M9 Beretta vs Glock 23
By Gregory Kielma
Question of the week M9 Beretta or Glock 23
I am purchasing my first firearm within the next month. I'm particularly interested in a Glock 23 and a M9 Beretta. Can someone tell me the pros and cons of each?
Both are fine firearms.
They are also a generation behind the current state of the art.
The Beretta is getting a bit long in the tooth. It’s fairly big and heavy for its capacity and doesn’t do a good job of supporting things like mini red dots. If you are looking at some versions, they also don’t have a rail.
There’s nothing wrong with the Beretta. It’s a fine firearm, but it’s certainly a product of the 1970’s and 1980’s. It’s a hammer fired, DA/SA pistol in 9mm with a 15-round magazine.
The G23 is a striker fired .40 S&W pistol with a 13-round magazine. It’s lighter and smaller than the Beretta, but it’s also a compact frame size… The closest Glock competitor to a Beretta 92 (M9) is a Glock 17. But the Beretta is a full 12oz heavier than a G23. (11 oz heavier than a Glock 17).
I would not recommend a G23 unless it’s in the current Gen 4 trim, but personally, I don’t like any of the Gen 3 or Gen 4 Glocks, as I can’t stand the finger grooves. The new Gen 5 Glocks are, IMHO, a good improvement, but the Glock 23 is not available in the Gen 5 version yet.
I’m also not personally a big fan of the .40 S&W cartridge. It’s expensive to shoot and doesn’t provide much benefit going up from the 9mm.
For your first firearm, I’d strongly recommend 9mm over the .40. Recoil with .40 is noticeably snappier, and like I said, more expensive.
I’d also recommend something newer than the Beretta. Like I said, fine gun, but unless you really want to just do 1990/2000 era US military look or something… you can do better today. Oh, and it has a slide mounted safety that I think is stupid.
IMHO, if you don’t intend to conceal carry the gun, larger is almost always better. There are a lot of really good options today. Walther, FN 509, HK, Glock, Beretta’s new APX, S&W M&P CZ P09…
I especially like what Walther is bringing to the table with the PPQ right now, but we have a cornucopia of excellent pistols on the market today.
Ten years ago, the advise for pistols was just “Get a Glock 19”. Today? I think the options are much more open.