"It seems that there's not enough gunsmiths building [competition M9s]" says SFC St. John. "There seems to be more demand than people who have the ability to fulfill that demand because of the skill it takes to make all these modifications.

"There are only a few gunsmiths in the country who can really build a high quality Beretta that has the ability to supplant a 1911. That's why you still see so many 1911s on the line, because they don't have the product out there to replace it," he says.

Well and good, but few of us have access to a $1,200 custom M9. And as a devotee of the 1911 who once was the only soldier in my platoon to qualify with it, I wanted to see how today's standard issue sidearm compared. I borrowed an M9 from Beretta (which, aside from a different serial number range and slide markings, is the same basic gun as the Beretta 92FS), and got a variety of Winchester NATO and Federal 9mm ammunition.

I took these to the Oak Tree Gun Club in Newhall, California. Starting off with 124-grain military M882 ammo, the first shot out of the box struck at six o'clock in the 10 ring; the second shot was touching. A five-shot string, fired at seven and 15-yard combat distances, measured 13⁄4 inches. I had no problems with the military sights, but I found myself wishing I had one of the USAMU's customized M9s to see what it could do.

I also put Federal 124 grain Hydra-Shok and Blazer 124-grain FMJ ammo through the gun, in both single shot and rapid-fire exercises. In all, I fired 350 rounds, with no malfunctions of any kind. My only critique was that the magazine springs are a bit stiff.

"The Beretta is very forgiving, function-wise," Kidd told me. "It's a more difficult gun to modify than a 1911, but as far as reliability goes, you don't have to do anything to a Beretta to make it work. It will always run 100 percent no matter what you do."

I can echo that. According to a soldier I spoke with at the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, the only thing he could do to make his M9 better was to outfit it with Crimson Trace LG-402M Mil Spec laser grips, which many in his outfit were doing. Moreover, after my range session, I ended up buying my test gun. And for the much-maligned and wrongfully accused M9, that's the best praise I can give it.