Long time no see, KF.

Long story short, had my car broken in to a few nights ago, and that has rejuvinated my desire for a handgun. I've got it narrowed down to two (or three) options. I like the Beretta 96 (which is the standard Beretta in .40 S&W) or the Glock in either .40 S&W or .45 ACP.

I did a lot of research on this a couple years ago but I haven't had the money for a gun, but I've decided that tax refund first of next year will be spent on a handgun. I'm leary about the Glock not having an external safety / decocking lever.... true, one's finger should only be on the trigger when its time to shoot, but it IS a safety feature. My best friend has a Glock and he said I can hold it next time I come over, because I've heard the grip on the Glock is love / hate. Right now I'm leaning towards the Beretta.

Opinions? And please try not to recommend a bunch of other guns besides these two. I'm open to other options but I don't wanna read a thread of "I use X gun and its my favorite so get it", have some reasonings for pistols other than these two. Colt .45 is probably out of the question, I'll say up front. Thanks so much for your opinions, guys.

 

I am not a fan of Glocks. They are too square and they seem to wide for a comfortable grip. I would go with the Beretta myself. The Kimber is my favorite gun but they are pretty expensive!
I have a little CZ that I like. The price was really reasonable, it fits my hand well, and it is very reliable. Look at the CZ's if you want a dependable gun at a low budget.

 

My View,
Both Are Very Good Guns. But One Is A Double Action And The Other Is Single Right?
So, Recoil is a factor for one. Second, The way your standing could be Different for the two
But it comes down to how well do you shoot it, how it feels when you’re shooting it,
(If You Can’t Hit The Target With either. Not the Guns for You. Meaning Good Grouping)
Two Guys That Work for me Carrie Clocks. Both Very Good with There Weapons. But, For Them to Group 10 to 20 rounds, they are standing one way. If There using My Beretta Double Action They Able to do it from the hip, lying on the ground Etc.
But, now that’s getting into the use of your weapon. Work, Play (meaning range shooting). Or Home Defense? Now, Home Defense. Shotgun! doesn’t take much practice
Key-word; Practice, Practice, Practice. Every Weapon will work Good for You If you put the time into Practicing using it.
I Carrie A Smith & Wesson SW40V & SW9VE. Both Single actions.
My back up weapon is a double action. Reason? I’m shooting it with my left hand.
As for The Safety’s,
Bottom Line, You are The SAFETY! That’s it!
You said it yourself. You don’t touch that trigger tell your ready to kill something.
And if you think of it that way. The Safety is ALWAYS ON
Hope This Helped

 

Glock is pretty hard to beat. Kind of wide, though, so if it is for concealed carry, check it out personally. I have the 9mm version. Can't say I'm familiar with the Beretta. One thing on the Glock, though, if I'm not mistaken the .45 is actually the .40 barrel that has been overbored to accept the .45 round. Do some Googling, there have been a few failures reported in the .45 claiming the overbored .40 barrel is too weak for that load.

If I were in the market for a new handgun for concealed carry right now, I'd be looking at the S&W .45 ACP sub compact. Just too expensive for me at the moment, though.

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/w...09&isFirearm=Y

 

I am x- law enforcement. I HATE the berettas. THey are the crappiest weapon anyone can have. An experienced criminal can take apart the firearm while it is in your hand. I hate the way the feel in my hand. I hate the way they shoot. I hate cleaning them.

Now my precious baby Edwardo, my .40 cal Glock model 22 is badass. I love it. I stand by it. I sleep with it every night. As far as your concerns with it going off unwanted, that will not be an issue. I assume you will be a responsible firearms owner and keep it holstered when not using the weapon. Glocks are very reliable in the aspect that you can drop it, hit, drop it in water, and it will not go off. The recoil is minimal and is a smooth shooting gun (not as great as a sig but 2nd best imo). It is accurate and does not require you to adjust your shooting or sights to hit center mass. The weapon is very easy to take apart and clean. You only have 4 major parts to deal with. 5 if you choose to clean your mags (which i absolutely suggest you do). Glocks do not require you to oil them because of the way they are engineered. If you do use oil, use a drop in the barrel and that is it.

 

as far as opinions go...18 years in the military and the beretta is our hand gun NOT by choice...I have 2 Glock 22's in the house (one is a duty wpn for the PD)...I much prefer the Glocks...I have put on rubber grips for better feel (big hands)...the best bet is to go down to your local firing range and fire both...

 

Ya, I'm not a glock fan at all....Of your 2 choices, buy a rock. lol lol...of the 2 choices tho, I would take the glock over Beretta anyday.

All though, a glock 10 mil is one sweet a$$ weapon, Glock 20....My fav

9mm, might as well shoot a BB gun at someone (lol unless you use an AFR round or similar)....40 is a good chamber

S&W is my preference...If money is an issue, the sigma series by them is actually quite nice ,but they only like to use FMJ :-(

Biggest problem I have with the glock, is if I have to pull fast, then fire off followup rounds quickly, I have less accuracy as compared to some other manufactures. If I come to another situation where I have to pull my weapon, it would most likely be in 'hurry up' mode...

But like OD said, get to the range, fire thru some rounds...simulate different scenarios...hurry up, slow pull, sidearm, etc..

 

and chant this...2 to the chest and one to the head

 

 

Is that to the tune of "we will rock you" ?

chest chest head
chest chest head
...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJYN-eG1zk