Courtesy Joe Grine

GLOCK has advertised its pistols as representing “perfection”. Of course, that hasn’t stopped GLOCK from releasing three additional “generations” of improvements on that perfection, which suggests that the earlier generations weren’t really “perfection” after all.  Nonetheless, many other firms have set out to make more perfect-er versions of perfection. The German firm Schmeisser GmbH is the latest firm to try its hand at one-upping Gaston’s gang . . .

Courtesy Schmeisser

 

Courtesy Jeremy S.

The major differences between the Schmeisser SLP-9 and a typical GLOCK are as follows:

  • No need to pull trigger to disassemble the SLP-9
  • Double strike capability
  • Truly ambidextrous mag release
  • Steel magazines
  • Steel guide rod
  • Reinforcement for shooting +P+ rounds.
  • Short reset trigger

The Schmeisser SLP-9 also features a loaded chamber indicator, tennifer-treated metal, real-deal steel sights set in dovetails:

Courtesy Jeremy S.

There is a steel lanyard ring included in the base of the pistol grip:

Courtesy Jeremy S.

The two photos below show the beefed up slide rails:

Courtesy Jeremy S.

 

Courtesy Joe Grine

The magazine is an all-steel 17- round affair:

Courtesy Joe grine

The Schmeisser SLP-9 ships with three backstraps, a nice quality cleaning kit, and a way-better-than-average soft case:

Courtesy Joe Grine

I’d expect a pistol equipped like the SLP-9 to retail somewhere in the $650-700 range, but the Schmeisser rep says that the street price for these guns should be in the $450-500 range. If that’s the case, I think this pistol will be a serious contender.

 

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58 COMMENTS

    • Same. I hate Glocks (ugly and horrible triggers), but few companies make a 10mm double stack pistol. If they make this in 10mm, I’ll grab one as soon as I can.

  2. Unfortunately it looks like it will still feel as though your holding a piece of lumber in your hand with the squared off edges of the grip. That’s the one reason I’ll never own another glock.

    • Some people feel they are blocky and unwieldy, and some people are lucky enough to to have hands that fit them perfectly. I’m one of the latter

      • I wasn’t sold on handling that 2×4 grip for years, especially after owning an original XD. I finally took the plunge on a G23 and dremeled just a bit of material where my strong hand thumb knuckle wraps around the beavertail and along the left side of the grip. It made a world of difference. Still not as perfect as an XD or PPQ, but close enough.

    • Steel mags would at least give them the opportunity to make the grips a bit narrower and more directional.

    • I wasnt a big fan of the G19 ergos, then I put one of the hogue hand all grip sleeves on it. All the right curves in all the right places.

  3. Still looks like it has the ridiculous grip angle of the glock that points high. Give me a glock with the grip angle of the 1911 and I’m sold. Oh wait, the M&P

    • Your wrist angle is determined not by the plastic protrusion containing the mag, but by the difference in height between the top of the trigger guard, and the top of the backstrap. Bringing the trigger higher, closer to the slide, is a difficult problem, as it is a crowded area in a locked breech gun. And the current fad and fashion is for the backstrap to go all the way to within a milimeter of the slide, in the name of “low bore axis.”

      So, your wrist angle is pretty much fixed. Which makes it rather disingenuous for a gun maker concerned about rational ergonomics to not angle the physical grip such that it corresponds to the angle the shooter’s hand is already in. Because, even if they decided to turn the gun into a boomerang shape, with the physical grip pointing forward, the wrist angle would still be the same, as long as the top of the trigger, and the top of the backstrap, is fixed. Such are the laws of ergonomics.

      Sig, in their P320, has “solved” your problem. But only at the cost of not looking as fashionably “looow booore axeees” as most other striker guns.

  5. Nice I guess, I like the price, but it’s not a German gun, it’s made in CRNA GORA (Montenegro) for whatever that’s worth. Also called the TM-9 by Tara. I guess they are doing like Springfield to bring a fairly unknown gun (hopefully decent) out of the shadows.
    http://www.tara-perfection.com/tm-9/

    • After staring at it for a minute, it has been around the world for a few years. There’s a review in English on a Philippine blog from a few years ago which I won’t link to here, but one can readily find.

      Ownership of the company is murky, but that’s hardly unusual. Curious as to why the Germans are bringing this, and why change the name.

      • That’s easy. A recognizably German name evokes quality, workmanship, engineering, and trust.

        It would be much more honest to use the original name and not try to hide that this is a Montenegro product rather than a German product. Yugoslavia-region firearms production has a solid history, there is no shame in the gun being from Montenegro. At least, there wasn’t, until they tried to hide it.

        • You mean like Springfield Armory? This is how you take a $200 gun, market it at $500, and eventually sell it for 6-700, like the “XD” line. Those were no different than the Canik, except they cashed in on an “American” sounding name. In this case, they are cashing in on Teutonic tutelage instead. This may be a perfectly good gun, but Glock has an entire industry and aftermarket that support it’s many variations. There have been many guns that were going to knock Glock off of it’s lofty perch, but it still has not happened. They seem to stay one step ahead slowly adding little innovations and variations along the way. Haters are going to hate, but the LAST gun I’ll give up would be one of my Glocks. (Especially one of the ones that was lost at sea)

        • I know what you’re saying, but it’s the interwebz age. Everybody will know in 30 seconds that it’s a rebadge, which (to me anyway), sounds worse than the ‘new gun from someone obscure’. Montenegro is not Yugoslavia, and really had nothing as far as firearms go, until this ‘Tara’ concern bought up a small fuze maker a few years ago. However, you’re also the second person to think that way today, so maybe it doesn’t matter. Since then apparently money has flowed, and product is being designed and sold. Although apparently plant safety isn’t the best on the fuze side of operations, there’s been like 3 explosions – ‘natch, who knows what kind of shake-down is happening there, it’s Eastern Europe.

          A couple of decades ago, Bell&Ross started selling watches. They were really spiffy, but they were just Sinns, with a Bell&Ross logo. Calibre, case, everything. Just more expensive than a Sinn. Those with a clue just bought a Sinn, the rest paid twice as much for B&R. Go figure. In this case, they left the Tara ‘T’ (or windmill blade, or whatever) on the baseplate of the mag. So they aren’t trying too hard to conceal it, or they’re just not that smart.

        • If am flabbergasted every time I read someone describing rebranded guns from the eastern bloc as “cheap guns with big margins”.
          I live in Italy and a HS or a Grand Power cost just a hair less than glocks, around 500E, roughly 540$

        • Reminds me of Kahr. A made up name to take advantage of the positive attributes folks associate with German engineering. The concept and design of the original steel framed models always appealed to me, and I might have been able to have gotten past the church connection and bought one if he’d just been honest and put “Moon” on the slide, but I just never could get past the phoniness and obviously intended deception.

  6. Non-turkish competitor to Canik’s TP-9. No one is coming after Glock in the near future. It would take a blunder of EOTech proportions!

  7. I think they actually improved where glock needs it the most. The looks department. That’s the best looking glock I’ve ever seen.

    • I swear my life and Grandchildren on Glock…..but you had me laughing so hard (because you are correct!!!!!)…..I almost peed myself!!!!!!! ROFLMAO 🙂

  9. “GLOCK has advertised its pistols as representing “perfection”. Of course, that hasn’t stopped GLOCK from releasing three additional “generations” of improvements on that perfection, which suggests that the earlier generations weren’t really “perfection” after all.”

    I’ve posted it before, and I’ll post it again: Glocks are not perfection. Chevys are not built like a rock. Budweiser is not the king of beers. Nationwide is not on your side. The best tires in the world do not have Goodyear written on them. Wheaties is not the breakfast of champions. M&Ms will melt in both your mouth your hand. What happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas. Gillette is not the best a man can get. Maxwell House isn’t even good at first drop. And plenty of things run just like a damn Deere.

    It’s called marketing, Glock isn’t the only one who has it; welcome to America.

  10. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
    If I must have one striker fired gun in my collection.
    The Canik TPS is doing it fine for me.

  11. That’s actually cheaper than I’ve seen Glocks run in the past. I can definitely see it taking off as a popular carry gun.

    But I still love my gen 3 Glock 19 that I bought for 419 used, plus I already have spare 15 round mags and a 33 round stick mag.

    • Glock will sell for as low as they have to, to institutional buyers. It will be very difficult to get a foothold in that market with little more to differentiate it than a lower price. Which will mean the main thrust of the accessories market stays Glocky. And with it, most civilians, as well. Unless Glock gets too greedy, at least.

  13. Say more about that double-strike capability?

    All double-strike capable pistols I know of are DA/SA action. This also advertises a short reset, so can I infer that what happens is that when the slide cycles, the striker (this is strike-fired, right?) is pre-cocked, and the trigger has a fairly short, light pull, but if the trigger is pulled on an empty or non-firing chamber, the trigger is capable of doing a full DA pull. This is quite different from a glock.

    All the DA/SA pistols I’ve used have been hammer-fired. Are there other striker-fired DA/SA pistols on the market?

    What are the trigger pull weights and length of travel in both modes?

    In any case, I doubt I’d be enticed to switch to something that’s almost exactly the same as a Glock, because one thing Glock has going for it is the ease of finding mags, holsters, barrels and all other sorts of aftermarket parts.

    • The Walther P99 (in later generations denoted P99 AS) is a true DA/SA striker which utilizes Walthers “anti stress” trigger. Loading and racking the slide will set the trigger in “anti stress” mode. This is akin to a very nice two stage rifle trigger. It has about .5 inches of slack with virtually no resistance, then a glass rod break of under .1 inches at about 4 pounds, then a short reset of less than .1 inch before you can fire again. Every other shot will be in single action mode, which feels identical except the initial first stage has less take up. Pressing the decock button on the slide places the gun in double action. First shot is the same length as the AS mode but much heavier at about 9 pounds because you’re cocking the striker. Every subsequent shot is in SA. If the gun is in DA, the slide can be pulled back about .3 inches which will cock the striker and put it in AS mode. It’s all kindof confusing until you lay hands on one but it’s a really ingenious system that is fascinating.

  16. … because I’ve always said, “You know, this Glock really would be perfect if it had a landyard ring in the butt of the grip, and steel magazines.

    Sheesh. If you’re going to buy a Glock, you may as well get a real one, with thousands of aftermarket parts to fit it.

  17. Double strike capability is for dummies. If your weapon does not fire when you pull the trigger, you should do a malfunction clearance immediately. You don’t stand there like an idiot and keep pulling the trigger.

  21. Yea, verily, and the teeming masses moiling in their hovels did cry out: “Forsooth, send us another goddamn plastic-handled striker-fired nine millimeter so that we may be content and peace will be upon the seas of firearms storms!”

    • Dennis, No new guns are ever going to be “california compliant” unless “california compliant” legally changes. Period. I’m not even exaggerating, there is no way for any gun currently manufactured to become “california compliant”. Only guns you can buy are on the list, and the list keeps getting shorter every year. There’s literally no ability to add a new gun to the list.

  23. Umm, no. Lacking a feature, price, or quality advantage I can’t see a reason why I’d want to buy ine.

  26. I hope this second golden age of wondernines never ends…..that way, the good pistols stand out and separate themselves from the pack while the absolutely shitty ones get sifted out.

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