The video below is one shooter’s rundown of his five favorite striker-fired pistols. The picks and the range time are his, not mine, but I’ve sold, carried, or worked on every gun on this list, so I’ll add my own take as we go. I’m Lance Rankin, owner and gunsmith at Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas, and striker-fired 9mms are the bread and butter of this shop.
5. Canik TTI Combat
His number five, and I get the appeal. Canik packs a lot into the box: a single-port compensator, spiral-cut barrel, fiber optic front sight, optic plates, and better grip texture than earlier models. He calls it possibly the best trigger Canik has done, and after dry-firing a few at the counter, I won’t argue. At roughly $999 it’s the priciest Canik, but you’re getting close to a race gun out of the box. The Taran Tactical tie-in from the John Wick movies doesn’t hurt sales either.
4. CZ P10F
The old value king. Full-size polymer frame, 4.5-inch barrel, 19 rounds flush. He praises the trigger and how high you can grip it, which matches what my customers tell me. He quotes street prices in the $300 to $400 range; that’s on the aggressive end, so expect to pay a bit more most places, but even then it’s one of the better deals going in a full-size 9mm. The undercut trigger guard is a small touch that shooters with big hands will appreciate.
3. Glock 34
No surprises here. The 34 has been the default competition Glock for a long time, and his reasons are the classic ones: unmatched parts support, cheap magazines, and boring reliability. He admits the feature set feels dated next to newer guns at around $700, and he’s right. You buy a 34 for the track record, not the spec sheet. If you’re picking a Glock frame size for carry rather than competition, my Glock 19 vs Glock 17 write-up covers that ground.
2. Walther PDP
His number two, and the gun I’d argue deserves more attention than it gets. The 5-inch PDP with Walther’s dynamic trigger is genuinely crisp with a short reset, and the factory stippling is better than most. He’s added silicone carbide grip work to his, which is a competition habit, not a necessity. The PDP often comes in under the Glock 34 on price, and it’s a lot of pistol for the money.
1. Smith & Wesson M&P Pro-Comp
His top pick is the newest gun on the list: Smith & Wesson’s first factory-comped M&P, with a single-port comp, an HD front sight behind it, and the Performance Center 2.0 trigger. He’s upfront that it had only been in his hands a couple of weeks at filming, so treat the ranking as a first impression rather than a proven verdict. That said, the M&P platform underneath has earned its reputation, and the backstrap system fits more hands than almost anything else out there.
Where I land
It’s a sensible list. My honest counterpoint: for most folks walking into my shop, a factory comp and a race trigger are wants, not needs, and that money does more good spent on ammo and training. If you’re shopping your first striker gun on a budget, start with my best 9mm handguns under $500 roundup, or see SIG P320 vs Glock 19 if you’re cross-shopping the big duty pistols. And when you find the right gun online, we handle FFL transfers here in Roanoke for $40 plus a $10 NICS check.
Lance Rankin is the owner and Chief Gunsmith of Western Sport, a family-run Type 07 FFL and Class 3/SOT dealer in Roanoke, Texas, serving shooters since 2007. Born and raised in Texas with over 50 years of experience handling firearms, Lance purchased Western Sport in 2017 and turned his lifelong passion into his profession. He specializes in AR-15 and AR-10 platform rifles, manufactures Western Sport’s own AR-15 line under the Rankin Industries brand, and runs the shop’s in-house Cerakote coating operation. When he’s not behind the counter or the workbench, you’ll find him on his ranch deep into the night, hunting coyotes with an AR-15 and thermal optics. Lance holds an MBA and personally shoots and tests the products Western Sport sells.
