IF I COULD ONLY HAVE ONE PISTOL
As a modern practitioner of firearms training and tactics, I often wish I could just master one gun, particularly a pistol. However, as a firearms reviewer, I often find the use of one gun for a long period of time to be tough. New guns come out, new inspirations hit me, my training and skills evolve and shift slightly, and I regularly explore different concepts for my blog and YouTube channel. It is not easy to be able to find one gun that keeps my interest, but the desire to have that one system that I just beat to death and learn inside and out is so alluring to me.
THE PARAMETERS WILL BE SUBJECTIVE
The issue I have with trying to lay out a solid set of controls for all of you readers is that you are all in different locations. I have my own climate, lifestyle, training, experience, and interests. This combination of factors alone precludes objective selection that is applicable to a wide population. For this reason, I am merely going to lay out my own personal factors and parameters that will help me down-select from the ever-growing list of pistols on the market.
The pistols I am going to choose from are going to be either ones I own, owned, or wish I could own/afford. The pistols would be the one pistol I could use for everything from concealed carry to home defense and training. Wherever I go, that gun goes, and it needs to be able to suit my needs in a wide variety of capabilities. We are speaking of mechanical capabilities only, since you can always train around limitations and increase proficiency. And in theory, deficiencies would be trivial if a gun were truly the only gun I had.
CALIBER SELECTION
The storied .45 ACP is a time-honored caliber that is still recognized today for its anti-personnel capability. I am not a .45 ACP purist that believes .45 ACP is “gods caliber” or anything, but I do understand that the 230 grain .45 ACP shines best when projected at or above 830 FPS, which necessitates at least 4.75” of barrel. You can try to find a loading that is lighter and that works for a smaller barrel, but you will still run into issues such as lower capacity, high maintenance costs, and poor reliability as you continue to chop down the barrel on your .45 ACP pistol.
The .40 S&W is also in this category of being more designed to function optimally out of duty sized pistols as an anti-personnel cartridge. There are a variety of barrel lengths available to the consumer and the .40 S&W comes in three weight classes, but their performance to barrel length is not easily calibrated. I can find 165 gr ammo that will expand in a 4” barrel at close range, but not in a 3.5” while I can find a 155gr load that will work for the 3.5” barrel at close range, but it’s performance takes a dump at range. Also, unfortunately in smaller pistols, the .40 S&W is just not getting enough market support in manufacturing and development. There are only a few companies left that are making .40S&W pistols, and they are not necessarily making them in a wide variety of sizes like they were in the 90’s.
As much as I love 40 S&W and .45 ACP, I will not pretend that these calibers are still universally good when you start cutting down the barrel length. Despite my love for these other calibers, the selection of my ideal universal pistol will have to be in 9mm due to ballistic and manufacturer support limitations.
EMOTIONAL ANCHOR
I want a gun that gives me emotional feedback. Maybe it inspires memories of my past, or maybe it inspires me to roleplay a character I look up to that has values I aspire to emulate. Perhaps it is James Bond and his swagger, or perhaps it is the Punisher and his never quit attitude. The moral of the story is that I recognize that I am an emotional creature and I draw inspiration from things. To deny that would be to deny my humanity.
This is a highly subjective parameter that down-selects a lot of pistols from consideration. I want good emotions only, so no history of negative feedback such as poor performance, bad service, or anything like that. For this reason, most pistols by FN, Sig, and Colt are the first to get axed from the list. I will explain further.
- FN has overpriced firearms that have failed big time in the past and their current designs have not changed enough to inspire confidence.
- Sig has become a household name for poor quality control but desperate high manufacturing output that is synonymous with cheap goods with cheap outcomes.
- Colt has fallen far as their QC is questionable and their products are sold mostly through brand loyalty and hopeful redemption.
RELIABILITY/DURABILITY
In my personal view, the ability to cycle reliably (reliability) is in the same boat as durability. I need the gun I choose to have a long service life. What that means is that I need it to be serviceable and capable of being used aggressively in training and then trusted to be put into a holster or on a night stand. I would be diligent about cleaning and preventative maintenance, but I would not want to have to spend a lot of money keeping the weapon functional and serviceable.
- Glock is eliminated early in this segment due to years of giving Glock a chance and having issues with extraction, feeding, magazines, and quality control on parts.
o Being the firearms barbie doesn’t mean I am going to accept a hit or miss in parts being made right and to spec.
Many shooters may never question their firearms, but those with tons of range time across different platforms will know that guns are simple machines, and they require maintenance and must be watched. Just as the gauges on your vehicle are not there for decoration, you should understand that your pistol will give you visual and tactile feedback as to its conditions.
I want a pistol that can be run reliably with the newer Winchester M1152 and a steady diet of +P ammunition. And I want the manufacturer to support the pistol in this type of usage case. Why M1152? Because it is ammunition that replicates the recoil impulse of most common defensive ammunition on the market. I know some people would say that the standard pressure ammunition is just fine for self-defense. If you want a round that is going to perform at distance, through barriers, and be able to reach vital organs reliably, you are going to have a hard time beating the performance still found only in self-defense ammunition in the +P category. For this reason, I want ALL my shots to be the same tactile feedback, whether that is in training or on the street.
Due to this very rigid requirement, I have to cut out all pistols from Walther, all 1911 variants (locking lug timing issue) and some pistols made by Springfield and most of the pistols made recently by H&K. All of these companies either forbid the use of +P in extended use or say they will not warranty a firearm that has used it.
All that is left for consideration are made by these companies:
- Springfield
- Smith & Wesson
- Beretta
- Stoeger
The road has gotten narrow from here, and I am sure you are surprised by some of the firearms companies I have eliminated. As I said at the beginning, I have had a good amount of rounds through a lot of guns in my lifetime, and I have been able to play the field a bit and learn what is what. I tried being a Special Glock-erator and an H&K Snob-erator. I cannot say that any one of the companies left really excite me. S&W has that classic old American vibe, but its recent Shield pistols are a flop for me.
The Springfield Hellcat Micro compact pistols have been tested independently (SORT OF…) and are “capable” of firing +P for a steady diet, but they are just unpleasant and punishing. You will notice a legit difference in their performance between the standard mouse fart loads you already think are snappy and the M1152 ammo I use on the regular.
Beretta only has a few small pistols in their lineup, so the selection is very tight. Their designs are renown for durability and reliability, but their APX Carry was plagued with teething issues as they were optimizing the design in the first generation. Most of the issues today is people trying to shoot mouse fart loads out of the box without wearing in the springs as they are advised to. The gun is meant to give a long service life with duty ammo, and that means you need to do your part to break it in and wear in the action.
Stoeger is a Turkish based company that is mostly known for their shotguns, but they are now in the pistol market. They have reverse-engineered the Glock Gen 3 design and made a set of pistols that many feel are not only more economically viable, but better in durability and comfort. This is a huge contender because I absolutely love underdogs.
Springfield is a company that is in flux at the moment because they are transitioning to a civilian market centric business model, which means they are not making guns strictly for the military and then modifying them down to sell smaller versions to civilians. They are instead making cute civilian guns and claiming they also have military appeal, when in reality that is not the case. For this reason, the company cannot be trusted to remain a stable provider of durable weaponry. The XD was a huge contender for me, but it is on it’s death bed and HS Produkt is switching gears to prioritize the civilian market.
WHY GUN SIZE LAST?
I know a lot of people would choose the size of gun first and then sift through the durability and reliability after that. But due to the huge number of manufacturers on the market currently, it is easier to eliminate manufacturers that have issues in QC, not allowing ammo flexibility, and then narrow down the size of gun from there. A gun cannot easily change its size or capabilities or bugs like terrible parts availability or poor customer service. But I as an individual can change to accept a slightly bigger or smaller pistol in order to get the non-negotiable characteristics I am looking for. Remember that the idea is selecting one single pistol that I will train with and carry for the foreseeable future.
MY FINAL CHOICE
The pistol that I have chosen as my final do-it-all pistol that is big enough to shoot and small enough to carry is the Beretta APX Compact. This is either the A1 or the original model. They are Glock 19 size and they are built to withstand a steady diet of abuse. The parts are readily available and relatively inexpensive. The grip frames are easy to change out, leading to relatively easy modifications in the grip that don’t have to be permanent. You can create a stippling job with a soldering iron and get plenty of practice. If you screw up, you don’t have to pay much to get a totally new frame that is easily replaced.