U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the parent agency of the United States Border Patrol, has issued a solicitation for a family of lightweight, striker-fired, semi-automatic handguns chambered in 9mm.  With a 10-year period of performance and a contract ceiling listed at $85M, this is likely to be the largest handgun contract in the history of US law enforcement.

What We Know So Far

Unlike other agencies in recent contracts, CBP is looking for a family of firearms.  In their own words, the contract “shall include three distinct variations of sizes”.  This sounds like it will leave CBP the option of purchasing full-size, mid-size, or compact handguns for their agents.  Of particular note is that the full and mid-size handguns are required to include an optics ready slide cut, allowing the firearm to be compatible with both the Trijicon RMR and Delta Point Pro Mircro Red Dot Sights (MRDS).

Testing protocols are also unique for this solicitation.  The government is requiring manufacturers to foot the bill for all testing at a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) laboratory, prior to the close of the solicitation.  While it is not readily apparent what CBP’s motivation is for this, it certainly seems to make the process more fair and transparent than some of the typical closed-door government testing done in secret.

The performance testing standards seem to cover all the standard procedures we are used to seeing, but CBP takes things a step further by adding tests like rough handling, “Linear Guided” drop tests, and extreme sand and salt-water exposure tests.  The handguns will be tested to over 10,000 rounds each using two types of ammunition (Winchester Ranger 147gr. JHP, and Speer Gold Dot 124gr.+P JHP), and nearly half of those rounds will be fired with a SureFire X300U-A attached to the pistol.

To make things even more interesting, it seems as though CBP will be allowing actual field agents to rate the handguns as part of what they’re calling an Operational Personnel Handgun Evaluation.  The solicitation shows law enforcement personnel rating the guns on: Ease of Disassembly; General Ergonomics; Vehicle Entry and Obstacle Clearance exercises; Perceived Accuracy; Trigger Pull; Fast Fire Control; Ease of Reloading; and Slick Grip Firing.  By the look of the solicitation, this portion of the evaluation will happen only after CBP narrows down the submissions to the top four highest scoring vendors.

Who Meets The Requirements?

At first glance, no one currentky meets all of the requiremenes, at least with what we know is on the market.  CBP effectively rules out everyone at some point in the requirements, while leaving the door open for any manufacturer who is willing to put in a little effort.  As it stands right now, there doesn’t seem to be a single manufacturer with handguns meeting every specification.  While the biggest limitation may be the requirement of three sizes of the same type of gun (as well as red-inert and blue-marking variants), most others would only require simple modifications to an existing line of guns.  With a contract this size, it seems reasonable that most companies would be willing to make a few small changes for a chance to wind up in the holsters of the county’s largest law enforcement agency.

Specs:

·         Three sizes of handguns, with 70% overall interchangeability
·         Preferred that a trigger pull is not required for disassembly, and shall not require the use of tools
·         Matte black or dark grey finish (FDE and Ranger Green should be available as an option)
·         Polished internal components
·         No external safety (trigger safety OK)
·         Consistent trigger pull between 4.5 and 8 pounds
·         Aggressively textured polymer frame capable of accepting Streamlight and SureFire weapon lights
·         Multiple grip sizes for each pistol
·         Beveled magazine well, which is equal in height across the front edge
·         Integral magazine well flare is preferred
·         Magazine floor plate “toe” must extend past the front of the grip
·         Low Bore Axis
·         Full front and rear slide serrations
·         Optics ready with cover plate, compatible with Trijicon RMR and Delta Point Pro
·         Full ambidextrous controls
·         Trijicon HD style sights

CBP is also requiring extended magazines and suppressor-height sights to be available on contract.

All in all, this sounds like it could be an interesting duty handgun designed to include all the best features a shooter could ask for in a single package.  The solicitation closes on September 19, 2018, so before long we may be seeing some new guns on the market.

To read the solicitation in full, check it out at www.fbo.gov.