So, here we are in the back half of 2016. I’ve been to my new favorite range a few times in the past couple months, and it seems the same handguns always make the cut while other perfectly servicable ones sit idly in the safe wishing for their day in the sun. My Beretta 92fs, Walther PPQ, S&W PC1911, and a few others continue to be my “go to” pistols when it comes to punching holes in paper.
A month ago I attended license to carry training in Texas. Part of that included timed qualfication on the range. My Beretta 92fs accompanied me on that trip and, while I scored perfectly well during the training, I realized the manual of arms with the Beretta may not be ideal in even a little bit of a stressful situation. Specifically, I found myself inadvertantly dropping the safety and lowering the hammer when racking the slide. While not a big deal at the range, this in a life or death situation could be catastrophic. It also opened my eyes to the fact that I really need to focus on two types of handguns: defensive pistols and range toys, with not much in between. I’m not saying you can’t enjoy a defensive pistol at the range, but having a bunch of handguns in my safe that aren’t my “go to” pistols for either purpose just doesn’t make sense.
As a result of the points above, I’m now thinning the herd when it comes to handguns. Five have been put up for sale as of yesterday, and two are already gone including the Sig P226 shown above. Please don’t misunderstand, as I realize the P226 is a perfectly suitable defensive pistol used by police and military across the globe. But, it never makes the cut for me as my primary home defense pistol and its performance at the range has always been been decidedly average in my hands at best.
A few more pistols are for sale, and I may sell even more. With that, I intend to buy at least one more very nice dedicated range gun (possibly a Dan Wesson Pointman 9) and maybe evaluate another defensive pistol purchase (S&W M&P or HK VP9 are peaking my interest). What will happen in the end is unclear, but at least some safe queens from my collection are going to other places where they may get the attention they rightfully deserve.
Midwestern Ramblings 
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My first handgun was a M&P 9, I think the accuracy is in line for a gun that’s around $500. I added the APEX trigger kit to it and the improvement is very noticeable. I believe the VP 9 comes with night sights, it also have better trigger right out of the box. So instead of spending the extra money to improve the sights and trigger on the M&P to bring it on par with the VP 9, it’s probably cheaper to just get the VP 9.
I’m debating whether either is necessary, as I already have a PPQ, Glock, and XD that fit the striker fired pistol bill. But thanks!