Читать книгу Gun Digest Book of Beretta Pistols. Function | Accuracy | Performance онлайн

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The testing began in the late 1970s, under the Joint Services Small Arms Program (JSSAP), an entity mandated by Congress. It was determined that the United States Air Force would be the service branch that would lead the testing, which kicked off at the USAF’s Eglin Air Base in Valparaiso, Florida.

There were many entries. Colt fielded their double-action SSP, which did not do terribly well and which never made it into full-scale production. Smith & Wesson entered their Model 459 high-capacity, lightweight 9mm with a double-stack magazine. Ironically, this was a second-generation version of the S&W Model 39, a 26.5-ounce update of the Model 39 of 1954, which had been developed by S&W in the late 1940s the first time the government had indicated that it might be interested in adopting a new 9mm duty pistol. Heckler and Koch fielded two models, their P9 – preceding the Glock as the first polymer-framed pistol– and their VP70, a semi-auto pistol version of their machine pistol. Fabrique Nationale sent three different 9mm pistols to the contest, and Star of Spain sent one. Beretta, fresh from winning the Brazilian Army competition, sent in the Model 92.