Personally, I like to think my pistols are guns that cops don't use. Simply because I've met too many cops who were sleazy, lazy, and incompetent. Plus, commonplace. That's part of the appeal of SIGs to me - every local cop at Dunkin Donuts has a Glock of some kind, whereas SIGs are the preferred choice of the far-better trained Federal LE agencies and SF units.*











*OK, that's not totally true. Here's in Texas, SIGs are pretty common. When I first moved here, I saw some Highway Patrol officers eating lunch at a Mexican restaurant, and they carried DAK versions of the P226 and P229 on their hips.

I liked all the cops I've met because I meet them all as customers and good friends in my dad's shop. My town's police carries Glock 22s (shocker, FBI isn't the ONLY ones who use those), and a litter farther out the Dutchess police use Glock 37s.

I think SIGs are great guns, I just think Glocks are great guns too.

I probably will need to get out to a range and shoot a few different models. Everyone obviously has their own opinions and I can't really form my own without trying some out.

By the way I do really love the look and feel of 1911's but the only ones in that price range I found were Taurus and I have heard some not great things about them. Anyone have any good experiences with a Taurus 1911? Also I didn't think a 1911 would be a very practical choice for my first gun.

The cops in my town carry usp-45s and i hate hk. The ones in portland, right next to me, carry S&W 4506s and I do like those. I see very few glockers here, but that's good. I find glocks to be that everyone-and-their-brother-have-one boring commonplace gun and glock could at least put the good barrels on at the factory, instead of making people pay to be able to compete with sig.

If you want a 1911 in the Taurus price range, get a stainless steel Springfield Mil-Spec. If you have a little more money, get a Loaded. They're both made with the same frames as a Taurus guns, but they have a better reputation (and look if you ask me).

A Glock is fine too, but be sure you're used to no external safety, and check the chamber, a lot.

The way I see it is the Taurus PT1911 is either hit or miss. You either get a really great one or you get one that causes nothing but problems. As a general rule for me, I don't really trust Taurus autoloaders. I know they aren't all lemons but there is a larger amount of problems from them then there should be. Plus their stuff doesn't typically appeal to me anyways. However, like I mentioned before, there are other 1911 options in your price range. RIA being a great choice and the Springfield GI another one. I decided I wanted a really nice 1911 so I spent a little over a $1000 on mine and don't regret it. If it is mostly going to be a range gun plus also the HD factor I don't see how a 1911 would be impractical. That being said .45acp is quite a bit more expensive then 9mm (yeah i know you can get 1911's in other calibers but .45 is the most common plus a 1911 should be .45 IMO) Pretty much any of the options mentioned in this thread are all good guns. Don't be afraid to buy used either. Gun owners typically tend to take care of their stuff, just inspect it (preferably shoot) before you buy if you do decide to go that route.

Springer mil-specs are well known for reliability, though the GI is not, heard too many stories of them jamming on anything but fmj. Rock island/armscor has a good rep as solid 1911s too. If you want to shoot for accuracy, i'd get a 1911 or gun with da/sa firing, double action only on an automatic doesn't make much sense. For overall simplicity though, why not a revovler? A used ruger gp-100 can usually be found around 400 dolalrs and is built like a tank. Fires in double action but you can pull hammer back for single action shots while target shooting.

So how do the safties on Glock's work?

I took a look at some of the Springfield 1911's and have to say those look amazing. Is it a huge difference price wise between the 9mm and .45 if I take it to the range a lot?

It's pretty simple...you keep your finger away from the trigger until you intend to shoot. :D

In general, yes. Which is part of the reason that I prefer and continue to buy 9mm pistols despite the fact that this caliber has been eclipsed by the .40 in popularity, and the fact that many Americans like .45.

That is what I thought when reading about the safety system it just sounds to me like it defeats the purpose of having a safety if you can pull the trigger and shoot at anytime.

By the way I was also looking at the nex XDM Springfield's has anyone shot or heard much about those?