Best Competition 9mm under $2K

One thing I notice about "shoot em really fast" guns is everyone says stuff like "Oh it's really accurate" but no one puts them in a Ransom Rest or puts them on sandbags at 50 yards are shows a picture of a group of 5.

My old Bullseye .45 (had a dot sight) was "Reasonably Accurate" and from 50 yards I could cover 5 holes (mostly) with a hockey puck. (a bit over 3" outside edge to outside edge.)

Rather than sitting in the gun safe for 20 years, I sold it to an up and coming club member for what I got it for (as I got it used from a club member for what he bought it for) along with brass and half a big box of cast wadcutters.

So now I am having fun looking for something... not to replace it.. I will stick to .22 this winter for club league.. but just for fun.

After much consideration I am thinking of a 1911 in 9mm. A good quality 1911 can always be slicked up and lots of them are great shooters right out of the box. No one ever said "My 1911 has a great trigger... it's almost as good as a 1911!"
 
I recently purchased a CZ Shadow 2 Orange and love it. I needed DA/SA and wanted the bushing. But a TS Orange is a great pistol. The SAO trigger is sweet. If it meets your competition rules... do it.
 
I shoot primarily USPSA. Been at it for 19 years. The current Production/Carry Optic
flavor of the month appears to be the Sig P320 X-5 Legion.
 
All, thanks for all the continued replies, I am taking a look and watching videos on each gun mentioned.

But, it keeps coming up about what competition and rules. Aguila Blanca listed off several types of competitions and that not all guns would be allowed in all the different types of competitions. While I am certainly not well versed in the rules of all the competitions, at this time I do not want to be. If I get into competitions in the future, I will take the time to understand the rules and ensure I purchase a pistol to meet them.

As of now, I just want a really nice 9mm pistol I can take to the range and shoot everything from paper, steel, bowling pins, tactical scenarios and so on...and have about $2000 to spend. I want it to be fast, accurate, have a amazing trigger, low recoil, reliable and if possible be able to take a red dot since my eyes can no longer really see iron sights well.

Again, thanks to everyone who has taken time to reply, I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and look forward to any other gun recommendations which may come!
 
Take a look at this link for the optics mounting options for the available CZ lines. Not sure where the other brands sit with respects to adaptability. https://czcustom.com/cz-parts-all/red-dot-mounting.html

Not knowing which competition does make things tougher. I don't have a ton of experience with them either. I've done a bunch of shooting at a local range and had a blast. I was using my Glock at the time and competing in the Production class. I walked over to the Limited class and was instantly intimidated. Those guys were all using space-aged pistols that didn't even look recognizable as a pistol, so I wanted to stay in the Production class.

I also didn't want to limit my options as much, so the DA/SA trigger on the Shadow 2 made sense. I can fire it SA cocked and locked or DA on first shot depending on rules. If I decide to go full out SA, it's a cheap conversion. The barrel busing and tuned trigger on the orange is a nice to have, but the bushing is $70 and the short reset disconnect another $70. That made it frighteningly close to the orange, so I kept with the blue.

If you can find the orange and don't mind the extra spend, that's a great gun. The TSO can be limited in some competitions, but honestly, if I could swing one of those, I'd get that too. Who knows, I just may someday...unless, I can go all in on a Szechmate! Not sure I'd ever be good enough to compete with that, but that's an amazing looking and feeling piece of hardware.
 
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If you looking to spend under 2k... take a look st the CZ AcuShadow... very nice shooters... accurate and like all CZ pistols I personally have shot... will eat anything and ergonomics second to none.

If you wanna go economy route I believe S&W makes a compition M&P 9 for under 900.00
Also look at the Tangfolio Stock II. Those are nice and are a good quality CZ Clone.
There are many nice compition 9 mm with out breaking the bank.
Or you can spend like hell and get a CZ Checkmate an STI if 1911 is a way you want to go.
DWX is under 2k and is a marriage of a 1911 with a CZ. I here there really nice.
There is alot of choice... good luck
 
Well, you could get a SP01 and put in a CGW kit in it, use the rest of the money for holster, sights, mags, ammo, and range time.

2nd choice is find a Hi Power in good condition and find a good gunsmith that specializes in them to do some trigger work. Add on some target sights and you're good to go.
 
Quick1 said:
All, thanks for all the continued replies, I am taking a look and watching videos on each gun mentioned.

But, it keeps coming up about what competition and rules. Aguila Blanca listed off several types of competitions and that not all guns would be allowed in all the different types of competitions. While I am certainly not well versed in the rules of all the competitions, at this time I do not want to be. If I get into competitions in the future, I will take the time to understand the rules and ensure I purchase a pistol to meet them.

As of now, I just want a really nice 9mm pistol I can take to the range and shoot everything from paper, steel, bowling pins, tactical scenarios and so on...and have about $2000 to spend. I want it to be fast, accurate, have a amazing trigger, low recoil, reliable and if possible be able to take a red dot since my eyes can no longer really see iron sights well.

Again, thanks to everyone who has taken time to reply, I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and look forward to any other gun recommendations which may come!
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I don’t personally think you need to spend $2000 to get what you just described, or even close. When it comes to handguns and the role an individual’s skill plays in performance, I see a lot of diminishing returns when it comes to prices. That’s not to say you can’t just own a nice pistol for the sake of it. I guess my point might be to try these events first and then see how you do. Might better help figure out what you need.


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But, it keeps coming up about what competition and rules. Aguila Blanca listed off several types of competitions and that not all guns would be allowed in all the different types of competitions. While I am certainly not well versed in the rules of all the competitions, at this time I do not want to be. If I get into competitions in the future, I will take the time to understand the rules and ensure I purchase a pistol to meet them.
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But if you guess wrong and then want to shoot a match, you have thrown away the price of a gun
 
Best bet is to go shoot competitions with whatever you have. While 9mm was mentioned, if you shoot USPSA and decide you like the limited division, you’ll want a .40 S&W pistol.

The SP-01 recommendation is a good one. You can buy the pistol for $550, and spend another $500 or less with CGW, or CZ Custom, or C.J. Maven, etc.... and have a very nice pistol.

A safe bet is to pick up an original SP-01 Shadow from CZ Custom for under $900. It fits well in USPSA Production and Limited minor. It also makes weight for IDPA. It comes with competition sights and no firing pin block. So, the trigger can be upgraded beyond a regular SP-01.

If you’re not going to shoot IDPA, then get a Shadow 2.

Everything I mentioned in this post was basically a foreign language to me back in July of last year. I spent 6 months reading on message boards, and shooting my Glocks and M&P’s in USPSA and IDPA before buying any pistols for competition.
 
If you just followed the title...I'm not sure what I would say is THE best under $2K?

People like the Shadow...but I think it's universally liked because it's relatively cheap.

Maybe the highest end Sig X5?

Tangfolios race guns?
 
FN 509 Tactical

It comes optics ready with taller sights that will cowitness a red dot. Also if you later run a suppressor you already have the tall night sights. The barrel is threaded.

I have one. I like it very well since I made a few upgrades on it. I added a PMM compensator, the Apex trigger, and striker. Also a Vortex Viper 6 MOA pistol red dot. I had major light strikes with the factory trigger if I was not riding high up on the trigger. Since the upgrades it is 100%. I have less than $1700 total in it. Probably closer to $1400.

It runs slick, and fast with the 24 round mags, and since I have the red dot sighted in at 25 yards it is a tack driver. I let the instructor of the LTC class here borrow it for a couple of students that did not have guns for the class due to the shelves of the local stores being empty of affordable options. All scored 250 of 250 in the shooting portion of the class.

I do not compete but the race gun is fun to shoot.
 
As simply a incredibly accurate, fun range gun the CZ TSO is tops for me. I’ll never be a great marksman nor competition shooter but I love the one my buddy has. As soon as I can find one I’ll buy it, cheap, no. But a great pistol.
 
I SAW Colt Gold Cups advertised on Gunbroker chambered in both 9mm and 38 super. Hard to beat a Gold Cup.
 
STI 2011 chambered in 40 S&W. Good for USPSA Steel challenge and even in IDPA just as many others have to do down load the magazines to 10 rounds.
 
Unless you want to consider a 1911 the current state of competition choices are rather pathetic compared to 25 years ago. I would chose a CZ TSO over most of them, another one might be a Sig Mastershop pistol but they are getting harder to find and the price keeps going up, same with the S&W PC models made 20-30 years ago.
 
Based on what you clarified I will definitely say the Canik TP9SFX. The money you save you can buy whatever optic you put on it that you like best and a crap ton of ammo and shoot it all day.
 
Other than precision shooting, about any pistol you like should be suitable for tactical/competition. Buy what you want.
 
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