Glock 17

Say what you will, I'm just a huge 9mm fan. I love it. 9mm, 9X19, 9mm Parabellum, 9mm Luger...a rose by any other name is just as sweet. 9mm is by far my favorite caliber to shoot. I think its fun, has very manageable recoil and muzzle flip while still being an effective round (yes many would argue that.) I don't remember who, but someone on the internet once mentioned that he was being heckled by a .45 shooter about his "weak 9mm". His reply is that if the 9mm is so ineffective, perhaps the gentleman would stand back and allow him to double tap two rounds into his chest. This ended the discussion.

I have a friend in police reserves who frequently teases me about my "wussy" little 9mm. She loves her tough 40 S&W. But when I asked her and her deputy husband if they were interested in joining competition shooting, she said "No, 40 ammo is getting way to expensive". Guess what? Mine's cheaper!

Which brings mention of the benefit that can't be ignored: it is a more affordable caliber to shoot these days.

I would love to have several weapons chambered in 9mm. Right now I have one. I had a Springfield XD, but I sold that as I wasn't a huge fan of the trigger.

While not a complete Glock guy at heart, I stumbled across a good deal on one so ended it up getting it. Used but absolutely flawless, with nightsites and 3 mags for $500. I had my eyes on Berettas and Sigs, which I probably still prefer, but like I said, it was a deal and I just ended up getting it.

So I joined all the little lemmings with my full size, 9mm Glock: G17. It everything you hear. Its chunky but actually fits my hand pretty well. My XD, M&P, Beretta, Sigs all feel better, but the G17 still feels fine. Shoots where I point it/where my terrible trigger pull aims it. It eats any ammo. Its impossible to get the thing to rust.

At first I was not really impressed with the stock trigger pull. It felt heavy and it just seemed hard to shoot well with it. However, after buying and shooting my S&W 642 with its very long hard DA pull, the G17 feels like an absolute hair trigger. Its changed my perspective quite a bit, and now I enjoy shooting it more. I think I will probably get the famous Glock trigger job with a 3.5# connector. I can get pretty decent groupings with it now that I've shot it a bit.

After mentioning that, I feel inclined to clarify the purpose I have for this gun. I bought it with the idea of getting into USPSA and (hopefully someday) IDPA in the stock/production divisions. If I was carrying for defense, I'd leave the trigger as is, but it is going to be a range/competition gun. For self defense I use the above mentioned .38spl, and in my nightstand at home is my Kimber Custom II.

Overall, this is a good gun. But due to my love for the 9mm round, I'm sure I will end up with a different (or additional) gun in that caliber. If I'm shooting a caliber I love, then I want a gun I love. Beretta, Sig, CZ, and HiPower are the main contenders. Recently, I had a chance to look over and dry fire a Ruger SR9, and that seems like it has real potential.