For the fourth time in recent years the US Army is considering dropping the M9 Beretta and the 9mm NATO round it chambers in favor of a pistol that shoots a larger caliber, harder hitting round. The Federal Bureau of Investigation on the other hand have just published a pre-solicitation notice for 9mm pistols. The Bureau are looking for a compact, a full size and a training/simulation semi-automatic pistol chambered in 9mm Luger/Parabellum. A full solicitation noticed is expected to during Q1 2015.

The notice (SYNOPSIS-OSCU-DSU1501) is below …

This is a PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE of a proposed requirement for various commercial “OFF THE SHELF” semi-automatic pistols chambered to fire a 9mm Luger cartridge as defined by SAAMI. This notice is issued solely for informational and planning purposes only. The following types of pistols, chambered to fire a 9mm Luger cartridge, may be requested for testing and evaluation purposes under a future solicitation: Class One Pistol: barrel length between 3.75″ and 4.25″; with a minimum magazine capacity of 13 rounds. Class Two Pistol: barrel length between 4.5″ and 5.5″; with a minimum magazine capacity of 15 rounds. Class One Training Pistol (Red Handle): deactivated with full articulation, red receiver and slide, night sights. Class One “Man Marking” (a.k.a., “Simunitions”) pistol: blue slide or slide with blue inserts. The Federal Bureau of Investigation anticipates the release of a solicitation during FY2015/Q1; distributed solely through the General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) Website (www.fedbizopps.gov). This notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) and should not be construed to as a commitment of any kind by the Government to issue a formal solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Any costs incurred by interested parties will NOT be reimbursed. It is the responsibility of any interested party to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this notice.

What is especially interesting is that the FBI are only interested in pistols that fire SAAMI specification 9mm cartridges. This infers they are not interested in adopting +P+ overpressure ammunition which exceeds SAAMI maximum chamber pressures.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation currently issues chambered in .40 S&W, which famously collaborated on the development of, to their Special Agents and .45 ACP pistols to the FBI HRT (Hostage Rescue Team) and regional SWAT teams.

Thanks to J for the tip.