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Glock is the king of durability and reliability. But Springfield XD is no slouch. Only real difference is Glock has been around a bit longer. Either gun would rank at the highest possible level for durability in a modern handgun. Even shorter track record, but becoming equally respected for durability and reliability is the Smith & Wesson M&P line. Personally, I put all three of these brands/product lines on equal footing. Just pick the one that fits you best. Also, if you haven't already, take a look at the Ruger SR9 and SR9c - which are similar, but have very thin grips (comparative to the other three above) and might fit your hands better. Remember with the M&P guns and some of the others, there can be more than one available grip size by changing the "back strap" of the grip - so ask salesman to get the smallest possible backstrap to see if it fits your hands better.

As for the PK380, I think it's a great gun design. It's one of the few available mid-size guns chambered in .380 with a locked breech, short recoil action that provides less felt recoil to the shooter; most other guns in this caliber and size use an old fashioned straight blowback design that is slightly more accurate, but also much more punishing recoil - even from a .380 round.

My two quibbles with it are:

1. No slide lock (you can't lock the action open).
2. No decocker. So, once you load the gun, if you want to carry it with the hammer down ("safer" in some ways), you'll have to engage the safety then manually lower the hammer. If you forget to engage the safety first, you'll be manually easing the hammer down on a live round (let it slip and OOPS - negligent discharge). Not a big deal once you master the technique, but most modern DA/SA guns (double action/single action) offer a decocker to take care of this in one safer step.

If you like Walther, try the PPS 9mm. This is a very thin 9mm gun with a single-stack magazine (as opposed to thicker double-stack magazines in Glock, Springfield XD etc) and two sizes of grip backstraps. The size is very comparable to the PK380, but it will have a bit more recoil and costs more (should be able to find it for $575 or so, but many shops overcharge as much as $650-$700 still for these guns). Also, if you haven't already, take a look at the Taurus 709 Slim, Keltec PF9, and Kahr K9, P9, or CW9 .... all of these are similar sized "single stack" 9mm semi-auto guns.

CompVest wrote:My 2 cents worth:

1. Take a class for a good instructor. You want to know how to grip a gun in a good modern grip. You will need this info so you can correctly assess how a gun fits your hand. Fitting the hand means not only being able to reach and pull the trigger but being able to manipulate the controls - slide stop, safeties, magazine releases, cylinder release, and ejector rod.

2. Take a note book and go to a gun show. Pick up everything there. You shouldn't worry too much about make, model, or caliber. You are looking for guns that fit your hand. Guns that feel good when you pick them up. Write them down. Most likely you will have 1-5 guns that you like at the end of the show.

3. Start your research. Are your choices reliable as far as manufacturer? What caliber choices do they come in? Do they offer full size and compact models? Chances are you will have narrowed it down to 1 or 2. (If you eliminate them all go back to step 2.)

4. Check with your local range do they have your choices as a rental for you to try? If not can you locate a friend or perhaps a Forum member that has one you can try? Shoot them. Now you can make a fairly well informed decision.

As to caliber - the NRA says you should get the largest caliber you can comfortably and accurately shoot. This is excellent advice and a good way to choose. Again to figure this out rent a gun such as a Glock or M&P. These guns come in many calibers allowing you to accurate assess the caliber. This way the grip stays consistant and only the caliber changes.

CV, that is well-thought out EXCELLENT point-by-point advice.

Mind if I steal it and use it to answer similar questions from my students?

BMWGSRider wrote:Thanks for all the wonderful advice as I will use all the advice that was given in my research for the right gun for me.

I have already qualified and did qualify with a semi-automatic.

I don't mean to be "dumb" but for those who mention try before buy... how do you try before you buy? I did not think there was a way to try a gun out before you buy one. Or when you say try before you buy meaning to find a gun range that will rent guns?

Thanks for all the welcomes... I never got an email notification to replies... are you suppose to get email notifications on replies or no?

Thanks again for sharing you'll knowledge.

Welcome to the forum

Already a lot of good advice. I'll add my $0.02 down below. But to answer your specific "try before you buy" question:

1. Rent guns at a range. Can get expensive $10 or $15 for rental, plus usually have to buy/use their ammo = another $15 to $20, plus range rental time fee. But worth it before you spend +/- $500 on a gun that you intend to be your last line of self defense.

2. Ask around of friends, fellow shooters, folks here on the board. Plenty of good people who like they're particular guns and would be happy to let you shoot a few rounds through them to see if you like them too. We see posts like "Hey I'm in Amarillo and would really like to try Xxxxx gun(s) if anyone has one" all the time. Offer to buy someone a cup of coffee or even lunch and spend an hour at the range. GREAT way to learn. I haven't been to Amarillo myself in over a decade, but I'd offer to let you try some of my guns if you were in Austin area. I'm sure there's someone in that area who'd be happy to let you try their gun(s).

As to recommendations, as has been said it's a very personal thing which gun fits you best. I think it's a lot like fitting on a nice pair of boots. Me personally, I can only comfortably wear ropers - old-fashioned Cowboy style with the skinny toe box and tall upper just don't fit me well at all.

For someone with small hands, I'd certainly try semi-automatics with single-stack magazines. These will naturally have thinner grips, regardless of caliber. Many will point a petite woman with small hands toward the many medium-frame .380-caliber semi-auto guns like Bersa, Walther PPS, Sig Sauer P232, and even Beretta Model 84, Browning BDA etc. These are all great guns. But be aware that their straight blowback method of operation can have as much felt recoil as a similar-sized 9mm pistol with a more forgiving locked breech short recoil operation. Example: I fired a Beretta 84 one time, then picked up my 9mm Glock - which is close to same size, lighter weight, and fires a larger cartridge than the Beretta - but the Glock did not FEEL like it recoiled as hard. This is not to say don't try these .380s, all are well-built great guns and may fit your hand like a glove. Just try something else too as a comparison.

FIT in your hand is the most important factor in accurate, comfortable shooting. If you can't grip the gun properly, you won't be accurate, you won't enjoy shooting it, and over a long time of thousands of rounds of practice shooting you could even injure your hand or wrist (repetitive stress type injuries are not unheard of).

Also take a good look at revolvers - huge number of choices, but many of us carry a snub-nose .38-caliber revolver as either primary or backup weapon. The Smith & Wesson J-frame is the standard. But Ruger, Taurus etc also make very good wheel guns. Many of these guns are made of very lightweight material - aluminum alloy or even composite/polymer frame - and can have a sharp kick or felt recoil that you may not enjoy. If this is a problem, then look for revolvers made of solid steel such as the S&W Model 60 or the Ruger SP-100. Typically, a heavier gun firing the same caliber will have less felt recoil. As an example, my little S&W 638 Airweight snub-nose .38-special has sharp recoil even with standard .38-special ammo and kicks like a mule with .38 +P ammo (some here even fire similar size/weight guns with 125-grain .357 Magnum loads - OUCH! ). But the same .38-caliber ammo in my big, heavy S&W K-frame revolver with 4-inch barrel feels like shooting a cap gun by comparison. The benefit of a revolver is that typically they are very reliable and easy to operate and clean. The downside is the lack of ammo available in the gun (typically 5 shots with a small carry revolver, 6 or more with much larger models), and the more difficult reloading process if under pressure (easier and faster to put a new magazine into a semi-auto than a speedloader into a revolver - though either can be lightning fast with extensive training and practice).