The Colt Detective Special was probably the original, modern, concealable handgun. S&W jumped into the market for concealable handguns with its Chief Special that evolved in to the once definitive off-duty handgun: the Model 36. The Model 60 was the stainless version of the Model 60.
When I began my bad guy catching gig in '82, I bought a Model 60. I lived close to the Pacific shoreline, so I opted for stainless, but I've always preferred blued steel. My Model 60 is closing in on its 40th birthday.
The Models 36 and 60 had/have integral sights that weren't/aren't really sights. Those guns are known as belly guns. They were designed for extremely close self-defense when the wise option of not engaging isn't available. They are definitive point-and-shoot handguns; hence their primitive sights. At breath smelling distance, precise aiming isn't an option.
I've retired my Model 60. It's obsolete as a life saving tool. I've replaced it with the geometrically superior Springfield Armory EMP 3 9MM. It is far more reliable than any revolver. It holds twice as many rounds. I can reload another 9 within seconds w/o having to take my eyes of off threats, yes, threats. It's far too common to confront more than one marauding bad guy. My Model 60 is a one-bad-guy handgun. I would have to divert attention away from a threat to reload it. That would be a potentially fatal tactical disadvantage.
While one could categorize the EMP 3 as a belly gun, it isn't. It is extremely accurate. But I'm sticking to my game plan as I was trained: if I have to precisely align sights to hit a threat, he'd probably be at a distance that would offer me the life-saving option of running away. A gunfight means a bad guy wants me dead, reduced to evidence of murder, and autopsied the following morning. There is nothing in that equation that appeals to me. Hence, if Rule One (The only know way of surviving a gunfight is not getting into one.) isn't an option, I'd be all over Rule Two: DON'T GET SHOT.
But for weight, I'd much prefer my Springfield Armory TRP .45 Auto. But it's too heavy for urban carry.
This has excellent substitute for an EMP 3 written all over ir:
https://www.springfield-armory.com/...stom-handguns/1911-compact-carry-9mm-handgun/
Based upon my actual experience, it's as easy to carry a full-size 1911-A1 .45 Auto as a smaller version. Hence, if I were going to urban carry a .45 Auto, it'd be a full-size TRP.
The point is gun magazines are entertainment. Opinions are presented as facts when they're not. If you're looking for factual law enforcement info about self-defense handguns, my advice would be to head to a library and access professional law enforcement journals.
The linked article is entertainment. It's nothing more than opinion.
My theory is the US Military opted for the 9MM handgun, except for specialized units, because modern battle rifles have forced handguns in to obsolescence. I'd much rather carry more magazines for an H&K 416 than any handgun. When the clip-reloaded Garand ruled battlefields, the 1911-A1 was necessary. Now a solder can reload a 30 round mag is probably less time that would be required to get a handgun on a threat.
The same applies to the recent trend of law enforcement agencies reverting to/going with the 9MM. All the rage in entertainment magazines focuses on opinions that technological advancements in bullet technology has elevated the 9MM's efficacy to the .40 S&W and .45 Auto. I've yet to be exposed to peer reviewed scientific hypothesis proved fact to support that opinion.
Here's how it works in law enforcement. It costs governmental entities about a million dollars to put a cop on a beat to protect life, protect property, suppress crime, and respond to calls for service. A dead cop becomes a liability to other cops, not to mention the obvious: a dead cop can't save anyone's life. Law enforcement agencies -generally- will issue a standardized handgun to their cops. However, their cops will have options of carrying handguns other than their agencies' issued handguns. My local law enforcement agency, which is exceptionally professional at proactive law enforcement (no BLM and Antifa riots), issues its cops the Glock 22 .40 S&W. But its cops can carry agency approved handguns chambered for 9MM, .40 S&W, and .45 Auto.
Cops must possess elevated analyses skills, and elevated reasoning and logical skills, essential requirements for cogently supporting logical theses that crimes were committed and identified and collected evidence links the arrested or identified suspect to the crime. In common parlance, it's known as probable cause to arrest. Extrapolating cops information processing skills to handguns, they know what will most likely save their lives. It is a tenuous inference that the 9MM equals efficacy of either the .40 S&W or the .45 Auto based upon a law enforcement agency's decision to standardize its issued handgun in the form of a 9MM version. Efficacy inference would be infinitely more substantial were one to assess handguns and cartridges officers choose to carry to save their lives.
I can discern logic of a 15 round .40 S&W. Not having to reload is a huge tactical advantage. I've never been an aficionado of the 9MM. I'm old school when the then new S&W Model 59 was all the rage in law enforcement. The 9MM cartridge had a less than enviable (euphemism for it didn't work) rap sheet for stopping threats to cops' lives.
The last on-duty weapon I was issued was an H&K USP .45 Auto. It was a magnificent and totally reliable handgun. I hated it. It was HUGE and HEAVY. I begged to return to my Sig P229 .40 S&W. Nope. Our chief was intransigent and omniscient. He made a hasty decision without consulting his cops who were adversely affected by his hasty and irrational decision. He was forced to grant variance to a petite female cop who was issued the much more easy to carry and deploy single-stack version of the H&K USP .45 Auto.
The point of the aforementioned paragraph is that an agency issued handgun does not imply that it's equal to or superior to other handguns and cartridges. One would have to read reams of research material to determine agencies' bases for decisions.
If I had to stat anew, assuming I would pursue the same line of work, I would want to carry the completely reliable and extremely accurate Springfield Armory 1911-A1 .45 Auto.
My EMP 3 9MM is the first 9MM handgun I've owned. As a belly gun with vastly superior ability, the 9MM was the logical choice. From my actual experience, large bore cartridges aren't compatible with "shorty" versions. 230 grains of .45 +P ammo is a lot of cartridge to tame in a small barreled handgun. Even with 147 Fed HST LE ammo, I can rapid fired my EMP 3 without recoil yanking its muzzle from a silhouette, which translate to a potentially life-saving tactical advantage.
The above is a winded version of responding to the linked article author's opinion of best single stack 9MM handguns. My opinion, which is at least if not more valid than the author's opinion is the Springfield Armory EMP 3 is the best single stack 9MM for concealed carry self-defense.
BTW, a retired cop friend (we worked for the same So Cal agency) has purchased an EMP 3 9MM based upon my opinion of it having no equal. Lexi, Springfield Armory's Law Enforcement Customer Service professional, took excellent care of my friend. She absolutely loves her EMP 3 9MM, infinitely more than her Glock 19. She's told me she's hot on the trail of a Springfield Armory TRP .45 Auto for use while she's exploring Mother Nature's Majesty. She has told me that she'd feel much more safe with a TRP.45 Auto if, God forbid, she'd cross paths with a mean critter.
BTW, my retired cop friend and I took a non-law enforcement friend shooting. He has a target version of a Springfield Armory 1911-A1. He's a target shooter. He could not stop putting rounds through my retired cop friend's EMP 3 9MM. He told us that after shooting her handgun, he was going to buy one. He was astonished by its accuracy and complete reliability.
In my opinion, the best single stack 9MM handgun: Springfield Armory EMP 3 9MM. I will cop to having zero experience with Springfield Armory's Custom Shop 4" 9MM. That assuredly is a good thing. I want one, yet I've never seen one other than in photos. But then again, politicians ruling the totalitarian state of CA probably have prevented We the People from owning copies of it.
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