Well, I went to the range this past weekend with another RF member (hiya,
Quarryman), and between us we brought (6) 9mm pistols, (2) .223 Contenders, an AR-15, and several revolvers, including (of course) a couple of Rugers.
I did some fairly specific testing of the 9mms, all shooting the same ammo from a rest at 25 yards. I had one each: AR-24, Browning HP, Glock 17L, Sig P228, Sig P225, and an XDm (the only one that wasn't mine).
In most cases I got about the same ratio of shots in the black vs. not. The BHP gave me a couple of bullseyes, but that could be as much luck as precision/repeatability. The Sig P225 gave me the tightest group, followed closely by the P228. The Sigs do feel most comfortable to me. While all of these pistols (except the G17L) have fixed sights, the AR-24 was the only one that required Kentucky windage to keep it on the paper at 25 yards. This means that it ended up with the worst group, as I found myself experimenting, trying to find a good aim point.
Actually, that's not quite accurate: The XDm gave the worst group. Possibly because I was least used to that gun, or possibly due to the trigger, but I definitely did worst with this one than any of the others.
The G17L proved no more accurate in this test than the others. In fact, its group size was not among the best. Like other shooters, I find the molded-in finger grooves are in the wrong places for my fingers. Worse, it pushes the inside of the last knuckle of my shooting hand into the frame at an angle which is just right for the "vicious" recoil of the 9mm round to actually hurt my hand. I have a Hand-All on it, but it's in the wrong spot to do much good. I've had better luck with the accuracy of this one in times past, and am wondering if shooting it from a rest detracted from it's best feature: That long slide that helps the shooter hold the gun steady when shooting off hand. That is, I'm saying it may compare better to the others if they're all shot off hand, and it loses that advantage when they're all shot from a rest.
The Contenders were great. Somewhat less felt recoil than a .44 mag revolver. My old style gun has a 14" ported barrel on it, compared to Q-man's 14" non-ported G2. With this caliber I (we) could finally see the difference porting makes.
Quite a bit more muzzle flip and felt recoil on the non-ported one.
Of course my trusty S&W 14-3 (6" .38 special target revolver) blew all the shell chuckers aways in the accuracy and grouping dept. That's the gun to go to when I want to "thread the needle". Now if I could just find a semi I shoot as well.
At this time I'm still absorbing and analyzing the data from this shoot, but I'm leaning towards some trigger work and adjustable sights for the BHP. Maybe the C&S wide trigger and non-ambi safety.
That W. German Sig P226 in my dealer's case is still calling to me, too. I may just have to jump on it and admit that I like collecting Sigs as much as I do Rugers and S&Ws...
-- Sam