I love my S&W's for their beauty and feel. But for carry, it is a Glock that gets the nod. I've owned them for 10+ years now, in calibers from 9mm to .45 acp and I have NEVER had a malfunction, even a smokestack or misfeed, in any Glock I have ever fired.

Next point, I don't baby my carry gun. It is carried in a hot, humid, sweaty environment for up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week. No signs of rust. The only "wear" I can detect is a slight graying of the Tenifer on the beveled edges on the front of the slide.

As for the model numbers, they aren't that bad at all:

Full Size Intermediate Size Compact
9mm G17 G19 G26
10mm G20 G29
.45 G21 G30
.40 G22 G23 G27
.357 G31 G32 G33

This leave out the .380's that aren't available in the USA. Also I didn't note the .45 GAP calibers, I have no interest in them, so I don't know what the heck they are!

Further, there are some special weapons as well, the G18 is a 9mm full-auto that is otherwise just like the G17. The G17L is a long-slide competition 9mm, the G34 is a slightly shorter 9mm with adjustable sights, about the same overall as a 1911. The G35 is the same gun in .40.

A great feature about the Glocks is that if you stay in the same frame size, the guns fit the same holsters, and the longer mags function perfectly with the compact guns. I have a photo of a 33-round 9mm mag in a G26 sub-compact, looks weird, but it works.

The sub-compact version and the full-size in the same caliber have identical frames, only the slide/barrel/frame lengths differ. So a belt-slide holster for a G26 will also work with any other small-frame Glock, the 9mm, .40, .357's are all small frame. All 10mm and .45 acp guns are large-frames, and have commonality of holsters within those two calibers, again only differing in slide/barrel/frame size.

By the way, the .40 and .357 guns are basically interchangeable caliber also. They can use the same mag, just buy another barrel for $100-$300 and you have a two caliber weapon.

There are reports that the .40 version is the "weakest" of the bunch based on the area of support for the cartridge head. There are supposedly more reports of kabooms in this caliber. For what it is worth, the G22 in .40 is also the number one gun/caliber in use by law enforcement in the USA.

As for the shower, don't even bother to shake off the water before you fire. You cannot hurt one under normal use.

Hope I didn't confuse things too much!

The Highlander