The end of compact 9mms?

[Alan]

In your opinion, has the current wave of small 9mm handguns maxed out their potential, or is there still a chance for meaningful progress in this field?

 

[Conman]

Compact pistols are getting close to as good as they can be but triggers and managing recoil could still be better. The biggest improvement was getting more bullets into small guns. And now it's about making them easier to shoot without making them harder to hide

 

[Frontiersman]

I don’t think barriers in advancement are any different for compacts than other firearms. The applied technology is the same. Until we leave traditional cartridge design behind, it’s really just changes in shape, alloys and springs.

Eventually, high energy, magnetic fields, etc will become compact enough and cost effective to create a new type of hand held weapon. Likely droid technology will fulfill most if not all military needs.

If hunting is still allowed, combustion projectile firearms will be like using muzzle loaders or archery. Primitive and nostalgic.

 

[BarryinIN]

I have a feeling the trend will bounce back up to mid-size. Sales of small 9s will remain steady, but won’t dominate the market.

In the 90s, when more people started carrying concealed, there was a big trend toward small revolvers in .357 Magnum. Anybody in the snub market was making them smaller and lighter. The .357 J frames came first, then scandium and titanium to get them lighter.

They sold like crazy until everyone who wanted one had one. And that’s where it ended, with almost no repeat buyers in the category.

This has happened before in other areas of the gun world. A problem gets solved, an idea (nearly) perfected, or a niche is created. People see it’s “safe” to buy one, so they do. Examples include:
-Light “mountain” rifles that still shoot well, which was the rage in the 80s.
-Precision rifles that are affordable and don’t require a custom order (currently).
-Hand Cannon revolvers in .454 Casull, 500 S&W, etc for a period in the 2010s or so.
-The aforementioned pocket rocket snubs.

These are actually niche items that might be nice to have, but don’t see a lot of use by most people. In the case of small 9mms and the light magnum snubs they may even see a lot of carry, but people tend to shoot something else. Or maybe people who shoot more prefer something else. Or both.

The result is once most people who want one have theirs, sales slow way down. Most of the sales then will be to newer shooters, and that will be plenty, but not like it is now. Us regulars will go back to shooting mid-size and full-size guns and they will continue on selling like always.

 

[duane_wade]

I got rid of everything having to do with 9mm and sold or gave away (oldest granddaughters) several compact 9mm pistols and 9mm carbine.

I've always been a .357 fan and went back to carrying a .357 and have now gone with a 10mm because ballistics are nearly identical to the .357 mag and I love the 1911 pistols. I originally bought the 10mm for a backup handgun for deer season, I've carried .357 and .44 but just wanted a 10mm and it was easy to carry concealed IWB.

 

[Alan]

I don’t think barriers in advancement are any different for compacts than other firearms. The applied technology is the same. Until we leave traditional cartridge design behind, it’s really just changes in shape, alloys and springs.

Eventually, high energy, magnetic fields, etc will become compact enough and cost effective to create a new type of hand held weapon. Likely droid technology will fulfill most if not all military needs.

If hunting is still allowed, combustion projectile firearms will be like using muzzle loaders or archery. Primitive and nostalgic.

Honestly, we’ve been hearing “ray guns soon” for decades. Meanwhile, good old brass cartridges just keep quietly doing their job.

 

[Alan]

I got rid of everything having to do with 9mm and sold or gave away (oldest granddaughters) several compact 9mm pistols and 9mm carbine.

I've always been a .357 fan and went back to carrying a .357 and have now gone with a 10mm because ballistics are nearly identical to the .357 mag and I love the 1911 pistols. I originally bought the 10mm for a backup handgun for deer season, I've carried .357 and .44 but just wanted a 10mm and it was easy to carry concealed IWB.

Sounds like you followed the classic path: try everything, then circle back to the calibers that actually make you smile...

 

[Daby_98]

I think those guns are pushing their physical limits but manufacturers will probably keep tweaking small stuff like recoil control and reliability. The big breakthroughs already happened, now it’s more about fine-tuning than reinventing.