[The KG9 Kid]

"... If you're going to carry a handgun with a magazine *safety*, holster choice can be a matter of life or death."

This happened to a friend of mine who's a policeman: The department issue pistol was a S&W 4059 that has the internal mag safety, ambidextrous mag releases, and a drop-free mag. He pulled it on a felon with warrants at a traffic stop, and the safety dropped to the ground before he even got it level. Even though he had a round in the chamber, he might as well been holding a banana.

The felon was scared poopless and stayed in the car with his hands thrust out the door, thanks to Lady Luck.

He turned that S&W POS in immediately, filled out a lengthy report for the department armorer, and was allowed to choose another pistol from the approved list at his expense. He said that the only other options on the list were all .40 caliber autos: Beretta and Glock.

He bought the Glock 22 model, and had an AD with it about four months later. That was his fault, of course. I think that the holster he used was a typical Bianchi police model.

I never liked his S&W anyway, because the rear sights seemed like they were perched up on the roof of a barn. Felt like you needed to crane your neck up over the slide to get sight picture.

... I'm not a big handgun shooter at all, but I know what sucks and what doesn't. ;)

[archy]

...that the only other options on the list were all .40 caliber autos: Beretta and Glock. Swell. Either of which offers just as much opportunity for problems in the hands of a less-than-dedicated user, with the .40 Glocks notorious for their little *ka-BOOM* problem and *phase three* failures, and with at least two recalls of federal-issue Berettas for firing pin and spring failures...as well as the problems encountered by the Military with the M9 9mm service handguns. Heck of a choice.....

... I'm not a big handgun shooter at all, but I know what sucks and what doesn't. ;)

That's 7/8s of the battle right there. If you're familiar with a particular tool and it does the job for you, you're in business. I still like the old WWII German steel-framed P.38 pistols, which had very visible if non-adjustable rear sights that were nevertheless neatly tucked down well into the rear of the slide. The more recent issue West German P.1 pistols, available surplus for as little as $200 each are aluminum framed and a but less durable, but they'll do. When I first obtained and carried a Browning GP while on a civilian-clothes special duty assignment in the Army in 1967, I was really after a P.38, but the Browning served me well.

-archy-/-

[justlurking]

This happened to a friend of mine who's a policeman: The department issue pistol was a S&W 4059 that has the internal mag safety, ambidextrous mag releases, and a drop-free mag. He pulled it on a felon with warrants at a traffic stop, and the safety dropped to the ground before he even got it level. Even though he had a round in the chamber, he might as well been holding a banana.

A friend that owned a gun store told me a similar story. An officer bought a S&W semi-auto from him and subsequently got into a "wrestling match" with a perp, losing the magazine. The gun turned into a club and the officer had to finish the arrest without it.

He returned and exchanged it for something else. I don't remember what it was.