So I'm thinking about buying a long-term, do-it-all, mate-for-life kinda pistol. I need to be able to put enough rounds down range to get proficient with it, and then be able to rely on it for 30 yrs, etc. What do you guys think this pistol should be? Budget is as generous as it needs to be.
Here's a thought experiment: what pistol do you wish you had bought 30 years ago and shot every week since?
Glock 17.
Easy enough to service downrange or CONUS, and you can easily keep spare parts on hand to keep the weapon running in perpetuity. Buy a spare copy (or two), magazines and spare parts and you can be set for life.
+1 for the 17.Originally Posted by FredM
Buying sets of parts (or better: spare guns), magazines and ammo and you're good to go.
Oh, and some new sights.
If not me, then who?
While I've had MANY love affairs in the course of my gun owning life, the ONLY pistol I CONSISTENTLY return to, no matter how much newer and better the newest and bestest is, has been the G19. My own very publicly aired problems with the platform were brought on PRECISELY because I HAD TO have the newest G19 (a Gen4) and foolishly traded away a wonderfully reliable and accurate 3rd Gen G19 on it.
Honestly, I've owned or seriously tried just about everything else on the market, though I'll admit I haven't dabbled in the FNs or CZ's newer line. For me, nothing else has been as size efficient, shootable, reliable, and accessorizable anywhere near the level of the G19.
I'm sure there are plenty of other options out there that would work just as fine with dedication. I just wish I hadn't wasted the time, money, and training ammunition chasing something "better."
Lightweight commander. It's the gun I keep returning to, the gun I consistently carry, and a gun I know how to maintain.
Ignore Alien Orders
A gaggle of Glocks in 9mm would be my first choice,
If it literally had to be one gun, a steel frame 5" 1911 since you can re build it. 2nd choice would be a P-226 9mm with one piece SS slide and short extractor.
Glock G17 or Glock G19.
Best, Jon
I'd second the Glock recommendation. Some people prefer M&P's, others like HK's. I like my G34 lots n lots, and I shoot it consistently better than any other pistol design I've got. Even my 1911.
I shot my Beretta 92 for the first time the other day, the instant I touched it off the thought in my head was, "Where have you been my whole life?"
The only other guns that exists that has such a similar pull on me - CZ SP-01 and Browning Hi-Power. A buddy has an SP-01 that every time I shoot it, I contemplate selling every gun I own, buying an SP-01, a stack of mags, some holsters, and a pallet of ammunition. Then I shoot my friend's Yost customized BHP and the same thing happens. I was stunned a box-stock 92 had the same effect. It also has the distinct advantage of having virtually every part available for it by heading over to Brownells. Something the SP-01 lacks.
-Rob
Given the attitudes of college kids I know, I second the Glock reccomendation.
What does college have to do with long term pistols? Voters. Right now CZs,HKs, and other imported fare are great options. But what happens when the next generation of liberals hit the polls and someone they elect decides "common sense gun control" means "no imported weapons or parts thereof."
Hopefully that doesnt happen.But if it does, Glock will be the least affected brand by a large margin given the current aftermarket.
The Minority Marksman.
"When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: Do not recite poetry to one who is not a poet."
-a Ch'an Buddhist axiom.
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