Everyone loves a classic, and these legendary pistols are still going hard and strong.
Table of contents
Introduction
Like we said in the header, everyone loves a good classic, and these handguns all meet most people's definition of such- decades (sometimes a century or more) of outstanding performance have solidified them as some of the finest weapons ever produced. They are so good, in fact, they have stood the test of time and have held their own against more modern designs for generations right up to today, and will probably continue to do so for decades more.
Old? Maybe. Obsolete? Not according to millions who still use them.
In this week's article, we will be giving brief overviews of some of the greatest pistols of our era, explaining why are the greatest, and ranking them in terms of our personal favorites (a little disclaimer- this list is obviously subjective). We will only be including semi-automatic handguns (sorry, Dirty Harry fans. No model 29's will be found, here), and will only include pistols that are still being made today in substantial numbers. Additionally, we will be ranking them in no particular order- these are just our favorites.
With that out of the way, let's dig in!
Colt 1911
Undoubtably one of the greatest handguns ever, the Colt 1911 is, despite its age (over 112 years old at the time of this writing), widely regarded as a "modern" handgun, and is still in limited use today.
It's only one of two guns on this list to not be chambered in 9mm Luger (although clones that are in 9mm and many other calibers exist), and while it only has a magazine capacity of 7 or 8 rounds depending on the variant, the .45 ACP cartridge it's chambered in punches hard, and for that reason, together with the 1911's superb reliability, it enjoyed unprecedented longevity in military service- In the United States, it still serves in limited roles today.
However, it is undoubtably more popular as a civilian gun, and in the U.S, the 1911 has a cult following- it's widely considered "America's pistol" and continues to be adored by millions of Americas even over newer, more modern pistols even in the same .45 ACP chambering.
Walther PP series
Made iconic in popular culture by numerous 007 movies as James Bond's gun, the Walther PP series has everything going for it that would make it an enduring classic- it's beautiful, sleek and sophisticated-looking, has a beloved and established brand name behind it, and has a very long track record of excellent service dating back to the late 1920's.
Like our previous entry, for most modern purposes it's not going to be able to compete against pistols with double-stack magazines as a duty pistol or anything and is not a mainstay sidearm of any armies, but amazingly, it's still being used by many nations and is still serving well almost a century after it's inception, and like the others featured here, it looks like it will stick around for at least a while longer.
Surprisingly, this pistol is not chambered in 9mm Luger, but it has an impressive array of chamberings to choose from instead- some of which are roughly as powerful as 9mm Luger (such as .380 ACP), but even so, if you're hoping to find one chambered in the most popular handgun cartridge on earth, you'll sadly be disappointed, and in a sense, that arguably makes it even more impressive having lasted as long as it has.
Beretta 92
One of the "wonder nines" of the second half of the 20th century, the Beretta 92 family has rightfully earned its spot here.
From its appearance in movies such as "Die Hard" to its presence in videos games like Call of Duty and Battlefield, it's another pop culture icon that is adored by countless people both in America and elsewhere.
It's not just a fancy showpiece, either- for over three decades, it was the service pistol of all the branches of the U.S military, serving as their main sidearm from the late 1980's to the late 2010's, and is still used as of 2023 (although the U.S military is finally in the process of replacing their version of the Beretta 92, which is designated as the M9).
Additionally, it has been used by many other military and police institutions over the decades (like all the pistols on this list), and thus, you can be rest assured it's a pistol of very high quality.
CZ 75
A Czech pistol of unique design, the CZ 75 is another one of the "wonder nines" of the late 20th century that is still raging today.
Like the others on this list, it's been used all over the world for decades by military and police users alike, and since 1976, it's triumphed wherever it's been put to the test.
It's made its fair share of pop culture appearances, too- including in Treyarch's famous first-person shooter, Call of duty: Black Ops.
While this one was a hard choice (we considered putting the Sig Sauer P226 here instead), we've given the CZ 75 a spot on our list because of its nearly half-century tenure as a go-to pistol for so many people everywhere, and you can't have a pistol stay relevant for that long if it hasn't been doing a lot of things right.
Glock 17
Our last choice will probably be controversial, but we will include it anyways- the Austrian Glock 17.
Although it's not really remarkable nowadays aside from how common it is, this was a revolutionary step in the evolution of firearms when it first came about in the early 1980's- stupid easy to operate, mechanically simple, and employing extensive lightweight polymer in its construction, it turned heads upon its debut, and over the years and decades since, has risen to become of the most- if not THE most- popular pistol on earth, with more than 20 million having been made.
Like the others, seemingly everyone has used it at some point or another (and of course, it's also appeared everywhere in popular culture), but what really sets it apart is how it truly set a trend the way no other pistol listed here really did- with the Glock 17 came the "poly-striker craze", which refers to people's preference for a lightweight, polymer-framed pistol that is striker-fired and has a light, single action trigger pull- like the Glock.
Some people hate them, many love them, but regardless, you cannot deny the impact Glock pistols have had on society over the last 40 years, so we will include them on our list as some of the best pistols that still serve today.
Final thoughts
While there are certainly a great many pistols made in the last 10 or 20 years or so that are finely engineered weapons in their own right, there's something to be said about those pistols that just refuse to die and continue to earn people's praise after the passage of so much time.
Again, this list is subjective, but we feel like these pistols deserve their own article and some special recognition for their long track records, and continued excellence right up to the present day.
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