It seems like when a lad decides to buy a handgun, many times it is in a 9mm and also many times it's a G19. Great choice and a great value....not the greatest gun but a great gun.
After he decides that he likes this shooting thing and decides to get more into it he postulates that he needs more shooters. It's then that the purchases become much more specialized for given situations for him than before. He may decide that he needs a .22lr auto pistol or a 44Mag. He becomes interested in finding those pistols/rifles that meet specific needs.
On the other hand if you have someone who has been through that learning curve of finding out whether this shooting business is for him; he will have a tendency to buy those specialized handguns from the get go and acquire many of them.
To me the G19 is a great entry gun. The G17 and the G26 talk to me as meeting more unique needs. I see it as like someone who decides that he wants to start hunting/shooting centerfire rifles and is told that a .243 is a great "starter" caliber. "you can shoot coyotes and deer and antelope with it" is the call to purchase. Another lad will decide that he needs a dedicated varmint rig and will buy a .204 or a 22-250 and then maybe a .300Win Mag to the deer/elk end of it.
I love my G17 gen4 and shoot it very well along with my G27 for CC. I don't know if one of those frames is stronger than the other....different needs = different pistols.
And I also have an old G19 and a .243 that now Mrs. Redhill shoots.
