Boy I know this is a necro-topic but I just now feel the urge to comment on several points made here..

1. Polymer Pistols are beyond proven a this point in the life cycle. Glock brought that to the main stream and has more than made it's name and the value of the polymer weapon system evident.

I will openly admit to being a Glock hater until about 2 years ago. I have been able to shoot 3 different iterations of the Glocks with 100's of rounds each - 21,22c and now a 30 .. the 30 is what truly converted me to a fan. I'm not rushing out to purchase a full of compact any time soon, but I will have a 30 for a CCW at some point.

I'm even a fan of the XD's as well. They are beginning to prove themselves in so many ways that I won't even go into it. The reviews are out, the weapon system is being widely adopted and hopefully, Glock will come off it's high price horse and attempt to compete against the XD. Everything gets better from there! Hell, now that the XD45 is officially brought a reasonable price to a high cap 45 that is actually reliable.. Glock better get its ducks in a row and start innovating again, or at least bring it's pricing better in line with the far more affordable XD series.

2. 1911's .. odd that few remember why they were dropped by the military, or so disliked for about 20 odd years. Then again like anything, it's a matter of preference. I've had a huge preference for the 1911's for a while. Though I'm a bit of a snob about em' and don't know as much as some (Gman!) about them, they are infinitely capable weapons and the longevity speaks to the quality of the design... but... welcome to the 21st century boys.

The 1911 is starting to see such a massive resurgence (well over the last 10 years at least) that we are indeed seeing impressive evolutions in the weapon itself, but the core of the weapon is still the same ol' wonder gun first given wide use in WWI.

I really don't think it is all that fair to compare the two weapon types side by side.

That takes me to some of the comments about the now tired AR vs AK arguments.

1. The AK is cleaner, more reliable and far more widely used than the AR.

2. The AR is far more accurate and modular (finally!) than the AK

A few have noted that the bad guys, or the losing’s guys always seem to have AK's... the assumption derived is that the AK is a bad weapon. Well that is just too easy to rip apart as an assumption.

First off.. we've (the US Military) not faced an opponent who actually trains their troops to something close to Western Standards on the battle field who equip their military with the AK. But I would venture to say that when the time comes for an encounter with the North Koreans or even worse, the Chinese... the AK will garner a greater degree of your respect.

I might not be able to nail my target as effectively at 300m with the AK as I can the AR (the diff is rather slight and I'm not the best shot I know) but I can damn well tell you that the AK at sub 150m ranges is exceptionally effective when used correctly. By correctly I mean not using the "Spray and Pray" technique we see so commonly amongst the untrained yahoo's in the Stans' or in the Mid., much less the wankers in Africa (Yeah that theater of op's for the US is coming sooner than you think boys).

The AK is a far more proven weapon than the AR… then again, like I said earlier… welcome to the 21st Century. The AR and AK are dated technology, look to the newer far more effective evolutions of these weapons.. H&K G3x series (http://www.hkpro.com/G36.htm), the Israeli Tavor (http://www.israeli-weapons.com/weapo...vor/Tavor.html) and several more modern and modular systems are hitting the field’s en’ mass. Hell even the evolution of a Piston upper for the AR (Friggen Finally a clean AR!) is a huge leap forward for the AR series of weapons. Though I’ve said it a thousand times, the AR is on it’s last legs. There are just too many limitations to the core design. The refinement stage of the long lived weapon is almost at an end. Polymer Barrels, Piston Uppers, Rail systems and attachments (optics, lasers, lights, ect.) have extended it’s life, but it’s about time it gets replaced with a more effective caliber and carriage.

Love all of these weapons, each has their place.. preferably in my safe or on my hip… but folks have to accept that all of the weapons systems mentioned here are capable in their own right at the very least.

--------- Anyone need a slightly used soap box?