Should The 9×23 Winchester Be The Army’s Next Pistol Caliber?

By Bob Owens

The M9 Beretta has served the nation’s military honorably for 30 years, but now the military thinks it’s time for the veteran pistol to retire, and have tapped the Modular Handgun System (MHS) program to find that replacement.

One of the more “fun” parts of the open-caliber nature of the MHS selection process is the fact that the military is not only open to using hollow-point ammunition (no, the Geneva Convention doesn’t have anything to do with ammunition; no the United States was never a signatory to the Hague Convention of 1899, Declaration III, against expanding bullets in international warfare), but is also willing to consider something other than 9mm NATO as a caliber.

While the smart money bet is still on 9mm NATO hollowpoints being selected—.45 ACP weighs more, has lower ammo capacity, and isn’t any better as a stopper in JHP, and doesn’t perform as consistently as 9mm, according the to the FBI—there is a chance that something else might be adopted… and we think there’s a case to be made for the 9×23 Winchester.

Huh?

The 9×23 Winchester was designed from the ground up as a competition cartridge for International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC),United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA), and International …read more

Source:: Bearing Arms