{"id":72357,"date":"2021-09-21T07:14:26","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T12:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=72357"},"modified":"2021-09-21T07:14:26","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T12:14:26","slug":"72357","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=72357","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was stationed in Germany, our smallarms shop was the<\/em> support shop for 3rd COSCOM’s headquarters. When Beretta came out with the large headed hammer pin and slotted rail slide as a fix for the slide breaks noted in early U.S. production, I got the job to swap them out on the COSCOM commander’s pistol. To be honest, except for the special serial number series, I could tell no difference from any other issue M9 I had seen.<\/p>\n

\n

EXCLUSIVE: RARE U.S. ARMY ISSUE GENERAL OFFICER BERETTA UP FOR GRABS<\/a><\/p>\n

Typically, the only way to get one of the coveted and extremely rare\u00a0General Officer<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0pistols is to become a general in the U.S. military. About that…<\/p>\n

The Army’s General Officer Pistol program dates back to at least 1972, when the service’s Rock Island Arsenal began producing M15 pistols for general officers, a gun that led to the now-popular Officer series of M1911s. Marked with serial numbers prefixed with the letters “GO,” the program switched to issuing\u00a0M9 Berettas<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in the 1980s\u00a0and, in 2018\u00a0in a story\u00a0covered\u00a0<\/a>previously by Guns.com, to Sig Sauer\u00a0M18<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0GO models.<\/p>\n

Other than the special serial number range, GO models are issued for operational use and are essentially no different from standard-issue pistols.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0U.S. law<\/a>, at the end of their service, generals can purchase their issued pistols, which are unfathomably rare,\u00a0museum-worthy<\/a>\u00a0collectibles if not retained by the family. As\u00a0noted by the Army<\/a>, famed WWII Gens. Omar N. Bradley, George S. Patton, and Dwight D. Eisenhower all purchased their guns when they left the military<\/p>\n

A rarity,\u00a0the General Officer M9 in the Guns.com Vault<\/a>\u00a0was obtained directly from a retired U.S. Army general who had more than thirty years of successful military experience spanning the Cold War and Desert Storm, including more than five years with the famed 82d Airborne Division.<\/p>\n

\n
\"General<\/a>
Its serial number, GO-00787, sets it apart from standard martial M9s or guns produced for the consumer market. (Photo: April Robinson\/Guns.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"General<\/a>
The left slide is marked “U.S. 9mm M9-BERETTA-65490” and carries the encircled PB Beretta logo.\u00a0(Photo: April Robinson\/Guns.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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\"General<\/a>
The right slide is marked “ASSY9346442-65490” the correct cage number for military-issued 9mm upper assembly, complete for Beretta M9. It has an etched “PM” government acceptance mark.\u00a0\u00a0The frame is marked “U.S. 9mm M9 P. BERETTA 65490.” (Photo: April Robinson\/Guns.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"General<\/a>
It wears black plastic checkered grips with the traditional Beretta arrow logo on each panel, serrated grip straps, and a lanyard ring on the butt.\u00a0(Photo: April Robinson\/Guns.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

MAKE THIS GUN THE STAR OF YOUR COLLECTION<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

When an Army colonel is promoted to brigadier (one star) general, their promotion ceremony typically includes the pinning of their star by a family member\u00a0and the\u00a0presentation\u00a0<\/a>of the GO pistol and pistol belt. The latter, a thick black leather belt with an 18-karat gold-plated buckle and imprint of an eagle, was first produced in 1944. The rig is worn at the discretion of the general.<\/p>\n

\n
\"General<\/a>
Our GO M9 includes the distinctive military-issue Bianchi “G-100” marked UM-84 General Officers Model holster and “G-115” twin slot magazine pouch, also a rarity in any condition.\u00a0(Photo: April Robinson\/Guns.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\"General<\/a>
It is hard to stress how rare these guns are, with only a few in circulation outside of museums and preserved as family heirlooms.\u00a0(Photo: April Robinson\/Guns.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

BROWSE ALL BERETTA M9s<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was stationed in Germany, our smallarms shop was the support shop for 3rd COSCOM’s headquarters. When Beretta came out with the large headed hammer pin and slotted rail slide as a fix for the slide breaks noted in early U.S. production, I got the job to swap them out on the COSCOM commander’s … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gun-schtuff","category-military"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=72357"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72358,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72357\/revisions\/72358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=72357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=72357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=72357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}