Here’s a list of brands and model numbers I would recommend (Not in any order)
1. Glock- Glock polymer framed pistols burst onto the scene in the 1980s with its “plastic” gun. It has become one the most common Law Enforcement weapons issued today. Typically, Law Enforcement agencies issue the .40 Caliber, and slightly less so, the 9mm (based on my personal observations). Since this is a common gun, every range will rent one to you. I recommend you shoot a 9mm (Models 26/19/17), a .40 caliber (Models 27/23/22), and a .45ACP (Models 30/21) caliber pistol to see if you can handle the recoil of these three calibers, if you can’t you may want to try a .380 caliber Glock (Models 28/25). It is important to actually shoot these calibers to see what the gun does in your hand. A .45ACP might have too much recoil to be comfortable. I would start by shooting a 9mm with any of the polymer guns to get a feel for what kind of recoil you will be dealing with. There are other calibers, but they are not as popular, and the ammunition is correspondingly more expensive, and while those other calibers might have some positive features, I am only dicussing common calibers where you can get ammo almost anywhere, like Wal-Mart. A common complaint about the Glocks are that they are clunky in the hand. Smith and Wessson came onto the market with a polymer pistol that lets the shooter switch the grips to fit the hand, and I guess they grabbed enough of the market that Glock now offers a similiar feature in their newest generation of pistols. If you just can't decide what pistol to go with, go with the Glock.
2. Smith and Wesson - Smith and Wesson have grabbed a chunk of the polymer pistol market with the M&P model (Military and Police). Originally offering in 9mm and .40S&W, I see they now offer it in .45ACP. This would be a good gun for a lefty, since the controls are ambidextrous and the ability to switch out the backstrap of the grip to find the shooter's hand. I personally would carry a M&P with no qualms at all, and my next purchase will be this gun, probably in .40 caliber.
3. Springfield Armory - Another Glock competitor is the Springfiled XD and XDm. It is a polymer pistol made in Croatia that comes in a full size and compact model. This gun also has an interchable backstrap and comes in Full Size, Compact, and I believe Sub-Compact model. They come in 9mm, .40, .45, and the new .357Sig, but this round just isn't as popular as the others and I don't recommend it for this reason. This is another gun I would feel confident about owning.
4. Heckler and Koch (H&K) - H&K and Sig Sauer are the Mercedes and Volvos of the gun world. Very nice and very expensive. The HK 2000 V3 is a polymer pistol and the USP45 is popular among special forces around the world. Either of these pisols would be fine, really. Personally, I'd just buy a Glock or Smith & Wesson and a new set of tires, and take my wife out for a nice dinner before I spent the same on an H&K. That said, the H&K is favored by some Federal agencies, but they have our tax money to pay for them.
5. Sig Sauer - These firearms are also popular with Federal agencies, probably because they have the money to afford them. I've only had limited exposure to the Sig pistol line, but their reputation is solid and everyone considers them to be a great preformer. The Coast Guard adopted the P229r in .40 to replace their Beretta 92s as did the Navy Seals in the 1980s.
6. Beretta - After I decided to go with a high capacity pistol instead of my revolver as a cop, I went with the Beretta 92 model in 9mm. The only think I didn't like about the gun was the double action trigger pull was a bear. The 92 starts off as a double action gun, that is you pull the trigger and the hammer comes back and then falls forward to fire the round in the chamber, but then switches over to single action. Firing from single action means the hammer is cocked back and the trigger pull is lightened considerably. The slide cocks the hammer for you during normal firing. The long trigger pull followed by the next trigger pull being shorter was disconcerting, and not to my liking personally. Beretta 92s are large pistols and concealing them is not easy. Of course, Beretta has a full product line and makes smaller pistols than the one the US military fields. They are of good quality, but do shoot one to see if you like them before you buy one.
7. Colt - Colt went through some tough financial times and went belly up and then came back, but they weren't competing in the civilian market, preferring government contracts. Colt pistols are expensive and there are cheaper and better pistols on the market, at least in my opinion.
8. Ruger - Ruger's are fairly inexpensive, but they seem to be very finicky about what type of ammunition they will feed reliably, more so than other firearms made by top manufacturers. I don't have any hard data, but most people buy these guns because they are cheap and no professionals choose this brand. They make great revolvers, but the semi-automatics aren't known as anything special. Again, this is a personal opinion based off limited observations, but those observations say upgrade to one of the other pistol manufactures.
The 1911
The 1911 is a masterpiece pistol. The question is whether or not it is still viable, or if its a masterpiece weapon from the past, like a samurai sword. Some people say that it is still the premier combat pistol, others say its a relic. The Marines still issue it to their Force Recon people and the Los Angeles SIS cops have a special one made just for them by Kimber.If I lived in an area that restricted magazine capacity to 10 rounds or less, like California, I would definitely take the 1911 over any other pistol.
I personally like the 1911, I like it a lot. But to be honest I need to explain some of the things about this pistol you will need to take in consideration.
1. Its big and heavy, although smaller versions do exist.
2. If you use 8 round mags, you'll start out with 9 in the gun vs say 18 rounds in a Glock 17 9mm. Paraordance makes a High-Capacity version of the 1911 as does Glock.
3. It requires more training over a Glock because Glock is a point and shoot pistol, like a revolver, while a 1911 has a thumb safety that must be manipulated.
4. Because they are so popular, the top brands are expensive. Custom pistols run several thousand dollars.
Because the patent has expired, anyone can build a 1911, and many manufacturers do, so you'll find a lot of them on the market.
Who makes good 1911s? Kimber is one of the formost makers of 1911s. Smith and Wesson, Sig Sauer, Para-Ordanance and custom pistol makers Les Baer and Wilson Combat all make great 1911s. One of the least known, but with a solid fan base is the Rock Island Armory brand. This is my personal favorite, and I would recommend it to anyone. It is also one of the cheapest 1911s on the market. I paid $365 for my gun in 2004 and it outshot my much more expensive Glock.
Are there any other makers of 1911s or just semi-automatic pistols? There are tons more manufacturers out there with more pistols than I would care to count. Some, like Taurus, are starting to emerge as first class manufacturers, after decades of spotty quality control. Other pistols will remain second class guns and not reliable at all. For inexperienced shooters, I don't recommend going off the list I provided. As you become more experienced, you will be able to determine what you like and don't like and what guns are good and what aren't
Thus ends my little blog dissertation on firearms for the beginner. I've only covered a tiny little bit of gun knowledge, but I think if you stick with the guns and ammo I've listed here, you'll find yourself with a good pistol and the right ammo. This is only a starting place for you to begin exploring the world of pistol shooting. Explore, have fun, and remember that when its all over, the best shooter will win, even if he doesn't have the best pistol.
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