In December of last year, the US Army commenced fielding the M17 and M18 variants of the Modular Handgun System manufactured by SIG the Military Police School At Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
According to Mark Farley, USAMPS deputy commandant, “The (Beretta M9s) we currently have are breaking more often, which causes readiness issues,” explaining that the school’s M9s have fired on average about 20,000 to 30,000 rounds. He stated that a typical handgun will last through only about 10,000 before they start to have significant issues.
USAMPS instructor Gary Homer stated that every MHS is test fired before leaving the factory with 13 rounds; three to break in the weapon and 10 to test accuracy. He said each one must hit 10 out of 10 at 25 meters in a 3-inch group. Additionally, he claimed that MHS barrels last for 25,000 rounds.
“The Military Police Corps, is about 16 percent female Soldiers, so this is a big deal when you’re talking about Soldier lethality and accuracy,” Farley said as he touted the Modular grips of the pistol. “For all Soldiers to be able to hold that weapon with a proper grip and use the right fundamentals of firing — it’s very important in order for them to be able to engage the target and thereafter. One size does not fit all.”
The instructors also like the consistent trigger pull with MHS. Rather than the M9’s initial trigger pull of about 14 pounds and then about five pounds as the pistol transitions to single action, MHS is the same no matter which round you are firing.
Scarborough believes the grip size and consistent trigger pull will really help when Soldiers qualify using the new firing table now hitting the field.
Although they’ve only been fielded 100 pistols so far, the MP School eventually expects to receive 1,400 MHS.
