M9 grip and small hands

I am looking very longingly at a Beretta M9 since it is a design I have always liked and also because I plan on entering the Army in the next year or two and would like to be familiar with the design. The only aspect I am not thrilled about is the larger grip size since I have small hands. It has been a while since I have held an M9/M92 but I dont seem to recall them being freakishly large the last time I fondled one. I already have a p226 and have learned to shoot it pretty well even though the gun is cocked at about a 10 to 20 degree angle when looking down on my arm. Would it be an unacheivable goal to be able to shoot the M9 quickly and accurately if I put in enough practice?

Yes, its a big gun but the light recoil of the 9mm makes it Ok. I have very small hands and shot the M9 for several years as a Security Policeman in the USAF. Go ahead and buy one, shoot it and enjoy.

Go to a gunshop that has them or find somebody willing to let you try thiers and hold one again before you buy one.

Ask if its OK to dry fire, hold it one handed and try pulling the trigger in doubble action. If it feels OK, you are fine. This is the worst case - a one handed doubble action shot.

Now a pistol really should be shot in the modified Weaver stance with both hands to really be comfortable and accurate. I have taught many frustrated female Soldiers (Many with small hands) how to shoot the M9 very fast and accurately using bolth hands in a proper grip and stance.

Hold the pistol in your dominant hand. Place the fingers of the non dominant hand on top of and in the depressions between the fingers of the dominant hand holding the pistol. Thumbs should be one over the other with the right thumb on top if you are right handed. Gently squeeze the pistol between your hands. Enough to hold the pistol firmly, but not start to shake. Holding the pistol this way puts about half of the grip in each hand.

Cocking the hammer with a thumb into single action prior to shooting moves the trigger to the rear for a better finger position for people with small hands and of course also has a lighter pull and no transition between heavy and light pulls. If you are going to rely on the pistol for defense you need to practice shooting doubble action first shot, but cocking it first does make it easier to shoot if you have small hands.

Ill definately hold one before I buy it since I like to inspect each individual firearm that I buy before I spend money on it and even the best manufacturers put out a lemon every now and then. I am starting to think that with enough practice and determination I can learn my way around the M9 quite well.

What MOS do you plan to get in order to see a M9?

I know it might not happen but ever since I was old enough to start thinking about what I wanted to do with my life I have wanted to be a Ranger. As soon as I graduate from NCSU Engineering school I am going to go enlist in the Army if everything goes as planned.

going through this right now, and ordered trausch grips as they are supposed to be thinnest.

Buy something that fits you...

If you're ever in a position where you're issued an M9, Uncle Sam will make sure you can qual with it and can hit with it in the very unlikely circumstance that you have to transition from your M4.

I know it's fun to fondle an M9 while daydreaming about your future as a Ranger, but you'll be much better served by a sidearm that fits your hands until you get in.

If you can handle a 226 you can handle a Beretta. I have both, and have smaller hands as well. I don't have issues with either, if anything the Beretta is easier to grasp.

You might want to check out the Beretta 92FS Vertec which has a smaller grip, it may fit you better.

I have eight of them and have small hands.

Make sure to get a 92 or 92 variant with the indent on the rear backstrap. It brings your fingers ever so closer to the trigger. It DOES make a difference./

An M9 has a straight dustcover and no rear strap indentation. I can actually tell the difference between the two frames and how the gun sits in a 1 handed grip.

Also, get Hogue grip panels. Not the wrap arounds with the finger grooves (they make the grip even fatter). But, just the rubber grip panels. They make the biggest difference.

The 92FS with rubber grip panels fit my hands perfectly, and I too have small hands

Uncle Mikes rubber panels are a good choice as well.

+1, all of the above.

I find the 226 a bit too fat, but the 92 works for me...

Thanks guys. I didnt think that it was something that I couldnt get used to in a couple thousand rounds. If worst comes to worst I can always carry it without a round in the chamber so when I draw and rack the slide it goes straight to single action. Ill be sure and post pictures when I get it if everything works out.

...or carry it with one chambered, and then thumb the hammer back, if you have time to. (not that I ever did that during quals)

If you want the most valid practice with a M9/Model 92FS, get the full-sized M9/Model 92FS. Don't change to thinner grips, unless your armorer is going to let you do that to your duty pistol too.

Unless youre in one of the very select few MOSs, you will hardly, if ever, touch an M9. contrary to previous posts, Uncle Sam will NOT train you up on the pistol, just not in Army doctrine anymore. You wanna play with a pistol a bunch, be an mp. I even know guys who carried them downrange and they literally shot 2 mags, popped it in their holster, and that was about it for a deployment. So dont waste your time on "training up" on the M9. If you want a beretta cuz you like them, then go for it and shoot the hell outof it! just buy because you want, not because you think you need to

Good god man go over to the ROTC side of your school and see what they can offer you.

Engineering degree ought to be worth something in the Army.

Army ROTC paid my Dad's way through Georgia Tech many moons ago... he eventually retired from the Reserves as a MG.

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