I am getting my Dad a pistol to plink around and have fun with. My dad is one cool cat a very highly decorated Korean War Vet. I am thinking about getting him a S&W model 10 Victory that was a lend lease gun to the British Commonwealth that has a 2" barrel or a brand new Glock 17 he loves both of the platform himself, and both of us are torn about which way to go. Both of us are gunsmiths , and I just wanted to see what the general consensus on what you guys think. Either one would be a great firearm by all means its more of what flavor of kool aid you like. Let me know what you guys think.

Don't know how much you want to spend, but I'd recommend a CZ 75 variant with a Kadet .22 adapter on the side.

Now thats a good idea right there never thought about that.

The problem is you're both gunsmiths so you know too much already.  The way I see it is the 2" 38 is not going to be near as much fun as a Glock 17 with a half dozen  33rd mags. Now that is fun.

With a vet, *I* would suggest the Springfield 1911 mil-surp model for around $450-500.    

My .o2

Browning Hi-Power?