Southpaw Looking for First Pistol

H&K P2000SK has a slide release on both side.

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H&K P2000SK

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I was also looking at an H&K VP9, but they're nearly impossible to find.

I'll have to look in to the P2000. Haven't done much research on that one yet. Thanks for the suggestion!

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I couldn't reach the tiny button on the M&P.

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That was my initial reaction on the M&P as well, which is why I initially leaned towards the Beretta.

Not sure how accurate this is, but I have a buddy of mine who is a former police marksman trainer and he said the Beretta has issue with the trigger being too soft (too many "accidental misfires"). Not sure how much truth there is to that though.

Welcome to the OB.

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Main purpose: home defense, conceal carry (eventually)

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Here you have a bit of a dichotomy. For a home defense setup, it's hard to beat a full sized handgun. But for concealed carry, a full sized handgun may eventually become too much for you to want to carry. Since you're iffy on the sizes, I'll quote a bookmarked thread I made recently about sizes (warning: TL;DR):

So with handguns (in this case 9mm) I see about 5 different sizes. I'll list them in descending order:

1. Extended slide/competition length (barrel over 4.5"; full sized frame)
2. Full sized (barrel 4.25"-4.5"; full sized frame)
3. Mid sized (Barrel 4"; full sized frame)
4. Compact (Barrel 3.5"; shortened grip)
5. Subcompact single stack (Barrel 3"-3.5"; shortened grip; single stack magazine)

Where this differs slightly is with 1911s. You have:

1. Government (5" barrel; full sized frame)
2. Commander (4.25" barrel; full sized frame)
3. Hybrid (4.25" barrel; shortened frame)
4. Officer (3.5" barrel; shortened frame)

There will obviously be some variation in your polymer pistol sizes, but for the most part I would say those 5 categories are the main ones. Some companies will blur the lines of sizes (like the Beretta PX4 "compact" and the Springfield XD "subcompact") that will generally fit in a different category. The PX4 compact is more of a midsized than a compact and the Springfield XD subcompact is really more of a compact. You have to look at the specs or hold them to notice this so it's good to feel the guns before purchasing.

Now if you think you MAY carry the gun that would mean you should stick with something mid sized or smaller. Remember, if you don't plan on carrying the gun, it's always smarter to get a full sized because of its numerous advantages over a compact or subcompact gun:

1. Longer grip (which also gives...)
2. Higher magazine capacity
3. Longer sight radius
4. Less felt recoil (because of the weight)
5. Higher muzzle velocity (from the longer barrel)

The only place that a full sized gun loses out on in terms of carry is weight and size. That's pretty much it. A full sized gun will almost always be more shootable than its compact counterpart.

Full sized guns can be concealed and there are some people that do it with relative ease. But generally, a full sized gun will start to be left at home. While it gives you the highest capacity and the highest potential to put accurate shots on target, it isn't as easy to tote around as a compact. Some popular full sized polymer striker-fired guns are:

S&W M&P
Springfield XD
Glock 17
Ruger SR9
FN FNS9

The very popular Glock 19 fits in the mid sized category. It has a slightly shortened frame compared to a full sized but still is long enough to get all your fingers on the grip. Some other mid sized guns are:

Walther PPQ
HK VP9

Compact pistols have a shortened grip for your ring and middle finger with the pinky finger dangling because it is less likely to print when carried concealed. But with the shortened frame comes less control-ability. There is always a tradeoff. Most full sized guns have a compact counterpart so I won't list any here.

The upside of compact pistols are that they can accept a full sized magazine of their full sized counterparts. So if you think you might carry the gun but it may spend most of the time stored away, I usually suggest this size as a compromise since you can load the full sized mag or the shortened mag. Some guns like the Ruger SR9c come with both a full sized magazine and a shortened magazine. It is great for this role.

Subcompact single stack guns I usually only suggest if you are guaranteed to carry it. They have a very thin profile but a lower magazine capacity since the magazine is thinner. The upside of these guns is that they virtually disappear when carried and carry very comfortably.

So to sum up, if you don't plan on carrying it, I would suggest a full sized gun regardless if it's for your house or your car. If you think you may carry it sometimes or already have a dedicated single stack carry gun, I'd suggest the compact. You can always have more than one gun in a carry rotation. And finally if you know you'll carry it, I would get a single stack subcompact.

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Not sure how accurate this is, but I have a buddy of mine who is a former police marksman trainer and he said the Beretta has issue with the trigger being too soft (too many "accidental misfires"). Not sure how much truth there is to that though.

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I'm not sure what exactly your friend is talking about here. The trigger mechanism for the PX4 is double-action/single-action and the M&P is double-action only, as are pretty much all polymer striker-fired guns.

The tricky part about the PX4 is two-fold.

1. Slide-mounted safety/decocker
2. DA/SA trigger

The M&P is a much more simple design and does not require the extra training involved for deactivating a manual safety. Having a gun without a safety may make you nervous but handguns are built to be holstered. Any time the trigger is protected, it is physically impossible to pull the trigger. It is much simpler for a defensive handgun - point and pull the trigger.

As for a gun with an ambidextrous slide release, of the ones listed, I would suggest the M&P, PPQ, or VP9. And if you want one that can possibly be dual-purpose I would suggest the M&P9 compact.



Hope this wasn't too much for you to digest.

Glock 19

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Main purpose: home defense, conceal carry (eventually)

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two totally different purposes. Buy a full size for home defense, if you ever decide to CC, then purchase a separate gun.

I'm a lefty as well and until the gen4 glocks hit the market I always hand guns set up for rightys. Once I got a got set up with a left handed mag release it took me little to no time to adjust and I haven't looked back

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Multiple ways to operate a slide one handed. Use a belt or shoe, you don't have to use the slide stop.

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This is true but the worst malfunction you can imagine (double feed) requires use of the slide stop. Hopefully one will never be forced to use it, but you know how Murphy's law works...

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Get what you want and make sure to take a class or 2. I'm about to retake all the basic pistol classes again as it has been a couple years.

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+1

And when you book those class times let me know. I haven't taken a handgun course since February.

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Shexter

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To me they are exactly the same thing. I don't use it when releasing the slide anyway - I use an overhand rack every time so that I'm not fumbling with a different location and type of release on multiple guns.

Why not use the slide stop?