Long long ago in a land far far away I was looking for something slightly smaller than my crop of semi-automatics.
Well, maybe not all that long ago, more like the mid 70s and early eighties.
It was a interesting period with cities burning and the City of Brotherly Love doing some urban renewal and gentrification around the Osage Avenue neighborhood.
I ended up buying three very similar size and weight semi-automatic handguns that while pretty close to modern average size or even large size were pretty small and compact for the period.
The first was my Sig Sauer P225, a single stack 8 + 1 rounds of 9mm parabellum and a steel slide with alloy frame. I loved my Sig P226 but the P225 was significantly smaller and while I found it fairly accurate it somehow just never felt as comfortable as my larger Sig or the Hi-Power so it just never got carried that often. But I loved the concept and size.
Then, in the early 1980s S&W introduced the first factory Wonder 9 Compact, their 469.
My 469 actually shot better than my Sig P225 and was almost identical in size and weight but instead of 8 + 1 rounds it came with a double stack 12 round magazine so 12 + 1.
But wait, there's more.
The 15 round magazines for the S&W 59 also fit the 469 allowing a 15 + 1 configuration.
The downside to the S&W 469 was the same issue as with all the S&W Semi-automatics of the period; it could be a ***** to reassemble after field strip and cleaning.
Time passed and it was soon the early 90s and the first polymer framed guns were coming out and making inroads and I saw a Star UltraStar. It was only a single stack and the magazine only held 9 rounds but it was a couple ounces lighter than the other two and had a considerably lower bore axis. I found I shot it better than any of the other 9mm parabellum handguns I owned.
So how did the three compare. All three were conventional DA/SA but the Sig only had a decocker while the other two had a safety/decocker. All three fit perfectly in the holsters for the P225. All three were blued. The biggest difference though was in how well I could shoot each one. There, the Sig P225 came in dead last. While I loved all my other Sigs the P225 simply never felt right. The S&W 469 was the next most accurate and controllable but the Star UlstraStar simply felt and seemed as natural as pointing my finger.
The P225 went off to a Forever Home but the 469 and UltraStar are still with me and still get to go WalkAbout more often than any of my other 9mm parabellums.
Compacts then and now.
Well, maybe not all that long ago, more like the mid 70s and early eighties.
It was a interesting period with cities burning and the City of Brotherly Love doing some urban renewal and gentrification around the Osage Avenue neighborhood.
I ended up buying three very similar size and weight semi-automatic handguns that while pretty close to modern average size or even large size were pretty small and compact for the period.
The first was my Sig Sauer P225, a single stack 8 + 1 rounds of 9mm parabellum and a steel slide with alloy frame. I loved my Sig P226 but the P225 was significantly smaller and while I found it fairly accurate it somehow just never felt as comfortable as my larger Sig or the Hi-Power so it just never got carried that often. But I loved the concept and size.
Then, in the early 1980s S&W introduced the first factory Wonder 9 Compact, their 469.
My 469 actually shot better than my Sig P225 and was almost identical in size and weight but instead of 8 + 1 rounds it came with a double stack 12 round magazine so 12 + 1.
But wait, there's more.
The 15 round magazines for the S&W 59 also fit the 469 allowing a 15 + 1 configuration.
The downside to the S&W 469 was the same issue as with all the S&W Semi-automatics of the period; it could be a ***** to reassemble after field strip and cleaning.
Time passed and it was soon the early 90s and the first polymer framed guns were coming out and making inroads and I saw a Star UltraStar. It was only a single stack and the magazine only held 9 rounds but it was a couple ounces lighter than the other two and had a considerably lower bore axis. I found I shot it better than any of the other 9mm parabellum handguns I owned.
So how did the three compare. All three were conventional DA/SA but the Sig only had a decocker while the other two had a safety/decocker. All three fit perfectly in the holsters for the P225. All three were blued. The biggest difference though was in how well I could shoot each one. There, the Sig P225 came in dead last. While I loved all my other Sigs the P225 simply never felt right. The S&W 469 was the next most accurate and controllable but the Star UlstraStar simply felt and seemed as natural as pointing my finger.
The P225 went off to a Forever Home but the 469 and UltraStar are still with me and still get to go WalkAbout more often than any of my other 9mm parabellums.
Compacts then and now.
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