smokey
2A TEACHER
- Jan 31, 2008
- 31,554
****PWI warning****
1)identify guns to shoot:
a) m&p-9
b) xd-9, xd(m)-9
c) g17, g19, genIV g17, genIV g19
d) sr-9
e) 92a1, px4
f) usp 9, p30
g) cz75b, 75 sp-01
h) fnp-9, fnx-9
i) taurus......juuuust kidding, they suck
j) stoeger cougar
k)********WALTHER P99AS, WALTHER PPQ*******
l) 226, 228, 229
2) take list of decent guns to local range where you can rent guns. On-target, continental arms...
3) rent guns and shoot them. Find what you like to shoot the best, and what you get the best groups with. If the range allows, also see which gun you can most easily mag-dump into a target. Guns you get the tightest bullseye groups with may not be the fastest. You may get a tighter group with an xd(m) than the m&p, but you'll probably find the m&p faster to accurately shoot due to less muzzle flip.
4) Buy the gun you've found best suits your needs of those you tried.
factors to consider:
1) what options do you want?
safeties- external safeties are literally a lever that makes your gun not work. If you need your gun to work in a hurry, something that makes it NOT work may be a bad thing. Just remember you'll have to train to turn off an external safety till it's second nature. Slide mounted safeties like the berettas can be more cumbersome to disengage than the frame mounted safeties like on the cz's, hk's, and fnh's. You may decide passive safeties, like on glocks/m&p's/xd's, fit your needs better
hammer vs. striker- Hammer fired are generally going to be da/sa with an external safety and/or decocker. It means you'll have to engage a manual safety and/or decock it for "safe" carry. If it's decocked, you'll have to press through a long/heavy first shot and then immediately transition to a short/light second. Striker fired guns have consistent trigger pulls every shot.
striker fired guns also have the main firing group tucked inside the slide. It's harder for crap to get into a striker channel to cause problems firing than for something to block a falling hammer(totally applicable in the real world). Strikers do have faster lock times than hammer fired guns. It's also easier to whack a slide in to battery on a striker-fired gun(shhhh, so what if it makes a misformed case stuck worse in the chamber) since you can hit the rear of the slide without a hammer in the way.
Striker fired guns also have better lower halves. They don't need to fit a main-spring into the rear of the handle or house a rotating hammer. All they have to fit is a sear of some kind to catch the striker and a magazine(mag catch, slide catch, locking block, rails, trigger, safeties..yeah...but u get my point). This means striker fired guns generally have the potential to have smaller grips and a lower bore-axis since you can undercut the slide more at the rear to get a higher grip(especially on the m&p).
glock and hk vs anything else- If you end up getting a glock OR an hk, you can talk about how everyone else's guns suck and they should have gotten a glock/hk. If you get the hk, you also have the option to claim operators only use hk's...and that civilians suck. Be sure to take pictures of your hk with a backwards cartridge topping off your mag.
m&p or xd/xd(m)- These give you the option to talk about how they are great for IDPA and how happy you are with your apex/PRP trigger upgrade. m&p allows you to dance around while watching magpul handgun videos and pretend you are costa in your living room
walther p99- allows you to shoot tiny groups with an amazing trigger(although more flip than a m&p). Also allows you to say, "(insert last name),...(insert first name)(insert last name)", in a brittish accent in front of a mirror.
taurus- allows you to say that taurus's really don't suck and people are just hating because of what they read online....just don't tell them about those light strikes or ftf's you sent it back to the factory for....only to have your gun returned a month later with no work done to it.
fnh's- allow you to say how the fn pistols are just as good as hk, but half the price....even if the safety/decocker feels light and less affirmative in comparison.
sigs- allow you to go swimming with your gun. Be sure to wear a booney hat and sneakily pop up, look around menacingly and resubmerge
1)identify guns to shoot:
a) m&p-9
b) xd-9, xd(m)-9
c) g17, g19, genIV g17, genIV g19
d) sr-9
e) 92a1, px4
f) usp 9, p30
g) cz75b, 75 sp-01
h) fnp-9, fnx-9
i) taurus......juuuust kidding, they suck
j) stoeger cougar
k)********WALTHER P99AS, WALTHER PPQ*******
l) 226, 228, 229
2) take list of decent guns to local range where you can rent guns. On-target, continental arms...
3) rent guns and shoot them. Find what you like to shoot the best, and what you get the best groups with. If the range allows, also see which gun you can most easily mag-dump into a target. Guns you get the tightest bullseye groups with may not be the fastest. You may get a tighter group with an xd(m) than the m&p, but you'll probably find the m&p faster to accurately shoot due to less muzzle flip.
4) Buy the gun you've found best suits your needs of those you tried.
factors to consider:
1) what options do you want?
safeties- external safeties are literally a lever that makes your gun not work. If you need your gun to work in a hurry, something that makes it NOT work may be a bad thing. Just remember you'll have to train to turn off an external safety till it's second nature. Slide mounted safeties like the berettas can be more cumbersome to disengage than the frame mounted safeties like on the cz's, hk's, and fnh's. You may decide passive safeties, like on glocks/m&p's/xd's, fit your needs better
hammer vs. striker- Hammer fired are generally going to be da/sa with an external safety and/or decocker. It means you'll have to engage a manual safety and/or decock it for "safe" carry. If it's decocked, you'll have to press through a long/heavy first shot and then immediately transition to a short/light second. Striker fired guns have consistent trigger pulls every shot.
striker fired guns also have the main firing group tucked inside the slide. It's harder for crap to get into a striker channel to cause problems firing than for something to block a falling hammer(totally applicable in the real world). Strikers do have faster lock times than hammer fired guns. It's also easier to whack a slide in to battery on a striker-fired gun(shhhh, so what if it makes a misformed case stuck worse in the chamber) since you can hit the rear of the slide without a hammer in the way.
Striker fired guns also have better lower halves. They don't need to fit a main-spring into the rear of the handle or house a rotating hammer. All they have to fit is a sear of some kind to catch the striker and a magazine(mag catch, slide catch, locking block, rails, trigger, safeties..yeah...but u get my point). This means striker fired guns generally have the potential to have smaller grips and a lower bore-axis since you can undercut the slide more at the rear to get a higher grip(especially on the m&p).
glock and hk vs anything else- If you end up getting a glock OR an hk, you can talk about how everyone else's guns suck and they should have gotten a glock/hk. If you get the hk, you also have the option to claim operators only use hk's...and that civilians suck. Be sure to take pictures of your hk with a backwards cartridge topping off your mag.
m&p or xd/xd(m)- These give you the option to talk about how they are great for IDPA and how happy you are with your apex/PRP trigger upgrade. m&p allows you to dance around while watching magpul handgun videos and pretend you are costa in your living room
walther p99- allows you to shoot tiny groups with an amazing trigger(although more flip than a m&p). Also allows you to say, "(insert last name),...(insert first name)(insert last name)", in a brittish accent in front of a mirror.
taurus- allows you to say that taurus's really don't suck and people are just hating because of what they read online....just don't tell them about those light strikes or ftf's you sent it back to the factory for....only to have your gun returned a month later with no work done to it.
fnh's- allow you to say how the fn pistols are just as good as hk, but half the price....even if the safety/decocker feels light and less affirmative in comparison.
sigs- allow you to go swimming with your gun. Be sure to wear a booney hat and sneakily pop up, look around menacingly and resubmerge
