Hand gun

[Jay]

Well don't know if I lost my mind, that is up for debate, but tomorrow I am buying my first handgun, 2PM. Suggestions?

[Andreuccio]

Re: Hand gun

Well don't know if I lost my mind, that is up for debate, but tomorrow I am buying my first handgun, 2PM. Suggestions?

I suggest you try a bunch out before you invest several hundred dollars. At the firing range I go to they have many different brands and models you can rent, so you can get a feel for some of them. Alternately, you might get friends, or friends of friends, to let you try their guns out.

My understanding is the best three brands are Glock, HK, and Sig Sauer, with the Glock being the least expensive and the Sig the most expensive between them. You need to decide what caliber ammo you want to use. Also, do you want a full size gun or something less conspicuous? I chose the HK 9mm P2000. I wanted a compact size, and the HK fit my hand much better than the Glocks. The Sigs were more than I wanted to spend. I chose 9mm because, although it has less potential stopping power than larger caliber rounds, you can fit more rounds into a clip, and the rounds are much less expensive, which is a consideration if you're going to be doing much practicing.

If there's a firing range near you, they undoubtedly have firearms instruction offered. Why don't you get a few lessons under your belt so you have a better idea what you want and what works for you before you make a decision?

[c1ue]

Re: Hand gun

If you're looking to protect yourself from the ravening, post collapse hordes, I suggest the .357 magnum revolver.

Penetration is useful, and the .357 will not be deterred by most forms of armor. The gun itself is also very low maintenance. Stainless steel is good.

The .357 also is nice because you can shoot .38 specials out of it, cheaper for when you don't need the big magnum force bullets.

The glocks, sig sauers, berettas, etc are all high capacity autoloaders, but can jam much more easily and are not repairable except by specialists.

If you're going to go for that high tech crap, an AR 15 is much better.

In terms of ammo, the .357 is pretty expensive, but you'll find that there isn't really such a thing a 'cheap ammo' for large caliber anyway.

Alternatively if you can get a P90, these would pretty much keep off the hordes with ease

http://www.remtek.com/arms/fn/p90/index.htm

But the best choice? http://www.lakesideguns.com/

.22 full autofire belt fed.
Cheap ammo.
Expensive gun though.

[strittmatter]

Re: Hand gun

This is a Ruger SP101 .357 revolver. I bought it from my local chief of police a couple of years ago. His wife had carried it around in her purse but he decided to get her something different. He also had a Glock at the time, offered it to me for about 40 cents on the dollar, I wish I'd snagged it too.

This .357 is a compact, tight and accurate little unit. What's fun is loading it with shot-shell bullets (mini shotgun shells that spray out mini bb's) for snakes, turtles, bankers & crap. Getting blasted with a shot-shell round would very unlikely kill me, but it would be a lasting "impression" no doubt and I would have to strongly consider changing my handle to Therealmetalman.

[GRG55]

Re: Hand gun

I think I'm going to stop crossing the border...

[Sharky]

Re: Hand gun

Colt Combat Commander .45. Super-reliable, excellent mechanics and redundant safety features -- although, as mentioned in an earlier post, it's definitely better to try out a bunch of different brands first at the range if you can.

In self-defense, stopping power trumps the number of rounds every time. Someone hit with a 9mm could stand and move for 30 seconds or longer. A lot can happen in 30 seconds.

Since you're buying a pistol, I hope you've spent some time with rifles already to build your gun safety skills. Most first-time pistol owners I know tend to be incredibly unsafe with the way they handle their guns.

[sn1p3r]

Re: Hand gun

Glock in 40....possibly springfield XD in 40 but good luck finding mags. also if you are buying now be sure to get several mags and plenty of ammo since they are VERY likely to continue to go up in price.

[we_are_toast]

Re: Hand gun

c1ue, strittmatter you just made my day.

I had exactly the same question about 9 months ago. After a great deal of research and asking a whole bunch of people, I ended up with the Ruger SP101 .357 revolver. I got a 5" barrel for the scare factor.

The truth is, there is almost NO chance you will ever need it for defensive purposes, so it's a big insurance policy that you can use to have a little fun target practicing. I buy 38+P ammo at WalMart for a very good price.

But best of all, the idea of a liberal with a handgun just scares the hell out of my redneck Wyoming friends!

[dbarberic]

Re: Hand gun

Funny that you started this thread....

My wife and I have been talking about buying a pistol too, which has been very strange for us. We're not anti-gun, but we are not really gun people either. My wife was deathly afraid of even having a gun in the house, but she has warmed up to the idea and wants to take the NRA pistol certification course.

I guess its a sign of how fearful we are that things will get completely out of control.

[Andreuccio]

Re: Hand gun

Since you're buying a pistol, I hope you've spent some time with rifles already to build your gun safety skills. Most first-time pistol owners I know tend to be incredibly unsafe with the way they handle their guns.

Agree totally with the safety issue. Another great reason to take at least a couple of hours of lessons if you've never handled a weapon before. Pretty counter-productive to buy a weapon for self-defense and then accidentally use it for self-offense.

[sn1p3r]

Re: Hand gun

Don't forget a pistol is only good for fighting your way back to your rifle, which you shouldn't have left in the first place.

If you want true security and freedom get a battle rifle.

http://www.amazon.com/Bostons-Gun-Bi...ews/1888766069

[strittmatter]

Re: Hand gun

Since you're buying a pistol, I hope you've spent some time with rifles already to build your gun safety skills. Most first-time pistol owners I know tend to be incredibly unsafe with the way they handle their guns.

He's right.

http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/p...910/1002/LOCAL

[Andreuccio]

Re: Hand gun

In self-defense, stopping power trumps the number of rounds every time. Someone hit with a 9mm could stand and move for 30 seconds or longer. A lot can happen in 30 seconds.

If you're looking to protect yourself from the ravening, post collapse hordes, I suggest the .357 magnum revolver.

Penetration is useful, and the .357 will not be deterred by most forms of armor. The gun itself is also very low maintenance. Stainless steel is good.

The .357 also is nice because you can shoot .38 specials out of it, cheaper for when you don't need the big magnum force bullets.

The glocks, sig sauers, berettas, etc are all high capacity autoloaders, but can jam much more easily and are not repairable except by specialists.

If you're going to go for that high tech crap, an AR 15 is much better.

I'm no expert, but my instructor is. His take: while the larger caliber do have more stopping power, 90% of stopping power is shot placement, not round size. A well placed shot with a 9mm is plenty effective.

I just reread his email to me on weapons selection. A couple of quick points: an advantage of 9mm is that, due to velocity and small frontal area, it penetrates the best of the different sized rounds. As to the .357, he says it is "quite a bit more powerful" (emphasis his), but that that's not always good. The increased recoil makes it much more difficult to handle, decreasing shot accuracy as well as the ability to engage multiple targets.

I also wouldn't discount number of rounds so quickly, either. It just depends what kind of situation you're in.

One quick anecdote he related to me. He was at a tournament with 10 to 15 of the top shooters in the world. (He's friends with one of them.) They were sitting down afterwards talking, and the question came up about what they each used for their personal carry weapon. All but one of them used Glocks.


Jay, if you want, PM me with your email address and I'll forward his entire email regarding gun selection to you. There's a lot of good info in it.

Okay, I just got off the phone with him. I wanted to get his permission to forward the email. He said if he were to choose a personal carry weapon now, it would be the Glock 23, which is a compact .40. He said it was the best compromise of stopping power, limited recoil, and rounds in the magazine. As I said before, I probably would have chosen a Glock, too, but in the compact size it actually hurt my hand to fire it. I've got a big hand and it just didn't fit quite right. The HK just felt a lot better.

[Andreuccio]

Re: Hand gun

I think I'm going to stop crossing the border...

You've been coming over here for, what, decades, and you just figured out now that we're crazy?

[sn1p3r]

Re: Hand gun

Smart man. Glock .40 is trusted by 10s of 1000s of pros everyday.

Add the Hogue rubber grip and should fit just fine (I have large hands also).

http://www.coolcopgear.com/Hogue/glock.htm

These are available all over the place for about $10.

Also at your earliest convenience, add one of these because the next thing you need when you wake up in the middle of the night is a light...these are 50% off now.

http://www.lapolicegear.com/streamli...aponlight.html

:cool: