MId-80's Pre-Glock Hotness?

[HCM]

I bought a P220 American in the spring of 1987 when I couldn’t find a Colt Officers ACP that I thought I needed. In 89 I used it as an off duty gun in a Bianchi Pistol Pocket and a Safariland paddle holster. In 1990 we switched to the 5906 duty gun and the sergeant kept bugging me about being qualified with the SIG. I traded it for a 4506 and he never noticed the difference.

I got my p220 American in 89, I still have it. I had a brown pleather Safariland paddle holster for it but the holster is lost to the ages.

I had a 645 at the time which I sold soon after getting the P220 as I didn’t need two DA .45s.

Of course that’s the same year I traded into my first G17, which I also still have.

[Sal Picante]

http://instagram.com/p/B_X-ewfJglK/

[Inkwell 41]

http://instagram.com/p/B_X-ewfJglK/

Heretic!

[HCM]

http://instagram.com/p/B_X-ewfJglK/

I have it on good authority Ben Stoeger actually won all those matches with the Beretta by shooting the first DA round into the dirt.

Seriously, I have to wonder if Cooper’s disdain of TDA pistols wasn’t simply an extension of what drove him to 1911s over the then standard DA revolvers in the first place.

In his “Flinchies” trigger control video, Chuck Pressburg talks about how shooters with pre ignition push issues do better with shorter lighter tiggers pulls like Glocks and 1911s and find DA triggers accentuate their issues.

Kind of like how his advocacy of Scout scopes make a lot more sense when you know that Cooper was cross eye dominant.

To me this simply reinforces the importance of things being “A” way vs “THE” way. Cooper was not wrong based on his own frame of reference but he was wrong in proselytizing them as universal truths.

[Sal Picante]

To me this simply reinforces the importance of things being “A” way vs “THE” way. Cooper was not wrong based on his own frame of reference but he was wrong in proselytizing them as universal truths.

+1. So much this.

[TDA]

Col. Cooper was thought of as quite the contrarian at the time. Most of what was thought of as the “new hotness” of the time is naked marketing in retrospect:


In February 1991, it was apparently point shooting the Firestar in .40, “double duty” shotguns had three duties, and by the end of the year, the 9mm was dead and the M1A was hot for 3 gun.



The derp, like the poor, we will always have with us.

[FrankinCA]

I was for years, until I (with superb help from the late Mike Guarnieri at SIG) reluctantly cam to the conclusion that the only way I could achieve 100% magazine reliability (especially on reload magazines) was to download to 6-7 rounds. I moved on; while I concurrently had a Walther P5 (sequentially 2 of them), a P5C (POS) a HK P7 PSP (late issue) and a Beretta 92F Compact L Type M, there really was nothing any of them that a Glock G19 couldn't, with less maintenance, greater capacity and less drama.

I sporadically regret not having a P5 in the vault-that was a really interesting gun, and the ultimate evolution of the venerable P.38. Again, a Glock G19 is all over it from a practical standpoint, but to me it's just one of those cool guns.

The 92F Compact L Type M (try saying that three times without stopping) was beautifully made and quintessientially" Beretta reliable," but not very compact, and unlike the full-sized 92F and Centurion, had some very sharp edges on the receiver backstrap tang that made it ucomfortable for IWB carry; I never carried or used it a lot, and magazines were relatively speaking unobtanium (although I personally had enough).

The HK P7 PSP was a magnificent gun-for 2 magazines or so; then residual heat made it exceptionally uncomfortable. It also had an exceptionally odd weight balance that made it pretty difficult to effectively and comfortably carry conceiled IWB-and I had a good Kramer holster to give it the best shot...I sold it to a friend, who cherishes (and uses it) to this day. (And PSP magazines became unobtanium in pretty quick order as well, although again I had enough).

The Walther P5C to me was a total POS; operationally the mainspring strut was embedded in the plastic (polymer is too nice of a word for what Walther used-and their plastic grips weren't any better...) butt backstrap filler piece. Standard US cleansers and lubricants caused the piece to crystallize and fracture, un-anchoring the mainspring strut, rendering the gun unfirable. I think, but have never verified that the British Army P5Cs had a metal filler piece (the standard P5 mainspring strut was attached to the receiver via a metal hanger, with no issues) Plus the P5C to my eye was uglier as sin...I eventually traded it for my curent Beretta 92D, with absolutely zero regrets.

In the 1990s-early 2000s I possessed most of the classic SIG-Sauer catalog, but platform-wise moved on, primarily to Glocks.

Best, Jon

Jon, I still have a P225 . Great pistol. I had a P5 too, but couldn’t find magazines or justify spending 90+ dollars for one magazine. Good stuff!

[Duelist]

Col. Cooper was thought of as quite the contrarian at the time. Most of what was thought of as the “new hotness” of the time is naked marketing in retrospect:


In February 1991, it was apparently point shooting the Firestar in .40, “double duty” shotguns had three duties, and by the end of the year, the 9mm was dead and the M1A was hot for 3 gun.



The derp, like the poor, we will always have with us.

My first centerfire pistol was a Firestar in .40.

[Gater]

This thread is bringing back a lot of memories. Unearthed from the basement is the shot (allegedly) heard round the gun world. What I can't find is my copy of:

https://www.amazon.com/Glock-America...s%2C146&sr=8-1

...which talks about Kokalis' and Karl Walters's trip to Austria and that article.

That's my first handgun purchase (slightly updated now) with it...that was in the early 90s. It took me quite a while to save for it (pretty broke, and cars and gals higher on the priority list). I was all in on the Beretta from the start, as I was pretty sure Uncle Sammy would be loaning me one of his at some point. Hollywood was the icing on the cake, though. That was my only pistol for probably a decade.

Also reminding me of how much things have changed...I can remember riding my bike as an early teen to the surplus store that sold Soldier of Fortune, and eagerly eating that stuff up. We are very fortunate to have P-F (and P-T, which brought me here) and a few others that show the net at its best as a source of info. The mods do suck, tho...

So what was the tipping point for the Glock-centric world we're in now, where new buyers see Glock as the Go To?

ETA: I realized in the course of this that P-F (as usual) has "been there before". Hat tip to @Lyonsgrid ...see his post #39 in this thread for full article (there's some others in there, as well):

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....-Article/page4

[Navin Johnson]

In my hood the 3913 was the shiz before the G19 got trusted.

Before that 1911 or 2.5" K frame for the camera vest crowd. But really the J was most recommended and most carried.

Popo was flexin S&W autos.