With summer approaching that brings us warmer weather and new options to carry firearms! We might be rockin’ cargo shorts versus parkas, and we may be looking for smaller guns to be rockin’ as well. So as we begin May we have made it into our 7th edition of the Reader’s Choice Awards! For the month of May, we want you all to vote on the “BEST Compact Striker Fired Pistol.” We will later define for our voting what a Compact actually is in our eyes, but for now, we want to see a barrage of Comments, arguments, and possibly compliments to people’s suggestions of what is the “BEST Compact Striker Fired Pistol.”

This is the 7th installment for our Reader’s Choice Awards.  Based on feedback from our Subject-Matter-Experts, which are all of our beloved readers, we play around with the selection criteria and nominations.  Many of you comment every month that you felt certain products were missing and should have been included on past lists. So in general:

• Each month we are going to host a poll that you can vote on
• Each month will be a different category (Optics, Revolver, Bolt Action Rifle, Concealed Carry Pistol, etc)
• The list of entries will be curated from the top sales in the preceding six months.  This is solely to introduce some objectivity into it; there must be some popularity if it tops the sales list (or is horrifically expensive)
• A random winner will be picked from voters and that winner will get some swag
• You can vote for your choice every day while the poll is running and you can earn an extra entry for telling us WHY you chose it (we will pick some of the most creative and highlight them during the results post)
• At the end of the month, we will post the winning choice (along with the other results) and the company will get some bragging rights (if they want them). They do not get a swag pack.

You, the readers, get to suggest items that should be part of this poll.  We will troll our own comments section and look for suggestions that have four (4) or more “upvotes,” and those will be added to the poll.  Since you will be allowed to vote daily, there is always a chance that your suggestion could make it to the top! Even if you are late to the game in making a suggestion, we have already seen late entries gain momentum and make it very high in the voting!

To begin, we will attempt to establish a baseline for your suggestions and voting. When we state what is the “BEST Compact Striker Fired Pistol” that could mean a lot of things to a lot of different people so we are going to set some parameters. To define the word “Compact” for the Reader’s Choice voting, we are going to say that is any pistol that has a 4″ barrel or shorter, AND has a staggered or double-stacked magazine. You might argue, “Why to throw the double-stack mag stipulation in the definition?!” Well… *Spoiler Alert*… in the coming months we will have you vote for a Sub-Compact also so we need to separate a whole faction of firearms from the herd.

So for this month’s Reader’s Choice of “BEST Compact Striker Fired Pistol” think 4″ or less, and a double-stack magazine. If you have some wild-hair suggestion, that is totally cool with us, but you need a good argument to back it up in the Comments; otherwise, your fellow readers will not “Upvote” your suggestion.

Like always, suggestions can run the gauntlet from the el’ cheapos to the ultra expensive. The only problem is you need a rational argument for why you made your selection. So cheap or expensive, household name brand or specialty company… we will take any and all suggestions for “BEST Compact Striker Fired Pistol.” Other than that, we as always are open to your suggestions through the Comments section. If you wholly believe something we did not mention is deserving of being on the list and winning… Let us know!

Once again, please Vote daily… provide us in the Comments with your own suggestions for the MANUFACTURER, MODEL NAME, and any other valuable information related to your suggestion so we all know what you are rooting for as the BEST Compact Striker Fired Pistol… and entertain these pistols to start (in no specific order)…

Smith & Wesson M&P 9 M2.0 Compact 9mm [MSRP $569] – 4″ Stainless Steel Barrel w/ Armornite® Finish, 15 Round Capacity, 27 Ounces, 4 Interchangeable Palmswell Grip Inserts

Smith & Wesson M&P 9 M2.0 4″ Compact [MSRP $569]

Glock Gen5 19 9mm [MSRP $649] – 4″ Glock Marksman Barrel (GMB) w/ nDLC (Nitride Diamond Like Coating) Finish, 15 Round Capacity, 21.52 Ounces, 4 Modular Backstraps

Glock Gen5 19 9mm [MSRP $649]

Springfield Armory XD Mod.2 3″ 9mm [MSRP $559] – 3″ Hammer-Forged Steel Barrel w/ Melonite Finish, 16 Round Capacity, 26 Ounces, Fiber Optic Front & Low Profile Combat Rear

Springfield Armory XD Mod.2 3″ 9mm [MSRP $559]

Walther PPQ M2 SC 9mm [MSRP $649] – 3.5″ Barrel w/ Tenifer Finish, 15 Round Capacity, 21.2 Ounces, Only 0.1″ of Travel for Trigger to Reset

Walther PPQ M2 SC 9mm [MSRP $649]

Heckler & Koch VP9SK 9mm [MSRP $719] – 3.39″ Cold Hammer-Forged Barrel w/ Polygonal Bore Rifling, 15 Round Capacity, 23.07 Ounces, Fully Ambidextrous Controls

Heckler & Koch VP9SK 9mm [MSRP $719]

Ruger American Compact Pro 9mm [MSRP $579] – 3.55″ Barrel w/ Black Nitride Finish, 28.7 Ounces, 17 Round Capacity, Modular Wrap-Around Grip System

Ruger American Compact Pro 9mm [MSRP $579]

Beretta APX Compact 9mm [MSRP $575] – 3.7″ Barrel, 13 Round Capacity, 26.4 Ounces, Low Bore Axis

Beretta APX Compact 9mm [MSRP $575]

Sig Sauer P365 Micro-Compact 9mm [MSRP $599] – 3.1″ Stainless Steel Barrel w/ Nitron Finish, 10 Round Capacity, 17.8 Ounces, XRAY3 Day & Night Sights

Sig Sauer P365 Micro-Compact 9mm [MSRP $599]

Do you believe all of these guns we mentioned deserve being in the discussion?… Does this initial list suck?… Or do you agree with it?… What are your suggestions?… In any case, vote, let us know your thoughts in the Comments below, and make your suggestions for what you think would be appropriate!

If you want to see a different product added to the voting list, make sure to include the Manufacturer and Model of the product. Only entries with 4 or more “upvotes” will be included.