger grooves on the frame, along with other guidelines. What do you think, is a return to the 9mm wise? What handgun do you think the agency will select?
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发表于 2015-11-6 12:05
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