Yet another "Help me pick a pistol" thread...

A

abrahamsmith

New member
I'm in the market for a pistol, and asking here allows me to waste bandwidth, quickly gather totally biased and absurd opinions, and avoid studying for midterms. ;)

Here are my parameters:

1) 9x19. I will also accept 9x18mm, but I'm not interested in .45, .40SW. .357SIG, etc. I need cheap practice ammo!

2) Compact/Medium size. On the scale of a Glock 19, but not sub-compact like a G26. I'm willing to move to a larger frame if the gun still feels small and fits well.

3) 4" (101.6mm) barrel or more. My excuse for carrying openly in WI's woods is small game hunting, and this is only legal with >= 4" pin-to-muzzle.

4) total cost no more than 400. Ideally more like 350, though wiggling up to 450 wouldn't be horribly painful including transfer fees, etc.

5) I tend to prefer low bore axis pistols, though I realize I have to shoot them to see how much this matters in a specific model

6) Light is good. I'll be plodding around the woods for hours/days on end with htis on my hip.

Of course, high reliabilty, good quality and nice finish is always important!

Based on these criteria, I'm thinking so far of the Glock 19 (hard to find in southern WI for a reasonable price!), the CZ-75 Compact and
Compact PCR (would prefer the PCR), CZ 100 (bad trigger?), and Steyr M-9 (worried about parts, corporate issues). I like Makarovs, but their barrels are too short and at $150, I don't consider it a big enough purchase to be relevant to this discussion. Others have suggested the various (FEG?) HP clones.

Any other recommendations?
Any comments on these? (I'm sure!)
Any recommendations on good pistol shops in southern WI?
 
The CZ's would be good, and there's the Ruger P-series. Tracking down a good Glock 19 at that price point could be tricky.
 
Makarov...great gun for a little bit of money...it does everything you said you wanted a gun to do.

Ruger P series...by no means medium size but reliable and will feed any kind of ammo you put through it... falls within your budget.
Tony.
 
i'm not sure how easy it will be to find the steyr m9 for less than 500. but i for one, am VERY pleased with mine. put another 600 rds through it on saturday, and have only had one jam, while reloading a magazine. as the slide lock disengaged and was feeding a round, the round came up a bit too far so the slide couldnt close. the m40 seems to have more problems with the slide just failing to slam completely in battery. it will fall short about 1/4 - 1/2 inch. plus one FTEx, which took a little bit of muscle to remove the magazine and rack the slide. scared me for a second.
 
Either of the CZ75 compacts (new) would fill the bill or a good used G19. I feel comfortable recommending any of the three. What feels the most comfortable in your hand would be the ideal choice..


Rick
 
Well, if you can stretch it to about $470 or so I say look at the Walther P99, 4" barrel, light, accurate, adjustable grips and sights. Also holds 16 rounds if you pay big bucks for a Hi cap (100-125). Another option is a Sig 226. You can get one pre owned for about 400 in shotgun news. Hi caps are much cheaper and easier to find as well. Whatever you buy, have fun shooting.:D
 
You could go with the CZ Compact (I suggest the one with the safety) or you could make a huge mistake and get something else!
 
I've put several magazines through the walther P99 and It just doesn't fit me well.. well made, nice design, but the bump on the trigger guard chafes finger and the grip feels goofy. I have the same problem with the HK USP. (I also think they're overpriced, but we already knew that)
 
9mm

Midterms? We are out in 4 weeks here at Purdue! Guess you guys have to study more to keep up with us :) Anyway...............
I would say CZ75 or Ruger P-series would fit your criteria (as stated above). I have been shopping for a similar gun, but I have decided to go .22 (cheap an fun). Just my 2 cents.

GO BOILERS!
 
boiler03,

Our final exams start may 12, so we've only got 4 wks of instruction left.
Most of my classes have 2 "midterms", so they fall a couple weeks before and a couple weeks after spring break..... here we go in the second wave! :(

As for the .22, I heartily agree! which is why I got a BuckMark last year :D

Now I want something with a bigger bang which can also be used for IDPA, etc.

Go Badgers!
 
I will always contribute to someone avoiding studying for finals! :confused:

Try Sig, Glock, H&K. All are fantasmo. See what fits your hand.

9mm is not for hunting anything. Small or large.
It doesn't have enough snort to kill larger game. But it will shred small game, which is wasteful and wrong. :mad:

Buy a good 9mm pistol to shoot cans and have fun.
Then buy a Ruger Mark II and shoot squirrels to eat, not waste. Of course that brings up the notion of getting something like .40 or .45 and using .22 for practice. I have found that the Ruger Mark II and the Glocks seem to point the same way in my hand. Thus, super-cheap practice.

Of course this is all JMHO
Good luck on finals, Tol :)
 
Buckmark

Abe,

How is that Buckmark? I am considering getting one and it is between that and a 22/45 Ruger.

My classes also have 2 or 3 midterms, I have 1 test this week, 2 next, then we have "dead week" and then finals, and I am done on May 4.

I don't think we play you guys this year in football. That is too bad, we have an up and coming QB that may compete with Brees records.

Good luck with the 9mm.
 
CZ's Forum


CZ Forum's website is posted above. Great info on CZ's, which would be my first pick because of the value, quality, accuracy and feel/balance of their guns.

Lock and load!

Gunner
 
Neither the SIG P225, P228, or the P229 meet the requirement of 4" bbl or longer. All three of those models have 3.9" bbls. To get a SIG in 9mm you would have to go with a P226 with a bbl length of 4.4" or 112mm.

I think that these are excellent pistols. His request for a 4"+ bbl excludes those other fine SIG pistols. Although I think that it is going to make the job of finding a smallish pistol more difficult if the main requirment is 4"+ bbl.
 
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