The new Generation of 9 mm semi-auto Pistols
9 mm semi-auto Pistols Less than 15 years ago, the panoply of handguns in service with police and military for- ces of Western nations was so varied (as regards both types and calibres) as to border on total anarchy. It was not uncommon to find, within a single police corps and sometimes even within a single army, simultaneous-and often semi-official or para-official-deploy. ment of radically different weapons such as 7.62 mm Browning (.32 ACP) semi-auto pistols and .357 Magnum revolvers. This variety, which ran contrary to the most elementary rationalisation/standardisa tion/interoperability requirements, was mainly a result (and an indication) of the low importance then attached to close-quarter personal defence weapons by both military and police forces. The military were much more concerned with the evolution of assault rifles and squad weapons; and the police forces had not yet been forced to face the terrorist threat, whose growth during the 1970s was to plunge several Weste...