Purchasing 9mm - what do you shoot and why?

Lots of great suggestions in this topic.
Being a new pistol shooter, you may want to consider safety and simplicity your first priority. Not a pistol with a safety but being safe at the range.
IMHO, if you are set on getting a 9mm, then maybe you should look at a polymer, striker-fired pistol. No safety, decocker or hammer to deal with while you learn the basics.
Glock, Sig, CZ, S&W, H&K, Walther, ...They are all good.
Find the one that you think is comfortable to hold and manipulate. It will be more accurate than you.
After several thousands of safe rounds down range you may want to explore 1911, CZ Shadow/2, etc.
My 2 cents.
 
Here's a list of pistols in 9mm I like:

Glock 17/19/26
BHP MKIII
CZ 75/85 series
Single stack 1911 [full size or commander]
Star Model B or BM [compact]

1CanadaFlag.gif

------------------
NAA.
 
If you're planning on starting competitive shooting, try to do some simple drills with the gun you're thinking of buying. Mag drops, can your thumb reach the button? De-cocking - in production you'll be expected to decock before holstering, can you do it without slipping the hammer. Are you shooting in the winter, decocking in gloves if kinda difficult. Reloads, give it a try with a couple of empty mags, drop one, can you get the new (empty one in the excercise) into the gun easily? If you can, try to draw and present to see if there are any mechanical things that might hamper you. Do you have an aversion to first shot double action?

Lots of IPSC shooters using CZ, they are nice pistols. Lots of others using other guns Glock, Tanfoglios, it is a personal preference and how it fits to you.

I personally use a Tanfoglio Stock 3 Extreme for Prod, a Glock 17MOS for PO, a Tanfo Gold Custom Eric for Open and a Sig P226 Legion as my winter training gun (for the decocker).

Guns are like potatoe chips, you know you can't have just one ;)
 
I have:
CZ Shadow
CZ Shadowline
Sig P320
Glock 17
Glock 19

For a general all around 9mm, I would send a person to the Sig. Good trigger out of the box for the type of gun and it is as accurate as you woumd expect from the type. My Shadowline with a Venom red dot will easily outshoot it, but it is a different class and it comes down to the law of diminishing averages; the gun that cost 4x as much will not shoot a group 1/4 the size.
 
I was in your shoes about a month ago and did lots of research when I was waiting for my pal/rpal. I narrowed my search down to two polymer framed 9mm guns debating between S&W MP 2.0 and the CZ P10F, ultimately I chose the CZ because it just felt better, its grip is not as wide sideways and I can reach the mag and slide release better. The grip is also longer and really lets you hold the gun more. On the F model they made the grip not as harsh as what the C model had at release from what I've heard. It really sits well and digs in but not to the point where my skin is raw at the end of the day. The gun has a lower bore axis and hammer forged barrel if that counts for anything. The trigger out of the box is very good, it has a very clean break and short reset, makes the gun very fun to shoot. Haven't had any reliability problems from it. For the price you get a very well rounded good gun, can't go wrong with a CZ. Not hating on the MP 2.0 either shot that and liked it very much as well, just came down to personal preference. I'd suggest going to your local gun store and asking to at least hold whatever you're interested in, that's what helped me finally pick one in the end. Also bought ruger mark iv which is a .22 just to practice on and not break the bank with. Hope this helped in your search.
 
Eventually you'll get around to shooting a S&W 686 or a Ruger GP100 and then you'll ask, "why did I spend all that time on those semis when I could have been shooting this?"

Polymer-framed handguns and 9mm handguns are designed and built around the requirements of "carry". Since, in Canada, "carry" is never an issue if you buy a polymer 9mm, you're buying the wrong thing. Optimal range accuracy, IMO, will be found with a steel framed handgun. Sights come into it, grip angle comes into it but the inertia of a heavier chunk of metal inherently improves accuracy. Then, for the semi vs revolver issue, on the range you never need huge mag capacity and never need fast follow-up. A six shot revolver being fired in SA is pretty much the best range experience you can get. IMO, of course. Also, I'm talking about casual shooting, if you're going to do competitive shooting you'll need advice from someone else since I'm no expert there.
 
Last edited:
Brian James said:
My background is precision target shooting, high end bullseye pistols and besides owning a Jericho 941 I’ve avoided buying 9mm. But this past week I shot a CZ Shadow 2 and was impressed. Not a great trigger by target pistols standards ( ie Hammerli 208, Pardini, Walther GSP) but it’s a darn good trigger for its intended purposes. I own a Pardini GT45 and for the money I’d likely buy CZ Shadow 2 rather than a Pardini GT9 and use the savings for ammo.

I’ll be forthcoming l,I’m toying with the idea of buying a Sig210A but the CZ Shadow 2 really impressed me to the point I may buy one. The 320x5 legion is something I’d like to try.
Click to expand...

Yesterday I ordered a Sig320x5 Legion. At my LGS I handled a Walther Q5 match but the grip wasn’t as full as the Sig. Frankly the Walther felt small for my Med-large hands.

There is no doubt the CZ Tactical Orange as recommended by another poster for me would have been great but I wasn’t ready to outlay the money for it or a German Sig 210.
 
I have "some" 9mms. I prefer the steel guns over the polymers. I think that the CZ Shadow 1 may be the best bang for the buck. I just feels good and works gooder! I'd like to try a Shadow 2, something tells me I'd own one right quick after a magazine full through a test fire. But for me my most favourite of all 9 mms is my 1911. It runs and works like the CZ but I have an admiration for the heritage and beauty of the design that is icing on the cake after the lead stops flying. .22 instead of 9mm? I wouldn't say so but owning both is perfectly fine by me. I rarely pull out my .22 pistols. If I do it's to use with a newbie that has asked to come out with me. And they still get to use the 9mm once they get comfortable with the .22. Regardless you're going to have a great time of it!Let us know what you end up doing.
 
The most inherently accurate 9mms I’ve shot are mid-higher end 1911s and the CZ SP-01 and S2. I’ve shot a P210 but found it uncomfortable. Haven’t had the pleasure of the SIG X5s and other $2000+ guns.

But in the end, what are you looking for? I won’t knock polymer 9mms or revolvers. They all have their place or there won’t be so many brands sold or bought in Canada. You’ll notice that most complaints are the trigger, grip angle and the lighter weight. Nothing a upgraded trigger kit and a proper grip won’t fix.

It doesn’t matter how accurate your gun is. If you can’t shoot it well, it’ll be as good as any other out there. If you are an expert shooter, then buy your dream gun. If you’re not, buy a good quality mid-range ($600-$800) anything that catches your fancy and spend the rest on a good instructor and ammo. The realistic difference between the 2 may be 1”-2” at 25yds.

My 3 go to 9mm are a Glock 19, 22 ( with a 9mm barrel) and a M&P V1.0. I have steel 9mms that i don’t use much by choice. I’d rather train with a lousy trigger so it’s easy when I shoot someone else’s Shadow!
 
lead sled said:
I started with a Glock 17 generation 4, nice pistol easy to use and clean. i just find it light and kind of small ( i have large hands ) i still shoot i quite a bit but when i picked up a CZ shadow 2 it was perfect, weight, size, sights. Im going to pick up the 22 conversion kit next. The Glock is less expensive and many people love it, But i am recommending the shadow 2. Or buy both , while you can.
Click to expand...
^^^Good choices..
 
aglo said:
Eventually you'll get around to shooting a S&W 686 or a Ruger GP100 and then you'll ask, "why did I spend all that time on those semis when I could have been shooting this?"

Polymer-framed handguns and 9mm handguns are designed and built around the requirements of "carry". Since, in Canada, "carry" is never an issue if you buy a polymer 9mm, you're buying the wrong thing. Optimal range accuracy, IMO, will be found with a steel framed handgun. Sights come into it, grip angle comes into it but the inertia of a heavier chunk of metal inherently improves accuracy. Then, for the semi vs revolver issue, on the range you never need huge mag capacity and never need fast follow-up. A six shot revolver being fired in SA is pretty much the best range experience you can get. IMO, of course. Also, I'm talking about casual shooting, if you're going to do competitive shooting you'll need advice from someone else since I'm no expert there.
Click to expand...
X2
I’ve said this countless times. Why handicap yourself?
 
The above won't apply to must people myself included. Ive had a number of revolvers in .22, 9mm .357 .44 mag and always end up selling them because id rather be shooting a semi automatic. They feel more natural and better balanced vs revolver that feels awkward and usually heavy.
 
I to was new to restricted until about 8months ago. My first love was a CZ shadow 11 in 9 mm. Of course I knew nothing about shooting hand guns so looked at a few utube vids on grip and stance and off I went to my local range.
Well I have to say I have seen the light! My first week of ownership saw over a thousand rounds through the CZ.
More than twice what I have shot through my long guns in all of the time I’ve owned them.
So much fun!
So after that first week I signed up for a beginners hand gun course and learned better grip and stance and now have more than 4000 rounds through that gun and still loving it, super accurate and a very nice trigger.
Now at my handgun course my instructor was shooting a S&W pro 1911 in 9mm and he let me have a go with it, Wow what a beauty! The trigger pull on that gun was amazing! So when I noticed one come up on the EE here I picked it up and now have around 3000 rounds through it. Beautiful, accurate and amazing trigger.
I do have one problem with the 1911 though and don’t know if this is typical of them all.
I have a hard time reaching the mag release without shifting my grip and I find this kind of annoying and I don’t have small hands(I wear extra lg gloves)
So my advice would be to hit a local gun shop and try some on for size, the fit in your hand is very important and the only way to know is to handle them. Also look at some tutorials on line so when you go to the shop you actually know how to handle a hand gun if you have no idea of proper grip trying them out won’t do much good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom