I've shot handgun a long time, but always metal framed guns like the Sig P226, 1911A1, Tok TT33, a variety of Smith and Colt wheel guns, SAA's, Makarov's, etc. I've got almost no experience with polymer-framed, striker-fired "wonder 9's".
I did have a first Gen M&P Pro a couple years ago that I played with and dry fired, but I never got around to shooting it and traded it away. At the time I just wasn't shooting a lot of handgun, and when I was, I was shooting 1911's. So I'm familiar, in general, with take-down, how to do handle them, etc. but have no real experience firing Wonder 9's and have only owned one.
I'm left handed, though the thumb on my left hand is weak (old sports injury that basically ruined my thumb tendons). In firing any semi-auto pistol, I usually drop the mag with the middle finger of my left (strong side) hand, not my thumb. I think I developed this habit from shooting a lot of 1911 without an ambi release. My thumb is also pretty weak, so even if I had a reversible mag release, I would likely leave it set up for a righty and continue to use the middle finger of my left hand.
For slide release, on a 1911, I use my trigger finger and have to break my grip to use it - or I maintain grip and use my weak (right) hand to just pull back the slide. After doing some reading, I'm given to believe a lot of shooters (IPSC, IDPS types) will use the thumb of the weak hand in a two-handed grip to press the slide release, or alternately, some shooters omit the fine motor control step and rack the slide as a more reliable way to put the gun in battery after a mag change.
I really don't have the time to get into IPSC or IDPA right now, but do want to make holes on paper and do similar drills for fun to learn the my next pistol, so which technique to use on my wonder 9 is important to me, and that I can physically do it with a weak thumb.
So all this to say, I don't think I need a reversible mag release, though I know most guns include that as standard. I'm not sure about a slide release - if I am better off dropping the slide with the release using my weak side (right) hand thumb, then I will need an ambi slide release. If I'm better off racking the slide, I guess it doesn't much matter. My left hand thumb is weak enough that I likely would not be able to drop the slide 100% reliably using my strong hand, even if the gun has an ambi slide release. I tried it on a few guns at cabelas and it was hit/miss.
So knowing all that, I'd like some advice picking a range toy wonder 9 in the under $650 range. The Ottawa Cabelas luckily had a wide selection I could hold and play with, but stupidly (?!?) they all had trigger locks and customers are forbidden from trying the triggers - which is insane, as that should be a differentiator, but there you have it.
I held a few guns to also check grip feel, and some were better than others. Noted prices were the cabelas pricing. Guns I was able to heft (because they had them):
-Remington RP9 (heaviest 9mm pistol there, non-functional ambi slide release, felt like a black brick in my hand).
-S&W SD9VE - Actually felt WAY better in-hand than I thought any $350 gun ever could. No ambi slide release, so it would be a slide racker for me. I've heard the Apex trigger kit is a MUST, but I wasn;t allowed to dry fire it, so no idea what to think. amazing price though for a USA-made gun.
-M&P Gen 1 - similar to the one I used to have, but with simpler sights. I remember the trigger on my Gen 1 was uninspiring.
-M&P Gen 2 - Second-nicest feeling grip of the guns I tried. Stiff ambi slide releases, but the sales guy said they smooth out a lot with use. He also said the Gen2 triggers are a lot better, but that I had to take his word for it (?) $549.
-Beretta APX - This gun felt like comfortable slippers wen I held it. The grip really fit my hand well, but the slide seemed pretty beefy and I could not try the trigger - a more spendy option than most of the other polymer 9's in the store. Decently price at $650, but at the top of my range. The sales guys said the trigger was great, but I googled it and saw mixed reviews about that.
-Canik TP9SA - I wanted to like this gun based on the CGN reviews. It didn't make a good first impression though. The grip was not comfortable, but it might just have had the wrong insert installed to fit my average-sized hands. The slide finish looked cheap - like plastic. I know it's cera-coated, but it looked cheaper than any other ceracoated firearm I own. The deckcoker looked like flimsy plastic and seemed like a pointless feature. The controls were not ambi-dextrous, so it would be a slide cocker for me. The guys at the store went on and on about how great the trigger was, but that sorry, I could not try it. To be frank, the M&P Gen 2 looked and felt inifinitely better in my hand for only $40 more - the Canik was $509.
-Sig P250 (dropped from consideration, I don't want a DAO gun)
-Sig P320 (dropped from consideration, terrible grip feel and too thick at the thumb/index web part of my hand. Felt awful, couldn't wait to put it down) Also really expensive for what it was at over $800, and the Cabelas guys were really critical of Sig's handling of the recall for drop-fires.
-HK SFP9 - felt allright, but more than I want to spend for the basic gun at $899.
The Cabelas guys conspiratorially told me to not even look at a glock 17. They apparently stopped selling them because the price was being dropped at the distributor by $30 a week over the last few months in a price war against the S&W M&P guns. They basically said by the time they get them in and price them, some online vendors are already under-cutting them. Their primary consideration in not recommending a glock seemed to revolve around crappy resale value as the market falls out from under the glock lineup. A quick google seemed to back up their story.
So what do you guys think? At this point, I'm leaning toward either a Beretta APX or possibly a SD9VE with an Apex kit as I could just abuse without worry, or a M&P Gen 2. Bearing in mind I haven;t been able to feel the triggers on ANY of these guns.
I did have a first Gen M&P Pro a couple years ago that I played with and dry fired, but I never got around to shooting it and traded it away. At the time I just wasn't shooting a lot of handgun, and when I was, I was shooting 1911's. So I'm familiar, in general, with take-down, how to do handle them, etc. but have no real experience firing Wonder 9's and have only owned one.
I'm left handed, though the thumb on my left hand is weak (old sports injury that basically ruined my thumb tendons). In firing any semi-auto pistol, I usually drop the mag with the middle finger of my left (strong side) hand, not my thumb. I think I developed this habit from shooting a lot of 1911 without an ambi release. My thumb is also pretty weak, so even if I had a reversible mag release, I would likely leave it set up for a righty and continue to use the middle finger of my left hand.
For slide release, on a 1911, I use my trigger finger and have to break my grip to use it - or I maintain grip and use my weak (right) hand to just pull back the slide. After doing some reading, I'm given to believe a lot of shooters (IPSC, IDPS types) will use the thumb of the weak hand in a two-handed grip to press the slide release, or alternately, some shooters omit the fine motor control step and rack the slide as a more reliable way to put the gun in battery after a mag change.
I really don't have the time to get into IPSC or IDPA right now, but do want to make holes on paper and do similar drills for fun to learn the my next pistol, so which technique to use on my wonder 9 is important to me, and that I can physically do it with a weak thumb.
So all this to say, I don't think I need a reversible mag release, though I know most guns include that as standard. I'm not sure about a slide release - if I am better off dropping the slide with the release using my weak side (right) hand thumb, then I will need an ambi slide release. If I'm better off racking the slide, I guess it doesn't much matter. My left hand thumb is weak enough that I likely would not be able to drop the slide 100% reliably using my strong hand, even if the gun has an ambi slide release. I tried it on a few guns at cabelas and it was hit/miss.
So knowing all that, I'd like some advice picking a range toy wonder 9 in the under $650 range. The Ottawa Cabelas luckily had a wide selection I could hold and play with, but stupidly (?!?) they all had trigger locks and customers are forbidden from trying the triggers - which is insane, as that should be a differentiator, but there you have it.
I held a few guns to also check grip feel, and some were better than others. Noted prices were the cabelas pricing. Guns I was able to heft (because they had them):
-Remington RP9 (heaviest 9mm pistol there, non-functional ambi slide release, felt like a black brick in my hand).
-S&W SD9VE - Actually felt WAY better in-hand than I thought any $350 gun ever could. No ambi slide release, so it would be a slide racker for me. I've heard the Apex trigger kit is a MUST, but I wasn;t allowed to dry fire it, so no idea what to think. amazing price though for a USA-made gun.
-M&P Gen 1 - similar to the one I used to have, but with simpler sights. I remember the trigger on my Gen 1 was uninspiring.
-M&P Gen 2 - Second-nicest feeling grip of the guns I tried. Stiff ambi slide releases, but the sales guy said they smooth out a lot with use. He also said the Gen2 triggers are a lot better, but that I had to take his word for it (?) $549.
-Beretta APX - This gun felt like comfortable slippers wen I held it. The grip really fit my hand well, but the slide seemed pretty beefy and I could not try the trigger - a more spendy option than most of the other polymer 9's in the store. Decently price at $650, but at the top of my range. The sales guys said the trigger was great, but I googled it and saw mixed reviews about that.
-Canik TP9SA - I wanted to like this gun based on the CGN reviews. It didn't make a good first impression though. The grip was not comfortable, but it might just have had the wrong insert installed to fit my average-sized hands. The slide finish looked cheap - like plastic. I know it's cera-coated, but it looked cheaper than any other ceracoated firearm I own. The deckcoker looked like flimsy plastic and seemed like a pointless feature. The controls were not ambi-dextrous, so it would be a slide cocker for me. The guys at the store went on and on about how great the trigger was, but that sorry, I could not try it. To be frank, the M&P Gen 2 looked and felt inifinitely better in my hand for only $40 more - the Canik was $509.
-Sig P250 (dropped from consideration, I don't want a DAO gun)
-Sig P320 (dropped from consideration, terrible grip feel and too thick at the thumb/index web part of my hand. Felt awful, couldn't wait to put it down) Also really expensive for what it was at over $800, and the Cabelas guys were really critical of Sig's handling of the recall for drop-fires.
-HK SFP9 - felt allright, but more than I want to spend for the basic gun at $899.
The Cabelas guys conspiratorially told me to not even look at a glock 17. They apparently stopped selling them because the price was being dropped at the distributor by $30 a week over the last few months in a price war against the S&W M&P guns. They basically said by the time they get them in and price them, some online vendors are already under-cutting them. Their primary consideration in not recommending a glock seemed to revolve around crappy resale value as the market falls out from under the glock lineup. A quick google seemed to back up their story.
So what do you guys think? At this point, I'm leaning toward either a Beretta APX or possibly a SD9VE with an Apex kit as I could just abuse without worry, or a M&P Gen 2. Bearing in mind I haven;t been able to feel the triggers on ANY of these guns.
