shortround, your right.

I also have a SW Model 624, 44 Special. What knock down power these big calibers have! I thought the 357 Mag was bad, but nothing compared to the 44 and 45 big dogs. The Sig, Mac, Baretta and my others are my "fun guns". The S&W is my trveling companion.

 

Three relatives who are/were in law enforcement, one manages a range, like the Sig .45s. A brother who does a lot of pistol shooting likes his custom 1911 for practical shooting, a Glock 9mm well enough to be considered a keeper, but also likes some of the medium and small frame S&W revolvers. A local PD recalled their Glock .45s as two exploded recently, and evidently more have in other PDs over the years. I like the S&W Mod 41 for small bore, and have ended up preferring .357 S&W revolvers for large bore, but I don't shoot as much as others.

When I use to do practical and bullseye a 1911 was pretty much the standard large bore for both, but a large variety of semis ended up being used in practical shooting at local ranges. The semi-auto malfunctions were numerous and had common names, in spite of claims about superior reliability. Even some of the fabled Glocks would have problems 'if they weren't held right', or the ammo wasn't suitable, or the magazine wasn't right, etc. The semi-autos seemed to do best with some sort of standard load and level of maintenance, which isn't what you end up finding at a local range. The semi-autos usually do much better than revolvers in the mud and dirt and sand in the field, but again most pistols don't see much of that at the local range. If I were to get a large bore semi-auto it would probably be a small capacity Sig, as they feel better offhand than the large capacity models.

 

Im a Sig-Sauer fan myself, but anything that does what its asked is just as good to me. However whats comfortable in your hand may be different than mine as you know with rifles. I'd handle as many guns as you can before you purchase something. Gunshows are a great place to gather such info. I wouldnt suggest a "top of the line" $1000 + gun as your first handgun. Be like buying a modified Super Black Eagle just to show the neighbors.

Side note ~

Sig P226 9mm barrels are NOT interchangable with the P226 equipt with the 357sig/40 barrels . If you have a 357sig or a 40 you can swap out barrels. Uses the same magazines. 9mm will not swap....wish it did.

 

Truckjerk,

I'l have to check out the barrel info. I was going by what I thought the manual said.

 

The 357sig cartridge is based on the same head dimensions as the 40 S&W cartridge reason they swap. The 9mm P226 however cannot be converted to .40 or .357 due to differences in the outside diameter of the barrel and width of the breech face.

A .40/.357 P226 can be converted to 9mm but only with an aftermarket barrel made by Bar-sto for this conversion. SIGarms does not approve of this conversion, but i guess folks say that this conversion works very well.

oh well

 

I carry a Glock 26 off duty and love it. If this pistol is for cancealed carry I would look at the smaller pistols.

 

I think that Glock offers good ombos for concealed carry. I think that the fit of the holster is a massive factor for conveniance and reliability of a cc gun.
I'll still stick with my Luger M90. Federal Hydrashock (tm) do offer some stopping power even in 9mm, but the training costs at 9mm stay reasonable. (.45 ammo being 8x more expensive over here) - Even a .50 AE bullet won't have stopping power if you miss- and I'd shurely miss without training.

AlpineRAM

 

I used to work with this young guy who had to buy the bigest everything. He bought a .454 Casul and we went to the range he fired 15 rounds and didn't even hit the black at 25ft. He said you try it, put one dead center and said there's nothing wrong with the gun it's just the shooter. He wound up selling it back to the shop for $200 less than he paid for it.

My toys are S&W 586 .357mag and S&W 629 .44mag both 6" never cared for autos.

 

I hear the same thing happened with a great many S&W .44
MAGs when Dirty Harry movies came out.

 

Well my .44 shoots like a .22 compared to .454, you could feel shockwaves thru your whole body and back then it was $1.00 a shot hate to think what is now. After the Dirty Harry movies you couldn't buy one for less than $500 for about 15 years. there was always a waiting list as S&W doled them out.

 

I vote for Sig. I have a 220 I've had since 1992 with no problems. Sig's are simple, no safety to worry about. Although probably not the best for concealed carry.

I had a Springfield I think it was an Ultra Carry factory ported 45. I had alot of problems with it Springfield ended up buying it back. The gun would misfeed when firing.

H&K has a great reputation.

 

One word- Glock.

Mike

 

Just got a Sig Pro 9mm from Santa...Love it, guess i am voting Sig too

 

Kimber has really gone down in QC. Lots of problems concerning the metal injection molded M.I.M. parts that the Series 1 Kimbers didnt have. For the money of the Kimber, you can get yourself a Colt Government 5" for 550 or a Springfield Mil-Spec for around 450 and spend the rest on ammo and have nothing to worry about.

I am quite partial to my Springfield XD 40 Service Model. Over 1400 rds without a hitch. However, i am well aware of what fits me may not fit the next guy.

The Springfield has the same hand design as a 1911, a Sig takedown, and a glock trigger. It was just the best choice for me as far as price, reliability, and accuracy.

Any of your choices are top notch, the HK, Springfield and the Glock are proven to be reliable. Anymore concern for reliability and I would suggest a revolver every time.

In the end, your main concern is a gun that will go boom everytime. When your ___ is on the line and the S has HTF you arent going to care about ergonomics. My Colt 1911 isnt ergonomic, its a big chunk of death. Thats why it works so well.