Platoon Weapons

[Ken White]

... I am guessing, in the military sense the generalized everyman can't hit anything with a pistol anyway.

True -- that's why they need one that will work regardless of shot placement..

...especially if the larger calibre gums up the logistics system and is different from what the alllies use.

That's a myth. We have so many types of ammo floating about it's actually a funny statement. The 'Allies all the same' bit is handy for us when we want to sell weapons (or have 'Allies' stock some Ammo for us...), other than that, we ignore it.

From what I've read, pistol calibres are fun to argue about but pistols don't really make any difference.

Not true; gotta watch those gun mags, they're written by a few good guys and a huge number of wannabes. Also got to watch 'studies,' there's often a lot of politics involved. Like the 'study' that got us the M9...

A pistol doesn't make much difference if you just carry it and don't really use it -- unless that's all you have and you really have to use it, then what it is makes a big difference.

If you expect to get into a fight, make sure you have a rifle or a tank or something really big.

Sounds good -- unfortunately, like a lot of stuff that reads well, reality differs. There's a reason officers, machine and missile gunners as well as a lot of aircrew and others were and are issued pistols. That same reason is why the pistol needs to be a reliable man stopper.

ADDED. I initially ignored this but decide it was too important to not mention:

If you don't have the time or skill for decent shot placement, it doesn't matter what the size the pistol round is.

It does matter. A great deal. I guess I didn't make the point very well above. In military combat, time for decent shot placement is often just not available. Skill enters into it but being bone tired, scared, soaking wet, mud covered, hungry and a few other debilitating things is the NORM and that norm has more adverse impact than lack of skill and / or fleeting targets. Good shot placement sounds great but it takes years -- not months, year -- of constant practice and a lot of Ammo to develop that much skill. That's affordable on cost and time grounds for the Special Operators but is not for most service people so those that must be armed with a pistol as a back up weapon or for portability / weight purposes need one that will stop people. Not wound them, stop them. As has often been said one doesn't need a pistol often but when you need one, you really need it bad -- and it better be one that will do what's needed under continued stress.