Yes, I've narrowed the field down to a pistol over a revolver. (personal preference) Yes I've narrowed it down to a mid-sized frame based on preference when firing. I can't see carrying a full-size and I hate the way the subcompacts feel in my hand - all of them. Sure they may be easier to carry, but if they are miserable to fire at the range, that takes a lot of the fun out of the sport as well as means I'll probably practice less, which isn't a good thing. I'd rather carry and rely on a weapon I'm comfortable with, even if it means adapting to a little more bulk.
Besides real range time/firing I've held and dry fired just about every semi-auto in three different local shops. I narrowed it down to the two I mentioned based on feel in my hand, reputation of the manufacturer, combination of features. What I was looking for here was (were?) the anecdotes, the personal experiences (first or second hand) such as the jams, trigger issues, magazine problems, ammo sensitivity, nooks and crannies that are hard to clean, etc.
You see, my theory is, if you go on the net and look around at reviews what you're going to see are both ends of the bell curve. Those people that care enough to post a review are going to either be fanboys that think manufacturer X can do no wrong. Or people that had a bad experience and hate Y with a passion. In general, these kinds of reviews are biased and not that useful. They're only useful if they occur a lot - indicating a real problem or a really good product that a lot of people fall in love with. Every product is going to have it's irrational fanboys and detractors. Those kinds of reviews are only useful in a statistical sense. What I'm more interested in are the experiences in the middle of the bell curve - what are they like to live with day by day.
Outstanding. Didn’t want to seem didactic, but I’m a gun nut here at a military base, and I see scores of dumb grunts come home with with their deployment pay or reenlistment bonuses and go straight to the gun store to buy a gun they have never fired. I really feel bad for them after a couple months, when they realize that their gun doesn’t fit them. Whenever a friend of mine wants to buy a gun, I take him to the local indoor range myself, so that he is buying from experience instead of impulse. We all work too hard to spend money on something that doesn’t fit us.
Regardless, it looks like you’ve done all of the homework necessary, so I’ll just jump down off of my soapbox. I’m a commie gun shooter, and since the MP-446C Viking didn’t make your list, I can’t really provide anything else except a “good luck” and happy shooting!
So you’ve done some handling & firing & have narrowed it to those two, and now you want personal anecdotes. Don’t wanna just flip a coin? LOL
When I went on my buying spree, I decided against Glock soon as I handled one. Just didn’t like the boxy grip. But I also think the “trigger safety” is kinda silly. If I want to engage a “don’t shoot” switch on the gun, I want it on the frame.
Since I carry in condition 3 (must rack slide after draw), that really doesn’t matter. But if my CCW gun *were* to travel in condition 1, in possibly a variety of holsters and body sites depending upon my manner of dress (I’m female), it definitely would never be a Glock.
I have the full size PX4 in .40 and like it a lot for fit and reliability. It is the first I reach for headed out to the range & is what I think of as The House Gun. But those darn safety ears on the frame are kinda snaggy on the fingers! LOL I did see one just last week that doesn’t have a frame safety at all, and the more I think on it...hmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Now of course there’s the matching CX4 if you want a carbine to use the same ammo and mags as the pistol. (Maybe not the conceal size, so check first.) But if you’re ambivalent on the two, you can get G19 mags that’ll hold 33 rds, and Kel-Tec makes a carbine, the SU-2000, I think, that fits those and folds in half besides. Cool truck gun, never handled one.
Good luck, and come back with a range report on your purchase!