There are so many great guns now

There are 2 types of handguns: 1911-A1's and the rest. The former is objective perfection. The rest is subjective.
 
You pays your money you take your chances.

I start by eliminating the guns that aren’t lefty friendly then I avoid the questionable quality brands, that narrows the field so I can focus on weight and capacity.

I believe it takes about 2 years of shooting and carrying a handgun to really determine if it’s a keeper or not.


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There are just so many great pistols nowadays. How do I you chose what to buy?
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There are a lot of good pistols available. Great has to be earned.....think 1911 and CZ75!

Renting gets you close, but I find buying and working with for a few months to be the only surefire method. I have a handful of permanent stalls in the safe, but most are transient.
 
Sometimes you will not shoot a pistol that feels great in your hand as well as you will one that doesn't feel as good.
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This is certainly the case for me.

I shoot the Glock 19 as good or better than most popular service-sized pistols, but nothing about it feels particular good to me (ergonomics, trigger, pointability, etc.).
 
P-Bang, I have a 9mm M&P 2.0, and I love it! It loves to be shot, and it does it well. I take it to the range and tell myself to only shoot a few rounds at a time, and it says "No. Keep shooting me until my magazine is empty. I love doing what I do. Please put more bullets in my magazine when it's empty, and lets do it over and over again. What? You only brought 150 rounds with you? Next time please bring more." I know I sound like I've lost my mind, but really, these are the things my 2.0 says to me when I take it to the range. In fact, I can hear muffled pleas coming from its case as I type. :D
 
I think with the advent of CNC and modern manufacturing techniques, with what used to be the precision of many hours of hand fitting by a master craftsman, we are entering another golden age of firearms.

Previously I was with CajunBass, and if it wasn't pre 1970s, with an emphasis on post WWII, it really didn't move my meter.

I still have my first G17 "Safety Pistol", that I preordered in the late 1980s, when they first got their import license. It's had one rebuild, and a new barrel, but it still goes bang every time you pull the trigger.

I had to defend it so much back then that I grew to hate all things Glock when they became so popular, and everyone stopped attacking it for..."being all plastic so you can go through a metal detector", and "having no safety so it's inherently dangerous". That's why it was initially marketed as a "Safety Pistol".

You young guys don't know. You went to the range with a Glock back then, and you would get were nasty looks. I'm still turned off by Glocks because of all that, I own and carry them reluctantly.;)
 
There have been a lot of terrific pistols available for years and years now. I have not been compelled to buy any of the new pistols from the last couple years yet. It is always good to have more choices though.

These are my favorite 9MM for shooting at the range and have served me very well. For CCW I typically choose my Gen 2 Glock 19 or my original Walther PPS.

Newest design in this group is 7 years old.

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I haven't been actively looking other than what shows here on TFL. My thought is if polymer and 1911s are your thing then this market will appeal to you. Otherwise much of the surplus and all metal non 1911 45autos market has seen better days.
 
OzeanJaeger said:
I think with the advent of CNC and modern manufacturing techniques, with what used to be the precision of many hours of hand fitting by a master craftsman, we are entering another golden age of firearms.

Previously I was with CajunBass, and if it wasn't pre 1970s, with an emphasis on post WWII, it really didn't move my meter.

I still have my first G17 "Safety Pistol", that I preordered in the late 1980s, when they first got their import license. It's had one rebuild, and a new barrel, but it still goes bang every time you pull the trigger.

I had to defend it so much back then that I grew to hate all things Glock when they became so popular, and everyone stopped attacking it for..."being all plastic so you can go through a metal detector", and "having no safety so it's inherently dangerous". That's why it was initially marketed as a "Safety Pistol".

You young guys don't know. You went to the range with a Glock back then, and you would get were nasty looks. I'm still turned off by Glocks because of all that, I own and carry them reluctantly.;)
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Today, sometimes, it's flipped.

"Don't you know that external safety will get you killed in a gunfight!?" :)
 
Lots of "new" guns don't do a thing for me. I'll take older revolvers, a 1911, and a Glock. Caliber of your choice. I have more than a few. I'm waiting for something actually new to come along that isn't just flash, or "features" I don't need.

I have experimented with so many handguns, it is ridiculous. I always come back to those 3 types. I'm my mind, they haven't been upped by anything.
 
After a while you know what you like, what fits you and what you shoot well. There are tons of designs out there that are great for some but simply do not work for others.

The other tip is not to overpay. Buy used LNIB if you can that way as you learn what works best for you you do not take a bath on guns you get rid of. I find this is a much better approach then renting tons of guns. Most of the time you rent you do not put enough rounds down range in enough different situations to really determine if it works for you.

If you buy smart your "rental" will cost you nothing but the cost of ammo.
 
WVsig said:
After a while you know what you like, what fits you and what you shoot well. There are tons of designs out there that are great for some but simply do not work for others.

The other tip is not to overpay. Buy used LNIB if you can that way as you learn what works best for you you do not take a bath on guns you get rid of. I find this is a much better approach then renting tons of guns. Most of the time you rent you do not put enough rounds down range in enough different situations to really determine if it works for you.

If you buy smart your "rental" will cost you nothing but the cost of ammo.
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Agree! I was looking to get a Walther PPQ 5" model, and was finding them for $600 or up. They aren't that common (vs 4" and it was looking like I couldn't get a good deal).

I lurked on Gunbroker for a while, and ended up winning a bid on a LNIB Q5 Match for just a hair over $600. Retail on that model is upwards of $800. It was a great deal I wasn't even looking for. It has a cutout for an optic that I hope to use soon, and bullets fly SO much straighter when fired with a blue trigger :)
 
Not hard to choose, just about any 1911 that suits your fancy or any S&W revolver that has a pinned barrel. Life is good.
 
So I just got home from the range with the M&P I posted a pic of in page 1 of this thread. 200 rounds!! 1 FTF.. but really cheap Walmart Winchester Ammo.. I looked at the round, I was less than impressed.

Other than that, the M&P is a really sweet shooting pistol. I just finished cleaning it.
 
I can think of at least 6 semi-automatics that all, "feel really good in my hand, I would probably shoot about the same, and are about the same price."
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Getting one of each would be a good start.:D

But maybe to begin with make a list of your likes, and dislikes.
1. Caliber. 9MM, 40 S&W, 45 acp, or another.
2. Frame material. Steel, alloy, or Tupperware.
3. Size. Service, compact, sub compact
4. Action type. Hammer fired, SA, DA/SA, DAO. Or striker fired.
5. Concealibility, if used for CCW. Is "feels good in the hand" more important than ease of concealment? Remember, if for ccw you're not talking bullseye competition accuracy. So a little give in feel, and accuracy can be made up by having a gun that you actually carry every day.
 
You're so right about so many great pistols being available right now.

I do not have a .45 acp pistol in my collection.......until today. I bought a Shield .45 today at Cabela's for $369. It should be a fine addition to my EDC rotation.

Joe
 
T. O'Heir said:
You really don't need to shoot a pistol to get a feel for it. You do need to try different brands of ammo to find the ammo that particular pistol shoots best. Unless you're reloading.
However, it's not a bad idea to add how good their customer service is to the "I know:" list. Some are far better than others. And maybe the cost and relative availability of extra mags.
And Roy did not wear sequined shirts. Geez!
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Just a quick response to that theory-

I have a FEG PA-63 in 9 Makarov. Blowback pistol, very similar to a Walther PP. Aluminum frame, anodized black to match the slide. One of the most comfortable pistols I own when it comes to getting a good grip. Heavy DA pull, but pretty decent SA pull.
When I got it, I really wanted to shoot it. And it is accurate, btw.

It has one of the most brutal recoils of any pistol I own, it jars the wrist and leaves your thumb tingling after several mags. A quick search online shows this is not just for me, it's a combination of the lightweight frame and the angle, combined with the round (pretty stout for a standard blowback, especially one so streamlined).
 
so this is my story, i went from a Canik tp9v2 and Taurus PT111 g2... well a few months later, i was shopping for a 40cal and found a S&W MP 40c for a good deal.... only problem was it would fail to feed at least once every mag.. Well one day i got sick of the MP 40c jamming up all the time, that i did the F-it and bought a glock 22 and fired it every which way i could try and it never had a fail to feed or anything.... after that, i sold the Canik and S&W MP40c, and bought a Glock 19... and then i bought a Glock 21... and then a Glock 17 and 26 and a 34....

my reasoning for sticking with Glocks is reliability and compatibility... G17 mags fit into G19s... G19 mags fit into 26's... Plus with the Pmag's being available for glocks, they are half the price of OEM's and work just as good..
 
If you have the opportunity to do so, shoot a Sig P320. The Compact model if you want a carry gun.

Secondly, I like the new S&W 2.0.
 
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