Winkman822
Member
I'm going to confine my response to self defense guns at or under the $1,000.00 mark.
Striker fired:
HK VP9 (bonus if you get tritium night sights). These are a little more expensive than their Glock competitors, but they have vastly superior ergonomics. With the interchangeable back straps and side panels, you can really get a nice customized fit for your hand. The grip also has a great texture that gives you a very positive hold of the pistol in the hand, but it won't shred your skin when it's holstered and riding against bare skin (at least in my experience). The trigger is outstanding with a light take up, crisp, predictable break, and nice short, positive reset. The gun is statically ambidexterous out of the box (i.e. magazine release and slide stop can be manipulated lefty or righty without the need to modify anything), and the factory sights are excellent steel hi visibility whether the standard luminous variety or the tritium variety. If you spring for the tritium factory sight option, you'll get three magazines rather than the standard two. The downsides, some folks just can't get on with the paddle type magazine release that HK uses. The gun is a little more expensive than its competition (i.e. S&W M&P, Glock, FNS, Walther, etc.). The gun is a little on the big side for concealed carry (it's about the size of a Glock 17 or full size M&P), magazines are pricey (around $40-$50 depending on where you buy), and of course, there's the little trough in the trigger guard. It doesn't bother me on my VP9, but others have major issues with it.
Walther PPQ and PPQ M2. A lot of what I just typed above for the VP9 applies to the ergonomics of the PPQ with a couple of exceptions. You don't get as much grip adjustability since you can only change back straps. The grip is not as aggressively textured as the VP9. The trigger, in my experience, is nearly as good as the VP9 with many of the same attributes, but the take up on it is a bit spongier. The PPQ also has a slightly smaller foot print than the VP9 so it is a little better suited to concealed carry. Like the VP9, the PPQ is statically ambidexterous out of the box on the PPQ classic, and if you're one of those folks that just refuses to get a gun with a paddle magazine release, you can get the M2 with the push button release. The magazine release on the PPQ is reversible. The PPQ also comes in at a good price point that is right around the price of a Glock, M&P, etc. The downsides, accessories aren't as widely available, but that is improving at a rapid rate. Like the VP9, magazines can be a little expensive. The factory polymer sights don't seem to be as durable as some others. The polymer sights on my P99 have gotten pretty banged up going into and coming out of kydex holsters. They are still usable, however. I also don't like that the factor sights are of the rear adjustable variety. For the type of gun that it is, I'd rather see a fixed rear sight.
Walther P99AS. Excellent ergonomics. Very good out of the box trigger that is, in my opinion, still an innovative design for a striker fired pistol. It's a true DA/SA with the SA trigger mechanism being essentially a two stage trigger. The gun can thus be carried safely in single action. The price is good on these, coming in slightly below that of the PPQ. These are a nice size for concealed carry (marginally taller than a Glock 19). The downsides of the P99, like the PPQ, the sights are of the polymer adjustable variety. I'd rather steel fixed sights. The grip texture is absolute garbage. If your hand gets sweaty or is otherwise wet while shooting, the gun will feel like it wants to slide all around on you. If you plan to mount something to the frame rail, good luck. The contour of the trigger guard prevents things like a Surefire X200 or Streamlight TLR-1 from getting far enough back in the rail to lock into the notch. Speaking of which, accessories for the P99 are almost non-existent. Lastly, if you're averse to paddle magazine releases, you're out of luck. It's only available with a paddle release.
Springfield XD/XDM. Good ergonomics. Good trigger. Outstanding magazine capacity at 17 rounds for the XD and 19 rounds for the XDM. Lots of aftermarket support and accessories. Downsides. Where to start, they have a grip safety, which in my opinion is entirely unnecessary. They have a raised loaded chamber indicator which is a potential snag worthy part when drawing. Size. These things are HUGE. The full sized guns would not be good options for concealed carry, and even the 3.8" compact versions are on the big side. They're chunky and heavy.
Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 - Good ergonomics with interchangeable back straps to fit the individual shooter's hand. Better trigger than the original M&P. Good magazine capacity at 17 rounds. Plenty of aftermarket support and accessories available. Downsides, while the trigger is an improvement over the original M&P, it's still not in the same company as the Walther PPQ and HK VP9. If you get the FDE version, it has a thumb safety (not really necessary on this type of gun), and a raised loaded chamber indicator. They're big for concealed carry coming in at about the same size as a Glock 17
Sig Sauer P320 - Good ergonomics. Good trigger, and no stupid blade doodad in the middle of it (i.e Glock, PPQ, VP9), and no weird two piece design (M&P) that feels flimsy. The gun is modular so filling out one 4473 form essentially gets you as many variations of the 320 that you care to fork the cash out for. Magazine capacity is good at 17 rounds for the full sized gun. You get the excellent Sig night sights as a factory option for a slight up charge. Downsides, even in the compact and subcompact flavors, the 320, like all Sigs is a little chunky, so it may not be the most comfortable gun for some body types to carry IWB. With the U.S. Army contract for a slightly modified 320, availability may be an issue for a little bit. Size and caliber conversion kits are not cheap...as in nearly the cost of another gun, but if you live somewhere that is not gun friendly, this is your best bet.
Glock - They've been around for a long, long time. They're a proven platform that's reliable and accurate enough for most people's needs. They have an enormous aftermarket; if you can't find something for a Glock, it's because it doesn't exist. They're simple. The exact same manual of arms applies across the board regardless of size or caliber chosen. Downsides, their ergonomics are garbage (in my opinion). Triggers are pretty bad when compared to many of the newer striker fired options out there. The factory polymer field goal/dot sights are pretty bad. Did I mention that the ergonomics are bad?
Hammer Fired
HK P2000 - Excellent ergonomics with interchangeable back straps. Good steel sights from the factory with the option of factory installed Meprolight Tru Dot tritium sights and a third magazine. Good size for concealed carry (Glock 19 sized with flat floor plate on magazines). Since these have been out for some time, the price is coming down, but they're still a little on the steep side. Downsides, the DA/SA trigger is nothing special and the common V2 LEM trigger is pretty lackluster as well. The magazine release paddle is a little bit on the small side and can be tough to actuate for some folks. Magazines are expensive as you're limited to factor OE magazines. Magazine capacity is a little lackluster for its size class (13 rounds for 9mm as opposed to the more commonly encountered 15 rounds). I'm not crazy about the location of the decocker on the DA/SA version of the P2000. I'd say the same of the HK45 and P30 series pistols.
Sig SP2022. Excellent ergonomics for a right handed shooter. Excellent factory installed night sights. INEXPENSIVE. These can routinely be had new with factory night sights for about the same price as a new Glock with the goofy field goal post sights. Good size for concealed carry (roughly the same size as a P229). Aftermarket support is good. The triggers out of the box are decent and can be improved pretty easily with the addition of an SRT kit. Downsides, they have the stupid raised loaded chamber indicator. I really hate those. If you're a lefty, the control layout isn't exactly intuitive. You now have to buy different back straps separately.
CZ 75 Compact. Excellent ergonomics. Excellent DA/SA trigger out of the box. Reliable and accurate. Relatively inexpensive. Good size for concealed carry (roughly Glock 19 sized). The cons, and there are a couple. I'm not crazy about how short the slide is from top to bottom. I've found them to be a little tricky to manipulate when doing malfunction clearing drills. If it's to be a concealed carry gun, it's heavy. They're an alloy frame and steel slide. It's about the same weight as a Sig P228 (one of the original ones with the stamped steel slide, not the beefed up M11 with the forged stainless slide). Accessories may be a little less available, but they are still there if you look hard enough.
Sig Sauer P229. Excellent ergonomics. Very good factory trigger, especially when had with the SRT kit preinstalled. Outstanding factory night sights. Well proven track record for accuracy and reliability. Accessories are readily available, it's a good size for concealed carry (marginally taller than a Glock 19). Downsides to the P229, and even though it's my primary carry gun, it does have a few downsides. It's chunky. There's just no getting around it. The P229 is a fat kid. It's on the heavy side for concealed carry and really requires use of a good proper gun belt to support the weight. The trigger requires a little bit of shooting before it really smooths out, but after about 1000 rounds, it's good to go. They're expensive running the price range from about $800 right on up to about $1200.00
HK P30 - Outstanding ergonomics with interchangeable back straps and side panels. Excellent grip texture. I like the grip texture of my P30 much more than the texture of my VP9. If you get a V1 LEM trigger, they're an excellent trigger system. Good factory hi visibility sights in either luminous or tritium. Statically ambidexterous. Passable for concealed carry (taller than a P229 by a couple tenths of an inch on the standard P30); excellent concealed carry size in the P30SK. Full length pic rail for accessory mounting. Plenty of aftermarket support and accessories available. Very soft shooting guns thanks to their recoil systems (flat spring with the buffer installed over it). Downsides to the P30. First and foremost is price. They're expensive to the tune of $650 (P30SK) on up to about $1000 (P30L with night sights) depending on which version you get. Magazines are not cheap and you're limited to factory OE HK mags. The trigger guard trough like the VP9. I notice it much more on my P30 than I do on the VP9. If you're one of those folks, the paddle magazine release could be a deal breaker for you.
Striker fired:
HK VP9 (bonus if you get tritium night sights). These are a little more expensive than their Glock competitors, but they have vastly superior ergonomics. With the interchangeable back straps and side panels, you can really get a nice customized fit for your hand. The grip also has a great texture that gives you a very positive hold of the pistol in the hand, but it won't shred your skin when it's holstered and riding against bare skin (at least in my experience). The trigger is outstanding with a light take up, crisp, predictable break, and nice short, positive reset. The gun is statically ambidexterous out of the box (i.e. magazine release and slide stop can be manipulated lefty or righty without the need to modify anything), and the factory sights are excellent steel hi visibility whether the standard luminous variety or the tritium variety. If you spring for the tritium factory sight option, you'll get three magazines rather than the standard two. The downsides, some folks just can't get on with the paddle type magazine release that HK uses. The gun is a little more expensive than its competition (i.e. S&W M&P, Glock, FNS, Walther, etc.). The gun is a little on the big side for concealed carry (it's about the size of a Glock 17 or full size M&P), magazines are pricey (around $40-$50 depending on where you buy), and of course, there's the little trough in the trigger guard. It doesn't bother me on my VP9, but others have major issues with it.
Walther PPQ and PPQ M2. A lot of what I just typed above for the VP9 applies to the ergonomics of the PPQ with a couple of exceptions. You don't get as much grip adjustability since you can only change back straps. The grip is not as aggressively textured as the VP9. The trigger, in my experience, is nearly as good as the VP9 with many of the same attributes, but the take up on it is a bit spongier. The PPQ also has a slightly smaller foot print than the VP9 so it is a little better suited to concealed carry. Like the VP9, the PPQ is statically ambidexterous out of the box on the PPQ classic, and if you're one of those folks that just refuses to get a gun with a paddle magazine release, you can get the M2 with the push button release. The magazine release on the PPQ is reversible. The PPQ also comes in at a good price point that is right around the price of a Glock, M&P, etc. The downsides, accessories aren't as widely available, but that is improving at a rapid rate. Like the VP9, magazines can be a little expensive. The factory polymer sights don't seem to be as durable as some others. The polymer sights on my P99 have gotten pretty banged up going into and coming out of kydex holsters. They are still usable, however. I also don't like that the factor sights are of the rear adjustable variety. For the type of gun that it is, I'd rather see a fixed rear sight.
Walther P99AS. Excellent ergonomics. Very good out of the box trigger that is, in my opinion, still an innovative design for a striker fired pistol. It's a true DA/SA with the SA trigger mechanism being essentially a two stage trigger. The gun can thus be carried safely in single action. The price is good on these, coming in slightly below that of the PPQ. These are a nice size for concealed carry (marginally taller than a Glock 19). The downsides of the P99, like the PPQ, the sights are of the polymer adjustable variety. I'd rather steel fixed sights. The grip texture is absolute garbage. If your hand gets sweaty or is otherwise wet while shooting, the gun will feel like it wants to slide all around on you. If you plan to mount something to the frame rail, good luck. The contour of the trigger guard prevents things like a Surefire X200 or Streamlight TLR-1 from getting far enough back in the rail to lock into the notch. Speaking of which, accessories for the P99 are almost non-existent. Lastly, if you're averse to paddle magazine releases, you're out of luck. It's only available with a paddle release.
Springfield XD/XDM. Good ergonomics. Good trigger. Outstanding magazine capacity at 17 rounds for the XD and 19 rounds for the XDM. Lots of aftermarket support and accessories. Downsides. Where to start, they have a grip safety, which in my opinion is entirely unnecessary. They have a raised loaded chamber indicator which is a potential snag worthy part when drawing. Size. These things are HUGE. The full sized guns would not be good options for concealed carry, and even the 3.8" compact versions are on the big side. They're chunky and heavy.
Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 - Good ergonomics with interchangeable back straps to fit the individual shooter's hand. Better trigger than the original M&P. Good magazine capacity at 17 rounds. Plenty of aftermarket support and accessories available. Downsides, while the trigger is an improvement over the original M&P, it's still not in the same company as the Walther PPQ and HK VP9. If you get the FDE version, it has a thumb safety (not really necessary on this type of gun), and a raised loaded chamber indicator. They're big for concealed carry coming in at about the same size as a Glock 17
Sig Sauer P320 - Good ergonomics. Good trigger, and no stupid blade doodad in the middle of it (i.e Glock, PPQ, VP9), and no weird two piece design (M&P) that feels flimsy. The gun is modular so filling out one 4473 form essentially gets you as many variations of the 320 that you care to fork the cash out for. Magazine capacity is good at 17 rounds for the full sized gun. You get the excellent Sig night sights as a factory option for a slight up charge. Downsides, even in the compact and subcompact flavors, the 320, like all Sigs is a little chunky, so it may not be the most comfortable gun for some body types to carry IWB. With the U.S. Army contract for a slightly modified 320, availability may be an issue for a little bit. Size and caliber conversion kits are not cheap...as in nearly the cost of another gun, but if you live somewhere that is not gun friendly, this is your best bet.
Glock - They've been around for a long, long time. They're a proven platform that's reliable and accurate enough for most people's needs. They have an enormous aftermarket; if you can't find something for a Glock, it's because it doesn't exist. They're simple. The exact same manual of arms applies across the board regardless of size or caliber chosen. Downsides, their ergonomics are garbage (in my opinion). Triggers are pretty bad when compared to many of the newer striker fired options out there. The factory polymer field goal/dot sights are pretty bad. Did I mention that the ergonomics are bad?
Hammer Fired
HK P2000 - Excellent ergonomics with interchangeable back straps. Good steel sights from the factory with the option of factory installed Meprolight Tru Dot tritium sights and a third magazine. Good size for concealed carry (Glock 19 sized with flat floor plate on magazines). Since these have been out for some time, the price is coming down, but they're still a little on the steep side. Downsides, the DA/SA trigger is nothing special and the common V2 LEM trigger is pretty lackluster as well. The magazine release paddle is a little bit on the small side and can be tough to actuate for some folks. Magazines are expensive as you're limited to factor OE magazines. Magazine capacity is a little lackluster for its size class (13 rounds for 9mm as opposed to the more commonly encountered 15 rounds). I'm not crazy about the location of the decocker on the DA/SA version of the P2000. I'd say the same of the HK45 and P30 series pistols.
Sig SP2022. Excellent ergonomics for a right handed shooter. Excellent factory installed night sights. INEXPENSIVE. These can routinely be had new with factory night sights for about the same price as a new Glock with the goofy field goal post sights. Good size for concealed carry (roughly the same size as a P229). Aftermarket support is good. The triggers out of the box are decent and can be improved pretty easily with the addition of an SRT kit. Downsides, they have the stupid raised loaded chamber indicator. I really hate those. If you're a lefty, the control layout isn't exactly intuitive. You now have to buy different back straps separately.
CZ 75 Compact. Excellent ergonomics. Excellent DA/SA trigger out of the box. Reliable and accurate. Relatively inexpensive. Good size for concealed carry (roughly Glock 19 sized). The cons, and there are a couple. I'm not crazy about how short the slide is from top to bottom. I've found them to be a little tricky to manipulate when doing malfunction clearing drills. If it's to be a concealed carry gun, it's heavy. They're an alloy frame and steel slide. It's about the same weight as a Sig P228 (one of the original ones with the stamped steel slide, not the beefed up M11 with the forged stainless slide). Accessories may be a little less available, but they are still there if you look hard enough.
Sig Sauer P229. Excellent ergonomics. Very good factory trigger, especially when had with the SRT kit preinstalled. Outstanding factory night sights. Well proven track record for accuracy and reliability. Accessories are readily available, it's a good size for concealed carry (marginally taller than a Glock 19). Downsides to the P229, and even though it's my primary carry gun, it does have a few downsides. It's chunky. There's just no getting around it. The P229 is a fat kid. It's on the heavy side for concealed carry and really requires use of a good proper gun belt to support the weight. The trigger requires a little bit of shooting before it really smooths out, but after about 1000 rounds, it's good to go. They're expensive running the price range from about $800 right on up to about $1200.00
HK P30 - Outstanding ergonomics with interchangeable back straps and side panels. Excellent grip texture. I like the grip texture of my P30 much more than the texture of my VP9. If you get a V1 LEM trigger, they're an excellent trigger system. Good factory hi visibility sights in either luminous or tritium. Statically ambidexterous. Passable for concealed carry (taller than a P229 by a couple tenths of an inch on the standard P30); excellent concealed carry size in the P30SK. Full length pic rail for accessory mounting. Plenty of aftermarket support and accessories available. Very soft shooting guns thanks to their recoil systems (flat spring with the buffer installed over it). Downsides to the P30. First and foremost is price. They're expensive to the tune of $650 (P30SK) on up to about $1000 (P30L with night sights) depending on which version you get. Magazines are not cheap and you're limited to factory OE HK mags. The trigger guard trough like the VP9. I notice it much more on my P30 than I do on the VP9. If you're one of those folks, the paddle magazine release could be a deal breaker for you.
, you might not like any.
