By Tom Daly
I am 21 and recently obtained my pistol permit. The reason for this short story is because, well, sometimes you make a decision in the moment that you ultimately might regret. The reason for the regret is you might not get exactly what you were aiming for. My decision was hampered by the state I live in, Connecticut. I originally wanted a wonder nine (CZ 75 or CZ P-01), but could not justify one if I could not have the wonderful magazine capacity that made the wonder nines so endearing. I did my homework looking for a good around full size handgun chambered in 40 S&W or 45 ACP . . .
I was leaning towards 45 ACP due to the overall ballistic properties of what I read on Wikipedia and the fact the round is still in use in certain military circles. Principally I was looking at it from a philosophy of use. Forty-five is a large heavy round that has recoil factor, but at the same time the kinetic mass of a .45 is what had made it so world famous your target will not get up taking one center of mass.
So I did some research and it came down to SIG SAUER P220, Armscor TAC 1 1911 and the CZ 97. I went to Cabelas to get a feel for local prices and quickly discovered that any full-size gun was going ot run me more then I was willing to spend. So off my list went the P220 and the CZ 97. What I was left with was the TAC 1 1911 from Armscor.
As such, a few days after visiting Cabelas I went to the local gun shop and was prepared to put money down for a Armscor 1911. But lo and behold, upon window shopping I discovered a SIG P250 chambered in 45 ACP. I sat there with that p250 in my hands. It was nicely priced at $300 and was chambered in .45. It had no external safety and was DAO and thus was even more appealing to me.
I could not make up my mind. Everyone around me was saying it was a good deal and that I would not regret it. Thus I bought it right there in the moment. After I got home, though I felt i had made the wrong choice. After some deep thought I ultimately decided to return it and order my 1911 Tac 1. The reason being that though a great handgun, it just did not feel right to me, personally.
I would definitely buy one today as I still feel the occasional pang of regret concerning the P250, but would prefer it chambered in 9MM or 40 S&W. With my 1911 I feel as if I made the absolute right decision. The size and history of the 1911 is what brought me over and the fact it feels better in my hand. And for a first handgun there’s no better handgun to learn from. If you can conquer the 1911 you can shoot almost any handgun in my honest opinion.