My “Price isn’t an Issue” Pick
As a follow up to this thread, I’ve finally made my decision.
Before I give you my final range report, I’d like to first say that by “price isn’t an issue”, I mean that I did not factor in cost when making my decision. Some people see those words and assume I’m only looking at expensive pistols.
Also – I own rifles and shotguns and have for some time, but I am new to pistols with under a year of trigger time. I currently own a Sig P239 in .40 – it is a GREAT carry pistol. It’s only fault is my preference for a longer grip.
The Elimination Rounds:
I was fortunate enough to have a choice of over 20 pistols (to try) between a couple of friends. I’m not sure about other States, but in NY, this is great because there are few places that let you try every kind of pistol before you buy it.
Originally, I was looking for the magical pistol that does it all and quickly learned there is no such thing. I should have known as a long gun person that ‘a shotgun isn’t the best sniper weapon’. So I decided (after my first post here) that I would decide on a carry pistol and a bedside piece first.
Since I like the sig for carry, I was partial to the p220 as a full-size home defense pistol with a full grip (making it more fun at the range).
After trying quite a few pistols of different makes, I came up with my final line-up:
Although I didn’t like Glocks because I shot poorly with them and they felt weird to me, I kept 2 in the line-up so that I could compare everything else to them – this is due to their enormous popularity, so I wanted to see if there was something I was overlooking.
The H&K USP was a close runner-up.
This past weekend, I went with the final lineup, favoring three pistols: The Kimber Custom stainless, a Pro Carry and a Sig p220.
On the same day, I tried (and A/B’ed) my sig p239 as a familiar reference a Kahr in 9mm – also available were a 2 Glocks in 9 & .40.
My accuracy was best with my own gun (the p239) and all shots were fired at @ 25 ft, where I could get 2in. groups in DA and 1in. in SA.
The only two guns I could be that accurate with were the p220 and the Kimber, with the Kimber being the most accurate out of the two.
As time went on, switching back and fourth, I narrowed it down to the Kimber Pro Carry and the 220.
Why the Kimber won:
The fact that the operating system on the p220 is the same and would require no additional training ironically became the main reason I didn’t choose the pistol. I think learning more than one system would be more fun in the long run and offer me more diversity.
The other reasons:
The Kimber was hands down the most accurate weapon out of all the pistols tried. Even in the hands of my friend ho is competitive and my wife who has only a few hours total of experience – we all shot best with the Kimber.
The thing is very well constructed.
It feels best in my hand.
Although I gave up on this concept, it is actually the most diverse pistol of the bunch; although it is slightly longer than the p239, it actually conceals better, being a slimmer pistol. It was the most accurate and powerful concealable pistol in the test group.
So in the end, I actually ended up with a pistol that ‘does it all’ after all.
I’ll still carry the p239 until I’m competently trained with the 1911 and like both for different reasons.
Price isn’t bad:
I found the Pistol locally for @$680.
I’ll probably pick it up this week.
Thanks for the help on this one.
Gene
As a follow up to this thread, I’ve finally made my decision.
Before I give you my final range report, I’d like to first say that by “price isn’t an issue”, I mean that I did not factor in cost when making my decision. Some people see those words and assume I’m only looking at expensive pistols.
Also – I own rifles and shotguns and have for some time, but I am new to pistols with under a year of trigger time. I currently own a Sig P239 in .40 – it is a GREAT carry pistol. It’s only fault is my preference for a longer grip.
The Elimination Rounds:
I was fortunate enough to have a choice of over 20 pistols (to try) between a couple of friends. I’m not sure about other States, but in NY, this is great because there are few places that let you try every kind of pistol before you buy it.
Originally, I was looking for the magical pistol that does it all and quickly learned there is no such thing. I should have known as a long gun person that ‘a shotgun isn’t the best sniper weapon’. So I decided (after my first post here) that I would decide on a carry pistol and a bedside piece first.
Since I like the sig for carry, I was partial to the p220 as a full-size home defense pistol with a full grip (making it more fun at the range).
After trying quite a few pistols of different makes, I came up with my final line-up:
Although I didn’t like Glocks because I shot poorly with them and they felt weird to me, I kept 2 in the line-up so that I could compare everything else to them – this is due to their enormous popularity, so I wanted to see if there was something I was overlooking.
The H&K USP was a close runner-up.
This past weekend, I went with the final lineup, favoring three pistols: The Kimber Custom stainless, a Pro Carry and a Sig p220.
On the same day, I tried (and A/B’ed) my sig p239 as a familiar reference a Kahr in 9mm – also available were a 2 Glocks in 9 & .40.
My accuracy was best with my own gun (the p239) and all shots were fired at @ 25 ft, where I could get 2in. groups in DA and 1in. in SA.
The only two guns I could be that accurate with were the p220 and the Kimber, with the Kimber being the most accurate out of the two.
As time went on, switching back and fourth, I narrowed it down to the Kimber Pro Carry and the 220.
Why the Kimber won:
The fact that the operating system on the p220 is the same and would require no additional training ironically became the main reason I didn’t choose the pistol. I think learning more than one system would be more fun in the long run and offer me more diversity.
The other reasons:
The Kimber was hands down the most accurate weapon out of all the pistols tried. Even in the hands of my friend ho is competitive and my wife who has only a few hours total of experience – we all shot best with the Kimber.
The thing is very well constructed.
It feels best in my hand.
Although I gave up on this concept, it is actually the most diverse pistol of the bunch; although it is slightly longer than the p239, it actually conceals better, being a slimmer pistol. It was the most accurate and powerful concealable pistol in the test group.
So in the end, I actually ended up with a pistol that ‘does it all’ after all.
I’ll still carry the p239 until I’m competently trained with the 1911 and like both for different reasons.
Price isn’t bad:
I found the Pistol locally for @$680.
I’ll probably pick it up this week.
Thanks for the help on this one.
Gene
