Most people consider the Glock 17 and SIG 226 to be full-size service pieces. However, if you look at their dimensions, they're almost exactly the same size as a Commander. (With the SIG P226, a fat grip and wide slide do bulk up the gun a bit.) However, though we could well place the G17 and P226 in the middleweight class if we wanted, I bow to the common view and class them as service guns.

Sleek and snagless SIG: The middleweight P239 SAS (SIG Anti-Snag) is a super-sleek, dehorned model from the SIG Custom Shop. It is designed specifically for concealed carry.

In the middleweights we finally see handguns chambered for service cartridges (.38 Special, .357 Magnum, 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .45 GAP) with enough size and weight that they're easily manipulated for anything we may need to do in self-defense. Draw speed, reloading speed and ease, rate of accurate aimed fire--all are there in the quantities we'd want in a real-world emergency. And the overall size of the gun is such that it may be concealed quite easily by the reasonably dedicated gun carrier.

SERVICE GUNS
These guns were designed from the ground up for police and military service without size or concealability being an overriding concern. They were intended primarily to be easy to shoot, with the expectation they'd be carried in the open on a belt. Due to their size, using a service-size gun as your daily concealment weapon is a proposition for only the most dedicated gun carrier. And yet, there are a lot of people out there doing it.

For instance, despite the existence of smaller options in 1911s, almost everyone I know who carries a 1911 concealed on a daily basis carries a Government Model. This is an extremely popular concealed carry handgun despite the fact that it's a big, heavy piece.

For some sociocultural reason I don't pretend to understand, in Washington State where I reside the 1911 Government Model .45 is an extremely popular carry gun. If I had to take a guess, I'd say it has something to do with the fact that this is a very rich area for IPSC shooting, and has been for decades. I've been told the Renton, Washington, IPSC club is one of the oldest in North America. A few years ago when famous firearms instructor John Farnam taught a class in my area, looking at class attendees' guns, he said, "I haven't seen this many cocked-and-locked .45s in one place since the last time I went to Gunsite." In my opinion, most of these people would be better served by a steel-framed Commander, but there it is.

There are so many companies, both big factories and custom shops, producing 1911 Government Models these days, it almost seems it would be easier to name the few companies that don't build one. The major players today are Kimber, Springfield Armory, Para-Ordnance and Smith & Wesson on the factory-gun side and Wilson Combat, Ed Brown, Les Baer and Nighthawk Custom among the smaller, high-end shops.