The Beretta PX4 Storm is a double-action-to-single-action 9mm built for duty and home defense. Beretta still lists it, and its barrel turns about 30 degrees to unlock instead of tilting, which keeps the bore low in the hand through the whole cycle.

The safety lever sits on both sides of the slide and both decocks the hammer and stays on as a safety, with an automatic firing pin block behind it. Three backstraps cover small, medium and large hands, and the magazine release moves to either side or swaps for a large or extended button. The three-dot sights lift out for taller or different types. The magazine holds 17 rounds behind a 4-inch barrel, in a 7.55-inch pistol 5.51 inches tall at 27.7 oz, with a Picatinny rail under the barrel for a light. Nothing is cut for an optic.

If you're cross-shopping, the Beretta 92FS is the alloy-framed full-size version of the same double-action idea, with a 4.9-inch barrel, 15 rounds and the open-top slide, and it is a longer gun all round. The HK P30 has an MSRP of $949, holds 15 rounds at 26.08 oz with a rear decocking button instead of a slide lever, and its grip panels change in three places where this one changes in one.