Army Basic Training With Handguns
Army basic training indoctrinates the recruit into how the Army does things and also provides a baseline skill set for a number of duties. One of these is how to operate the standard army rifle, the M-16. This rifle is the primary weapon issued to most soldiers. The pistol is considered a back-up weapon to the rifle. The U.S. Army uses a 9mm Beretta pistol designated as the M-9. Soldiers will become proficient with this handgun during basic training.
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The Basics of the M-9
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The pistol is considered a close-range weapon with an effective range of 50 yards. The semiautomatic M-9 weighs 2.1 pounds when empty. Loaded with a magazine it weighs 2.6 pounds. The magazine holds 15 bullets, and the standard issue of magazines is three per pistol. It has a maximum range of 1,800 yards, but is only considered effective to 50 yards.
Safety is Imperative
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Basic safety rules are part of firearm training. Safety will be among the first issues addressed in pistol training. The National Rifle Association has three simple safety rules. The first is to always keep the weapon pointed in a safe direction. This sounds simple but does require practice. The second rule is to always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. The third is to keep the pistol unloaded until ready for use. In Army terms this translates to not having a bullet in the chamber until ready to fire. Soldiers are taught some variation of these safety rules.
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Marksmanship Training
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Correct sight alignment is imperative for pistol accuracy. Marksmanship training is an important part of handgun basic training. The rear sight on the Beretta has a U-shape. The front sight is a post. To correctly aim the pistol the tops of the front and rear sight will be aligned and there will be an even amount of space on either side of the front post when looking through the rear sight. A steady trigger pull will result in consistently hitting the target.
Clearing Malfunctions
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Quickly solving pistol problems will also be taught. Clearing malfunctions will also be part of pistol training. Sometimes a shell casing may not fully extract or a brass casing will remain in the chamber after the pistol is fired. Both will cause the pistol to jam. Instructions and training will be given on how to quickly and efficiently clear both of these problems. In a combat situation, quickly fixing a pistol problem might be a life-or-death situation for a soldier.
Cleaning the Pistol
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Cleaning a pistol is important maintenance. Dis-assembly and cleaning of the pistol are important to keep the weapon functioning properly. Our troops fight in environments that can easily jam a pistol with sand or mud and render it useless. The soldier is taught to quickly take apart and clean a pistol to bring it back to standard condition. Routine cleaning and maintenance are also stressed in basic handgun training.
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References
- Photo Credit pistol image by Nikita Mironov from Fotolia.com pistol image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com pistol image by AGphotographer from Fotolia.com pistol's muzzle image by AGphotographer from Fotolia.com pistol image by Kovac from Fotolia.com pistol's bullet image by AGphotographer from Fotolia.com
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Comments
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so that everyone should know about hanling a very dangerous object.
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This COULD have been a cool article, except that the accompanying artwork is farcical, as NONE of the photos in the article depict...a Beretta M9! I see Russian makarovs, Smith and Wesson auto, Glock and Colt Government Model 1911, but no Beretta photos! C'mon guys, for everyone in the world who does not know what a Beretta looks like, spend an extra five minutes and insert the right artwork. As for me and the others who already know what an M9 looks like, the artwork just makes the whole article look bizarre.
