Is the pistol outdated in the assault rifle era?

Is the pistol outdated in the assault rifle era? Security guards outgunned against terrorist. Shootout at the Israel festival attack. NATO's CRISAT and PDW's. Body armor against assault rifles.

 During the terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris, police armed with pistols were unable to provide any significant defense against terrorists armed with assault rifles. At that time, terrorists with assault rifles killing civilians was a new tragic experience.

Police were at the scene armed with their 9mm pistols but could not provide any significant protection. The terrorist attack at the Israeli music festival showed again that only military police armed with assault rifles could engage in a shootout with terrorists. The security police armed with pistols were outgunned and shot instantly while they did try to oppose the terrorists armed with assault rifles.

 

Accuracy of the pistol firing under stress.

Lots of real shootout evaluations shown that the accuracy of the pistol fired under heavy stress decreases significantly. While pistol shooters at the range in ideal circumstances can hit a man-sized target at 25 meters, this performance of accurate shooting declines seriously under stress.

Most people who fire a pistol under stress in a life-threatening situation do not even use their iron sights and simply point the gun at the direction of the threat and shoot. This means that the pistol shooter under stress can only accurately fire to a distance of maximum 7 meters. This means that even brave security agents engaging the firefight with their pistol at the site of the music festival were simply not able to pose any threat to the terrorists armed with assault rifles who could shoot back accurately over a much longer distance than 7 meters.

Although the pistol can provide certain protection at a range of up to 7 meters, once beyond that, a shoulder weapon is far superior in accurate use, even under heavy stress. The fact that more and more terrorist attacks happen with assault rifles in the middle of streets and open areas leads us to the conclusion that a pistol is not an efficient weapon for protection against a terrorist attack with assault rifles. 

 

PDWs and CRISAT (Collaborative Research Into Small Arms Technology)

The conclusion that a pistol lacks accuracy under battle stress was already a topic in NATO’s CRISAT weapon and ammunition program in the early 90s. While the CRISAT demands did change over time and ultimately required an accuracy of the weapon system to 200 meters, most experts doubted the practical use of a PDW at a distance of 200 meters with a pistol ammunition caliber.

What we see today on the weapon market is that the concept of the PDW (Personal Defense Weapon) has evolved into a rather small-sized assault rifle in the 5.56mm rifle caliber, providing sufficient firepower, penetration, and accuracy up to 200 meters. However, this new type of assault rifle PDW does not replace the pistol but is rather a companion weapon to the pistol, too big to be carried as a sidearm just like the pistol. The change over time in the CRISAT demands moved away from the initial concept to develop a weapon and ammunition system to replace the 9mm pistol.

The first CRISAT demands asked for an accuracy of the PDW up to 100 meters, which was possible with a pistol-sized barrel and a PDW that could be carried as a sidearm just like the 9mm pistol and could be of use today for police and security services in the fight against terrorism. The pistol was already outdated in the 90s and is certainly outdated in a shootout with terrorists armed with Kalashnikov rifles today.

 

Not ready to replace the 9x19mm NATO caliber

With the confusing changes of the CRISAT demands, there is not yet a PDW caliber on the market to replace the 9mm pistol caliber. All technical efforts were focused on achieving the required distance of 200 meters accuracy and CRISAT penetration without considering sufficient stopping power in a pistol.  

4.6x30mm: The 4.6x30mm caliber was ridiculous as stopping power in a pistol. In a PDW with a retractable butt stock, the PDW was too big as a sidearm.

5.7x28mm: Although several new 5.7 PDW calibers were developed, all have the same lack in stopping power inherent to the small 5.7mm bullet diameter. Yes, it is true that the 5.7x28mm pistols are gaining more public interest, especially in the United States. Still, after more than 20 years of being available on the market, we see no police or special forces dumping the 9x19mm caliber to step over to the 5.7x28mm caliber. On the contrary, experts call the 5.7x28mm caliber marginal for personal defense in a pistol.

Some armies who accepted the P90 also have a 5.7 pistol, which does not mean that their choice is based on a sufficient stopping power of the 5.7x28mm caliber, but rather on the P90 as a submachine gun and 5.7 pistol combination.

1) 9x19mm NATO cartridge

2) 7.92x24mm (S) Short cartridge

3) .30 Super Carry cartridge

4) 7.92x24 mm (N) Normal cartridge

5) .45 ACP cartridge

.30 Super Carry: Is at this moment the only small caliber on the market that can challenge the 9x19mm NATO caliber. The .30 Super Carry is more powerful than the Chinese 8mm which is almost similar in dimensions. At this moment the available ammunition uses heavy .32 caliber bullets which cause a recoil impulse similar to the 9x19mm caliber. So, in this composition, it makes no much sense and has no serious advantage to the 9x19mm caliber.  

7.92x24mm: Was a PDW caliber designed in Belgium in the year 2006 after a series of complaints about the 5.7x28mm caliber. The project suffered from local governmental opposition against a local firearm industry. The 7.92x24mm has similar identities to the .30 Super Carry and uses the same .32 caliber bullets but has a significantly larger case capacity which can significantly increase the performances. This caliber is not yet fully developed to the maximum of its potential.  

All these new PDW calibers have a flatter bullet trajectory at midrange which outperforms the 9x19mm caliber and should be of interest for a PDW sidearm that can replace the 9mm pistol. Small PDW sidearms with a retractable butt stock could provide the accuracy of a shoulder weapon up to 100 meters and could provide security agents the firepower to stand off terrorists armed with Kalashnikov rifles.

 

Concealed body armor

 

As concealed body armor, level NIJ-3A in combination with stab-proof identities is mostly in use by security agents and provides protection against pistol calibers 9x19mm, .44 Magnum, and 7.65x25mm Tokarev. However, this is not efficient to stop the bullets of an assault rifle like an AK 47 Kalashnikov.

There also exist concealed bulletproof vests that can be provided with hard ballistic plates level 4 to stop assault rifle bullets. These vests can normally be worn as a soft concealed body armor and in risky situations be provided with hard ballistic plates level 4. This kind of body armor should have been recommended when a terrorist assault with Kalashnikov rifles was a possibility.

 

New in recent years is that a large number of concealed plate carriers level 4 can be worn. The low profile plate carriers could be worn under a police or security agent uniform and could provide protection against Kalashnikov assault rifles.