Recently put a Beretta M9A1 on layaway at the local establishment. This is Beretta's promo on the M9A1:

http://www.berettausa.com/communities/le_m...sheets/M9A1.pdf

I was examining the mags and they have a curious gold tint to them. These are the new PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) mags that are supposed to be more reliable in sandy/dusty conditions. Mine will never see any more adverse conditions than the shooting range, but does anyone know if they actually work as advertised?

I can't answer your question directly, but I am wondering if this is a result of the unreliability of the M9 in Iraq and Afghanistan. My understanding is that the unreliability was caused by magazines produced by the 'Checkmate' company. The inside of the magazine was rougher in texture than the Beretta produced mags which when combined with sand caused extra friction. However, this caused the M9 as a whole (deserved or not is another debate) to gain a bad reputation.

I do remember having problems with them in Bosnia though, and there wasn't much sand to be had there, so maybe this has been a known issue?




-K

USG specified parkerized magazines which Checkmate provided; they met spec all the way. Unfortunately, the sand in the Sandbox is of talcum-like fineness, so it was trapped by the parkerizing, which led to the widely publicized problems. The spec was changed and Checkmate has been making mags to the new spec. I haven't heard of problems since. OEM Beretta mags were blued, IIRC.

Outside the Sandbox, the Checkmate magazines work fine.

Another issue that may have been a factor... Age of the magazines and M9s.... most of the ones I have seen look like they were quite old and or had seen lots of use. The springs may also have been worn out.

A good part of that may be the endless "cleaning" that weapons get in peacetime. Constant stripping and reassembly is a source of wear in itself.