Whats the Best Standard Handgun Available and Why?

[Craig]

OK, What gets your vote as the best standard handgun available.

I'd go with the Sig P226, just because! Oh, and every Elite Military Unit in the world has them in their arsenal.

[Mark Gogos]

Depends on what you mean by "Standard". 

If you mean Standard as in "Straight from the factory in any calibre", then I would say a CZ75. (just because)  It's been around for over 30 years and along with the Colt 1911, is the most copied (cloned) gun in the world.  If so many people are copying a design, it has to be good.  They are also reliable, accurate and tough.  I've put almost 80 000 rounds through mine and have only had 2 parts break: slide stop and extractor (once each).  The top Production shooters in the world are all shooting the new CZ75's (SP-01 Shadow), so that must say something about the gun. And just about every army, police force and security force in the world has used them at some stage, until opting for a cheaper gun to save costs.

If you mean Standard as in "Standard Division" in IPSC, then the Para Ordanance P16 .40S&W.  They are also a clone of the classic 1911 and are super tough.  With the right mods, you can get 20 rounds in the magazine (in .40S&W), which helps in competition.  They last forever and if you walk around any IPSC range these days, you'll see Para Ordanance's dating back to the early 80's, still running smoothly.

Although I could be saying this becasue I have a Para and CZ and may be slightly biased.....  ;D

[mic]

Have to agree with Mark here. I've also had only one breakage on my CZ75, and it was also the slide stop. It will cycle with loaded rounds as low as 3.6grains S121 loaded beind a 125grain bullet, and will also eat the heaviest of loads for breakfast. Best bang for buck

[Robert]

What about the Beretta Mod. 92. I have had one for 20 years and have never yet had a jam.
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[Handgunhunter]

The security guy’s here at Pelindaba used CZ75 for many years. The training officer told me his CZ75 broke only one slide stop and fired more than 500 000 hardball rounds. I got mine on tender for R400, the best deal ever.

[SSP]

For SD? Glock 19 no question. Highest capacity in a compact size, rugged, reliable. To paraphrase Larry Vickers: "the Volkspistol".

[Mark Gogos]

Glock 19 is nice. I would use it for a carry gun. Small, compact, high mag capacity. But shooting 9mm (Scoring minor) in SD in IPSC is a big disadvantage. Rather use it for Production.

[SSP]

Glock 19 is nice. I would use it for a carry gun. Small, compact, high mag capacity. But shooting 9mm (Scoring minor) in SD in IPSC is a big disadvantage. Rather use it for Production.

Hence the Self Defence (SD) qualifier. IPSC or IDPA didn't enter my frame of reference.

[BigT]

+1 to the Glock 19 excellent all around pistol ideal for SD and still a competitive choice in IDPA SSP and even ESP. Reliable durable easy to work on and high cap. Unfortunately i have seen a lot of CZ's have parts failures and it wouldn't be one of my top choices YMMV.

[Mark Gogos]

Glock 19 is nice. I would use it for a carry gun. Small, compact, high mag capacity. But shooting 9mm (Scoring minor) in SD in IPSC is a big disadvantage. Rather use it for Production.

Hence the Self Defence (SD) qualifier. IPSC or IDPA didn't enter my frame of reference.

Sorry. My mistake. I speak in IPSC abreviations, where SD stands for Standard Gun.

Glock 19 is definately a good carry gun.