POLYMER STRIKER-FIRED COMBAT PISTOLS
Model 1911s feel great, can be made superbly accurate, and have a proud and strong heritage.
Other steel-framed guns have been produced that fulfill a need for a great variety of applications.
But polymer, striker-fired, semi-automatics have moved in to be serious contenders in providing the market with tough, reliable, dependable, and accurate combat weapons.
Move Over 1911
Glock has replaced, in many ways, the 1911 as a standard for the modern combat handgun. And now, along with Glock, Sprinfield's XD Series, and Smith & Wesson's M&P series, there are three offerings that the market can depend on for providing serious combat handguns.
There are other polymer-framed striker fired semi-autos that arguably may fit in with this group. But these three are accepted as being predictably effective firearms.
The Best Gun?
One of the questions that you and I are asked by friends and acquaintances, is, "What's the best gun for (fill in the blank)? Most of us are used to answering, "Well that depends"...(and go about determining purpose and physical needs).
While purpose and physical needs are still important criteria, most people are looking for guns to be used for self-defense.
Subsequently, for many of us, the answer may come much more easily. We can pretty much answer, a Glock, Springfield XD, or S&W M&P, and feel fairly secure in our answer. The best, as has been determined by most Law Enforcement agencies, and most gun professionals, winds up being, one of those three.
It's that easy.
But Why?
1. Reliability - These guns have been the subject of more torture tests...it's almost like television guns shows and you-tubers are on a quest to see what else they can do to one (or all) of these three guns. They have been buried in mud, frozen in ice blocks, dropped off of buildings and out of vehicles, run over by trucks, shot with other guns, and even blown up to test the limit of their reliability. Theses guys do much more to their "test" guns than we will ever do to ours, and in most cases, the guns hold up remarkably well.
2. Feed-ability - Like Glock, the XD, and the M&P, seem to chew up all kinds of ammo. Before, semi-autos usually only performed well with a particular type of ammo. But these new guns take just about everything. This puts most self-defense and combat ammo within the reach of us. If we want to use a particular type of ammo, it'll probably run in these guns.
3. Accurate - Out of the box, these combat guns are not necessarily ready for long-range target shooting. But for combat accuracy, or being able to hit, at the ranges in which we will most likely encounter trouble, all of these gun are spot on. They get the job done. And that's what most of us want.
4. Controllable - Even though the sub-compacts can bite a bit into the web of the hand under recoil, it normally is not as bad as many .380s, 9mms, and .38s. It is believed that the frame, being polymer, actually compresses upon firing, and acts a bit like a shock absorber, taming the recoil somewhat. Getting subsequent shots on target is usually fairly easy with these guns.
5. Affordability - At under $800 for most of these, they are in the range of the middle-class. We don't have to spend $3000 to get a gun that does all of these things.
Adding to these five qualities, these guns in their most recent iterations, come with different-sized backstrap inserts. That means we can customize the "fit" of the gun, within three options, to our hands.
Other Opinions
Handguns Magazine has this article comparing the three (and the H&K SP2000).
Jeff Quinn has a great website in which he yaks about all things guns. He provides a practical, and I believe, an objective view of the guns he reviews. Below he reviews:
S&W M&P
Glock
Springfield
Clint Smith has been a Springfield XD supporter for a long time. When Springfield began offering a thumb safety on select models you couldn't keep him from sounding off.
Summary
It is my, any many other's, opinion that you really can't go wrong with one of these guns. They work very well for most of us.
Finally...an easier answer to which gun is best!
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