I'm a fan of steel-frame 9mm's. E.g. the CZ 75, BHP, P210, etc.
For my particular use, I've come to understand the limiting factor for most of them is their physical size. It's not so much that they're heavy -- that can usually be dealt with (and if not, there's always something else ready to stand in, usually with a plastic frame). But there isn't much of a cure for a big gun that doesn't fit IWB.
Thus, the concept and history of Steel-Frame, Concealed Carry (SFCC) 9mm's is interesting to me. The concept seemed to appear in the market, just as plastic frames were getting ready to take over. That means there were never too many of these designs out there, and I might be able to acquire/collect examples of most of them.
Now, I'm not counting full-size duty pistols that were simply offered with a shorter barrel (e.g. the CZ 75 Compact, various 1911's, etc). I'm trying to think of purpose-designed SFCC 9mm's.
The Star M43 Firestar and the Kahr K9 come to mind as truly dedicated, steel-frame CC pistols. Both from the 1990's.
There were some others, a little larger, that weren't exactly purpose-made for CC, yet they were clearly designed with an eye to being CC-friendly. The Star BM and the HK P7 fall into this category -- both of these came out of the 1970's.
That's really all that come to mind, and I've occasionally looked for others. But... four pistols? Four? Can't possibly be right. Can anyone think of any others?
For my particular use, I've come to understand the limiting factor for most of them is their physical size. It's not so much that they're heavy -- that can usually be dealt with (and if not, there's always something else ready to stand in, usually with a plastic frame). But there isn't much of a cure for a big gun that doesn't fit IWB.
Thus, the concept and history of Steel-Frame, Concealed Carry (SFCC) 9mm's is interesting to me. The concept seemed to appear in the market, just as plastic frames were getting ready to take over. That means there were never too many of these designs out there, and I might be able to acquire/collect examples of most of them.
Now, I'm not counting full-size duty pistols that were simply offered with a shorter barrel (e.g. the CZ 75 Compact, various 1911's, etc). I'm trying to think of purpose-designed SFCC 9mm's.
The Star M43 Firestar and the Kahr K9 come to mind as truly dedicated, steel-frame CC pistols. Both from the 1990's.
There were some others, a little larger, that weren't exactly purpose-made for CC, yet they were clearly designed with an eye to being CC-friendly. The Star BM and the HK P7 fall into this category -- both of these came out of the 1970's.
That's really all that come to mind, and I've occasionally looked for others. But... four pistols? Four? Can't possibly be right. Can anyone think of any others?