Best Long Slide Pistols

Call it a form of bias, but I love big guns, and to be honest, it’s often because I, like many, simply shoot them so much better.

Today we will talk about big handguns, really big handguns…the long bois. These pistols are long slide platforms that keep rising in popularity.

In fact, most companies now provide some form of long slide variant of their popular pistols for a reason. There are tons of options on the market now!

Today, we’ll dive into the long slide world, talk about what they are, the pros and cons, and list our favorite models.

So, keep reading!

THE QUICK LIST

1. Runner-Up Competition LS

   Sig Sauer P226 XFive

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2. Best Competition LS

   FN 509 LS Edge

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3. Also Good Competition Pistol

   CZ TS 2

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4. Best Budget Home Defense

   Canik TP9SFX

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5. Runner Up LS

   Glock G40

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6. Best Hunting LS

   Dan Wesson Bruin

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7. Just for Fun

   Desert Eagle

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Why You Should Trust Us

As a big guy, I like big guns. I served as a Marine machine gunner to purposefully carry the biggest gun in the squad. So, I know a thing or two about the advantages of larger firearms.

I’m an NRA-certified instructor and concealed carry instructor teaching CCW courses in Florida. Not to mention, I’ve been testing, researching, and writing about guns for several years and a handful of publications, including Pew Pew Tactical.

What is a Long Slide Firearm?

Before we dive deep into long-slide firearms, let’s define what they are.

A long-slide firearm is essentially any handgun with a barrel longer than the full-sized offering.

What’s average? Well, it depends on the gun. The average for a Glock full-sized pistol is about 4.5 inches, so anything longer would be a long slide variant. In general, long-slide variants are typically over 5 inches.

Technically, the Sig P365XL is a long slide variant of the P365, but let’s stick to the big boys, the beyond-full-sized guns.

Advantages of a Longer Slide

Why, why, why, why would you want a long-slide variant of your favorite handgun?

To be fair, you might not. I might not be able to convince you to rush out and purchase a long-slide pistol, but I can, at the very least, inform you of the benefits of such a pistol.

Sight Radius

One of the big reasons people love these big pistols is sight radius.

While some may tell you the longer barrel makes the gun more accurate, that’s not exactly true. In fact, barrel length isn’t what makes a gun accurate at all.

Sight radius doesn’t make the gun accurate either, but it makes the gun easier to shoot accurately, if that makes sense.

The distance between the front and rear sight is important for accurate shooting. Your sight deflection minimizes with every extra bit of sight radius.

What does that mean?

Let’s say you are a little off with your sight picture. A slight error can equal inches off target with a short sight radius. As the radius increases, the error decreases.

You might still be a little off where you intend to hit, but you are considerably closer.

Enhanced Control

A longer barrel and slide create a heavier weapon — heavier at the barrel end. This helps enhance control while decreasing recoil and muzzle rise. This means you can keep the gun on target and fire faster with greater accuracy.

With some guns, it takes the recoil out of the equation, and with others, it can make a thumper a bit tamer in the long run.

The extra control can always be beneficial, especially with extra accuracy. In an ideal world, you can shoot fast, and you can shoot straight.

Better Velocity

A longer barrel gives the powder longer to burn, translating into higher velocity. Let’s be 100% real here. It’s not a huge gain in most cases.

However, with certain high-velocity powerhouses like 10mm, it can be 80 to 100 FPS. A higher FPS could mean more energy and penetration, which might be required for something like bear defense.

Who Is a Long Slide Handgun For?

We know the benefits, but where does this handgun fit in the roles a handgun serves?

Competition

Competition and action shooting sports are where you’ll see the big boys often performing. Go to a steel challenge match, and it’s seemingly nothing but big, long-slide handguns.

In this role, they do excel. These handguns provide a significant advantage when wins and losses are decided by fractions of seconds with strict accuracy requirements.

You can shoot them fast and straighter with greater ease. They help eliminate the human error associated with the shooting, which is invaluable.

Plus, while size restrictions exist, most long-slide handguns will fit in the respective box for most categories.

It’s only when you start adding compensators and longer magazines that they might reach category-specific size restraints.

Home Defense

There is no need to conceal a weapon in the home, and there are lots of benefits to using a handgun for home defense.

It’s easy to use one-handed, so you can open or lock doors, call the police, or usher loved ones away from danger. A long-slide handgun allows you to do all and have a weapon that’s arguably better suited for fighting.

As mentioned, bigger guns are easier to shoot, and most modern long-slide handguns allow the attachment of lights, lasers, optics, and kitchen sinks if needed.

Bigger isn’t always better, but bigger is always easier to control.

Duty & Concealed Carry

If you’re a police officer, you aren’t concealing a firearm by any means, so why not carry the biggest, easiest shooting gun?

With that in mind, the duty market is wide open for longer handguns, especially in common platforms from companies like Glock and Sig.

Carrying a long boi is tough for concealed carry, but I have to mention it. It’s possible, and I know a few hardcore guys that swear by their Glock 34 and Surefire U boats.

More power to you if you want to carry a more capable handgun, but it’s not for me.

Best Competition & Home Defense Long Slide Handguns

1. Sig Sauer P226 X5

This all-metal monstrosity weighs a mighty 47.2 ounces empty and delivers that Sig hammer-fired goodness they built a company on.

The P226 X5’s latest variant is specifically aimed at the competitive market and reduces the P226 to a single action-only design.

DA/SA fanboys might not like it, but if you want the best single-action trigger possible, it has to be an SAO. As the name implies, the X5 has a 5-inch barrel, a nice extension from the 4.4-inch barrel the guns typically have.

Shooting a P226 X5 is an event within itself. It’s light recoiling and enjoyable to shoot. The modern variant is optic’s ready and features a rail. Since it’s SAO, the decocker is replaced by an ambidextrous thumb safety.

The finish is beautiful stainless steel, and you get very nice redwood grips. Since it’s a P226, you have tons of grip options.

This is a gun for the discerning shooter — aimed at the competitive market. However, single-action handguns have a long legacy of being capable fighting guns if you need something that is dual purpose.

2. FN 509 LS Edge

If you want a pistol squarely aimed at the competitive market with that long slide goodness, look no further than the FN 509 LS Edge.

FN took the 509 series and added feature after feature to make this a competitive shooter’s dream pistol right out of the box. This is a 9 mm variant and uses a 5-inch barrel to make it a little longer than average but short for a long slide.

The FN 509 LS Edge comes optics ready with a plate system to adapt to dozens of different optics, so there is something for everyone.

FN also used raised suppressor height sights to properly co-witness with your optic. The slide features lightening cuts for reduced recoil and an integrated magwell.

A refined trigger tops the entire thing off, and the FN 509 LS Edge is a rock-solid shooter. It’s been quite popular, and it’s easy to see why. They designed it for the competitive market, and that’s where it shines, but it wouldn’t be out of place for a home defense role.

If you don’t want to part and piece your own gun together, sit back and let FN do it for you.

3. CZ TS 2

Yep, I have a bias, a big one. I love CZ’s handguns and rifles, and the CZ TS 2, aka the Tactical Sport, is one of the best.

As the name implies, it’s designed for competitive shooting for shooters with big budgets and dreams. The TS 2 is their premier competition pistol built on the CZ 75 design.

CZ extended the barrel to 5.28 inches to improve accuracy and control to shave those tenths of a second off your next run time.

Shooters get more than just a gun with the TS 2. You get a blank canvas to build the ultimate competition pistol for your chosen discipline. It’s a highly adaptable pistol that can be anything you want.

My DA/SA homies will most certainly be disappointed again with the SAO design. CZ implements an ambidextrous safety for cocked and locked carry. The trigger delivers a fantastic experience.

It’s uber-light and consistently awesome. A big heavy frame weighs the gun down to 48.5 ounces of recoil-absorbing metal.

It’s a great way to elevate your game and one of my favorite long bois.

We have a full written review and a video review below for more details!

What do you think of the CZ? Rate it below!

4. Canik TP9SFX

Let’s talk about affordability. Long-slide firearms often aren’t affordable.

Due to the market, they are often premium handguns. They tend to be expensive, but the Canik TP9SFX is a lot of slide and barrel for little money.

An MSRP of $550 puts it in the realm of ownership for many shooters. The TP9SFX extends the barrel out to 5.2 inches which makes it one of our shorter long bois but a long boi all the same.

Canik built the TP9SFX with all the stylings of a competition pistol.

We get fancy lightening cuts, fiber optic sights, an improved trigger, optics capability, and a match-grade barrel. Of course, it still has a rail for lights, making it a capable home defense firearm.

When Canik cloned Walther, they did the right thing by cloning their triggers because the TP9SFX features an outstanding trigger.

This long boi is a real bargain and a great shooter. The Canik brand has exploded in popularity for a reason, and I used to be a serious doubter. However, they’ve proven me wrong, and I’ll gladly eat crow about it.

Best Long Slide Handguns for Hunting

4. Glock 40

The Glock 40 isn’t a .40 S&W, but a 10mm. (I know, Glock’s naming conventions are weird.)

The 10mm cartridge lends itself well to longer barrels and long-slide firearms. It’s a great cartridge, and it hits hard. It competes with .357 Magnum loads and even reaches the lower levels of the .41 Magnum.

The Glock 40, specifically the MOS version, is one of the most modern yet affordable options for the 10mm.

A double-stack 15-round magazine with a rail and optic-ready option is quite nice for less than $1,000.

When you dig into the world of 10mm, you can get some hot and heavy loads, and the longer barrel and additional weight help tame the recoil and make the gun pretty pleasant to shoot.

It’s my favorite 10mm on the market, even though it’s the same blocky Glock we’re used to. The Glock 40 is acceptable for hunting, bear defense, and normal self-defense.

6. Dan Wesson Bruin

I’m back on my love on long slide 10mms.

It’s tough not to love such a winning combination, but this time I’m going the opposite route from Glock and delivering a long slide, 10mm…with an M1911 design.

John Browning’s favorite child is reborn in a more modern caliber with the .45 AARP crowding saying, “Back in my day,” faster than a 180-grain projectile moves from a fully powered 10mm load.

The Dan Wesson Bruin is peak long slide 1911. A big 6-inch barrel gives us all the velocity and sight radius we could ever want. Adjustable sights make it easy to tune the precision to ensure accurate shot placement.

Game as large as whitetail deer doesn’t stand a chance against the Bruin.

Dan Wesson built the Bruin from the ground up to cycle those powerful 10mm loads that make factory loads shirk and shrink. The beefy Bruin delivers that power with unbeatable accuracy boosted by a wonderful trigger.

You can keep your hands on with one due to the checkering and excellent grips with the big beavertail to boot.

If you want a long slide M1911, the Bruin will be the model to beat.

7. Desert Eagle

I always like to make my last pick wild, and it doesn’t get much wilder than the Desert Eagle.

Your normal Desert Eagle packs a 6-inch barrel, but the long boi variant features a big 10-inch barrel. It’s not a long slide because the slide didn’t chase sizes, but the barrel did.

Its longer 10-inch model adds a lot of velocity to the mighty powerful rounds the Desert Eagle fires.

The .44 Magnum, .50 AE, .357 Magnun, and .429 DE all benefit from the longer barrel to push as much energy and power as possible.

The Desert Eagle is a massive single-action pistol and is one of the few gas-operated pistols on the market.

It’s a barking beast that’s not afraid of big magnum-powered rounds. That long barrel is topped with a Picatinny rail that makes adding optics easy, and it’s one of the few automatics you can easily add a long eye relief scope for that long-range power.

Is the Desert Eagle super practical? Not really, at least outside of hunting, but boy, oh boy, are they a ton of fun to shoot.

We have a full video review below or a written one if you want to learn more about the Deagle.

Final Thoughts

Long-slide handguns are nothing new, but they have exploded in popularity recently. Bigger isn’t always better, but it often can be.

In the case of the guns above…bigger is way better.

These are my favorite long-slide firearms; what are yours? Share below and let me know. Want some tips on carrying BIG guns…check out our guide to Carrying Full-Size Firearms.