[dragoon500ly]

Perhaps this can help, I was in the service when the great 9mm test was held.

Please note that I mentioned 9mm specifically. You see the decision to follow NATO's lead and move to 9mm was made in Congress as part of the policy to standardize as much as possible with NATO, this was the birth of the STANG magazines, the switch to 120mm and yes, the switch to 9mm. From a viewpoint of trying to streamline NATO's screwy supply system, it made sense. It still does.

When the decision was made to seek a replacement for the M-1911A1, there was no doubt that it would be a 9mm. The testing phase was designed to get the best choice. Each submitting designer had to submit 1,000 pistols from a CURRENTLY in production model. The Army would then randomly select 100 pistols and fire 10,000 rounds each in four different tests. Bids would then be taken from the final three and that would determine who would get the contract.

The final three choices came down to Beretta, SIG and Smith & Wesson. The lowest bid was Beretta. There was a bit of sour grapes about this and Smith & Wesson lobbied Congress, stating that the bidding process wasn't followed, that Beretta had reliability issues and that Beretta did not have a US plant (they actually did, in Maryland) and S&W was able to force a retest.

S&W failed the retest, miserably.

And that was the end of the matter.

My local sheriff departments used M92S for several years before switching to Glocks. There is a story of three deputies getting into a shoot out with a couple of crack heads. Two of the deputies used M92s and the third, getting ready to retire, still carried his old Colt .357 Magnum Python. In the shooting report, the 9mm deputies fired a total of 38 rounds of 9mm, hitting one suspect in the arm. The old wheel-gun deputy fired two rounds, hitting both suspects in the upper chest and killing them.

As has been mentioned previously in this thread, it really comes down to what you the shooter, have the most confidence in.