Posted on 08/01/2013 7:57:08 AM PDT by circlecity
Looking for advice on which pistol to buy. After my first child was born 30 years ago I sold my pistol so as not to have it around the house. Now I am an empty nester and would like to get back into having a few handguns. After so many years I consider myself a newbie so all advice on which handgun to purchase is appreciated.
For my first gun I would like a 9mm autoloader. I intend to use it primarily for shooting at the range and for personal carry. Eventually I will also purchase a revolver to use as my primary carry weapon - but for now I'm looking at an automatic. I'm looking to spend between $450-600.
The Taurus Judge Vs. The Box O' Truth
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot41.htm
Lessons learned:
1. Jack bought this pistol for snakes and it looks like a fine tool for that job.
2. Birdshot, in any gauge, is for little birds.
3. Buckshot out of a .410 does not penetrate enough to be an effective personal defense load.
4. The rifled slug was also a disappointment and did not have enough weight or power or penetration to be effective as a defense load.
5. The .45 Long Colt loads had plenty of penetration and would be the preferred defense load for this pistol.
Oddly enough, I would recommend a Walther P-22, that fires .22LR.
A simple philosophy for personal protection, and one that makes a lot of sense in court, is that you shot them *not* because you wanted to kill or even wound them, but to make them *stop* being a threat.
In the vast majority of cases, being shot with *anything*, even a .22LR, is enough to convince the individual who has been shot, to “stop”.
If they are in an alcohol or drug induced delirium, or extremely mentally ill, .22LR may not suffice, but then again, there is a good chance that larger calibers will not, either, unless you are carrying around a real hog leg.
But there is an advantage to a P-22, in that its magazine holds 10 rounds. Not too long ago, a woman with her children hiding in an attic, shot a perp five times at close to point blank range, and though he was somewhat disabled for a time, he was still able to get downstairs and drive away for a while.
I had a friend who was shot 10 times with a .25, and it didn’t kill him, but I doubt he would still be alive had he been shot 10 times with a .22LR.
That's the best way. I'm just trying to pre-sight it in a bit first.
Their 2 series guns (220, 225, 226, 229, 239) with some exceptions are DA/SA guns. They also have the best decocking system. I have a P220 in .38 Super, a bit of an oddball, but it has the power of the .357 125 grain load with the recoil of a hot 9mm.
Do you think a .22LR that took the same path would have been as effective in stopping Trayvon?
Gun beats no gun - so get a gun you will actually carry. Also make sure you know how to operate the gun (load , clean, unload, right caliber, clear jams, etc) A gun that jams or is broken because it was not operated properly is a club, not a gun.
Fast beats slow - so get a holster or rig that you can actually draw the firearm from and get it into your shooting hand as fast as possible. First to shoot is most likely to live.
Accuracy beats caliber - a .22 that hits will beat a .44 mag that misses. practice practice practice So buy a gun you can afford to shoot. Also, make sure you can shoot accurately. If the 2nd shot on slow fire is more than 1" away from your first shot, it is likely the gun is to big for you or you need more practice.
Caliber beats velocity - big holes bleed out faster and are harder to plug. A .45 is a lot slower than a .357 magnum but they both do about the same amount of damage. If the choice is between roughly the same caliber, then choose the highest velocity you can handle. .38 acp / 9 mm / 38 special / .357 mag / 357 sig all shoot the same size bullet. In that case, get the highest velocity that you can shoot and still maintain accurate follow up shots. Also, hollow points make bigger holes and tend to not over penetrate. Use hollow points for carry.
Many holes beat one hole - If it is worth shooting once, then shoot twice. So buy a gun that (after all the above) has the most rounds and carry at least one additional magazine.
No, they sell a bit of everything, but I'm only familiar with their DA/SA and the P250's DAK.
Fwiw, I like a DA/SA P226 quite a lot, but whatever you like they no doubt have a version of it or something else you won't want to live without, especially if the SHTF.
Many people have been shot witl 22 LR and didn't even know they were shot. That is not a good choice for personal protection. You want to stop an attack immediately, not have them die from an infection a week or so later.
Glock mags at Windeners.com
Make that Wideners.com
That's a little weak on concealability, but it makes up the points with stopping power.
Gotcha bud.
Just throwing in my coupla cents.
Gosh the sp101 is a sweet little carry piece. I really enjoy the safety aspect of it and the reliability too.
Good luck.
I recommend the SR22 from Ruger over the other .22lr brands. The mags can hold thirteen (with a mag insert replacing the follower) and the barrel is threded, just in case. Very smooth DA/SA and extremely reliable.
Greg Ellifritz over at Buckeye Firearms concluded a pretty darn impressive analysis of gunfight data recorded over a 10 year period, the total count of incidents included in his analysis topping 1,800.
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/06/foghorn/ask-foghorn-22l-for-self-defense/
First rule: Buy the gun you can reasonably handle.
Springfield Armory XDM 3.8 Compact
Compared to hand cannons, for a pillow gun especially, a high capacity (10+), easy, quick shooting, accurate, but much more quiet with way less recoil, semi-auto .22LR makes a great deal of sense.
Puts a lot of advantages in your hand and is cheap to buy and shoot, too, if you can find ammo.
The preferred choice might be a pump 12 gauge, but in a fight, in the dark, in my house, my bet is I can put more lead into an intruder where I want it to be more quickly with a decent .22 semi-auto, than the intruder could in me with a hand cannon, and still not wake up the neighbors with the noise or stray bullets.
Like I said, I'm partial to Sigs. They are pricey, but you won't find much that's better or more reliable or more accurate right out of the box.
If size and money didn't matter, but I could only have one, I'd get the Sig I liked the best. Decisions, decisions...
This goes to my original point, that in the majority of cases your emphasis is not on incapacitation or killing, but to make the individual stop. Hopefully to then run away.
Typically, I am very distance conscious. Within 25 feet (civilian Tueller Drill distance) I will have a large knife in the other hand. In a charge, I would prefer to be able to put several .22LR rounds through the individual than I would a single, larger caliber round, because I don’t trust my accuracy to be able to nail the rather narrow one-shot drop zone.
Far too often, as well, if they have a gun, it will be a large caliber, poorly aimed, with hits based on luck, so I will also concentrate on cover.
There really isn’t a perfect answer, because everything is situational, but in most cases, .22LR will fit the bill.
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