I'm assuming the majority of us are 'enthusiasts', and that most of us have more than one hangdgun. Even though we may own and shoot several, there is always one that is our favorite, and that itself is subject to occassional change. For years, my primary carry gun was a Kahr K9 (that I picked up at a gun show in Salt Lake City about 25-30 years ago). Prior to that my carry had been a 1911A1. Then, in early 1986, I ordered my first Glock - simply because it was unique in appearance, constuction materials, ammo capacity and design of the safety mechanism at the time (and it had an outstanding reputation in Europe) - a first gen G17. When it arrived, my gunsmith called me and I hurried on over to his shop to take posession of my prize. My first impression was "Well, it's not very pretty... but "pretty" isn't what a pistol is all about." The gun struck me as having a very serious look to it, as if it had 'attitude'. I bought a box of ammo from Smitty and went down to his firing range in the basement of his shop. It took me about 6 minutes to feed that entire box through my "little friend". My impression had then changed from no beauty queen to "WOW! What a great piece of engineering!" As I topped the stairs and opened the door, the first words Smitty uttered were, "Was that thing doubling on you?" and, grinning from ear-to-ear, I told him "No, it's just blazingly quick". And that began my love affair with Glock pistols. Over the years I have acquired two more Glocks - a G23 in .40, and a G26 in 9mm (not only do I have a favorite manufacturer, I prefer the 9mm round as well - I have 7 pistols [if you include the MAC-11] and one carbine chambered for 9mm) and I still have my original G17. Glocks are virtually indestructible (see the torture tests on YouTube)! Glock - often copied, never surpassed. When I OC it's always a Glock, and when I CC it's my Ruger LCR (chosen over the Glocks only because it fits in my jacket pocket easily). Handgun choices are always a matter of personal preference, and some folks prefer appearance to function - they approach the purchase of a handgun as if it's a fashion accessory. IMHO this is the only wrong way to buy a gun! That should be your last consideration... unless you are buying it as a home decoration.
My advice is to buy whatever hi cap 9mm fits your hand best (first consideration), fits your wallet best (second consideration), and is highly-regarded in the shooting community. If you shop around, Glocks can be had in your price range, as can a CZ, S&W, the new Beretta PX4 sub-compact, etc, etc. Buy the best fitting, production manufactured pistol that you can afford. Pax...
