Shaved down polymer frame guns

[Sam]

For a second I thought you meant cutting the frame so that it was shorter. I couldn't see how this would make a gun more ergonomic but you meant a frame reduction and now everything makes sense. The M&Ps with the small backstrap are pretty thin. With that said, a Glock with a grip reduction can be pretty thin too, and with an aftermarket barrel can shoot reloads.

[CJJohn]

Jason,
I've been in a similar boat with my wife. I bought a Kahr CM9 hoping she would love it. WRONG, she couldn't even function it. In my mind it does no good it she can't cycle the slide consistently. I sold it and gave her my Walther PPQ. Small backstrap fits her perfect! After I did that I cut my Glock 23 to accept 27 magazines, effectively removing most of "the hump", then I reduced the grip a little more in the rear and removed the finger grooves and re-stippled everything. Sunday I was cleaning it and my wife picked it up, cycled it a few times, dry fired a few times, and said she loved it. It fit her perfect, cycling it is no issue, and it's a GLock so reliability is a non issue. I think we're going gun shopping this weekend.

[Moto4Fun]

It's difficult for me to see how an M&P would be too big, but a Flock might work with some grip reduction. How much material can be removed?

Has she held a p99 or SW99? LC9? Keltek? SR9c?

[Jason_2111]

Jason,
I've been in a similar boat with my wife. I bought a Kahr CM9 hoping she would love it. WRONG, she couldn't even function it. In my mind it does no good it she can't cycle the slide consistently. I sold it and gave her my Walther PPQ. Small backstrap fits her perfect! After I did that I cut my Glock 23 to accept 27 magazines, effectively removing most of "the hump", then I reduced the grip a little more in the rear and removed the finger grooves and re-stippled everything. Sunday I was cleaning it and my wife picked it up, cycled it a few times, dry fired a few times, and said she loved it. It fit her perfect, cycling it is no issue, and it's a GLock so reliability is a non issue. I think we're going gun shopping this weekend.

Yup, looks like we're going that same route.
Now that I know about after market barrels fixing the two major "flaws" in the Glock platform (as I see them), it becomes a no brainer.

I'll update this when we pick one up, and show the different mods I have done. At the moment, the choice looks like a glock 23 Gen 4.

[Legasat]

If the M&P40c is too big, the M&P Shield will be out this summer. A smaller version of the M&P Compacts.

[mceod]

BarSto does grip reductions on XD's. N̶o̶t̶ ̶s̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶'̶l̶l̶ ̶d̶o̶ ̶a̶ ̶G̶l̶o̶c̶k̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ (we are not a Glock family yet either...yet). They do...check them out.

http://www.barsto.com/

[InGrAM]

Yikes.... the M&P with the smallest back strap is too big? It is one of, if not the smallest frames on a double stack pistol ever, IMO.

If the M&P is "too big" then good luck with any glock...

[ElvenSoul]

Who was offering the SSE on the baby Walthers a few months ago?

My aunt & cousin in Colorado love their CZP07 Duties in .40S&W. Also not on CA Roster. Damn!

[Jason P]

I'm voting Ruger sr40c, officially...

[M. D. Van Norman]

I would submit that your criteria are wrong.

What are her criteria? How about a single-stack 9mm in recoil-absorbing steel to fire high-quality factory ammunition?

[Jason_2111]

I would submit that your criteria are wrong.

What are her criteria? How about a single-stack 9mm in recoil-absorbing steel to fire high-quality factory ammunition?

Great point. We actually had long in-depth discussions of this. This ain't really on topic, but I'm bored at work... so here goes:

For logistical reasons, we both prefer to maintain only one pistol ammo in bulk. Rather than have too much of one kind and not enough of another... we both like to have just one to worry about. I reload crap loads of .40. I do so because I like the improved smack-down power over 9mm (and anyone that says 9mm does just fine, try shooting steels.), and the higher capacity and lower cost of 45. I do keep my old faithful 1911 in the safe where I just take her out once a month and wipe her with a diaper, but in general, everything else is .40.
To quote my lovely missus: "I don't want 9mm... I don't want to have to shoot them twice." That means Ranger T-Series for home defense, and reloads for training/range time.

When it comes to the smaller guns, like the KelTec P11/PF9 or Ruger LCR, she didn't like how it felt like it was going "jump out of her hands". Smaller guns definitley give you more of a whack.

Her requirements are also something that she can "shoot a lot without getting tired". This is where her P250 fails miserably. She has very little grip strength and very short fingers. (I know it makes her sound like a midget, but shes not. She's got very pretty hands, they're just dainty and very girly). After about 100 rounds, she ends up wanting to start sitting out strings of fire and putting an ice bag on her hand. She gets pretty upset, because she loves the fit of her gun, just hates the trigger.

The ability to pop in a 15 or so round mag (legally when out of state) is an obvious option. Having to buy and carry 10 mags in order to get through a whole course of fire without having to go and fill up the mags in the middle would be a pain also.

She also hates the thumb safety. Not for the same reasons as me... she "can't ever seem to find it" when trying to shoot an M9 or 1911. For me, I don't like a cocked hammer that needs to be "safe'd". As an armorer, I know first hand that parts fail, things wear down, metal bends and chips... things that can make a thumb safety not work properly and give one a false sense of security when relying on them. A tensioned spring waiting to be released is very different from one that is just sitting there stable.
Personally, I think striker fired (both for consistent trigger pulls and safety) versus hammer fired (first DA then SA after) is the same size evolutionary step as there was going from wheel guns to magazine fed semi-autos.

Like I said... not really on topic... but there is a method behind the madness.

I'm just a little peeved that all of you Glock lovers have been keeping that aftermarket barrel a secret from me all this time!! After the missus is taken care of, I can see a couple for me down the road.

[weinerd]

I'm voting Ruger sr40c, officially...

I was going to suggest the same thing!

[aatruong]

http://www.gripreductions.com

Great turn around time too!