Top 5 Wonder Nines That Still Rule Carry Today

Re: Did ‘plastic fantastic’ pistols rightly replace the all-metal ‘Wonder Nines’? Well, not for everyone. I know there will be no shortage of differing opinions either way. There’s still a place for the metal-frame gun right now, but few of any of our modern day pistols will be considered fantastic or wondered at in the future, probably, when we all have self-aiming, laser weapons with never-ending power. Although, a few types of game-changing arms will be remembered in history books and we’ll read about them the way we read about antiques now; interesting, but mostly no longer relevant. We’ll have body-worn, threat detecting hardware which will neutralize a threat without any action on our part and they will sell like hot cakes if we can afford them. Which brings me to the answer to the original question – it all depends on what we like and trust, if we can afford it, if a metal frame is too heavy, and do we really need military-grade defensive pistols in civvy street? The forward-thinking gun designers asked themselves these questions before they convinced their CEO’s to experiment with plastic guns. For them, it was about a way to sell more guns and make more money, and part of that was taking the lead in making innovative products which could beat their opposition in the industry. New technology is great, but only if it truly and inexpensively creates more value for the customer and the timing is right. I carry different defense guns but my all-time fave carry gun is my Glock 26 (I know, it doesn’t have a hammer). But that’s personal to me, and I find an all-metal gun too heavy for the way I defensive carry. The Glock fits in my jeans pocket if I want it to, has no hammer to snag and it disappears in my IWB holster when carried that way. It carries enough ammo for me, 10+1. If the average shoot-out consumes 6 rounds I have enough, and a second mag on my belt is overkill but reassuring. I have to say here that I do like all-metal frame guns, and I have some. Not everyone likes Glocks or will agree, but I think the Glock was a real ‘Wonder Nine’; it was an improvement over other plastic-framed guns in my opinion, and Glock in its time honestly became a gun for the masses. Let’s face it, not everyone wants to spend a grand or more on a pistol but they do want to be able to feel their weapon is effective and reliable – which these days really means a mid-price pistol for many people, and molded plastic really helps to keep the price and weight down. In the old wild west days, guns were really expensive compared with today, and the choice was limited. In certain places a gun was a necessity and had to be rugged. Being expensive, it meant you had to save your money to get one and it was highly valued. We live in different times, guns are mass produced and relatively cheap, yet still acceptably reliable. These days we all want instant gratification which means not having to save too long to get one, and to complicate things we have more toys on the market competing for our money. From this point of view, many consumers will get a plastic gun, which I think rightly (partly) replaced the all-metal gun because I don’t believe most people care if the frame is all metal or not. In some ways we tend to think of plastic-frame guns as consumables now. Plastic is everywhere in our homes and cars, why not in our guns too? And as well as having more capacity and being lighter, plastic-frame guns are just fine for range time and personal protection in our society. Many more people on average own guns now than they did in the mid 1850’s, and part of the reason is a relatively new fascination with inexpensive guns for defense and hobbies. With plastic guns being so inexpensive to produce, it also means the difference between many people being able to own a good defensive gun or not. Now, if my lifestyle was living in a desert fighting indigenous natives, or if I was going into a modern war zone, I’d probably save for the more expensive and rugged all-metal, hammer-fired Wonder Nine. But I’m not, and neither are most other people.

You forgot me of the first and that was the Smiths. Staccato? Whatever. The list is for metal framed high cap pioneeers of the 9mm that gave capacity to us all. None of the plastic fantastics count. I’ve shot all of them during my time in the 90s as a range instructor for my PD. Some cops claim their gun shoots crooked so I would take it and prove that it doesn’t. Have you ever heard of such nonsense. Crooked barrel. Ha. My favorite was the Beretta and the Smith DAOs although I never carried a Beretta. My short fingers could reach the trigger easier. Ruger P series shot but the P85 was not very acccurate. Fixed in the P89. P90 45 was very accurate. Very crude gun but worked.

Once you get used to shooting striker fired ‘plastic-fantastics’ isn’t hard going back to SA/DA weapons that use a ballpeen hammer to hit the primer. Wonder nine? – G17, G18 w/fun switch, or G19.

Top five classic Wonder Nines that still rule the roost. Here we go. Hi-Power, 92, CZ75, P226…………and Staccato 2011????? Seriously? LOL!!!!!!! A 21st century 1911??? Sure, brother. Okay. That may not have been the best pick for the fifth one to round out the point you were trying to make, but hey, live and learn. Thank you for the chuckles. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 drum roll, the fifth one is…… the Staccato 2011!!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣!!!!!!!!!

I’ve handled and shot the SA35, CZ75, and M9. All are perfectly acceptable IMHO. The common thread? Military background. I would be hard pressed to only select one.