What Is A Good Pistol?

[Colonel]

Lord, there is a lot of noise and confusion here.  Subjectivity is up there with
wheel landing vs three point.  Anyways, here are my objective considerations:

1) it has to go bang every time you pull the trigger.  Don't laugh.  A lot of guns
jam and don't feed reliably.  This is a really big one.  Learn about magazine
springs.  You will learn that they have an awful lot in common with the springs
in Lycomings.

2) it has to have a good trigger.  This is huge for me, because I'm a terrible shot.
I need a really good trigger to get any kind of group.  A good shooter can be
accurate with a really shitty trigger, and that's just not me.  I can land any broken
airplane as well as anyone, but hey, that's how I've spent my life.

3) good sights.  Stock sights are often shitty.  Aftermarket sights can make you
look like a mexican pimp, though.

4) it has to feel good in your hand.  Size, balance, etc.  Very subjective.

Note that caliber and muzzle velocity don't even make the "big four".  That's
because they really aren't as important as everyone makes them out to be.
Like single vs double stack.  Everyone wants a magazine with 30 rounds
because they think they're going to start World War Three with their plastic pistol.

Cost of ammunition is of course is a consequence of your choice of caliber.

You can choose .22 or .25 or .32 or .380 or 9mm or .38 special or .357 magnum
or .40 or 10mm or .44 magnum or .45 ACP or .50 AE or .50 magnum, and I've
probably missed a bunch.  Elmer Keith and John Browning would be disappointed.

9mm "parabellum" aka luger (shitty pistol IMHO) is probably the most popular. 
Think of it as a hot .22 ... hardly any recoil, but like .22 cheap as dirt, which is
good - you can buy lots, and put thousands of rounds through your pistols. 

Your objective should be to put 100,000 rounds through your pistol, after which
it will be worn out, but you will be awesome with it.  Not unlike flying - you want
to put 10,000 hours on each type that you fly.

I'm sure there are people here shooting .45-70 in their pistols, like the BFR, but
like Rob Holland, they don't need any advice from me.

[Nark1]

I'm a Glock guy.  Most fit my hand well enough, I have muscle memory for quick mag dumps etc...

But I have 3 pistols I'm required to carry at different times in my life, depending on who is funding my fun fund.
H&K USP 40
Beretta M9
Glock 23*

*Not paid to carry this, but in a philosophical point of view, it allows me to retain my fun fund.

Well said on the four points.  Practice, Practice, Practice. 
Don't be just a paper target hero.  Find a place that you can get your heart pumping.  Any guesses on what is going to be coursing through your veins when the targets are shooting back?

"Fine motor skills go out the window."

My favorite drill was lining up 10 dudes 200m down the road. Start the drill with 10 pushups, 10 mountain climbers etc... in place. At a random time, the time keeper would yell "GO!"  The sprint was on to the firing line.  First 9 people shot, the last place had to do it all over again.
A really good simulation of the heart pumping, the loss of motor skills and the adrenaline dump.

As I bloviate here, I have a Glock 42 for an ankle gun and my stead a Glock 23 on my hip. Just for shits and grins in the winter I will also have a Glock 20 in my chest rig.  I can only imagine the cops face, should I have get a Terry stop. (probably won't, given the fact I don't steal shit, and interactions are limited with the 5-0)

But yes,  I have a solution that works for me.  Doesn't mean it'll work for you.

[Colonel]

My latest pistol:



CZ 75 P-01 9mm - all metal.  Aluminum lower.  I just can't own a plastic gun.

Trying to make friends with it.  Trigger is shit compared to my Dan Wesson
(see CGW) but otherwise it's a good, cheap gun.  Everyone thinks it feels
good in the hand.  Trying to get at least a few thousand rounds through it.

Put 5x 50 round boxes of 9mm (plus the loaded magazines I brought) through it
today at the range.  I'm trying, but I can't help it - I'm a .45 guy at heart, not a 9mm guy.

I'm from the 20th century, and will shoot a nice little 1911 in .45 until the day I die. 
I buy Blazer Brass by the thousand round box.  Everyone needs a stack of them.



Happy pistol.  Hot & dirty, just like Frank Drebin likes his women.



Weirdly, the .50 Magnum revolver gets really hot when you put some boxes
through it, and stays warm for hours.  Each 20 round box is $80, so even
100 rounds is $400, and that's not many rounds for a day at the range.

I know I'm not normal, but I strongly prefer shooting the .50 to the 9mm.

[Nark1]

My sig P320 shoots really, really well. 
I succumbed to the 9mm, since it was a group buy for our last deployment. 

I won’t be in the military by the time it’s fielded, but that’s our new pistol.  It’s about time; I despise the M9. 

[Colonel]

Everyone loves the German stuff.  All my friends have Mercedes, Audi, BMW,
Porsche.  I know it's incredibly subjective of me, but just I can't stand it.  No plastic
gun, no german hardware for me.  I have a very low opinion of German engineering,
which I know puts me in a very tiny minority.  My father, who drove Mercedes and
Porsche, and I'm sure would dearly love the new Sig, is mildly horrified.

9mm is like driving a Porsche.  Not for me.  Nice car - and caliber - for a woman,
I suppose.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

The S&W 1911 in 45 cal. is my choice for self defence.

[Colonel]

I know it's subjective, but I love my .45 1911.  Trigger is insanely short, light and crisp,
and I don't understand people that say it has too much of a kick. 

They should try my .50 Magnum S&W for a real kick! 

9mm Luger on left vs .50 Magnum (not AE) on right:



I know the logic about being able to carry more ammunition of a smaller caliber - see
.45 vs 9mm and .223 vs .308 - but there is a difference between a firearm and a fire hose.

Here's another funny photo: .22LR on left, .50 Magnum on right:



Like a Pitts S1 and a liter bike, I don't understand why more people don't have a .50 Magnum:



None of them cost very much, and all of them are more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

Eric's CBR1000RR on the left, my RC51 on the right:



You wouldn't believe what that sounds like on Lawrence Ave.  Arlo doesn't think we
fly very well, but we have fun anyways.



Amazing how well the kid flies, considering the extremely low opinion TC has,
of his flight instructor, whom is qualified but not eligible to renew his flight instructor
rating in Ontario Region.



Yup, Canada's shittiest pilots, right there, according to TC.

[Colonel]

I try to get to the range, once a week.  I love that Dan Wesson Classic Bobtail 1911:





I shoot like a PPL flies a 172, unfortunately.

https://danwessonfirearms.com/product/c ... c-bobtail/

[mcrit]

I love my Great Granddad's .455 Smith and Wesson. Feels good in the hand, was at Vimy Ridge, shoots nicely. Real pain to get ammo.

I also love my Colt Woodsman. Cheap ammo, feels great in the had. The major source of in accuracy with that weapon is behind the trigger...

[Colonel]

Wow! Neat stuff.

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detai ... n-revolver

PS Broadsides of barns do not fear me. I need to put 100,000 rounds of .45 downrange.