Though sidearms aren’t as powerful as service rifles, they’re an important backup weapon if a primary weapon jams or runs out of ammunition. Historically service pistols have been issued primarily to officers, though this practice has steadily been phased out of most militaries due to the better range and firepower a service rifle can offer compared to sidearms.

Though not all of them are still issued, here are some of the United States’ best service pistols.

M1911

No conversation about American military sidearms is complete without first mentioning the M1911, the standard-issue service pistol from 1911 until 1985. The pistol’s longevity is due to a very robust design, able to withstand the harshest of firing conditions while remaining reliable. The M1911 is also renowned for its cartridge, the large .45 ACP, which gives the M1911 much more stopping power than comparable cartridges of the era. The drawback to the large cartridge was its size: the M1911’s single-stacked magazine can hold only seven rounds.

The 1911 design enjoyed a renaissance of sorts with the U.S. Marine Corps in the form of the M45A1 Close Quarter Battle Pistol, issued to Force Recon and Marine Expeditionary Units. The M45 design is essentially an updated M1911 with a match-grade barrel, improved sights, and a picatinny accessory rail.

Heckler & Koch’s Mk 23

The Mk 23 story starts in 1991 when SOCOM went on the hunt for a pistol that could offer more stopping power comparable to the M1911, which had been replaced by the Beretta M9, chambered in a nine millimeter. The design that SOCOM settled on was impressive. Like the M1911, it too was chambered in .45 ACP, though the +P ammunition the Mk 23 opted for generated about 10 perent more chamber pressure than the standard .45 ACP, translating into more stopping power and a more powerful weapon.

The Mk 23 is a really large pistol. It had a nearly six-inch barrel and had a much higher magazine capacity than the legacy M1911, twelve rounds in a double-stacked magazine compared to the M1911’s 7-round capacity. Despite the pistol’s large size, however, its weight was made more manageable thanks to a light-weight polymer frame that had the added benefit of corrosion resistance.

SIG Sauer M17 and M18

SIG’s M17 and M18 pistols are currently the United States’ standard-issue sidearm. And though they’re chambered in a nine-millimeter—sometimes criticized and being underpowered—they feature a number of improvements over the M9 pistol they replace. Both pistols are based on SIG’s P320 pistol, the only difference between the two designs is the M17 has a slightly longer barrel than the M18. Both pistols can accept standard seventeen-round magazines or twenty-one-round extended capacity magazines.

Part of the reason that makes the M17 and M18 such an improvement over their predecessor is the ammunition they can be chambered in, which is a flat-nosed full metal jacket, and what is essentially a hollowpoint cartridge. In combination with this ammunition, the M17 and M18 could be some of the deadliest sidearms the U.S. military has ever issued.

Caleb Larson is a Defense Writer with The National Interest. He holds a Master of Public Policy and covers U.S. and Russian security, European defense issues, and German politics and culture.

Image: Reuters