OK, I have way to much free time on my hands right now and i have been thinking I "need" a semi auto 9mm that is not plastic-got some glocks in the safe, but want to try something else. Been considering the CZ 75 or some variation of the CZ or a beretta 92 of some flavor. Really like the idea of the beretta M9 22lr to start then move up to a nicer model beretta. Glocks are fine, just bulky in my hands and again...plastic.

Anyway...I know the "get to the store and handle it before you buy it, shoot if you can before spending the cash" deal-

I am just wondering what YOUR favorite 9mm is for the spending the day at the gun range

lets say $1500 or less is the budget, unless of course the wilson combat EDC or something else is worth the extra $$...buy once cry once

yall have some fun with this please!!

Dave

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/941791713

Sig P210.

Never a bad choice. I also like Springfield XDM-Elite. Very strong and accurate

To me there is only one choice...........A 1911 be it a cheap Rock Island, a Colt or a Dan Wesson.
with 5" barrel

i like the 92 if it were me id call up Ernie Langdon and get one of his customs

Springfield 1911 or a sig 229 Elite both alot of fun on the range!

Beretta 92 and sig P365 have both .

$1500 would buy a nice Browning Hi-Power.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/939225799

I know you mentioned no plastic but the sig 320 X5 Legion is an awesome range toy, very accurate and easy to shoot!

Get a High Power. I have a Browning and a FEG. They are my favorites. I bought the FEG just before the Springfield High Powers came out or I'd buy one.

Anything in the CZ 75 Compact series (P01, D PCR, P01 Omega, etc.) would be good. Very pleased with my P01 - probably my most accurate handgun.

How about S&W retro? 5906 or better yet 5903 alloy frame. Quite a few available and a fun gun for not a lot of $$$. DA/SA as are most CZ and the Beretta.

If I was looking at a browning hi power, which version should I look at?

A Hi-Power or a 1911 would get my vote.

Belgium Hi-Power would be my vote ...

CZ anything you like of the 75 and variations. If you can really find a deal, a Sphinx anything you can find in that budget. The High Power is what John Moses Browning designed after he worked the bugs out of all his other designs.

The CZ is the most affordable of the improved High Power designs and the Sphinx is the best of them. There's a reason Swiss made mechanical things are the most desirable in the world.

Yep. The jury is still out on the reliability of the new Springfield Hi-Power. Sounds like they still have some bugs to workout.

Actually Ole Moses started the Hi-Power design. After he died in 1926, it was finished by a Belgian named Dieudonné Saive.

Cz 75

Cz sp01

Hi power

Sig 226 or 229

I suggest a MKIII Browning. That would be my personal choice because they have better sights and are tougher. I would not hesitate on a Springfield. The problem with extraction seems to be an easy fix. When I got my FEG I removed the magazine safety and got a decent trigger and the magazines drop free. The Springfields don't have a mag safety.

BHP MKIII vote here. They have crap triggers but they feel good in the hand and they are a very good looking classic that can still get the job done.

Fixed.

Sig Sauer P239 is my choice of 9mm's, a P226 if you prefer a double stack's increased magazine capacity. I prefer a decocker over striker fired, tried a S & W M & P and a Sig Sauer P365 before making that choice.

I used to think I'd like a CZ75/85 as a range or house gun. That was until I got to shoot one of these.....

https://arex.us/arex-alpha/

Of course, a HiPower is never a bad idea.

I haven't owned many nines but my favorite among them was a night sighted Beretta 92G Centurion.

My everyday carry gun has been a 10mm for the longest time. I carried a Glock 20, Glock 29 and a Dan Wesson CBOB. I didn’t care for a 9mm as I thought they weee just not up to the task. Then I saw a Wilson Combat EDC X9 and I thought it was perfect except it only came in 9mm. I read up on the new 9mm bullets and ammo and it seemed to be a good stopper with light recoil and ammo everywhere. I took a chance and bought one. I have carried it everyday since I got it. It handles and feels better than any other gun I have used. The magazines feed every thing flawlessly and the accuracy is superb. It is definitely worth the extra money. I would and do stake my life and the lives of my family with this gun

Well hell…can’t give ya non plastic advice! If you want to only spend $400 on one of these, you’ll have lots of money for ammo/reloading components, holsters, optics, etc. Single stack 9+1 capacity with extended mag, doesn’t feel kinda “blocky” like my G23 .40, and carries and shoots like a champ! But very “plasticky”. LOL. Good luck on your quest for your perfect 9.



Doc_Holidude

I’m a big fan of the SIG auto pistol and have several in 9mm. I believe they have the best out of the box triggers available. Try a P226 on for size. Awesome!

Another vote for the Belgium Hi Power, maybe have Cylinder & Slide give it a tune up.

Dick

This

Pride of ownership is a good feeling to have.

"At the range"? CZ75 and don't look back. You'll be very hard pressed finding a pistol that shoots better.

The OP could buy 5 CZ's for the cost of that one. I'd bet money the CZ would shoot just as well too, and probably more reliable to boot..

Not sure about the more reliable part. Bill Wilson and others put in a lot of time designing the gun and magazine for reliability with the 9mm. Hell he could buy a boat load of HiPoints and although they feel like holding a 2x4 and are heavy as hell they do go bang when you pull the trigger. I have switched from quantity to quality. The CZs are good guns and one of the Colonel’s favorites.

I haven't tried everything out there. And I'm curious about the CZ75 and it's variations.

But from my experience, if I limited myself to the 9mm cartridge, in a currently made non plastic pistol, I'd prefer the Sig 226.

But if I were going to use a 2 lb + pistol, I'd more likely go straight to the 1911a1, and it'd be in a .45. Think Dan Wesson. Or call crazy John and see what he's got, but that'd stretch your posted budget

Kimber EMP?

Keep guessing……..

I've got three Springfield 9mm 1911s that are nothing but fun to shoot. Range Officer, Garrison, and a little Ronin Commander-sized pistol. I have done nothing to them except swap out the piddling 9lb. recoil springs with 12-14lb. springs (Colt uses 14lb springs in their 9mm 1911s). Much more positive function.
Fun guns to shoot, ammo is cheap and more important, available. Their weight makes them very easy shooting.

I like HiPowers, too, and the CZs and Tanfoglios are great pistols, too, but I love my 1911s more.

You're going to end up with a Glock. Just get one now.

Springfield Armory EMP 4" is my favorite 9MM

That being said, I wouldn't mind a Browning Hi-Power 9mm to go with my EMP!

Once had a Hi-Power in 40 S&W. Sure wish I'da kept it!

Virgil B.

He said he's already got Glocks, he's after something NOT plastic.

To enjoy looking at...Belgium Browning

To shoot....SA-35 by Springfield Armory

Custom...Novak or Cylinder and Slide and you can shoot them to boot!

You wouldn’t shoot a Belgium browning?

Not a New In Box (or Case) one as I would expect their value to increase more if unfired. A used one, yes. Custom one, definitely. If I was going to carry one and shoot the heck out of it - SA-35.

A Beretta 92 would be a fine choice, as would a Browning Hi Power.

Smith and wesson

Cz 75 Shadow 2

Cz sp01 competition

CZ 85 for me. A HiPower would be nice, but i can't see it would be an improvement except for the cool factor.

He can buy another one.

If you have small hands, you may find the glock suits you. You can always give it to your wife if you have average or larger hands.

I didn’t think glocks and small hands went well together? Always heard that’s why the M&P line was a good cc over a Glock?

I’ve got a Colt Wiley Clapp model in 9 mm . Also a Sig 229. Both a real nice and fun to shoot. Then I bought a Wilson and to say there is no comparison is an understatement.



They are a little pricey. But buy once cry once. Hasbeen

The P229 is a great gun. Maybe the best of the 9mm P series.

Miss the 228s

I''m a Colt guy, their little 9mm Defender has been an excellent semi for me. My only other 9mm is my byf 1941 Luger which is still fully functional and fun to shoot.

That Luger is a beauty.

You would probably like the Beretta 92. You mention the Glock is bulky in your hands so the 92 might feel the same but it has a very decent SA trigger, soft recoil and is uber reliable. It's not competition grade accurate but it's still pretty good right out of the box. Plus with your $1500 budget that would leave room to buy a box or two of ammo...

A friend of mine who is not really a gun guy wanted something to shoot at the range so I recommended the Beretta 92FS and he loves it for all of those reasons.

I own a Sig 228 and don’t care for it that much, mostly because of the way it feels in my hands. A little bulky for my hands but better than a double stack Glock. Have shot a couple Hi Powers and like them a lot. Also shot a friends H&K P7 and liked it and shot it well. Never shot a 1911 in 9mm, but like em in a 45acp and always thought in a low recoiling 9mm would be nice in a 1911.

Like my Colt Combat Commander. Zero problems or jams so far. Seems to be accurate.

Beretta 92FS Compact L:





15 rd mag (2 round extender)


https://www.omahaoutdoors.com/beretta-92fs-compact/

I was shopping with same or similar parameters in mind and ended up with a CZ 75 SP01. I don’t have a ton of experience with ownership of similar 9’s like the Beretta 92 or Sig 226 etc etc, though I have shot a few of them that friends own. I will say I have been extremely pleased with the CZ, and consider that particular box ‘checked’ for life. Though I am now considering buying a more compact model as well, for CC. And I will stay with CZ for that, based on my pleasure with the SP01.

Lt Col Jeff Cooper stated decades ago that any size 1911 below the Commander had more malfunctions. Plus his views on the .45 ACP. He was right.
I have owned 3 or 4 Browning HPs and they work.
In Law Enf speed and accuracy are important.

For IWB /CCW the KAHR PM 9 is excellent. It has a better trigger
than a Glock and is the size of a Walther PP/PPK but in 9mm. Reliable.
Detectives and agents carry them a lot.

The 1911 stops being practical in calibers below 45 and 38 Super...or 10 mm.
Might as well get a Browning or Beretta 92 so that high magazine capacity
is an extra. You may well need it, IMHO.

For pure class, that would be either the Silver-Chrome or the Practical.

Laugh if you want, but my full size carry 9 is a Smith & Wesson Model 5906. It's not pretty, it's certainly no lightweight, but it holds 14+1 and with two spare magazines I'm carrying nearly a box of ammo. Accuracy is good and I can see the sights. Even in today's market, you could probably buy 2 for $1500 and still have change left over for several boxes of ammo.

It's not an original Hi-Power, but I couldn't see the sights on my original Hi-Power. Nor is it one of the Tupperware pistols so popular today, but the additional weight helps me in recoil recovery. And it fits in the same holster as my first 9, a Smith & Wesson Model 39-2, although I did have to get a different magazine holder for the 5906's double stack magazines.

I'm sure there are better choices, especially given your rather generous budget, but this is the one that's worked for me for a good long time.