Reeder Custom Guns - Waterboy!

https://palmettostatearmory.com/beretta-m1951-9mm-italian-police-trade-in-surplus-used-...

That button on the side is the release. I have has the Helwan Egypt made single stack clones too. I broke an ear off a locking block on one shooting this hot STEN machine gun ammo back in the 1980’s. Man it was like a .;8 Super! Nice thin gun and accurate shooter! Very Euro savvy.

In the “readers gallery” section another fellow had the exact same issue I had on my old Egypt contract gun. Some of the old surplus machine gun 9mm is HOT! I bet a 124 gr. At 1200-1300 fps! From that platform. It shoots a ball of fire, stings the hand, and will break the gun.

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The General Accounting Office report in the 1980's detailed the problems. There were a number of broken guns and injuries to the shooters. The slide would come back and bash your face when it let go.

It would crack here:
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I've seen some that were cracked all the way through on one side.

Here's the report:
https://www.gao.gov/assets/110/102286.pdf

but they never asked me before they did away with the 1911 and I can't let that go.

Be selling them. But, no shortage of 9mm guns here. Just no ammo to go with them.

I've not been in the military but I figure guns are cleaned and casually looked over and put up for the next swinging Johnson to get issued, over and over again, to the point of failure and retirement.

Metal fatigues with use. Molecules only have so much flex in them. I know of several local Beretta M92's with an easy 10k round count of casual range ball 115 gr. But I bet they had much better maintenance than a low bid Military issue.

The Beretta has obvious design influences from the Walther P-38. Which also had an inherit flaw that cracks the slide and frame at a weak window machined in it. Hurried and improper wartime heat treatment sometimes had a factor too.

I like the 1911 infinitely better too. But for a 9mm I find the Beretta very soft shooting and accurate. Reliable too. For a commercial model and civilian use I think it is probably a very fine choice. My entire family shoots them well. I still have a M92A1 (railed 9mm)and a M96 in .40 Cal. It can't be stressed much more than the frail little Browning HP they brought out in .40 also. I think it will handle my casual shooting just fine.

Point is those surplus guns "could have been" rode hard and put up wet. With the surplus market kind of dried up nowadays you might select your choices wisely. Police or Security force trade in's are usually better.

4 failed at 7000 rounds or less

1 failed at 10,000 rounds

1 failed at 17,000 rounds

5 failed between 21,000 and 24,000 rounds

3 failed around 30,000 rounds

By that time 4 shooters had been injured.

But you have to be careful with statistical data. Out of how many thousands of guns and millions of rounds fired?! It's a lot more complex system to me compared to even the multi-component swing link 1911.

I cannot believe it was run through the trials. It shocked me back in the 1980's. Corruption and a pay off was obviously in play. Think of what was in the running. Ruger's P85 was a big but simple and sturdy gun. Who al else was in play?! It was time to retire the 1911 as the Army demanded a DA gun and that Colt Eagle thing was total trash.

Was privileged to meet with old Bill Ruger himself. I got to shoot the P85 that was written up .. had most of the slide cut away ... fired thousands of rounds through it without any issues.

Saw the "Jeep Test" .. where they toss the gun on concrete and drive a jeep back and forth over it for awhile. Mud .. sand .. water .. overloads. They took one P85 and threaded the inside of the barrel and screwed a stud into the barrel and proceeded to fire it ... with no issues other than the bullet not exiting.

Those were fun days.

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but I know how the army takes care of weapons and your thoughts aren't correct.

you'd have to almost examine that locking block with a microscope on a "service" Beretta. I imagine some are issued for a few years at a time and others deployed for very short operations.

I remember Doug telling me he dropped his issue 1911 on hard pack sandy dirt. Not in it, just on it. Picked it right up. The baby powder fine Iraq sand locked up his gun totally, a 1911! He'll have to retell it correctly.

As I mentioned the M9 is more complex than the 1911 by my figuring. I have no idea how they check them out and service them.

as I didn't like loosing my 1911. What I'm saying is that in the units I was in, the soldier was issued the same weapon each time (unless something happened to it). The weapon was sighted in for that individual. The soldier was responsible for cleaning and function tests. The soldier was the one to tell us if there was something wrong with the weapon. I, or my armorer, would check out the weapon for how it had been cleaned or if it was turned in cocked (you would be surprised). I've read that when Richard Marcinko was forming Seal Team 6, they broke several Berettas while training.

I’m not all in on Berettas, I have 3x as many 1911 as Berettas. But I find it a good shooter for my uses. I like it’s shootability over many skill levels. However I can say the same about the Ruger .22 auto.

I shot expert in the military with it, but I didn't like it.

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