Two good 9mm handguns, but not for newbie
By MARJ LAW
“Since you’ve told me that your husbands want you to have 9mm handguns, let me show you two really fine ones: The Sig Sauer P229 9mm and the Rock Island Compact 9mm handgun.
This is why. They are reputable companies: Sig Sauer and Rock Island.
They are:
compact for easy carry.”
“Ladies, you want one of these guns and your husbands will like either one too,” adds Jack.
So, Gail and Mary are visiting the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office range. They have borrowed the Sig, and the Rock Island.
“Yes, they are about the same size,” notes Gail as she and Mary look at the guns resting on the shooting bench. The range is “hot,” so they know they can handle the guns.
She’s correct. The Sig is 7.4 inches long and 5.4 inches high. The Rock is 7.13 inches long and 5.5 inches high.
Making sure the muzzle is pointing down range, Gail picks up the Sig.
“That’s pretty heavy,” she says.
“Really? Let me see.” Gail hands the Sig to Mary.
“Yes, it’s heavy,” she agrees.
Mary puts the Sig down and picks up the Rock.
“Wow! The Sig is heavy but the Rock weighs a ton!” she exclaims, handing the Rock to Gail.
“Yikes! You’re right!” says Gail, “But it sits so well in my hand. This thing they call the beavertail really sinks into the web between my thumb and index finger. And I’m still pointing down range, but by tilting it a bit, look at the heavy barrel! I’ve never seen such a thick barrel. I bet it’s super easy to shoot well because this barrel is so thick.”
“Well, let’s shoot them!” suggests Gail. Until she tries them herself, she won’t believe anyone else.
Gail picks up the Sig first. She pulls the trigger. And pulls. Nothing happens.
“What’s up with this?” she asks.
“I think Jack said the first trigger pull is difficult, but subsequent shots are easy,” responds Mary. “He said that’s because it’s double action/single action. In double action, the trigger has to cock the hammer and then release it. In single action, all the trigger has to do is release the hammer. Because you’re asking the trigger to work harder in double action, your first shot will be more difficult.”
“Then I guess I’ll pull harder.” Gail picks up the Sig again and squeezes the trigger very hard.
Blam!
Then she squeezes again.
Blam!
“That second shot was so, so much easier!” she admits.
Mary picks up the Sig and fires too.
Blam!
“That trigger pull is nothing!” she says as she puts down the gun. “It was kind of a long pull, but it wasn’t hard. What did you think of the recoil, Gail?”
Gail thinks for a moment.
“I’m not crazy about it,” she replies. “The kick is strong. I was hoping it would be lighter.”
“I agree,” said Gail. “I wouldn’t want to have to shoot it over and over. Too much recoil.”
“But at least we’ve been hitting the target.” Mary is looking on the bright side.
“Yes, we did. But I wouldn’t want to have to keep practicing with it,” responds Gail. “And the grip is too wide for my small hands. It’s true that we have no pinky dangle, but the grip is too wide to be comfortable.”
“I didn’t like the grip, either,” said Mary. “My hands are bigger than yours, but the grip is wide.”
Next, Mary picks up the Rock. She is surprised.
“This thing must be twice as heavy as the Sig!” she exclaims. The slide is back, so she tries to manipulate the slide lock lever to release it.
“Ow! I can’t push it hard enough! Can you?” she asks Gail.
Gail pushes. She pushes harder. Finally, the slide moves forward.
“Now, you can shoot. That lever is really tight.” She hands the Rock back over to Gail.
Gail aims and shoots. Blam!
“Well, the trigger is easy, but it’s kind of a long pull. Recoil is hard on this one too. I wouldn’t want to shoot this at a 1-hour practice session, either.”
“We will have to look these guns up to see what the differences are, except for the weight. We can be sure the Rock is a lot heavier than the Sig!”
They end up at Gail’s house and she Googles the Sig Sauer P229.
“Yes, they look about similar in length. The Sig is 7.4 inches long, and it has a barrel of 3.9 inches long. Rocky is 7.13 inches long, and it has a 3.6 inch barrel.”
“Those are the similarities,” agrees Mary. “But I wouldn’t be able to carry either. The Sig is lighter, but it’s wide at 1.5 inches. The Rock is not so wide, at 1.31 inches. And they are both heavy. The Sig is bad enough at 30 ounces, but that Rock weighs 37 ounces!”
“They are both too wide and heavy for me to carry inside or outside the waistband. They may end up pulling my pants down!”
“I agree,” responds Gail. “While I can see the tritium sights on the Sig, I’d rather see big white dots. The Sig’s tritium sights don’t show up so well in daytime. But the Rock’s sights? They are practically non-existent. There’s a black U shape in the rear and a black ramp in front. I found it very difficult to see the sights well on the Rock.”
“True,” Mary totally agrees. “Those black sights are not easy to see. And I prefer big white dots to tritium also.”
“You know, Mary,” says Gail thoughtfully. “The major advantage I see is that the Sig holds 15 rounds and the Rock only holds eight rounds. I’d rather have more rounds in a gun. If Mr. Bad brings a friend, I want to know I can neutralize them both. We shot both guns well, hitting the 8-inch targets with no problem. However, I think we don’t care for either of these guns. They are too wide and heavy to carry, either on us or in our purses. We don’t care for the sights and the grips are too big for our hands.”
The same thought about the Sig is posed on the website Gunivore: “… this thing has some weight. It is a bit of a heavy gun, for a compact. … All the more reason why you should try this gun out, before deciding to buy it. This is true especially if you plan on carrying it in concealment. You want to be comfortable, since this thing is going to be concealed on your person.”
“Trying it before buying it. That sure makes sense,” says Mary. “While a sturdy man may be able to carry and conceal these handguns, you and I can’t. A big sturdy guy might like the wide grip and not mind the strong recoil, but we prefer a narrower grip and less recoil.”
“While the Sig and Rock may be just right for the needs of a large or strong man, they are not right for us.”
“There are a lot of 9mm handguns,” Mary adds. “I bet we can find ones that have smaller grips, less recoil, hold more rounds, and are lighter and are altogether smaller for ease of carrying. The very best gun is not the gun itself, but the one that we are able to manage.”
“Oh,” she adds. “And our husbands’ needs are different. They’re just going to have to find their own guns!”
heavy guns with mass absorbing a lot of recoil,
metal. Not made of cheap polymer,
big in the grip with no pinky dangle,
guns with slides that are fairly easy to manipulate, and they are
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.
