Beretta Px4sc or Compact 9mm
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Might want to take a look at either Beretta Px4sc 9mm (with tilt-up barrel action) or its slightly bigger brother Px4 Compact (with rotating barrel) which is slightly smaller than a Sig P229 which, both gun and size, wise, are one of my favorites..
Both are less than 500 NIB iirc and have one of the nicest, smoothest, DA pulls out of the box for their low cost compared to, say Sigs, 300 bucks more and also have quality/smooth DA triggers out of the box.
Just make sure that whatever you buy, IF the gun dealer has more than one gun on display or has more in the back, to ask/demand nicely *as a buyer, IF you can compared all of them and pick the one with the best DA/SA smooth/even DA pull and clean/crisp (with no trigger creep) SA breaks..
Plus, smoothest slide cycling action and slide tightness, slide to frame rail fit/tightness - front and back side to side motion/movement/looseness or best, most tight all the way around, and best finish, insect the gun inside and out, etc.
That's the one you will buy.. should buy
Ls