Whatever pistol you train with most, at night....woken from REM sleep everthing needs to run on muscle memory.

Second for me is which ever I am more confident in when performing hostage drills.

Third is mag capacity since if there is a break in I am heading to the boys room, more than likely naked with no extra mag. The misses likes my sbr more than a pistol so it will stay in the bedroom.

Third, can a light be mounted? Not huge since we normally have some lights left on.

Currently, it's my bhp worked over my Action works, with a 17rnd mag next to it.

If holstered I would have chosen the Glock given your familiarity.......

However,given the unhostered parameter the Beretta gets the nod.

My favorite of all the brands you listed is the Walther. However....for unholstered bump in the night type setting and the light trigger pull I would pass on the Q4.

One other option to seriously look at is a Walther P99 AS with DA/SA and decocker. Its my favorite Walther for carry or bump in the night.

I would add the S&W Governor to the list.

quote:

Originally posted by CD228:
Which ones have night sights?

Excellent question. Of the ones listed, the Glock 17 has factory Ameri-Glow sights, the Bravo has Sig Lites, and the HK - being an LE model - has the factory nights (Meps I think).

Although the Walther has fiber optic front, it is not a true night sight. Nor is the Beretta. And as a logical add-on, it ups the price of the gun at least $50-100.

The decision comes down to the Glock and the HK. Basically, the safety on the 320 Bravo just doesn't jive with me. And, the Walther - even though it allows access to all kinds of goodies with the sight plate, rail, and threaded barrel - just feels weird in recoil, almost like it's top-heavy or something. The Beretta is essentially the same price as the other two, and if I had it to do all over, I would have got an A1 to send to WC instead of my FS and pre-solved this problem. But hindsight and yada yada. And again, the safety thing on a defensive pistol just weirds me out. On a range gun, it's okay, no big deal, but on my defensive guns I'd rather keep it simple.

So it came down to the Glock or the HK. I believe either one would have made me happy for a long time, and I'm familiar with both because I had a gen 3 17 for ages and a gray VP9 for a few months before a weird trade deal on a motorcycle. Both had nights, both had three magazines, both have a good reputation.

In the end, I selected the HK VP9. If it had been a standard variant without the nights and three mags, I'd have gone with the Glock. If I imagined getting a pistol caliber carbine at some point, I would have gone with the Glock. But I don't. So I didn't.

My new bedside gun is the HK VP9 LE in basic black. Thanks for all the opinions and insights. Merry Christmas!

Awesome I am sure you will enjoy the VP9 and the trigger is close enough to a Glock to not matter.

A couple things.

1-run hotter or heavier ammo through it for the first 50-150 rounds.
2-make sure it is clean and well lubed early on.

Most HKs especially in 9mm need a little break in. 124 grain NATO is perfect for this. If you run 115 grain powderpuff stuff early on you may see some failures. Hot and or heavier grain stuff early on will quickly mitigate this and with a little break in your HK will run damn near anything.

Also I have read VP9s/P30s are hard to cut for RMRs. I know some folks do it but it may be expensive/hard to find somebody to do it. I have no first hand experience, only relating what I have heard as far as RMRs go. There is a threaded barrel option though.

Take care, shoot safe and Merry Christmas
Chris

quote:

A couple things. 1-run hotter or heavier ammo through it for the first 50-150 rounds. 2-make sure it is clean and well lubed early on.

Will do! Thanks. I picked up a couple boxes of Aguila 147 grain when I got it (semi-unrelated white elephant thing). That should do it, yeah?

I'll push a patch and dribble some oil too before I shoot it.

quote:

Also I have read VP9s/P30s are hard to cut for RMRs.

Parker Mountain Machine has done several VP9's for me. Not as simply a project as a glock so therefore more money as you noted but works great.

Yep, what they said. Unholstered to me means the strikers are off the table. I don't want to wake up from a dream of banging Giselle to reaching into my nightstand and finger fucking a Glock(or the others). Nope nope nope.

For me, the choice becomes murkier if you add a holster to the scenario.

Beretta. Of course I am a straight 92 guy, not an A1 type but close enough.

I'd get a Glock 17 because I carry a G26.

Beretta. I have two pistols set up for nightstand duty, an old USP 45, and my Beretta 92A1. The Beretta is currently in use.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Yep, what they said. Unholstered to me means the strikers are off the table. I don't want to wake up from a dream of banging Giselle to reaching into my nightstand and finger fucking a Glock(or the others). Nope nope nope.

For me, the choice becomes murkier if you add a holster to the scenario.

Beretta. Of course I am a straight 92 guy, not an A1 type but close enough.

My sentiments exactly. My preference is a DA/SA of any description. Revolver perhaps. I use either my P229 or P226 .40's. While I like and carry my 1911 and G19, they are the last thing in the world I'd choose as a bedside gun. I've shot 1911's since the early 1960's. Familiarity doesn't cut it for this purpose.

Different strokes for different folks...

I'm a fan of the Glock.
You carry a G-26, so I'd go with a G-17. Toss a light on it would probably be the first thing I'd get before an RMR. One of the things on the plus side with Glock is you can use a -17 mag in your -26...

If you really like the Beretta, use that. Again, I'd toss a light on it.


Both weapons you're talking about go "BANG" when you need them to. However, remember it's still a pistol.

If your house get's taken over my German terrorists on Christmas, ask yourself this: What gun can I say "“Yippee ki-yay motherfucker” with?

I have a Beretta 92FS and use it for a nightstand gun, with 20+1 loaded and two other 20 rounders next to it (Mec-Gar mags).

I voted Beretta.

I don’t have any guns unholstered that would be grabbed in the middle of the night. I would hope that I have very good trigger discipline, but in the heat of the moment in the dark you never know.

My handgun safe that is mounted to my bed frame presents my holstered gun to me in the exact same place every time and makes it a one handed operation. Very quick, safe, and reliables I have no need to lay anunholtered weapon on the nightstand.

Beretta 92FS /M9 shines in the home defense role. Disengaging a Manual safety in the case of a nightstand gun is a necessary step to ensure proper target identification. A very shootable, very reliable home defense platform. I have a couple Berettas in the safe that I keep solely for this purpose

Here's mine:

Beretta PX4 Full Size, Decock only, 20 Round Magazine, Trijicon HD Night Sights, Streamlight TLR-4.

PX4-HD

I voted Glock...you carry a Glock, you shoot a Glock, the bedside gun should be a Glock and the G17 was the first Glock ever constructed and has arguably the longest track record with the exception of perhaps the Beretta give or take a few years. All of the others are relatively new firearms when comparing them. Bottom line, what would you bet your life on? If crap hit the fan right now, which one would you grab? That's the one you stick with.

By "unholstered" I meant a firearm I do not plan to carry. I do not mean a firearm that you can't put in a holster.

quote:

Originally posted by patw:
I have narrowed down my guns to just Glock and Beretta for commonality of parts/mags. I would say either the 92A1 or the Glock 17, as the gen 5 pistols have an amazing trigger right from the factory. I am partial to the Glock line as they just plain work. It is the only pistol I could trust right out of the box without firing a single round if need be.

Honestly you really can’t trust anything right out the box without shooting it. My first Glock was a brand new G29 and it jammed once a mag at least, sometimes it just wouldn’t return to battery. Even with different ammo. I sold it to a buddy who wanted something to tinker with.
The beretta would be a damn reliable pistol just like the Glock. It’s not like you’re going to drag it through the mud/sand.. get whichever you shoot best and enjoy to shoot more. You can’t go wrong with either