One reader asked if I would consider Beretta 92-type pistols to be "Large Frame". Another asserted:
I think of "small frame" and "large frame" more from the perspective of the gun's overall dimensions. To me, a Glock 17 is a "large frame" and a Smith & Wesson 4516 would be a "small frame." Similarly, a Government-sized 1911 in 9mm would be a "large frame" and a Para P-12 in .45 ACP would be a "small frame".
I can see where the confusion stems from.
The whole large/small thing only applies to pistols where the same basic gun was made in two separate frame sizes, one for shorter cartridges and one for longer ones. The most notable example there would be the Glock.
From the introduction of the G20 and G21 in '91 until the launch of the little .380 G42 in 2014, Glocks only came in two basic frame sizes, which Glock referred to as "Large" and "Standard". While they used a large number of common parts, certain things like firing pins* or magazine releases were specific to the .45/10mm guns or the 9mm/.40 guns. (There was the quasi single stack G36, but it was just an asterisk; a large frame gun that couldn't use the magazines or magazine releases from the other large frame guns.)
This same situation applied to other recent families of handguns like the Springfield Armory XD and the Smith & Wesson M&P line, where there was a whole group of 9mm/.40/.357SIG pistols that were all dimensionally identical, and then a bigger brother chambered for .45ACP.
The granddaddy of this would probably be back during the Second Generation era of the Smith & Wesson traditional double action autos, when the Model 645 debuted as a scaled-up Model 639 for the classic .45 caliber. From then, all the way through the Third Generation of Smiths, you had one set of pistols in .45 and 10mm, and then another in 9mm and .40. If you were shopping for anything from grips to holsters, that was the first, most basic division in Smifs.
With SIG Sauer, this whole era came to an end with their current era of polymer-framed pistols with removable lockwork. All P250's or P320's, regardless of caliber, use the same chassis. The P365 uses another.
Glock, who traditionally tried to make as many different sandwiches with as few ingredients as possible (back during the Gen3 era, the G17, G17L, G22, G24, G31, G34, G35, and G37 all used the same recoil spring assembly) must be itching at the number of variants currently in their catalog and aching to consolidate things back down again.
*Yes, you know it's a striker and I know it's a striker, but Glock calls it a "firing pin".
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