Officers quickly flocked to Glock’s first offering, the Glock 17. Gaston Glock’s entry into the marketplace in 1985 couldn’t have been better timed. Firepower and semi-autos suddenly became the have-to-have for LE. I remember my father talking about the gunfight when it occurred, and reading about it in gun magazines – notably in several analyses by Massad Ayoob. He was then shot in the head and neck and though he survived, he was left paralyzed for some time. One agent named McNeill suffered one of the worst fates possible in a gunfight: he was shot in the hand by one of the suspects, and when his revolver ran dry, he could not reload due to blood and gore in the gun, and his injuries. Although the two suspects were neutralized eventually, they wounded or killed all but one of the eight FBI agents who engaged them. To counter this, eight FBI agents fielded just two 12 gauge shotguns loaded with buckshot, and mostly revolvers – though two agents had Smith 459s in 9mm with Winchester Silver tip ammo.

In the Miami shootout, FBI agents went up against two combat-hardened military veterans who had some serious armament – a semi-auto 12-gauge shotgun, a Ruger Mini-14 with multiple 30-round magazines, and several handguns. Sig P226 pistols, S&W 59s and 459s, and several other designs were starting to be seen in Law Enforcement holsters when one of the most decisive and studied gunfights in history – the 1986 Miami FBI shootout – occurred. Military’s adoption of the 9mm caliber in 1985, along with the Beretta M9/92F platform. Also aiding the 9mm’s acceptance was the U.S. The 9mm was starting to gain traction, as high-capacity double-action handguns were starting to come unto their own with designs that were reliable enough to feed hollowpoint ammunition regularly. 38 Special revolvers with semiautomatic handguns. In the late 1970’s and early 1980s, police departments were starting to replace their time-honored. You see, I grew up in a transitional period in firearms development. I finally gave in to the dark side, and am now firmly in its camp. But the more I handled the P320 and the more I shot it, the sweet siren song of a single trigger pull to master, brutal simplicity, accuracy, and large capacity called to me, and pulled me in. I wanted to eschew the molded polymer grip with its slight seam lines and go back to trusty, heavy, metal pistol frames. I really wanted to chalk this one up to “the next flash in the plastic pistol pan” and go back to being ensconced in uninhibited true lust over my beloved P220ST. You see, I really wanted to not like this pistol. It went home with me where I glared at it in consternation, half furious with myself and half in wild elation. I handled it, fondled it, wiped the drool away, and made a trade for it. I saw it in a local pawn shop, sitting there in the glass case, perched on green velvet, looking all blocky and businesslike and badass.

Sig sauer 9mm semiautomatic handgun