just curious if any gun dudes have a useful opinion....
is there a small, sort-of-inexpensive 9mm pistol for self defense that is reliable?
(pls don't mention Glock, too pricey)
Glocks are cheep. What are you talking about. Brand new they are about six hundred. Used in a pawn shop you can get them for about 500, gunbroker often has them for about 400. My Kimber is just under a thousand and my Dan Wesson is nearly 1900.
There are several options: I 've got a hellcat as my EDC. 9mm glock-ish clone. Micro nine. Got it for about 400 used.
If you want to go ULTRA cheap you can go HiPoint. Brand new they are 175 dollars. Used, I've seen them for 75-100. They're clunky, heavy and the slide is really fucking heavy, with a high bore axis, and large. Really top heavy when shooting however with all the money you saved you can get the extra ammo to shoot it fairly well, if you give yourself some time.. But, not a very forgiving pistol to shoot.
Anyone that's put 6000 rounds through any firearm tends to hit what he's aiming at.
It's pretty indestructible as well. When oiled and kept fairly clean it's reliable as a any of the big name brands.
You don't sound like someone who is interested in shooting too much but want a firearm "just in case." If you are never/rarely going to the range with it get a better/higher priced pistol. The ergonomics are so much better and shooting is easier, however you still need to go to the range. - Sigs are nice until about 7K rounds then they tend to break off at the handle. That's an easy gun to shoot but that's also Glock priced.
CZ are incredibly easy to shoot, because they have all metal frames and it soaks up lots of recoil. Kinda boat anchor on your hip though. The CZ75 compact is not really compact, about the size of a Glock 19 which is also supposedly compact but it's not. You'll see what I mean if you compare it to the HellCat
Then there's the Taurus G2. I think it's like 250 bucks. Generally I stay away from Taurus, they have quality control issues, or at least they did, The Judge is a 410 shotgun 45 long colt revolver that seems like a good snake/self defense revolver - six shots though. A guy I know has one and it's by his bedside. Alternating shells -- 410 shotgun 45 Long colt. But that's 600sih bucks.
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First figure out how much yuu want to spend. Then figure out how often you are going to go to the range: once a year? four times a year? You'd be surprised how many people barely go once a year.
With firearms, it's a perishable skill. Just because you can ring a 2 inch gong at 100 yards and did it twelve years ago doesn't mean you can pick up any pistol/rifle and do it on command when you haven't been to the range since.
My recommendation:
I would steer you towards a CZ if this is going to be your first gun. It's heavy and easy to shoot with a very low bore axis. Then after you get the basics down you can "graduate" to a polymer pistol which is going to handle really different because of the low weight. Recoil management is a big issue. If you don't then the gun will stovepipe jam and that's not good in a high stress scenario.
