Steel .380 and steel 9mm recommendations

[shootalot523]

Looking for an all steel .380 3-31/2 " barrel. Any recommendations? Also looking for an all steel 9mm 4" barrel.

[hexidismal]

Well, as for the .380 .. the two that immediately come to mind with steel frames and barrel lengths within those specs would be the Walther PPK and the Sig P232.

[FrankRochester]

Sig also makes a .380 that is similar to a Colt Mustang. Kahr makes a nice stainless 9mm..

[Jeff]

The sig .380 is NICE quality and feel. Great trigger too.

[defilade]

Give the new 3.8 Springfield XD a look!

http://www.springfield-armory.com/

[yukiginger]

Looking for an all steel .380 3-31/2 " barrel. Any recommendations? Also looking for an all steel 9mm 4" barrel.

Trigger and firing action (DAO, striker-fired, traditional DA/SA, SA) are more important considerations than barrel length, and if you have a preference this way you'd probably get more pointed recommendations. Also, your intended use and method of possession (i.e., carry concealed [and how - on hip, in pocket, etc.], store in nightstand drawer or under the counter) also helps determine better candidates.

Any thoughts in these areas?

MarkG

[shootalot523]

Mark, I will be carrying these concealed, either IWB or OWB. As far as firing action, I'm not stuck on any one. I've shot all kinds of actions, but prefer DA/SA. Really looking for a nice, shootable gun that I'll be capable of making nice follow up shots with. I have polymer frame guns in both calibers. Just looking for some suggestions. I'm in NY so It can't be more than 10+1 capacity. As far as 9mm, I recently saw a nice beretta & CZ. Like EAA witness, but there all high capacity mags.

[yukiginger]

Well, for 380s the pickings look pretty slim for an all steel gun. The venerable Walther PPK/S looks to be a good choice and is in your preferred DA/SA type. Most makers are using polymer or aluminum frames in the 380 (Beretta, Sig, Kahr, etc.). Another steel frame I found was the NAA Guardian.

In 9mm again polymer and aluminum frames are all the rage. In the CZ or EAA guns you have steel frames and these are DA/SA. The fairly new Armalite AR-24 is close to these and the SIG 210. I am intrigued by that gun for sure. Remember on the capacity issue that if the gun accepts preban magazines you can use those in the gun (you cannot modify an existing preban to fit a gun that it was not made fore). So if the CZs/EAA/Armalite guns accept the "regular" capacity mags (the number of rounds they were designed for) then you can get prebans and use them.

My favorite handgun of all is an all steel 9mm - the Browning Hi-Power. But as you know it is a single action only gun. KBI or someone did make a DA/SA version of it (just not an exact clone). The Hi-Power is about 32 oz. I think, which brings it in under some of the other full size steel guns above. It probably is also somewhat smaller even though the barrel is about 4 1/2".

Good luck and keep us posted.

MarkG

[toivo]

If you're considering CZ, don't forget that they also make an all-steel .380:

CZ-USA -> CZ 83

It's DA/SA. It comes standard with a high-cap mag, but I know they have a NY-legal version because I've seen them for sale in Gander Mountain.