peacefulgary
New member
I'm in the market for a sub-compact 9mm pistol, what are my options?
best advice saves time and moneygoing to a local gun store and looking at them would be a good bet. Let the staff help narrow down what fits you and your needs. Handle as many as possible. There is no short way to do this.
Take a basic handgun course if you are new to handguns. This might be the first step to take. Then you have a beginning knowledge of what will work for you. We all have to start somewhere and at the beginning.
There are just too many good makes and models for anyone to list here.
I am partial to taurus g2c, g3c or g2s models and ruger models. What fits me,being a short person with stubby fingers may or may not fit you.
I'm in the market for a sub-compact 9mm pistol, what are my options?
Do you know what the compact Beretta Px4 recoil factor is?My Gosh! The options out there are many. DAO, Striker fired etc. Aluminum Chassis, Steel chassis, different weights, lengths, grips, sights, cost, features and on and on. Are you a high volume shooter, low volume. (Lol, most folks these days are LOW volume)
Guns are like shoes, no one size fits all. You do not have to spend over $500 to find great Quality. Just do a little research and spend some time with your search. Do not get caught up in fads. This is not a good time to be purchasing a firearm with the ammo shortage IMO. I personally believe any gun you EDC, you need to spend some quality time with. Shooting often and on a diligent schedule. And that is Expensive even in the best of times.
The latest gun I tested was last week for example and it was a FN 503. Excellent shooting, mild, and well built. A nice Micro 9mm. Small size for EDC. A little on the heavy side, but did not feel like it. The owner spent around $450. There are other very nice quality guns out there for even a little less.
I put together a list, a PARTIAL list of small sub compacts Based on Standard Recoil Calculation. (Not perceived recoil) The list will show a small example of guns available. Note, Recoil is just one factor of many.
RECOIL FACTOR
Keltec PF-9------------9.79 ft-lb 12.7 oz
Diamondback-DB9---9.28 ft-lb 13.4 oz
SSCY 8.29 ft-lb 15 oz.
Kimber Micro9--------8.02 ft-lb 15.6 oz
Kahr CM9---------------7.7 ft-lb 15.8 oz
--------------------------------------------------
Ruger LC9S------------7.24 ft-lb 17.2 oz
Sig 365------------------6.99 ft-lb 17.8 oz
Sig 938--------------------6.99 ft-lb 17.5 oz
Glock 43X------------------6.93 ft-lb 18.7 oz
MP Shield-----------------6.8 ft-lb 19 oz
Springfield Hellcat------6.78 ft-lb 18.3 oz
Tauraus GX4 6.68 ft-lb 18.5oz
Beretta APX Carry/Nano- 6.18 ft-lb 19.8 oz
Ruger Max 9-----------------6.18 ft-lb 20.4 oz
Smith and Wesson Shield plus 6.04 ft-lb 20.6 oz
Glock 26-------------------5.98 ft-lb 21.7 oz
FN503------------------------5.92 ft-lb 21 oz
Mossberg MC1------------5.89 ft-lb 22.oz
Honor Defense-----------5.79 ft-lb 22 oz
The Sig 938 is a great little firearm. The gun I wish I had jumped on was the Sig 290. Can't believe they discontinued that sweet shooting pistol. Nice size, a little heavy but just a lovely shooter.I've been shooting my SIG P938, almost to the exclusion of every other handgun I own, for more than four years.
It's very compact, smaller than the M&P Shield, Walther PPS, and other single stack 9mms, weighs 17oz, maybe a bit too big for a "pocket pistol", but it's a pleasure to shoot, with full-sized night sights, and a good trigger.
I require a manual safety on my carry gun(s), something missing from most of the compact plastic pieces.
The Beretta's recoil factor is not as good as I was hoping. Just keep looking more and more likely I'll be getting a .45 Hi Point.These are standard Recoil calculation from Genitron.You can see the Beretta at
https://www.genitron.com/Compare-Handguns