9 June 03

Pistol performance in the Philippines, from a friend there:

"Over here, Beretta 92s have endured only because those who have them don't shoot them much, far less than you Americans. Some have ditched them because of grip size. We have small hands compared with yours.

CZ75s and clones fare slightly better. Rarely do operators carry them hammer down on a loaded chamber. Cocked and locked is the preferred mode, due (once again) to trigger reach. In terms of durability, frame, slide and barrel of the CZ's have stood up to hard use, but smaller, internal parts have not. You need two to keep one running.

SIGs have not seen real use here, again due to trigger-reach difficulties. They're just not designed for our small hands.

Kahrs have a small but fiercely loyal following.

Glocks have suffered a bad rap mainly due to slide breakages, either near the ejection port or under the muzzle. It doesn't happen often, but it happens often enough to be alarming to some. I'm not sure why it happens here and not in the USA.

Taurus PT92s (and all other pistols with three-position safety/decocking levers) have developed a bad rap here as well. Your African friend's observation is common here . Many users find that, when the pucker factor accelerates, they bear down on the safety/decocking lever so hard that the gun cannot be made to fire.

The Walther P99 developed a strong patronage, but, seven years later, we're having problems with broken firing pins, even when snap caps are used to dry fire. In addition, sights routinely wobble in their dovetails.

The 1911 lives on, but it too isn't free from woes. Firing pin stops work loose. Extractors require frequent checks for proper tension (and breakage). Slide stops and hammers break, and improperly adjusted internals often turn the gun into a machine pistol.

My own two cents reflects the advice you give in your rifle book. You may not find one gun that has all the ideal features, but you should come close if you shop hard enough. In our case, it's a little trickier since our hand sizes are significantly smaller than those of our American or European brethren."

Comment: A piece of emergency/safety equipment as personal as a defensive handgun needs to fit properly and suit the user. No one gun will "fit all," despite the efforts of big police departments to pretend it is so. The search will last a lifetime (which we all hope is long and prosperous!)

/John