Bad deviationist 9mm thinking

As many of you've noticed, shooting is getting more expensive, and I've been having some "bad deviationist 9mm thinking" as I mention in the title of this post.

For the last couple of weeks, I've been thinking about the "moderate-service-sized 9mm" issue, and going over the long, long, long long long list of moderately sized service 9mms.

I thought about the newest poly-poppers, like the S&W M&P, the "sig heil" HK, FNs and the ol' grandaddy Glock itself. (For me, the main problem with a Glock is that there's just so much stuff you can do to it, turn it into another project gun like a 1911 or something---no, honestly.)

I've concluded that as much as I like the CZ75, and as good as it feels when I grip it, trigger reach is just not comfortable for me. Exit the CZs, stage right.

Taurus actually makes some nifty pistols, both in poly and aluminium, and my (personal) experience with Taurus has been all to the good, notwithstanding internet chatter about lemons. They didn't make the final cut---but they were in the running.

Another contender was the new Stoeger Cougar, yep, just a Beretta Cougar built on Beretta machinery in Turkey. I'm a sometimes sucker for neat new ideas, and I've never owned a rotating lockup pistol. It might be neat to at least try one out, and with service on teh Stoegers through Beretta USA I'd expect superlative customer service should such be necessary.

In a move I'd never considered before, I looked over the Ruger line of 9mms. "Rugged" and "value" spell Ruger, and I looked at everything from the P89 through the "old style" P-series polymer guns, and the SR9. The SR9 looks pretty dang cool.

However, none of the foregoing made the cut. I ended up going with just about the cheapest pistol I could find, $299 shipped and that's not the whole story.

S&W is offering a rebate on some of their new pistols, good for $50 and a couple of spare magazines. You may have guessed by now, I got a Sigma.

(Waits for the boos and catcalls to die down.)

Well, ok, it's not "really" a Sigma anymore, but a SW9VE. Heck, I can't pronounce that, so I keep on calling it a Sigma. I actually bought a Sigma when they first hit the market, in '93 or '94, in .40 S&W (and in CALIFORNIA, no less---with FIFTEEN ROUND MAGAZINES!). The trigger was heap-big troublesome in comparison with what I was shooting at the time. Of course, I was shooting a Springfield Armory 1911 tuned by Ten-Ring Precision, so some allowances ought to be made.

The recoil with the .40 was a touch stout, and this girl I was going out with didn't care for it much, so I ended up swapping it out on a Browning HP .40, but that's no nevermind.

I ordered from Bud's Gun Shop and should be picking it up next week from Briley---a whopping three miles from me as the crow flies and not much more as the crow drives.

The trigger on the Sigma series has been upgraded some over the years, and I've spent a lot more time shooting double action sixguns so I've scant worries about the fire control system. It's kind of surprising to realize that the Sigma is now a pretty mature design, and it's comforting to know that it's backed by S&W. Should there be any problems, I'm pretty sure S&W will make 'em right.

Another thing, more applicable to me than to most shooters, is that there just isn't much out there to do to the Sigma. I think Lasermax USED to make a laser for them, but they don't know, and aside from perhaps a Hogue Hand-all I think the only money I'll be spending on the Sigma is for ammunition.

Like I said---bad deviationist 9mm thinking!

Oh yeah--it's also the sidearm of the Afghan National Police, and I get kind of a kick out of that.