What I think is interesting about this thread is the year gives us several pistols that we all know KNOW will be world class/stellar sidearms soon to be adopted by a great many entities.

The key though is how do you look at these if you are in 1983 with no hindsight.

I mean who knew the P226 or 92F/FS would become legendary???

Who knew mainstream tactical Tupperware was around the corner? Yeah we had the P9/VP70 but those were still oddities.

The more I think about this...the BHP is the go to. It’s proven at the time, high capacity, comfortable, concealable and is in use with several high profile units.

This is a great thread. I love these mental exercises.

quote:

Originally posted by Badkarma 1:
S&W 459, Federal 124gr Nyclad.
SIG P220 in .38 Super, Win. 125gr Silvertip
Dale

Federal 9mm Nyclad with the blue nylon-covered bullet! What a blast from the past. A great round for the time!

My birth year. Trying to understand how pistols of that era must have been viewed AT THE TIME vs what we know now, I think it has to be the BHP.

Real answer is the 1911 don't care what the OP rules are.

quote:

Originally posted by jbourneidentity:

quote:

Originally posted by Badkarma 1:
S&W 459, Federal 124gr Nyclad.
SIG P220 in .38 Super, Win. 125gr Silvertip
Dale

Federal 9mm Nyclad with the blue nylon-covered bullet! What a blast from the past. A great round for the time!

I used those in my Beretta 92FS back in the mid-90s. Good round, IIRC. I seem to recall a test that said they were the 9mm round with the least penentration through building materials, at least for non-frangible rounds. I don't know if they were available in 1983, though.

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
The key though is how do you look at these if you are in 1983 with no hindsight.

Exactly. That's why I picked the P225, it'd been around a few years and was a proven design, particularly as it was based on the very reliable P220 design. This was equally true of the S&W 469, as it had as its pedigree the very reliable platform of the m38 and m59.

I didn't pick the Hi-Power because back then, not too many folks knew a great local gunsmith that could remove that horrible mag safety, which meant it was stuck with that terrible trigger pull. It was much harder in 1983 to just sent a gun off to another part of the country and get a trigger job done, unless you had first hand knowledge of someone else who'd had good fortune. Otherwise, you'd have to trust what the guys in Guns and Ammo or Gun World said, and blindly trusting the review of a gunwriter has always been a huge gamble.

And the 1911? I didn't pick it because in 1983, if you bought a 1911, the very first thing you largely still had to do was to go to a local gunsmith, give him your brand new 1911 and say "Make it work." while forking over more cash. The old slabside just was still not yet reliable enough out of the box to be, IMHO, considered a true life preserver.

quote:

Originally posted by henryarnaud:

quote:

Originally posted by jbourneidentity:

quote:

Originally posted by Badkarma 1:
S&W 459, Federal 124gr Nyclad.
SIG P220 in .38 Super, Win. 125gr Silvertip
Dale

Federal 9mm Nyclad with the blue nylon-covered bullet! What a blast from the past. A great round for the time!

I used those in my Beretta 92FS back in the mid-90s. Good round, IIRC. I seem to recall a test that said they were the 9mm round with the least penentration through building materials, at least for non-frangible rounds. I don't know if they were available in 1983, though.

If it wasn’t then the Smith would be loaded with Federal 9BP 115gr JHP.
Oh, and since I few did mention a revolver, I’d pick the Ruger Security Six .357 Magnum, with either Remington or Federal 125gr JHP.

quote:

Originally posted by Bob RI:
645

645 did not come out till 1985/86.

The P226 was released in 1983 but I don’t recall if it was availible yet in the US.

1983 an no 1911, Im thinking Beretta 92SB or Browning BDA /P220.

Other options would be P225, HK P7, or CZ 75.

Other options would be the BHP or S&W 459/659 but only if my unit had its own highly skilled armorer support.

Was the 469/669 out yet in 1983 ?

Glock existed and had been adopted by the Austrians as the P80 but I don’t know if it was availible in the US yet.

quote:

Originally posted by TexasRaider:
<SNIP>
And the 1911? I didn't pick it because in 1983, if you bought a 1911, the very first thing you largely still had to do was to go to a local gunsmith, give him your brand new 1911 and say "Make it work." while forking over more cash. The old slabside just was still not yet reliable enough out of the box to be, IMHO, considered a true life preserver.

This is exactly why I didn't buy a 1911 until Kimber introduced their line at 1995 Shot Show.
My first was a Clacksmas Stainless Custom, which I still have.

quote:

Originally posted by TexasRaider:
And the 1911? I didn't pick it because in 1983, if you bought a 1911, the very first thing you largely still had to do was to go to a local gunsmith, give him your brand new 1911 and say "Make it work." while forking over more cash. The old slabside just was still not yet reliable enough out of the box to be, IMHO, considered a true life preserver.

By 1983 it had 72 years of experience. Sure, there were worn-out examples that were issued in the Military with little training and were pretty bad, but a new or properly-maintained 1911 was exceptionally reliable.

The issues (and I had my share with a Mark 4 Series 70) were with ammo other than Ball. Even the H&G 68, designed to work in an unmodified 1911, usually didn't, unless the throat was polished; and hollowpoints, especially those less than 230 grains, were a useless nightmare.

The first thing I did with my Mk 4 Series 70 was take it to the range with 200 rounds of Remington Ball. It ran through the whole supply without a single malfunction, just as it was supposed to.

The gunsmith work I had done was to get the pistol to work with the H&G 68, since I bought it for IPSC competition. It was a long process, since Colt (and S&W as well) didn't do their best work in the 1970's, but once it was finished it worked fine. I had no malfunctions whatsoever in five years of competition, probably 1,000 rounds per month of practice and matches.

And it still fed Ball.

quote:

Originally posted by HCM:

quote:

Originally posted by Bob RI:
645

645 did not come out till 1985/86.

The P226 was released in 1983 but I don’t recall if it was availible yet in the US.

1983 an no 1911, Im thinking Beretta 92SB or Browning BDA /P220.

Other options would be P225, HK P7, or CZ 75.

Other options would be the BHP or S&W 459/659 but only if my unit had its own highly skilled armorer support.

Was the 469/669 out yet in 1983 ?

Glock existed and had been adopted by the Austrians as the P80 but I don’t know if it was availible in the US yet.

While it is not possible for me to verify the accuracy of the 1983 edition of the Shooters Bible (#24) that I am currently looking at, they list the S&W 39, 59, 439/539 and 459/559 as available in either blued or nickel finish.
H&K offered the P9S and VP70Z (ugh).
Browning offered the Hi-Power.

There is no mention of Beretta, Sig or Glock, pistols.

RE the OP: Of those listed in the book I would probably pick a S&W 59 or 459.

Even in 1983, I'm still loving the P7.

quote:

Originally posted by Tim335:
Even in 1983, I'm still loving the P7.

I remember checking it out back then, because I liked my HK-91 so much. I think they weighed about the same.

Beretta 70s. Pew pew.

Browning high power.

Almost 10 pages in, and you see how many people don't actually read the OP. Ermaghad 1911.

1911A1

Star PD. One of the first smaller-sized 1911s that was affordable and worked.

*cough* *cough* *cough*....

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
Star PD. One of the first smaller-sized 1911s that was affordable and worked.

A friend had one, and it was an excellent pistol. There were always rumors that the lightweight frame was going to split apart, but his never did, and to this day I wish I had bought one when they were available.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TexasRaider:
*cough* *cough* *cough*....

Of course. Kimber.