Most reliable and shootable 9mm semi auto pistols

[ztc92]

I’ve enjoyed following this thread. I’ve had a Glock 19 for about 10 years and put around 1000 rounds through it in that time. In the last few years I’ve made an effort to dry fire and practice at the range more often but I’m still a pretty poor shot.

I’ve visited with Form about handguns off and on for the past few years and had planned to upgrade to either a 365XL or a commander size 1911. Well last weekend I found a killer deal on a Tisas 1911 (B9R model for $399) and I finally joined the 9mm 1911 club.

I got out to shoot it today and with Tisas mags and no other changes or tinkering, I ran 200 rounds of cheap 115 FMJ ammo without any malfunctions or issues. I shot it back to back with my Glock and by the end of those 200 rounds I was already shooting the Tisas better than the Glock I’ve had for 10+ years.

Here’s my last 2 targets standing and trying to break good shots at 20 yards. Haven’t shot much since last fall and it shows, lots of anticipation with all shots trending left.

To the OP, if you can handle the extra weight, you should check out these Tisas. I’m not sure there’s a better value in handguns right now.

 

[K9kodi]

From what I know they are a budget friendly, value based copy of the original colt. I guess reliable? Time will tell, keep us posted. My woods sidearm is my kimber 1911 in 45 and the next is a full size stacatto with the comp. Shoots so smooooth

 

[Fatcamp]

I’ve enjoyed following this thread. I’ve had a Glock 19 for about 10 years and put around 1000 rounds through it in that time. In the last few years I’ve made an effort to dry fire and practice at the range more often but I’m still a pretty poor shot.

I’ve visited with Form about handguns off and on for the past few years and had planned to upgrade to either a 365XL or a commander size 1911. Well last weekend I found a killer deal on a Tisas 1911 (B9R model for $399) and I finally joined the 9mm 1911 club.

I got out to shoot it today and with Tisas mags and no other changes or tinkering, I ran 200 rounds of cheap 115 FMJ ammo without any malfunctions or issues. I shot it back to back with my Glock and by the end of those 200 rounds I was already shooting the Tisas better than the Glock I’ve had for 10+ years.

Here’s my last 2 targets standing and trying to break good shots at 20 yards. Haven’t shot much since last fall and it shows, lots of anticipation with all shots trending left.

To the OP, if you can handle the extra weight, you should check out these Tisas. I’m not sure there’s a better value in handguns right now.

Where did you purchase?

 

[ztc92]

Where did you purchase?

PM sent. To anyone else, feel free to message me and I’ll share, just don’t want to clutter the thread.

 

[HighUintas]

Did a bit of shooting this morning. Didn't do any dry firing on these. Just 10rd groups practicing both eyes open for most part. One eye sight focus is still better.

I also did 10rds of draw and fire at 7yds with holster, binos, and pack on and recorded time for each. That's what the shots are with the times. Aimed at the center of the 8x11.

It was a decent looking target, and then sprayed it from 25. Not sure how many of those were good as I had too many holes.

Lower left is 147 federal, shot about as quick as I could get back on target.

Any ideas what's causing the left trend on some of these? Not sure if it's trigger control/pressure, or due to having both eyes open. It doesn't exist so much with the one eye open group.

 

[Fatcamp]

Encyclopedia of Bullseye Pistol

There are a few of these charts out there.

 

[rileybassman]

Did a bit of shooting this morning. Didn't do any dry firing on these. Just 10rd groups practicing both eyes open for most part. One eye sight focus is still better.

I also did 10rds of draw and fire at 7yds with holster, binos, and pack on and recorded time for each. That's what the shots are with the times. Aimed at the center of the 8x11.

It was a decent looking target, and then sprayed it from 25. Not sure how many of those were good as I had too many holes.

Lower left is 147 federal, shot about as quick as I could get back on target.

Any ideas what's causing the left trend on some of these? Not sure if it's trigger control/pressure, or due to having both eyes open. It doesn't exist so much with the one eye open group.

View attachment 884577

Not sure if you are left or right handed, but low left is very common for right handed shooters and it's generally anticipating the shot/flinching. Practicing dry fire, with snap caps randomly put into the magazine, and with a .22 pistol really help.

Focus on trigger control when breaking and trying a 60-40 grip strength with your off to dominate hand.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

 

[Thegman]

Did a bit of shooting this morning. Didn't do any dry firing on these. Just 10rd groups practicing both eyes open for most part. One eye sight focus is still better.

I also did 10rds of draw and fire at 7yds with holster, binos, and pack on and recorded time for each. That's what the shots are with the times. Aimed at the center of the 8x11.

It was a decent looking target, and then sprayed it from 25. Not sure how many of those were good as I had too many holes.

Lower left is 147 federal, shot about as quick as I could get back on target.

Any ideas what's causing the left trend on some of these? Not sure if it's trigger control/pressure, or due to having both eyes open. It doesn't exist so much with the one eye open group.

View attachment 884577

Maybe not perfect, but you've improved a lot compared to your first outing with that pistol!

 

[brucemt]

Great thread, I learned alot reading through all of it.

The obvious question I didn’t see answered though, is,

What brand of forklift are you all toting around your pallets of ammo with??

Is Toyota the swfa of forklifts? No frills but rok solid and gits er done no matter what?

Or is hitachi the Tikka of forklifts?

We need to know.

 

[MuleyFever]

Despite people saying that Glocks are the Tikka’s of pistols- they are not. Not even close. Tikkas are extremely reliable, AND extremely high performing. Glocks are reliable, and mediocre performing. They can be used and shot to a very high level, but it takes significantly more skill and work to do so compared to other pistols.

Glocks are the Ruger M77’s of the pistol world. There is no Tikka equivalent in pistols when factoring in price- the closest would be a CZ Shadow 2.

What I write below is based upon actual shooting performance with scored targets and timers, under stress, and with relatively large amounts of people.





This is a good thought. But also eliminates Glock.




The single stack Glocks are harder to shoot well- significantly so. The G45 is an excellent pistol of the type. But no manual thumb safety and does demand more of the shooter to equal the same performance.





Despite media and hysteria, the M18 with thumb safety is a good pistol. 100% you will want to swap the grip module for the Brouwer M1811 module. The P365 with thumb safety is a very pistol as well. Even though it is smaller, it is quite shootable.





Very good guns. They are definitely the highest performing pistols on your list, by quite a margin. Reliability wise they are solid.





Yes, but maybe not noticed if you are just shooting cans in the backyard. You could say it like such- if you knew without a doubt you were going to be in a shooting, and you had any base skills at all- you would absolutely choose the Staccato’s.





The G45 yes. Functionally the G48 as well , but there have been more issues there.




Yes. Regardless of hand size (within reason).





This is a bit harder to address. The Gen 5 9mm Glocks are probably the “most reliable” pistols made. But that I mean- most mean rounds between stoppages (MRBS). However, functionally- there isn’t a real difference. It doesn’t really matter if it is 10,000 MRBS or 25,000 MRBS- both are beyond reliable enough.





Yes.




That isn’t going to do much for you. You stated you aren’t a pistol shooter, don’t really have skill, and aren’t knowledgeable about them. How a pistol “feels” has almost zero bearing on how well it can or will be shot, and any relevance it does have is almost always to the negative- feelings lie and “good feeling pistols” often perform worse in actual measured shooting.


Based on your stated goals/use, I would be narrowing it down to either-

The P365 with thumb safety if weight is a primary driver

Or

The Staccato C or CS if max shooting performance is the main driver.




Or…. Keltec PMR 30.

What model, and barrel length, P365 are you recommending here?

 

[Formidilosus]

What model, and barrel length, P365 are you recommending here?

Ehh, there are a lot of different models now. Just a grip long enough to get all the finger on, real sights, and I would choose a manual safety version.

 

[HighUintas]

What model, and barrel length, P365 are you recommending here?

I think I forgot to mention it awhile back, but I wanted to try a thin fiber optic sight instead of the X-ray sights that are on most of the p365s. So I actually just swapped out the XL slide for a fuse slide for the same price as a new sights. And has (initially bought it with) a wilson combat macro grip.

So .. it's kind of a Frankenstein p365 but it doesn't matter because they're all modular.

I like it a whole lot.

I think I've got close to 500 rounds through it with zero malfunctions and haven't cleaned anything. 3 different ammo types, all cheap.

 

[texag10]

Any ideas what's causing the left trend on some of these? Not sure if it's trigger control/pressure, or due to having both eyes open. It doesn't exist so much with the one eye open group.

I cannot say specifically what is causing this for you from my couch, but I can say a very good way to fix it.

Gun up, on target, finger on trigger put no pressure, no pretravel taken up. Ideally you will have a shot timer (there are apps on your phone for this, I use IPSC shot timer) and on the beep you shoot a round as quickly as possible, and think about what you felt and did as you look at the results on target. Can you say what your sights did? Did you tighten up your firing hand as you pulled the trigger? Was your support hand grip too weak? A lot of times these are problems diagnosed as a flinch.


The idea is to focus on the input you're giving the gun instead of the outcome on the target. Once you're consistently doing this 1 shot drill well on command, move on to 2 or more as fast as you can an modify inputs again. Grip and vision are your keys to success.

Pulling a trigger very slowly is just going to make you good at pulling a trigger slowly. You need to be able to do it quickly in succession for defensive use.

 

[Helislacker]

Ehh, there are a lot of different models now. Just a grip long enough to get all the finger on, real sights, and I would choose a manual safety version.

Why real sights as opposed to a red dot?

 

[JohnJohnson]

It's complicated but I'll likely be getting a Sig P229 Legion DA/SA for free soon. Anyone have much experience with that platform enough to comment on its reliability/shootability? I'm aware it's not a full size like the P226 so shootability won't be a good but still.

 

[RockAndSage]

It's complicated but I'll likely be getting a Sig P229 Legion DA/SA for free soon. Anyone have much experience with that platform enough to comment on its reliability/shootability? I'm aware it's not a full size like the P226 so shootability won't be a good but still.

229s are supremely shootable, and one of the most reliable designs on the market. Use that gun with confidence.

They fit a niche where they're about as small as you'd want for a fighting handgun, and as big as you'd want for ease of concealed carry. There's virtually nothing you need to do to them to get them combat ready out of the box, they'll chew up any ammo you throw at them, and they tend to naturally point well for most people. There are very few designs out there that I'd consider over one for EDC.

Don't get me wrong, they're not the "perfect gun" or anything, but 229s just hit all the boxes at very high levels for the realities of most people. Especially when it comes to the gun just working, and people being able to just hit with them. I've taken new and low-experience shooters, had them shoot glocks and 229s side by side, and the hit rates are significantly better with 229s. The same people that criticize the DA/SA's heavy DA pull will turn around and praise the dog$h*t glock trigger because it's "consistent", yet don't recognize how inaccurate most people are in shooting those triggers. Legit, performance-based criticisms of 229s are few and far between, and as a generality, you don't tend to find their shortcomings as a shooter until you've got a lot of time, training, and high-performance shooting under your belt. You've got a great gun on the way.

 

[RockAndSage]

Why real sights as opposed to a red dot?

Take a look at the thread from the beginning, there's been a lot of discussion on the pros, cons, and realities of both irons and red dots that should be carefully considered.

 

[Formidilosus]

Why real sights as opposed to a red dot?

I was meaning not an SAS model.

 

[rodney482]

Glock 19 Gen 5

 

[Trogon]

Lot of love here for the p365. Sample of 1 but my p365 xl trigger is simply awful. Gritty pull, with a wall, then more pull to a break. It will have to go somewhere for a trigger job to be shootable. So that’s a cost on top of the purchase price to factor in.