Good analogy. I'm kinda leaning to a Canik TTI Combat. It fits my hand good. Gun has pretty good reviews and it comes with alot of stuff like holster, mags, cleaning kit, etc for under $1k. At my age, my skills levels are good, but a $3k gun won't shoot any better for me than that Canik.The endless equipment search. Been there and done that. Buy a Glock 34 or any of the other well known brands. Shoot it until you "might" feel like the gun is holding you back and you convince yourself you "need" a more expensive pistol. Personally, I got tired of cleaning $100 mags every time I dropped them during USPSA matches. Single Stack 1911's are also available for reasonable prices in 9mm. One of my favorites that I shot the best was an STI Trojan. Some of us, me included, like to buy nice pistols we hardly ever shoot. Save the money for ammo and don't worry so much about the equipment. You can always sell it later here and move up to that $3000 pistol you convince yourself you need. As my dad used to say when I got caught up in the golf equipment race, Jack Nicklaus can still beat you with a $99 set of kmart clubs.