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Expert Firearm Reviews & More

Kahr T9 Review

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Kahr T9Most people think of Kahr pistols as being small, thin and compact. While being small in size is an accurate description for most of the company’s guns, the T9 is actually a full size pistol with a 4-inch barrel and metal frame.

Shooters will find that the Kahr T9 is a single stack 9mm pistol that retains the thin slide that Kahr in known for, but does so with a much larger overall package. Many people will appreciate the fact that the magazines hold eight rounds and the gun has full size sights.

Ergonomics and Recoil
As noted above, Kahr guns are very thin pistols. The T9 is not any different in that regard. This allows the shooter with even the smallest of hands to get a good grip on the pistol and properly address the trigger. The recoil that you will feel is minimal and easy to control.

Trigger and Accuracy
The T9 uses a double-action-only trigger that is as smooth as any found on a semi-auto pistol. The trigger pull is like that of a quality revolver, smooth and relatively light without any obvious stacking which most shooters will enjoy.

The accuracy on Kahr pistols is very good, even with the short barrel models. The T9 has excellent sights and a longer barrel and sight radius, which will help to ensure you hit your target every time. These things added together make this a solid performer.

Reloading and Disassembly
You will find that reloading is easy with a push-button style magazine release on this firearm. The disassembly is fairly common for metal-framed guns. You will partially retract the slide, and pull out the slide stop lever. You will then push the slide forward, and off of the slide rails. Because the recoil spring is not captive, you must be careful when removing the guide rod. It is under a lot of pressure, and it can fly across the room.

Reliability and Durability
Shooters will enjoy that Kahr pistols tend to be very reliable and are able to digest a wide range of ammunition. The metal-framed T9 pistol is very durable. There are questions associated with the long-term durability of the inexpensive polymer framed guns produced by Kahr, but those do not apply to this pistol.

Final Verdict
The Kahr T9 is a solid handgun with a size that is good for nearly anyone interested in using this firearm for concealed carry or serious range training. It is durable and features a very smooth trigger, which helps shooters get better groups on target. However, at more than $800, some shooters may hesitate when offered the option of a similar quality gun for hundreds less.

Ranked #6 of 10 in our Best Metal Handgun Comparison

Sig Sauer SP2022 Review

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A Swiss company with factories and partnerships in Germany and the US, SIG has long held a solid reputation over the past few decades with their P-series pistols. Members of this series include the 220, 226, 229, et al. These guns are well liked from such high-level operators as the SEALs, British SAS and others around the world. The downside of the P-series is that they are heavy (even in the ‘slim’ P225 version) and are priced high for those who aren’t using a government purchase order. This is where the SP2022, SIG’s full sized polymer framed pistol, comes into play.

Ergonomics and Recoil

The same issues with the rest of the SIG P-series are still evident in the SP2022. It’s the same general width and length as the P229, and comes in at 29-ounces, which is pretty heavy for a polymer gun. The internals are much as the P-series as is the trigger, but the controls are slightly different. The slide lock is huge and feels like a lever from the AK-47. It’s always had replaceable backstraps, which leads you to wonder why it took Glock so long to figure it out.

With such a heavy pistol (only a few ounces less than a Colt 1911), the recoil was marginal and the gun comes back on target rapidly.

Trigger and Accuracy

The SA/DA trigger of the SP2022 has respectable 10-pounds of pull double action with a good bit of travel. Once fired, single action breaks at 4.4-pounds, which isn’t bad but still has a lot of travel. It works, but could be better, and is actually one of the worst in ourcomparison. However, there is still a four-point safety system on the pistol, which is nice for a gun that isn’t striker fired with a safe-action trigger. This thing is not going to go off by accident.

With a shorter sight radius and barrel than most of the comparison pistols, you would expect the SIG to throw rounds, but it doesn’t. It is designed as a military service weapon as is the standard sidearm of several NATO forces. You don’t get that if you can’t hit the target – and this gun can.

Reloading and Disassembly

The large 15-shot (in 9mm) steel mags have the look and feel of a P226 mag but with witness holes on the rear instead of the side. Loading and reloading are no problem. The gun inherited a lot from the P-series aspects but sadly does not have the same simple take down lever for disassembly. To field strip, you have an empty and safe pistol, then pop out that giant AK slide stop (which is probably why it’s so big!), and the gun comes apart for cleaning and maintenance. No tricks or problems with this gun.

Reliability and Durability

Early SP2022′s and the guns it was derived from had a few issues, but the design has matured over the years. Other than the Glock, it is the oldest design in the comparison with more than 15-years of solid use around the world. SIG has a lifetime warranty and a factory here in the United States, which is value added over many of the other guns in the comparison. SIG, like Glock, also has a huge factory-trained armorer program so odds are that most medium sized towns should have at least one SIG smith lurking around. This gun will most likely outlive its first two or three owners.

Final Verdict

The SP2022 is seen as something like the ‘budget P226′ or the ‘SIG for the masses.’ SIG themselves tried to replace it with the P250 a few years ago but was unable to and the SP2022 still reigns as the company’s polymer hope. It’s a little dated, but it works, and at $400-ish, you really can’t beat it on the price point. The only reason it finished at the 10th spot in a 10-pistol comparison is that someone had to, and the other nine were just incrementally better.

Ranked #10 of 10 in our Best Polymer Handgun Comparison

Walther PPQ Review

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The firm of Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen of Ulm, Germany has been in the firearm business since 1886. They started their first line of semi-automatic pistols in 1908 and by the 30s were making such legendary arms as the PP, P38, and PPK series pistols. In 1996, the company debuted its P99 full size polymer framed duty gun marketed to military and police sales. This gun went on to inspire a scaled down rimfire version with a cast slide imported into the US by S&W as the popular P22. Today, with lessons learned from all of these pistols, Walther’s premier polymer tech is embodied in the Police Pistol Quick-Defense, or PPQ.

Ergonomics and Recoil

This pistol is on the small end of the ‘full-size’ spectrum and is borderline compact. From a distance, it is easily confused with its slightly older cousin, the 22LR single stack P22 pistol. At 21-ounces unloaded, 7.1-inches long with a 4-inch barrel for the 9mm version; it is almost the same profile as the Glock 19. Still, the capability to carry a 15-round magazine, have a Picatinny rail, front and rear side serrations, and a full size grip with removable backstraps means this gun has full-sized features all day. The grip has a cross-directional texture that actually feels good and not the raspy wood file grip of the Gen 4 Glocks and other polymers in its class.

Muzzle flip, due to the high bore axis and the weight of the slide in respect to the frame, is a little stouter than you see in the XD and SR9, but about the same as in the Glock.

Trigger and Accuracy

Like the XD, SR9, and Glock before it, the Walther PPQ has a two-stage trigger with a short pre-set before the main trigger is engaged. DAO, the trigger pull is 5.5-pounds and only travels .40-inches before breaking. This is much tighter than the Glock. The striker fired action is unique in that it is precocked which allows an almost imperceptible 1/10th of an inch trigger reset after the first round is fired. If it wasn’t for the ‘click’, you feel once you’ve reached this reset, you’d miss it. Every combat DAO pistol should have this trigger.

Accurate all day, the PPQ hit everything we aimed at with it, which left a great taste in our mouth. The sights are fixed front, adjustable rear, and, while aren’t as elaborate as we’d expect in a German-made gun, are more than functional.

Reloading and Disassembly

The pistol has a horizontal magazine lever across the bottom of the trigger guard, like the P22, and not a release button, which takes some getting used to. Witness holes abound in the magazine, which is retained from the old P99. These mags, since there aren’t millions of PPQs floating around out there, are pretty pricey when you can find them. Italian made Magnum Research Baby Eagle magazines, which can usually be found slightly cheaper, also fit the PPQ but are known to cause malfunctions.

The gun breaks down a little trickier than most of the guns in the comparison. It’s a trigger puller during the field strip process, which is always a pucker factor in training. Once the two take down levers are pressed down, pull the trigger on an empty chamber and unloaded magazine, and ease the slide forward. From there everything is straightforward unless you go to remove the striker assembly. For this, we ding the PPQ a little in the scores.

Reliability and Durability

There have historically been issues with S&W made PPKs and Umarex-made P22s, but the PPQ seems to be an altogether different animal when it comes to reliability. We didn’t find any issues in its firing. It’s a Walther. Heck, James Bond even used it in Skyfall.
Durability, since it’s an import, may be a problem in the long run for repair/replacement work. Also, it’s one of the newest pistols in the comparison, at just a few years old so that may be a controversial subject as the gun could essentially be in a beta-test mode.

Final Verdict

The PPQ is terribly under marketed. Most shooters don’t even know it exists in this country. Walther prefers to market their firearms to military and police users, so the fact that their civilian sales in the US aren’t very high isn’t really very surprising. Smith and Wesson is their US-based licensed distributor and most PPKs and P22s that are in circulation here at one time or another passed through Smith’s hands, which means a weird competition between the PPQ and the M&P. Walther knows what they are doing with the PPQ, and the only reason that it ranks lower on this list is the availability of both the guns and their magazines, or lack thereof.

Ranked #9 of 10 in our Best Polymer Handgun Comparison

FN Herstal FNX Review

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The 124-year old firm of FabriqueNationaled’Herstal (FNH) has long been an innovator. It is the company that gave us the M1900, one of the first reliable pocket pistols, and the Browning Hi-Power, which was arguably the best combat pistol for the middle third of the 20th century. In terms of polymer arms, the Five SeveN as well as the FNP series have been around for quite some time. Today, their primary entry into the market of full sized polymer pistols is the FNX.

Ergonomics and Recoil

Marketed by FNH USA and manufactured at their South Carolina plant, the FNX hit the market in 2009. The first thing you notice about the pistol is its huge trigger guard. Looking rather like the winter guard on the old school Japanese Nambu pistol, the FNX is designed with users of heavy combat gloves in mind. Fully ambidextrous it offers both a functional magazine release and a safety/decock on both sides of the frame. Short and rather thick because of this, it resembles the Beretta PX4 in overall appearance. Like the PX4, it has a blocky Lego-style grip with four interchangeable rear backstrap pieces to adjust the thickness and fit. With most tactical training today not using a slide release (preferring to just use it as a slide stop), the fact that this lever on the FNX is rather tiny is a bonus rather than a hindrance.

The gun’s recoil was mild and controllable and returned to target rapidly. The gun is designed with a low-bore axis, which means you’ll feel less recoil when shooting.

Trigger and Accuracy

With its single-action/double-action safety decock design; the pistol gives a rather typical heavy double action pull followed by a gentle single. When firing single action the FNX has a little more creep and travel experienced by other such guns in the same class. For those used to hooking the index finger of the offhand on the end of the trigger guard for support, the large rounded guard on the test pistol proved an uncomfortable change. The skeletonized hammer gives the FNX a nice combat appearance and tactile feel while not snagging on clothes and gear.

Accuracy was above average with nice no-frills 3-dot sights. However, the front post did seem slightly thin and the sights cannot be adjusted but work well for what they are.

Reloading and Disassembly

The magazines are a steel body with low-friction follower and a plastic floor plate. They have individual witness holes for each round, which is helpful. The pistol indexes well for both tactical and administrative reloads. Like many of these new double stack magazines, fully loading the 17-rounds in a 9mm version takes determination. The FNX-45 version carries an impressive 14-round magazine that fits flush

Disassembly is the same as the SIG P-series and Beretta 51/92 series, which incorporates a takedown lever that pivots downward 90-degrees to release the slide from the frame. This keeps the pistol in line with generations of military trained users who are familiar with this type of field strip. It’s fast, easy to master and hard to confuse.

Reliability and Durability

The FNH symbol has been synomonous with qualitysince the company began. The test gun suffered no malfunctions other than the occasional user error. In short, its designed for a military/LE market and you can feel it from the moment you pick it up.
Like Ruger, FNH is hard to nail down on the exact terms of their warranty limits, but it appears that they support their products, even when they don’t have to.

Final Verdict

The FNX pistol is well made with a lot of great features. It’s these ambi features that make the gun a standout for those who need to shoot left-handed only direct from the box, but trade off in making the design rather thick across the frame. FN has reached for the stars with this one and come up with a very nice service sidearm that would benefit those who carry these firearms for a living. For self-defense or CCW work, however, it falls slightly behind the pack.

Ranked #8 of 10 in our Best Polymer Handgun Comparison

Ruger SR Review

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The firm of Sturm, Ruger has been in the polymer framed pistol game for a generation. Their P95 series of pistol, which took their legacy P89 and gave it a pair of Dow Chemical Isoplast pants, has been relatively popular at the $399 MSRP range for nearly twenty years. Even before this, a polymer lower version of the Ruger MkII, dubbed the 22/45, was introduced and is still in production. With all of this, you can see the lineage of Ruger’s newest polymer framed pistol, the SR9.

Ergonomics and Recoil

The SR9, introduced in 2007, seems to be something of an evolutionary polymer pistol buffet of choices. Like almost every gun in its class, it has the standard double stack 9mm magazine, an often unused under barrel accessory rail, and a steel slide over polymer frame with steel inserts. From the Glock/XD, you see the DAO two-stage safety trigger and striker fired internals. From the CZ you see the slim grip and overall profile. Like the PX4, you see a rounded trigger guard and modular component groups. From the previous P95 series, you see truly ambidextrous mag and slide releases. A tactile loaded chamber indicator is atop the slide.

The SR9 points well and rather resemble the Lone Wolf lowers sold for custom builds on Glock uppers. Instead of the popular feature of replaceable palm swells found on other modern polymer guns, the Ruger uses a novel reversible phenolic backstrap. Recoil is a non-issue and the gun, like the CZ Phantom, is initially only offered in 9mm. A field test of the SR40 and SR45, larger caliber pistols built on the same frame with the same design, was not possible.

Trigger and Accuracy

When first introduced (up to serial number 30,000), the SR9 had a thin trigger that resembled the one on the P95. After 2008, a redesign came about due to safety reasons and guns that left the line after that have a trigger similar to that on the Glock and XD. It takes up a little long but breaks clean.

The sights that come standard on the pistol are some of the best offered in their class. They are fully adjustable 3-dot type with click-screw adjustments on the rear for elevation. Of the guns tested, the Ruger had superior standard sights. The only bad thing to say about the lightswas the fact they were not augmented for low light use.

Reloading and Disassembly

Ruger ships these guns currently with two nicely made 17-round mags. Unlike some other pistols, they seem easy to load fully right out of the box. The end user, without gunsmithing if desired, can remove the standard magazine safety.

The pistol fieldstrips with a removable takedown pin found on the left hand side of the center slide. For those who have used a Ruger LCP 380, you will find it most familiar. Once the firearm is cleared and safely unloaded, the pin can be pulled out and slide removed with ease. Reassembly is just as simply accomplished.

Reliability and Durability

In testing on the range, the Ruger polymer pistol held up well and was a joy to shoot. Functioning was flawless with all types of ammunition used, including both heavy and light grain FMJs and JHPs. It is in range time that you see the logic behind the SR9s borrowing of features that have worked on other pistols over the decades. It eats up 9mm Parabellum brass, spits it out, and leaves nice tight groups in the paper.

Internally the SR9 uses a tried and true cam-block recoil-operated tilt-lock method of action that leads to few issues in the short term. Long term the SR9 has something of an asterisk by it as it is only six years old and already has had one very large recall to address safety issues. Some users report slide/barrel peening after just a few hundred rounds. Ruger does not officially warranty their firearms, but they do have a reputation for correcting defective guns promptly.

Final Verdict

The SR9 is a more fully evolved pistol than either the Glock or XD when they were introduced. It is a nice and slim piece that has a good natural balance that in turn leads to excellent point shooting. Pricewise, it is lower than most of its competition, even if just a little. The newness of its design is the only warning issued and hopefully it will have a long life once the bugs are worked out.

Ranked #7 of 10 in our Best Polymer Handgun Comparison

Beretta PX4 Storm Review

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Born less than a decade ago from a lineage that includes the Beretta 8000 and the NATO military-standard 92F pistols, the PX4 is the latest and greatest design by the ancient firm of Fabbrica D’ ArmiPietro Beretta. Using short recoil, locked-breech action, it has an innovative rotating barrel lock first used on the Beretta Cougar to close up the chamber. The company’s first polymer framed pistol, the nearly forgotten Model 9000 debuted just a few years before the PX4, so you could say that the Storm is Beretta’s first successful polymer.

Ergonomics and Recoil

Beretta has been known to make beautiful and very sleek guns in the past, such as the Cheetah and the classic Marengoni-designed M1951. However, it would seem that the company has abandoned this practice with the Storm. It’s a rather short and chunky design when compared to the other pistols in its class, having one of the shortest barrels of a full-sized pistol while simultaneously chalking up one of the widest frames due to the oversized ambi levers. Gone are the smooth lines of yesteryear, replaced with styling very similar to a Chicago red brick. Even the so-ugly-its-pretty Glock has a svelter feel.

Despite the design flaws, the gun handles and shoots rather well. The fact that it is offered in DA/SA with a slide mounted ambidextrous safety/decock and in a double action only model (DAO) with a bobbed hammer is a selling point for lefties as is the switchable magazine release. A series of changeable palm swells lets you adjust the grip with the aid of a screwdriver and a little patience.

Trigger and Accuracy

Unlike most of the guns in this comparison, the PX4 is not striker fired and instead uses an exposed and quite traditional hammer that cocks after the first round. For those with military experience with the M9/92 pistol, the trigger will be very familiar. In double action it breaks at about 9-pounds with an average travel and at single-action is closer to a 4-pound trigger, which is downright enjoyable. The rotating barrel, almost unique to this pistol, contributes to less felt recoil.

Accuracy is better than you would expect for a 4-inch barrel and the resulting short sight radius. The Super-LumiNova sights are rechargeable alternatives to more expensive night sights.

Reloading and Disassembly

The magazines, like that of a new Glock, are hard as a coffin nail to load fully without the aid of a loader and very strong thumbs. This will bring a smile to those same former Joes and Devils who are used to weak and unreliable springs in worn out military M9s but are attracted to the trigger of the Storm. The magazine well is cavernous and takes well to indexing the feed lips by feel in field conditions.
Field stripping the PX4 is rather similar to that of the Glock, using two small pegs, one on each side of the frame, as a takedown lever. When reassembling you will notice the exceptionally tight tolerances under which the gun was designed – This is where your accuracy comes from.

Reliability and Durability

The Storm uses a matte Bruniton finish over parkarization. Bruniton is an epoxy type coating similar to Duracoat that can wear over time and scratch away in field conditions. While our test gun functioned fine, you have to feel that long-term hard service will give the end user a two-tone pistol. However, for those who plan to use their PX4 for civilian carry/home defense or the occasional range trip, this should not matter. The modular design of the trigger and hammer group lends to rapid exchange as long as replacement parts are available. A chrome-lined barrel that uses a deeply recessed combat muzzle crown will likely outlive the user.

Beretta has been around for five centuries and probably isn’t going anywhere, which means their warranty is like money in the bank.

Final Verdict

Beretta has taken several legacy designs and merged them together to form this polymer-framed pistol. Its rotating barrel locking system and combat quality barrel arrive at the party ready to dance. However, the rather stubby overall feel of the pistol counterbalances this. When the two factors are weighed and measured out, it places the Beretta PX4 in the average category.

Ranked #6 of 10 in our Best Polymer Handgun Comparison

Walther P22 Review

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Bringing up the rear in our comparison is the Walther P22 pistol. Aesthetically and ergonomically the pistol is decent. We had a small issue due to the size of our hands that made the gun a little uncomfortable to shoot while transitioning from target to target, but it was minor as far as deal-breakers go.

The trigger is a typical double-action/single-action setup with only a little noticeable creep and no real overtravel. Three-dot adjustable sights were surprisingly good for a little plinker. Accuracy of the hits were okay, but like many others, was heavily based upon the type and quality of the ammo used at the time.

Breakdown and cleaning was not hard. We did notice a certain lack of quality in the finish of the internal parts (especially the barrel) that cleverly remain mostly hidden during normal operation of the gun. The manual safety worked well, but this gun does not feature a de-cocking mechanism in the safety. The standard controls also worked fine. The P22 also comes with a replaceable rear grip, ala the Ruger SR22 (and many other pistols these days), but we found that replacing it did not change the feel enough to be noteworthy.

We did have a small issue with the single included magazine continually dropping out of the gun at random times–especially when the pistol needed to be cleaned. We have not heard too many others complain about this issue, so it is possible that it was inherent in the particular firearm that we were shooting. Thankfully, we didn’t experience a cracked slide as others have mentioned after several hundred rounds through the gun. Due to this complaint, the magazine dropping issue and an increasing lack of accuracy as the gun became dirty with .22 “soil”; we had to give low marks to the reliability factor of this gun.

However, for the price, the nice array of accessories available for it (from holsters to suppressors to mounted rail options) and the fact that keeping up with the cleaning and maintenance can stem the flow of problems, this gun could be a good option for the new or youth shooter looking to plink around at the range.

Ranked #10 of 10 in our Best 22 Pistol Comparison

Sig Sauer Mosquito Review

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There’s a lot of controversy about this here little pistol. Being a fan of Sig products, we’re surprised that the controversy still exists considering how much time they have had to work the kinks out of this .22. Maybe some, or hopefully most, of the problems have been solved, but from our experience with shooting this pistol, here is what still exists on the good and bad fronts.

Out of the box, it’s a great looking gun – the kind you would expect from a manufacturer like Sig. We were pretty hopefully and excited about this pistol while we were loading and setting up for that first shot. The owner of the pistol had informed us that the initial cleaning had been performed and to date about on a hundred rounds had been put through the pistol.

We squeezed the trigger and …click. No shot.

Still convinced that this great looking and great feeling gun was just having a little hiccup, we cleared, tapped the mag, racked the slide and…bang…click. Shot fired but with a jammed slide.

Apparently the Sig Mosquito still needs the long complained about, breaking in period of a few hundred rounds before any notable reliability can be expected from the gun. What is more important is that despite all the heel-clicking of having a gun that shoots economical .22 ammo, the kind of ammo used in this gun absolutely makes a difference in the beginning. The trigger is also a big problem. It’s heavy, tight, gritty and far too much pre-travel makes this even more of a disappointment.

This is a great looking and feeling gun and with a little work and time, there were improvements in the shooting. After about three-hundred rounds of top-grade CCI ammo and some really expensive match-grade Wolf ammo, we had fewer issues. Heavy lubrication with some serious machine grease (Magnalube-also good for guns) during an additional few hundred rounds also helped things along. Removing the magazine disconnect also helped with the trigger issues, but only a very little.

We performed all the tasks mentioned above then sent the pistol to a friendly gunsmith for a little trigger work and overhaul, then put about another thousand rounds of halfway-decent ammo through it. And now? Well, now it shoots like a dream. No hangups, no jamming, no slide issues and a much more comfortable trigger. What’s better is that now just about any ammo put through it cycles beautifully. In this reviewer’s opinion, all of this should have been taken care of in the factory and not put on the shoulders of the purchaser.

Ranked #9 of 10 in our Best 22 Pistol Comparison

GSG 1911 Review

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You want an inexpensive .22 pistol – you get an inexpensive .22 pistol, but that does not mean it has to be a bad experience. The German Sports Guns 1911 designed .22 caliber pistol is just all that–inexpensive and not a bad experience–so long as you agree that you get what you pay for.

Who can argue with the beauty and impressive nature of the 1911 design? One mag, garbage box, set of instructions and that’s all she wrote till you’re ready to fill ‘er up and shoot. The slide is light and racks back easily. The magazine fits nice and flush. All the controls are pretty much the same as any government issue. The gun feels as good as a 1911 should in the hand–which may be an issue for some of you smaller-fisted shooters out there, and unfortunately that’s where the good ergonomics stop.

First shot out of the gun wasn’t bad, but we did notice the very firm grip safety that many other people have complained about in this pistol. This causes even more of an issue to smaller-handed shooters who now have to hold the grip in an awkward way to get the gun to even fire. The trigger is mushy with a noticeable creep and travel, but this is a plinker so it’s okay.

Two hundred rounds in, the pistol started to show a few problems here and there. Nothing major, , just a misfed round or two. Some extra gun oil to the slide and the problem seemed to go away for a while. Accuracy was just okay.

Takedown for cleaning was kind of a pain. Some would say that about any 1911 model, but even for those of you who are use to the process, there’s an extra step with an extra screw that has to be undone to disassemble the pistol. This is also where you may notice some quality differences between more expensive 1911’s as compared to this plinker.

This is a fun gun to shoot and for the money, it really cant be beat for some fun at the range. We wouldn’t use it as a trainer for a “real” 1911 or as an option for a new student or youth shooter; but if you’re looking to blow through some cheap ammo and take out a line of recyclables from yesterday’s trash, the GSG 1911 .22 will certainly get the job done.

Ranked #8 of 10 in our Best 22 Pistol Comparison

Beretta 87 Cheetah Review

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We had really high hopes for this gun, mostly based upon the price point of $800+. However it came up a little short–even for a plinker. The gun looks great. It’s got clean lines with a stylish flair, textured wood grips, attractive slide design and controls – in short, everything you would expect from a mid to high-price point firearm from Beretta.

It feels good too. For a small-frame gun, the grips are robust enough to fill the hand. The trigger is spot on and not too heavy or too light for a plinker. While we did not get the opportunity to disassemble the gun, we understand that it is as easy as the 92fs for cleaning and maintenance.

The sights are fixed so it will be up to you to make the existing sights work for you, but we found that with minimal adjustment to the sight picture, it manages to hit the target groups pretty well.

Anyone who has shot a Beretta 92 or 92FS will have no problem at all transitioning to this pistol because of its familiar feel and controls on the platform.

So why is the gun so low on the list of the top ten? Reliability issues: feeding problems and dirty gun syndrome cause this gun to fall short when compared with the others.

Ranked #7 of 7 in our Best 22 Pistol Comparison