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SERPENT5XX · 10-22-2004, 11:41

Gentlemen,

This might start a controversy but I need to ask. (My wife claims I enjoy controversy)

Is or has anyone else in the SF community had issues with their M9’s?

I know most of you out there are familiar with the magazine problems but this has to do with the locking blocks breaking.

I have seen problems with the locking blocks for years. At one time it was just a mild irritation. I thought that because my ODA was a CQB Team and that we shot so much more pistol that we just tore the guns up faster than the other Teams. Now that I have had the misfortune of being moved to a staff position I have realized it is a much larger problem. In fairness, Teams across the board shoot much more due to GWOT, SFAUC, attendance of civilian shooting schools like Mid-South Institute, and an increased emphasis on missions where the M9 is the primary or only weapon carried or at least the weapon most accessible. Most of the time when a block broke the 18B would just swap out the block and the guy will get back to training. That is how we usually operated. We just wanted to get back to training. Lately it has become such a frequent and wide spread occurrence that it can no longer be ignored or handled as a work around. The problem is that there is really no long-term documented problem at levels that can affect this problem. At least that is the story we are being told.

What am I talking about as far as round count? Probably any where between 300 to 1,000 rounds fired per day depending on the training event. Depending on the training event it could be a sustained 5 to 10 days of that round count. This event might be done several times a year. So on the low side we are talking about 10,000 rounds a year through a gun and on the high side 50,000 a year. I have heard that the factory acknowledged life span of the M9 is 10,000 round. If this were true, you would think that someone would realize we could use a more durable gun.

I am interested if any of you have observed this same problem or has the desert heat finally baked my brain.

Your comments are encouraged.

Thanks!

SERPENT5XX

10-22-2004, 11:41	#1
SERPENT5XX Quiet Professional Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: On the road Posts: 105	M9 Issues Gentlemen, This might start a controversy but I need to ask. (My wife claims I enjoy controversy) Is or has anyone else in the SF community had issues with their M9’s? I know most of you out there are familiar with the magazine problems but this has to do with the locking blocks breaking. I have seen problems with the locking blocks for years. At one time it was just a mild irritation. I thought that because my ODA was a CQB Team and that we shot so much more pistol that we just tore the guns up faster than the other Teams. Now that I have had the misfortune of being moved to a staff position I have realized it is a much larger problem. In fairness, Teams across the board shoot much more due to GWOT, SFAUC, attendance of civilian shooting schools like Mid-South Institute, and an increased emphasis on missions where the M9 is the primary or only weapon carried or at least the weapon most accessible. Most of the time when a block broke the 18B would just swap out the block and the guy will get back to training. That is how we usually operated. We just wanted to get back to training. Lately it has become such a frequent and wide spread occurrence that it can no longer be ignored or handled as a work around. The problem is that there is really no long-term documented problem at levels that can affect this problem. At least that is the story we are being told. What am I talking about as far as round count? Probably any where between 300 to 1,000 rounds fired per day depending on the training event. Depending on the training event it could be a sustained 5 to 10 days of that round count. This event might be done several times a year. So on the low side we are talking about 10,000 rounds a year through a gun and on the high side 50,000 a year. I have heard that the factory acknowledged life span of the M9 is 10,000 round. If this were true, you would think that someone would realize we could use a more durable gun. I am interested if any of you have observed this same problem or has the desert heat finally baked my brain. Your comments are encouraged. Thanks! SERPENT5XX
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