Over the years, we have used several pistols in our conceal carry/permit to carry classes, but now there is one handgun we use for every class at no additional charge and have no plans of changing.
The one we use is the Beretta M9-22LR. You may be wondering why and you’re about to find out why it’s the best choice as we go over these top 5 reasons:
1. The Beretta M9-22LR eats anything.
It’s no secret that we are currently in one of the largest ammo shortages of all time. With that being said, as a company dedicated to providing training for one all-inclusive price, we can’t be picky about which .22LR ammo we use for the live-fire qualifications. We use what we can get, and we need a good gun that can eat any .22LR ammo flawlessly.
The Ruger SR22 is the firearm we used prior to the M9 and, although it’s a great one for plinking, our experience revealed several malfunctions depending on the ammo used. With the Beretta, however, this has never been a problem. We’ve used Wolf, Federal, Winchester, Aguila, and Remington ammo and the results are the same. When the trigger is pulled, we get a bang with a round ejected followed by the chambering of the next.
2. It’s a full-sized handgun.
We provide permit to carry training for folks of all backgrounds and oftentimes our students are first-time shooters. That’s exactly why we want to use a full-sized handgun. Most importantly, it allows for plenty of gun to get a good grip. Can you get a good grip on a smaller gun? Absolutely, but a larger pistol is easier to start with because all fingers can fit on the grip.
3. It has great stock sights.
Not all stock sights are created equally and the M9 is exaggerated to say the least. The front sight is a nice beamy white dot, and the rear sights are clearly defined. This allows a new shooter to take the words of “front dot right in the middle of the rear dots” and then get a bullseye, which in turn builds confidence early on.
4. It allows for exposure to concepts.
The M9 has an external safety and it’s a single action/double action. This means a shooter must try firing a weapon where the external safety is turned off for the initial shot and, additionally, the first trigger pull is heavier followed by lighter trigger pulls after every subsequent shot.
5. The Beretta M9 can take a beating.
The US Armed Forces used the M9 for over 30 years as its sidearm of choice, and one of the main reasons for this adoption was that reputation of taking abuse and the lack of maintenance. Now, truth be told, it’s not the exact same gun. One is a 9MM and what we use is the .22LR version, but rest assured, the reliability can be felt on almost a daily basis through our MN Permit to Carry live-fire qualifications.
I hope you enjoyed learning the 5 main reasons why we use the Beretta M9-22LR. I look forward to seeing you in class, whether you take it in-person or online, where you can try it out and see for yourself why it’s so great.
Your instructor,
Augustine