Not cheap and not rare, but I love my Springfield 9mm EMP.
FN 5.7 hands down.
Full sized, light weight, great engineering and ergonomics.
Very low recoil, feels like shooting a full sized all metal .380; anyone can shoot this gun.
The best 5.7 ammo has approximately equal the same effects as the best .45ACP ammo.
FN 5.7 shoots further and more accurately than any handgun I've ever fired. Because of the very fast and light weight bullet, it has a very flat trajectory. Supremely accurate, especially beyond 25m. Can easily shoot 100m very accurately. Try that with an other handgun.
Rear sight is adjustable; I guess you could mount an optic?
Super reliable, no malfunctions I've encountered yet.
Ammo is a bit expensive and can still be a bit tricky to find at times.
Standard magazine is 20 rounds, extended magazines are 30 rounds.
It is rounded and light enough it could be an everyday carry for some, still too big for most to EDC.
Rail on bottom, any good flashlight compatible.
Just read an article that it is ~3x more powerful than the PMR30, mostly because .22WMR is slower burning and designed for rifle length barrels. 5.7 ammo is center fired and more reliable than .22WMR.
Easy to work the slide, trigger is easy/excellent, women love to shoot it and already mentioned low recoil.
It's all business, not the prettiest thing to look at.
About $1000; worth every penny.
FN 5.7, best kept secret. Not anymore.
Its interesting, while we have this discussion there are some secret paths to a cheap buy-in on existing (and often high cost) models.
For example, I could buy a Sig 226 at $650.
or........
I could buy a Sig 226 .22 classic at $350 to $400 (my last one i bought was $303 plus transfer)
Purchase an X-change kit for $299 to $350 and for the price of the factory Centerfire Sig I have a .22 and a 9mm/40/357 etc. Cheaper than going the other way.
Frankly, right now given 40 and 357 slides swap and I can just change barrels I have less than $1300 in my sig platform that includes two .22 sig classics, a .357 x-change kit, .40 barrel, 9mm x-change kit.
While the "classics" are reputed to be a little looser than Sig's standard line-up these guns will put all bullets in a 4" circle at 25 yards and a win win across the board on a $ basis.
This post was the one I was going to write. It's actually a Tanfoglio clone, and they do make a polymer version.IMI/IWI or Magnum Research Jericho 941/Baby Eagle
*I'm biased as hell. I own one.*
-15-17rd cap (depending on which mags you find)
-All steel (heavy, but steady and smooth)
-DA/SA trigger
-CZ75 clone
-Israeli made
-Looks kick-ass
If IWI US started importing the frame safety versions with the Jericho name, they'd fly off the damn shelves. Magnum Research's marketing mismanagement of these pistols is should be a crime.It'd be nice if IWI took over the importation of these in the not so distant future. Baby Eagle isn't a cool name. Bring back Jericho!
Not cheap and not rare, but I love my Springfield 9mm EMP.
IMI/IWI or Magnum Research Jericho 941/Baby Eagle
*I'm biased as hell. I own one.*
-15-17rd cap (depending on which mags you find)
-All steel (heavy, but steady and smooth)
-DA/SA trigger
-CZ75 clone
-Israeli made
-Looks kick-ass
It'd be nice if IWI took over the importation of these in the not so distant future. Baby Eagle isn't a cool name. Bring back Jericho!
I kind of have a thing for the older S&W 5900 series stainless semi-autos. A bit hefty for ccw but comfortable and stable in the hand to shoot. Not wild about the long trigger pull on the DAO variants though. They've been almost forgotten about and LE trade ins can be had for cheap.
This post was the one I was going to write. It's actually a Tanfoglio clone, and they do make a polymer version.
If IWI US started importing the frame safety versions with the Jericho name, they'd fly off the damn shelves. Magnum Research's marketing mismanagement of these pistols is should be a crime.
I was going to mention the Baby Eagle also. I have 3 and they all shoot great. Not very light since they aren't polymer but the extra weight helps when shooting the snappy .40 ghey round.