Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

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jeep45238
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by jeep45238 »

Have the shield, ez shield, hellcat, and p365 all at work. EZ is the largest, as in you can get a grip and run the thing - imagine a baby, polymer 1911. I like it a lot. I'm not a huge fan of the original shield, although it is well vetted and priced well.

The hellcat feels decent with the extended mag in, which gives it a grip approximating the shield series. The sights are the best out of all of them, period - and you can get a factory optic cut if you desire.

The P36r we have includes a thumb safety, but unlike the EZ it is nowhere near as easy to disengage. I'm not really impressed by it, but I know it is the one that started this market up again like a mo-fo.


If you want capacity and sights, Springfield. If you want ergos and a grip you can hold, get the Shield.

YMMV and all that.
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by dustymedic »

Love my 2.0 Shield. I will probably start carrying it instead of my M&P 2.0 Compact if Spring weather evers comes and stays...
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Morne
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by Morne »

jeep45238 wrote:Have the shield, ez shield, hellcat, and p365 all at work. EZ is the largest, as in you can get a grip and run the thing - imagine a baby, polymer 1911. I like it a lot. I'm not a huge fan of the original shield, although it is well vetted and priced well.

The hellcat feels decent with the extended mag in, which gives it a grip approximating the shield series. The sights are the best out of all of them, period - and you can get a factory optic cut if you desire.

The P36r we have includes a thumb safety, but unlike the EZ it is nowhere near as easy to disengage. I'm not really impressed by it, but I know it is the one that started this market up again like a mo-fo.


If you want capacity and sights, Springfield. If you want ergos and a grip you can hold, get the Shield.

YMMV and all that.
Thanks for the detailed and informed rundown.

If I want capacity I can carry my Sig P320C (with either the SubCompact grip module or the Compact grip module).

Ergonomics matter a lot to me. My big hands don't necessarily work well with the teeny-tiny guns.

I have a friend who has the 365 (no thumb safety). Need to get that out in my backyard range and shoot it. Then I need to find a Shield EZ 9 to try.
Bruenor wrote:
Morne wrote:
Bruenor wrote:Carrying the P365. Wife has a shield. Both are nice, no wrong answers there. Sig came with Night sights, has higher capacity and shoots really well. Was surprised how well it worked for me as a small gun on the dueling tree.
No experience with the others mentioned.
Which is thinner?
Shield is .05" thinner than the p365, not sure if you would even notice that 1 mm difference when carrying.
the p365 is shorter in all other dimension and higher capacity than the shield.

https://www.handgunhero.com/compare/sig ... 2-0-shield" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.handgunhero.com/compare/sig ... p-9-shield" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
That head-to-head detail comparison website is phenomenal! Thanks!!!
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weakhand luke
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by weakhand luke »

Javelin Man wrote:Is the Kahr line of pistols in contention? CW9 gives you a 3.6" barrel with 7+1 capacity. CM and CT give you less and more size and capacities.
Kahr is no longer in contention. They already won. This is an effort to find second best.
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by jeep45238 »

weakhand luke wrote:
Javelin Man wrote:Is the Kahr line of pistols in contention? CW9 gives you a 3.6" barrel with 7+1 capacity. CM and CT give you less and more size and capacities.
Kahr is no longer in contention. They already won. This is an effort to find second best.
Not really - people always skip over context and how other people's hands interact with pistols, and just go over a spec sheet and regurgitate personal bias.

Kahr makes decent pistols - some have problems with a spare mag dropping the top round out of the tube (I haven't, thankfully). Others have had issues with not being able to sling-shot the slide (I haven't - but I also use the slide-lock in everything). In the past, they've also had reliability issues with some polymer models - enough that I don't recommend a Kahr in a caliber they also don't make a metal framed pistol out of (metal framed ones almost always are good to go).

The thing for me is the Kahr action breaks at the back of travel, making the distance between the backstrap and face of the trigger very close compared to other pistols. It's awesome for small hands, and can be worked around with largish hands, but not without effort and it's probably not going to happen with XL hands try as you might.

Everything has pros and cons. Everyone's context is different. That doesn't mean that anybody is necessarily wrong, but it also means that what works for me might not work for you.
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by Morne »

Update:

Handled the Hellcat, 365 (not XL), and Shield EZ today at a store:

Hellcat - weird ball and bucket sights. Easy to see, just totally different than anything else I have. Grip is fine.

365 - good enough sights, tiny grip. I suspect the XL with extended mag would fix the problem of where to put my pinky.

EZ - all around seemed the most natural in my hand. Normal sights that I am used to.
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by Bruenor »

just fyi, the 12 round mag for the P365 gives you a spot for your pinky. Pierce now makes an extended base pad to fit on the 10 round mag that give you a landing zone for that pinky as well for approx: $10.00. (Not sure why Sig doesn't offer this directly) I don't have any of the 15 round magazines yet but they can be used as well.

As for the sights on the 365 I didn't realize they were night sights till I noticed them glowing on the nightstand, so they were nicer sights than I originally thought. Although I don't really find night sights useful, as I'd rather have a flashlight and be able to see my target so I KNOW what I'm shooting at.

Keep us updated on your search. Hope you get a chance to shoot them all before purchase. I always want to but can never seem to locate them all in my friends collections.
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by Brian D. »

Morne wrote:Update:

Handled the Hellcat, 365 (not XL), and Shield EZ today at a store:

Hellcat - weird ball and bucket sights. Easy to see, just totally different than anything else I have. Grip is fine.

365 - good enough sights, tiny grip. I suspect the XL with extended mag would fix the problem of where to put my pinky.

EZ - all around seemed the most natural in my hand. Normal sights that I am used to.
And, the 9mm EZ has a dovetailed front sight. Presumably any options made for the Shield series work on this new model too.
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Morne
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by Morne »

Was out shooting my Makarov the other day when it occurred to me that I am essentially looking for a modern version of this gun. The IJ-70 is chambered in 9x18mm, has a 3.7” barrel, and has a single-stack mag. The only drawbacks are the slide mounted safety and weight of all steel construction.
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by Mr. Glock »

Get a 9x17, plenty of those around in small single-stack guns. And the 9x18 is closer to the 9x17 than the 9x19. :twisted:
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by Javelin Man »

Morne wrote:Was out shooting my Makarov the other day when it occurred to me that I am essentially looking for a modern version of this gun. The IJ-70 is chambered in 9x18mm, has a 3.7” barrel, and has a single-stack mag. The only drawbacks are the slide mounted safety and weight of all steel construction.
Well, the obvious comparison then becomes the Bersa Thunder in .380 with the 3.54" barrel and holds 7+1 capacity.
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by Whirlwind06 »

You can get a conversion barrel for a Glock 42.
There is your modern, 9x18 with a polymer frame.
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by Morne »

Whirlwind06 wrote:You can get a conversion barrel for a Glock 42.
There is your modern, 9x18 with a polymer frame.
But it is a Glock. I just don’t do Glock.
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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by weakhand luke »

.[/quote]
But it is a Glock. I just don’t do Glock.[/quote]

I feel exactly the same as you about a Glock firearm for many of the same reasons.

BUT, when I was last at NLFG a guy a social distance away was sighting in his new Glock 48. He was using factory ammo and shooting from a rest. His target was set up at 90 feet, which is max at NLFG's pistol range. We walked down to look at his first five rounds and I was amazed. It looked like he shot it with a rifle. He let me handle the gun and I can say this is not your father"s Glock. Svelt, sweet, light and not blocky. 10 rounds.

I think you just got to go see one. If I were in the market I would give it serious consideration. Meanwhile, I pretty happy with my MK9.

Dave

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Re: Need a new small-ish 9mm, which one?

Post by Morne »

Snagged the Shield EZ 9 today.
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