"Baretta M9: The Gun Navy Seals Love to Hate" Topic

"In January 1985, the U.S. Army made a fateful decision that would send shockwaves through the firearms industry: the service chose a foreign company to replace its arsenal of Colt pistols. The controversial choice of the Beretta 92FS as the standard handgun for the U.S. armed forces marked the end of an era, shifting away from larger calibers and towards higher capacity magazines and modern designs. The Italian handgun also established a beachhead for European firearms and makers on the U.S. market, helping make Europe's gun makers the household names they are today.

The history of Beretta goes back to the sixteenth century, when Bartolomeo Beretta produced 185 arquebus barrels for the Arsenal of Venice. The company, has made firearms ever since, helmed by fifteen consecutive generations of the Beretta family, arming armies from Napoleon to Mussolini. In the late 1970s, Beretta decided to bid on its most ambitious project to date: the 2.1-million strong United States Armed Forces. The Joint Service Small Arms Program (JSSAP), meant to pick out a replacement for the venerable Colt 1911A1 semi automatic pistol for the U.S. Military, promised to be the most lucrative single contract in history
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Amicalement
Armand

Never handled one, but a number of TMPers have had good things to say about them.

If and when they show up on the surplus market i may try one.