Quote:
Originally Posted by BB57
I know and have shot with a fairly small statured female friend who works for a fairly small department about 55 officers) where unfortunately the officer assigned the task of procuring a new duty weapon was an avid shooter who selected the Sig P226 in .357 Sig.
It’s just not something she - or frankly most of the other female officers and a fair percentage of the male officers - will ever shoot well.
It doesn’t fit her hand and the recoil is excessive.
The FBI more or less figured that out as well and reverted from the .40 S&W to the 9mm Luger. And the .40 S&W was itself adopted after the 10mm didn’t work out very well. Bigger isn’t always better, as agents and officers need to be able to both shoot the weapon accurately and control the weapon effectively.
It was an issue in the US military as well when they dropped the 1911 that had a grip that fit most people pretty well and adopted the M9, which was both large for a 9mm and had not only a double stack magazine but also housed it in a larger than necessary grip, and had a long trigger reach to boot. Troops could shoot it, but not many shot it well and it was poorly suited to anyone with other than large hands.
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Completely agree with the first point. As I mentioned in my post you will have a difficult time requiring a handgun that produces consistent and quick stops without a CNS hit. Something like a Deagle in .50AE, or perhaps a .454 Casull revolver, or just maybe a .500 S&W. Something like a 10mm will certainly be able to penetrate better than a 9mm or .40 (given the right bullets) and achieve results at greater ranges or with light cover/barrier to defeat, but it's no death ray.
Troops shot the M9 quite well vs. the 1911. The M9 was quite a bit more accurate than the old 1911s. This is not a knock on the 1911; these guns were 40+ years old by this time and weren't made to be particularly accurate in the first place. The DoD wanted a doublestack 9mm for a lot of reasons. They also wanted a simpler manual of arms and takedown procedures, both put the Beretta ahead. I got to shoot a lot of 9mm on Uncle Sugar's dime through the M9 and never had the itch to buy one (I have medium sized hands). The SIG and the Glock are frankly better, and I appreciate the 1911s quirks a lot more than the DoD ever did. The M17 is oddly slippery in the wrong spots (I put grip tape on the beavertail on mine) and I noticed a lot of fellow soldiers tend to shoot low due to the not-quite ergonomic grip angle.
You forget about the M11, the SIG P228 that was issued to some with smaller hands.