9mm and 045 Caliber Autoloading Pistol Test Results

In addition, 600 rounds of ammunition are fired to evaluate performance and the pistols are subjected to actual drop tests. After the drop test, the pistol is expected
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u.s. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice Equipment Performance Report: 9mm and 45-Caliber Autoloading Pistol Test Results August 1987 Prepared and published by: Technology Assessment Program Information Center Marc Caplan, Technical Coordinator Jolene Hernon, Senior Editor-Writer Box 6000, Rockville, MD 20850. 1-800-24-TAPIC (301-251-5060). U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice 107799 This document has been reproduced exactly as received from the person or organization originating It. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or pOlicies of the National Institute of Justice. Permission to reproduce this material has been granted by Public Dornain/NIJ u.s. De9artment of Justice to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). Further reproduction outside of the NCJRS system requires sion of the owner.

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National Institute of Justice James K. Stewart Director Lester Shubin Program Manager This project was supported by grant #85-IJ-CX·-K040 awarded by the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. The testing program was supported by the National Bureau of Standards, Law Enforcement Standards Laboratory, Dr. Daniel E. Frank, ager, Weapons and Protective Equipment Program. Analysis of test results herein do not represent product approval or endorsement by the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice; the National Bureau of Standards, U.S, Department of Commerce; Aspen Systems Corporation; or the facilities that conducted the equipment testing. The Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs, nates the criminal and juvenile justice activities of the following gram Offices and Bureaus: National Institute of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and Office for Victims of Crime.

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About the Technology Assessment Program The Technology Assessment Program (TAP) is an applied research project of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). TAP develops minimum performance standards for law enforcement equipment and tests equipment based on these standards. To accomplish program tasks, NIJ ordinates the activities of two zations: the TAP Information Center (TAPIC) and the Law Enforcement Standards Laboratory (LESL) of the National Bureau of Standards. LESL prepares equipment standards, reports, and guides; TAPIC coordinates testing of law enforcement equipment by independent laboratories and publishes the test results. LESL, TAPIC, and the National Institute support one another in accomplishing the program tasks and goals. TAP’s major tasks and goals are: Coordination of the TAP Advisory Council. Composed of’ nationally ognized professionals from Federal, State, and local criminal justice cies, the Advisory Coumcil helps the National Institute set priorities for developing new equipmeint standards and for testing available products. Coordination of equipment testing. TAPIC develops Requests for Proposals to select testing laboratories, evaluates proposals with assistance from LESL, selects laboratories, and monitors the testing activities. Compilation and dissemination of test results. TAPIC .compiles and the test results and, after review by NIJ and LESL, publishes the results in the TAP Alert and Equipment Performance Reports such as this one. Dissemination of Information. TAP educates the criminal justice community about its resources and services in a number of ways. Staff prepare articles for criminal justice periodicals, develop exhibits, make presentations at major criminal justice conferences, and serve as a clearinghouse of information about equipment and technology. For more information or to add your name to TAPIC’s mailing list, call toll free 800-24-TAPIC. (In Maryland and the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., area call 301-251-5060.) James K. Stewart Director National Institute of Justice Abou t TAP iii

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-Executive Summary Today’s law enforcement executives face rising crime rates, increasing public demand for police services, and, at the same time, face the pressure of dwindling resources. Just as research and mentation have revealed better tives to traditional policing methods, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) research also has led to improved ways of selecting law enforcement equipment. Ineffective equipment can hamper police operations and pose a threat to officer safety. In addition, the costs ted with maintenance and replacement of inferior equipment could be astronomical. One of the most important items of ment a police officer carries is a service weapon. A properly functioning weapon can be the difference between life and death. As a result of several sensational news stories about police officers being “outgpnned” on the streets, many law enforcement agencies have considered switching from revolvers to autoloading pistols. This report describes in detail the results of testing 20 different models of loading pistols against the minimum performance requirements established by NIJ Standard-0112.00 for 9mm and 45-caliber autoloading pistols. The standard describes the parameters that are critical to the safety and bility of service weapons. None of the 20 models of autoloading pistols complied with every requirement of the standard. Several models, however, did comply with all but the user information requirements. In no case did the manufacturers provide, with the user information, a certificate of compliance with the standard as required, and the majority of the models did not include a statement on ammunition known to be beyond the design limits of the pistol and/or known not to function in the pistol. Table 1 presents an overall summary of the 9mm test results for the six primary requirements. Table 2 presents an overall summary of the 45-caliber test results. Since none of the pistols complied with the user information requirement, that requirement is not included in either table. It should be noted that the requirements of the NIJ standard are stringent, for they represent the level of performance that should be demanded for a pistol that is fully capable of service use (i.e. a combat ready pistol). No attempt has been made to rank pistols according to their test rather, TAP recommends that law enforcement agencies base their purchase decisions on the extent that failure to comply with a specific requirement limits the pistol’s ability to meet an agency’s individual needs. TAP further recommends that agencies closely scrutinize the results of the firing and drop safety ments before purchasing pistols for their officers. The test results indicate that the majority of the pistols were not ready for police use right out of the box. Purchasers who are interested in obtaining a combat-ready pistol should stipulate in their purchase order that the weapon must comply with the requirements of NIJ Standard-0112.00, 9mm and 45-Caliber Autoloading Pistolsr April 1986. Even then, each pistol should be examined by a qualified armorer and judged to be combat ready before it is issued to an officer. We encourage you to take the time to read the entire report on pistol testing and call the TAP Information Center if you have any questions concerning the test results. Executive Summary v

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II -Table 1 Summary of 9mm Autoloading Pistol Test Results C = Complies with the requirements of the standard. N = Does not comply with the requirements of the standard. Manu-Dimen-Func-Drop facturer Model Visual sional tional* Safety/Func. Firing Astra A90 C C N (1) C/C C Beretta 92F N C N (1) C/C C Glock 17 C C N (1) C/C N Heckler & Koch P7M8 C N C C/C C Heckler & Koch P7M13 C C N (1) C/C C Sig Sauer P220 C C C C/N C Sig Sauer P225 C C N (1) C/C N Sig Sauer P226 C C N (1) N/C C Smith & Wesson 439 C C C C/C C Smith & Wesson 459 C C C c/C C Smith & Wesson 469 C C N (1) C/C C Smith & Wesson 639 N C C C/C C Smith & Wesson 659 C C C C/C C Smith & Wesson 669 C C C C/C N Steyr GB C C C C/C C Walther P5 N C N (2) C/C C * Tests of 6 functional parameters were conducted; the number of parameters the model failed to comply with are in parentheses. vi Executive Summary

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Table of contents Executive Summary v Introduction 1 The Test Program 3 Minimum Performance Requirements and Method of Testing 5 Test Results Appendix A: 0112.00 9 Appendix B: Procedures 7 Commentary–NIJ Standard-‘resting Program 13 Appendix C: Results for the Astra, Beretta, and Glock Pistols 15 Appendix D: Results for the Heckler and Koch and Sig Sauer Pistols 27 Appendix E: Results for the Smith & Wesson Pistols 45 Appendix F: Results for the Star, Steyr, and Walther Pistols 67 Table of Contents ix

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r “s Introduction Police officers very rarely have reason to use their weapons in defense of their lives or the lives of others. But on those critical occasions when an officer does use a weapon, it must be in perfect operating order. The Technology Assessment Program visory Council, in recognition of the extraordinarily important role that handguns play in law enforcement, ommended that NIJ establish performance standards for revolvers and pistols and that handguns be tested against those stand”‘rds. The latest of two handgun standards, NIJ Standard-0112.00, 9mm and 4S-Caliber Pistolsl was issued as a voluntary national standard in April 1986. This Equipment Performance Report presents the results of testing 20 pistols according to the requirements of that standard. NIJ standards are stringent. They establish minimum levels of performance that determine the safety and reliability of the pistol and its suitability for service use.2 A pistol that fully complies with the requirements of the standard is truely combat ready. Many large police departments have their weapons examined by an armorer and modified or adjusted to assure ready performance. Regrettably many departments, particularly the smaller ones, do not possess or have access to this capability. NIJ Standard-Oll2.00 establishes 14 separate parameters each pistol must comply with in addition to having proper 1 NIJ issued a companion standard, NIJ Standard-0109.00 for 38-and 357-Caliber .Revo1 vers, in July 1983. 2Appendix A, Cornrnentary–NIJ Standard-0112.00, contains a discussion of the basis for the requirements included in the standard and the criticality of those requirements. user information. Each parameter is evaluated through visual inspection, operational tests, and dimensional measurements. Two pistols of each model are tested. In addition, 600 rounds of ammunition are fired to evaluate performance and the pistols are subjected to actual drop tests. After the drop test, the pistol is expected to operate with a minimum number of malfunctions. None of the pistols that were tested complied with all of the minimum formance requirements of the standard. Some, however, did comply with all but the user information requirements. An overall comparison of the performance of the 20 different models of pistols is presented in Tables I and 2. Readers should review the test results with an eye toward which requirements are most critical to their particular needs. A department may consider noncompliance with one or another of the functional requirements insignificant if the pistol can be easily adjusted to conform to the standard and the department has the personnel to do so. Noncompliande with other parameters could, however, require major rework or modifications requiring the service Qf a skilled gunsmith to achieve an acceptable level of performance. Thus, one agency’s critical need may be unnecessary to another agency. Some requirl5ments of the NIJ standard, however, as the drop safety or firing requirements, should be scrutinized universally because they are essential to the basic performance and safety of the pistol. The most important war.ning that TAP can offer as a result of this test r·rogram is that agencies should not assume that a weapon is ready for police sendce until it has been inspected by an armorer. Even though each pistol that was tested was donated directly its manufacturer or distributor, only a few were totally combat ready. TAP therefore encourages Introduction I

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-all departments that purchase pistols for police use to stipulate in their purchase orders that the weapons must comply with the requirements of NIJ Standard-Ol12.00, 9mm and 45-Caliber Autoloading Pistols, April 1986. TAP does not endorse particular products, and no attempt is made to compare the performance of one model of pistol with another, or to rank the pistols according to the test results. However, because §guipment Performance Reports are the product of carefully controlled tests and critical analysis of the data, we believe that the results will help law enforcement agencies identify those pistols that most closely meet their needs. 2 Introduction

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