Handgun rankings

[MarcS]

Your officers are familiar with glocks, so stay with glocks. Personally i would stick with the 22 as small handed officers will have less difficulty with this than the 21. I'm not a fan of the GAP round since being on a 9/40 frame you're getting a lower capacity gun for no real benefit over 9 or 40 and considerably higher ammunition costs. The XD 45 is a bit easier to hold, but, once again, you guys have been running glocks for 10 years, 70% of all cops are running glocks. There's a reason.

Other advantages:

-Glock appreciates customer loyalty, you guys will get a ridiculously good deal on new glocks trading in your old ones.
-On the 9/40 frame, there are subcompacts that your officers can use as BUG's and off duty that have magazine interchangeability with the service weapons. In 45, the glock 30 isn't all that tiny.

Downsides for the other choices:
-1911's are high maintenance and not nearly as intuitive as the other choices. They also have a very low mag capacity and are heavy
-HK now has the LEM trigger which is closer to what you get with a glock, but it doesn't use a standard accessory rail and is a big hulking gun. Small hands are SOL with this one
-Sig has something similar to HK's LEM trigger which is a plus, but very low magazine capacity and they are heavy.
-The XD does not have the track record of the other designs, other than that, it is most similar to the glocks your officers are carrying other than, say, glocks.

[fabwizard]

I have never been a fan of the Glock..but they are a low cost reliable side arm. I have to say that I love Sig's but that is because they fit my hand and lay my trigger finger right where it belongs effortlessly. I carry a Kimber 1911 which has NEVER jamed and put everything through the end of the muzzle I have put in the thing! Every time I go to the range Sig or Kimber I can never decide.

[VeryPrivate]

Originally Posted by jadam8304

Through research that I have already done, The .45 caliber is said to have a harder impact (kinetic force) and a better one shot stopping record than the .40 caliber.

I am a general supporter of M&S work, but both rounds are highly effective when they hit the target. One of the weakness of M&S work is that they control every relevant factor in their data set. So any statistic variation between a .40 and .45 has no practical effect. One could add the .357 Sig and eventually the .45 GAP to the list of effective police calibers. There is no such thing as a "magic" bullet.

Originally Posted by jadam8304

I just want a clean answer on what your choice would be for the best availble handgun on the market. .... Reliablity and accuracy are the top two concerns.

There is no objective method for determining the "best" available handgun. The brands mention in the replies (Glock, Sig, HK, Springfield, S&W , etc...) are all reliable and at least as accurate as the person shooting it. As you can see from the range of responses it is a subjective decision. My preference for carry is a double action with no manual safety. I also prefer a decocking lever and exposed hammer. You can judge from this that I do not carry a 1911. I own a 1911, one of the less expensive Springfield versions, and it shoots beautifully. But I do not want to worry or practice unlocking the manual safety or cocking the hammer while under stress.

[MarcS]

Marshal and Sanow's work has been discredited repeatedly. "One shot stops" and "energy transfer" have no basis in reality. I suggest you spend some time on the IWBA website and educate yourself on terminal ballistics. You owe it to your officers if you're picking their weapons.

[highrider]

I am a confessed Sigaholic and have never been big on Glocks (although I own a couple). But in your case, my choice would be to definitely go with the Glock (ACP - Not 45 GAP). All of the reasons for my choice have been summed up pretty well by previous posts.

[Turbinesaint]

+1 with all the previous advice. The old addage of if it ain't broke, don't fix it seems to fit here. What do the people who will be carrying the weapons think? You might benefit by "testing" the few that you are interested with everyone involved and get their input. I don't know how your selection process works, this is just my .02. I wouldn't want to carry something I didn't feel comfortable operating.

[pa_ridgerunner]

My pick of the guns mentioned would be the Sig 220. I carried one for a couple years until I moved to a new dept. that had a policy of no pistol caliber larger than .357. I still miss the 220 I carried. My current dept. was issuing Glock 31s in .357 Sig caliber. I love the .357 Sig caliber but hated the Glock. As a firearms instructor and I train a lot & my issued Glock started having issues with reliability after 2,500 rounds. It started having several different types of stoppages. I change magazine springs every year and put in a new recoil spring every 1,000 rounds. Several Glock armorers couldn’t find out what was going on with it. When the pistols were 6 years old the Chief’s pistol started doing the same thing as mine but his only had 500 rounds through it. We now carry Sig 226s in .357 & I like it almost as much as my old Sig 220. Another plus for the Sig is they can be ordered with a short reach trigger for anyone with small hands.