DODO BIRD,
You would be quite wrong about Federal LEO'S not shooting very often. I fired anywhere from 1500 to 2400 rounds a year with my issued BERETTA or H&K.
Right up front, I will say that the standard BERETTA 96 is borderline for durability with hot .40 S&W loads like the 1200 fps rounds we started with.
I carried a .40 S&W for 23 years before we finally went back to the 9m.m. First was a BERETTA 96D Brigadier (the Brigadier is a 92/96 with a reinforced slide) and then the H&K P2000. I liked the BERETTA, except for it's large size. That was my only complaint. I was issued one, then went oversees and got another one when I returned. The second one was so warn, that I could watch the slide move back and forth when I shot. It still worked and fed 100 %, but it was distracting. Then I was issued an H&K P2000 that I carried for about 11 years. It started to misfeed and jam. The armorer tried to fix it, but ended up issuing me another one.
I liked the BERETTA enough to buy one under the officer purchase program, but never warmed up to the H&K. The H&K was much smaller overall, similar to a GLOCK 19, but some of the guns my office were issued, rusted and I had the pins start to slide out when I disassembled my P2000 for cleaning. The P2000's outlasted the 96D Brigadiers, but part of that probably had to due with the ammo we used.
We used 155 grain jhp ammo at 1200 fps when we went to the BERETTA. It kicked a lot in lighter guns like my GLOCK 22 and SIG 229 ( I now have a SIG 229 in 9m.m. and love it).
We then went to the 135 grain jhp and finally the 180 grain FEDERAL HST ammo. I like the HST ammo so much, it is what I use in my remaining .40 S&W pistols.
I now shoot either a BERETTA 96 or a STOEGER 8040. Both shoot fine and the 8040 is concealable. It is what I would recommend to anyone who asked for a good, inexpensive .40 caliber. I know it is no longer in production, but the unpopular status of the .40 S&W right now means very reasonable prices. I paid under $300.00 each for both of mine.
I would also pickup a BERETTA 8040D model if I could find one at a reasonable price. I liked the BERETTA D models (double action only).
Jim