duty weapon

Question
First thanks for being here to help, Im becoming a chicago police officer, i need to buy a gun and i dont know much about them, im 6ft tall and weigh about 200 pounds, i have a normal size hand, what are the best options for me. I dont care about the price! I want something easy to clean however i want it to be easy to learn on and accurate.

thank you

steve j

Answer
Steve,

Given the specifications you've mentioned, I've a few possibilities in mind.

One is the Sig Sauer P226. It's a traditional double action, meaning the first shot is double action and the rest are single action. It doesn't have a safety, just a decock lever on the left side of the frame near the slide release. Sig pistols are among the most accurate out of the box. Rails run the entire length of the gun's frame, providing a very tight fit of barrel-to-frame-to-slide, which translates into great accuracy. Add to that its good single-action trigger and a decent DA pull and you've a great gun in the Sig Sauer P226. It's available in 9mm, .40 S&W and .357 Sig. They're very easy to field strip for cleaning.

Another option would be the Glock line of pistols. Both Glock's fans and critics tend to be outspoken on the subject. Many complain that the Glock's light, single-action trigger and lack of a safety make it "dangerous." To me, that's like buying a Ferarri and then complaining it doesn't have enough cup-holders. The Glock just is what it is and it is a pure combat pistol. By "pure" I mean there's nothing about the Glock that doesn't lend itself to the role of combat pistol. This is why they're designed with double-stack magazines that hold a lot of ammo, are very light, made of corrosion-resistant materials, are very mechanically simple and therefore reliable, have huge bright sights, have a snag-free profile, plastic-reinforced magazines to protect the magazine lips during tactical reloads and no safety toggle.

The only external controls are a magazine catch and the slide stop. The "safe action" trigger takes some getting used to. In the center of the trigger face is a small lever that is depressed flush into the trigger face during the pull. This lever serves as the only safety on the pistol and prevents the gun from discharging if the trigger is bumped from the side. The trigger pull itself can feel a bit "mushy" at first, particularly to someone used to shooting single action pistols. Glock bills its pistols as "Double action only" but they are, in reality, single-action pistols (a true double action only pistol can be dry fired repeatedly by pulling the trigger; the Glock needs its striker reset by moving the slide rearward part way after being dry fired once). The triggers are adjustable by a gunsmith for higher or lower pull weights.

They're designed to work under all conditions reliably and they work as designed. They're available in a huge variety of sizes and configurations in 9mm, .40 S&W, .357 Sig, .45 ACP and .45 GAP (Glock Automatic Pistol, a new cartridge developed by Gaston Glock that's a bit shorter than the .45 ACP, allowing it to work in more compact guns). Pushing downward on a recessed button on either side of the frame allows the slide and barrel assembly to be taken off for cleaning.

The last of my "Top Three" recommendations is the Beretta model 92/96F series. The Beretta 92F is the other gun along with the Sig P226 that passed the military's evaluation process back in the 1980s when the military replaced the long-serving Colt Government Model 1911 .45 ACP. The military went with the Beretta (designating it the M9) over the Sig P226 based on price alone. Both are excellent guns, but the Beretta is a bit less expensive.

Beretta's 92/96 series has a distinctive look due to the open-top slide. It's a full-size duty pistol, sporting a 5-inch barrel and a fat enough grip to fit 15-round magazines of 9mm ammo (model 92) and almost as many .40 S&W rounds (model 96).

Unlike the Sig and Glock, Beretta's 92/96F series has a safety, which is activated automatically when the decock lever is thumbed downward. The safety/decock lever is ambidextrous and mounted near the top rear of the slide. The slide stop is in the ususal position as is the magazine release. The slide of the Beretta feels almost as though its on roller bearings - it's that smooth. The double-action pull is even and consistent and the single-action pull breaks like a glass rod after the slack is taken up.
The Beretta is extremely easy to take apart for cleaning. Pressing in a button on the right side of the frame and a lever on the left side afterward releases the slide to be removed for cleaning.

So, to sum up a very long answer to a brief question: My top three picks in no particular order in .40 S&W would be: Sig P226, Beretta Model 96F, Glock 22.

In 9mm my top three in no real order are: Sig P226, Beretta Model 92F and Glock 17.

Hopefully I've been of some help. If you've any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Kyle