What’s Fine About Nine

The 9mm adoption has much logic behind it. Lighter recoil, with attendant ease and speed of training and hopefully, better hit potential. Most cops aren’t “gun people” coming into the job. When FBI went back to 9mm from .40 as standard, they were already going with 9mm GLOCKs for those agents who had trouble managing the issue .40 caliber G23. Cartridge capacity is a plus, because a service-size 9mm GLOCK holds two more rounds than its .40 counterpart, and a .40 caliber Beretta 96 held 11 rounds while the same size and profile 92 held 16 9mm cartridges (19 with the currently available Mec-Gar magazine). Platform availability favors the 9mm, too: There is no .40 caliber analog for a “relatively high capacity” subcompact in the class of the SIG P365, Springfield Hellcat, S&W Shield Plus, or Ruger equivalent in a traditional size backup or off-duty pistol.