Combat Pistol: Marines vs Army: Comparison?

MSG Brad Sand I used the .45 during Vietnam and not as a tunnel rat. They took away out M-14 in early 1967 and gave us the M-16 with all kinds of problems. They jammed repeatedly until they finally issued replacements with chromed chambers, fixed buffer springs and correct ammo. Meanwhile, that .45 I carried saved me many times. Great in close quarters, especially knockdown power.

Back in 64 I had to take my platoon (heavy mortars Davy Crockett) to fire familiarization with the .45 and had a lot of comments about how useless it was. I showed them how to fire with 2 hands, from a rest, kneeling , prone etc. We spent about half a day at the range (Wildflecken FRG, we could do just about anything we wanted to back then). At the end they were convinced that they could do some real damage at 50 to 75 yards. I only had occasion to use a pistol once and am sure glad I had it. Details do not matter but if you are to carry one as a backup shoot a lot from a variety of positions with either hand and both hands. A pistol is a last resort weapon and the situation will be bad and unpredictable, you will most likely be relying on muscle memory in a split second situation. I do not think we invest enough time in live fire practice. I got mine off duty and still shoot regularly at 80 because it is a perishable skill.

who gives a damn. The question should be can you hit what you aim at. If so then good on you, if not then get out of the military as you are more a danger to use then the enemy

Qualified with the 1911 back when we employed the Olympic, off-hand stance. Carried one every day I was in, but when we left the wire, I took my M-16 and basic load. If the excrement got real, that's what would get me out of it. Fast forward to the GWOT. My kid would leave his M-9 at the FOB in favor of extra mags for his M-4 when he took his unit into Indian country. Nice to know he was listening while growing up.

Uh-huh. LOL

I got the Army pistol expert badge and M16. Not that hard if you follow instructions..

SGT Carl Blas - Congrats Marine, Though I do find it mildly ironic that the above cert. for the "Combat Handgun Coarse" doesn't depict a single soldier using a handgun. LOL.

SSG Robert Clark Yes Sir

Attempts to apply law enforcement techniques, where the pistol is your primary weapon and engagements are generally expected to be 1v1 at close quarters versus the military where the pistol is secondary and engagements may be 1v1 or 12 v 12 or whatever are misplaced. This is an annual qulaification course, not the course of fire for "high risk personnel" which does include hip firing, single handed firing, and firing behind obstacles etc.
Before you post a critique, know what you are critiquing and its purpose.

Shooting from the hip? I think not. I also question fully extending your arms at rest with a pistol at ready as the repeated muscle memory training technique. I teach and was taught pulling in closer to the chest prevents taking away your weapon. As an NRA certified handgun instructor, I demonstrated, with blue guns, how to take a handgun away from someone with the gun extended like that. It is relatively easy to do with a judo-like sweep of the gun away from the person's strong arm while you pull it out of battery, especially if the shooter is disengaged from the trigger guard. The move works against the shooter's hand strength. A better technique is to bring your two hand hold in closer to your chest unless you are ready to shoot. Not like on TV where they go around corners with the gun sticking out into unknown territory. All of this is just on line palaver and palabra to keep us entertained, I suppose. But it is fun.

A different perspective: In the late 40's, I lived with my grandparents and an uncle who was newly married and we all lived as a family in a single house. Granddad had been a deputy for a small town Jerry (uncle) was too young for War 2 and worked for Brinks armored deliivery in Alabama. I loved to listen to his exciting stories. One thing he told me was the way they learned to shoot. They had a shooting range in the basement of their office building and every guard had to fire?? rounds every day after they got off work but before they left for the day. They used .38 special revolvers, but their technique was not to aim, but instead to extend the index finger along the frame parallel to the barrel and point at the target.The claim was that you could accurately point at a target and with the practice could land the bullet there.

I also recall him saying they believed you could always point accurately no matter where yur arms were.