Thread: Handgun.. any recommendations?

I was questioning a 22 magnum having the stopping power of a .45. Both balistically and practically they aren't even in the same league, and it isn't the .45 thats playing AA ball.

Looking back at the wy I originally phrased that, it came out wrong.

Clearly they aren't even close to equal. I did a poor job at conveying what I was trying to say, which is that I think a .22 magnum has adequate stopping power for home defense. It also won't do huge amounts of collateral damage.

I suggested a wheel gun for ease of use and reliablilty. As far as S&W quality, even my sigma has never misfired and that's as budget friendly of a firearm as you can buy.

In the house a short barreled 20" riot shotgun is good. Less chance of going through walls and many loads to choose from. I keep a 10mm Glock by the bed so I don't practice what I preach. I keep a Glock 40 in the car and carry a S&W airlight loaded with 38+Ps in my pocket at work. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not really after you.

I agree with a lot of what is being said here. I don't think that you shouldlimit yourself to a .45. I think if it's your first gun and you want the most effective for you without having to train a lot and without a lot of colateral damage than I would go with the 12 gauge. The reason I say this is simple the most feared sound on earth and the sound that causes the highest involuntary bowel and bladder release is the sound of a pump action shot gun being racked. If you really don't want to have to shoot someone, but on the other hand want them to go down and stay down. the shotgun is easily the best choice. I say this because of the following reasons.
1. When under stress, you are going to shake I don't care if you are John Wayne if you hear someone try to break in to your house and you perceive a serious threat to your life you are going to shake. I have been working as an armed security officer for 10 years I go through the training yearly, they go over it every time. When under stress you ware going to have to rely on your training, and your ability to function under stress. I have seen people shoot inside the 10 ring everytime they shoot but when under stress you almost always are going to shoot worse.
If you are shaking and shooting a .45 you will probably miss and your one of your neighbors could suffer lead poisening.
2. Shotgun ammo is cheap, and realatively easy to use with a maximum accurate range of 100 yards shooting pellets.
3. If you miss the pellets probably wont go too much further than your walls where as others could go much further and penetrate many other objects.
If you do decide or laws prohibit a shotgun, I personally would go for a 9mm, that's what I carry. for close quarters accuracy matters but not as much as going to a 100 yard shooting competition. SO that leaves the field open. I have had a ruger p-89 loved the reliability but I could keep a consitent group. I then switched to a magnum research baby eagle. I love it it fits my hand and is very accurate. It does have one quirk and that is if you have the 15 round mag, only carry 14 in the mag in the gun. if you carry 15 and one in the pipe, the 15th round will come out of the mag if you carry in a holster and it gets bumped around. This leads to a stovepipe and isn't fun. If you only put 14 in there isn't a problem though so it was an easy fix.
Get some training NRA gun safety class, better yet join and your gun is then insured.
Okay that's all I have. Happy shopping

Well ive shot alot of ammo, not tons, but enough.

I own a S&W M&P 40 and i like it alot. Not super accurate cause of the floating barrel, but I'm a newb at shooting accurately.

I've shot the XD 40 by Springfield Armory and that is very nice in the hand. And you can find a nice extended clip for it. About 30 rounds.

The PPK 22 cal is nice, I think thats the right gun, but it jams alot with winchester rounds. Don't know why? Other than that its a accurate, nice gun.

Got to love the 38 Special revolver S&W. Man those rounds take a little getting used to for me but, i love em.

I had my favorite time with a Police Style shot gun. It was a blast. "excuse the Pun"

Next gun is the Makarov... anyone have any reviews on it PM me.

Try the Ruger GP100 stainless steel 357 mag. it is one of the sweetest shooting pistols on the market. It is a very a comfortable to shoot, accurate and very safe pistol.

Later,
Richard

To echo a lot of whats already been said. It all depends on you and the intended purpose. As far as the .45 goes, even though you are big enough to handle it, I would not reccommend it unless you have fired enough to be comfortable with the recoil. I have a Ruger snub nosed 357 mag that I absolutely love to fire 38's in. The 357 mag's arent as much fun to shoot in that tiny little pistol. It has the concealed hammer and was my concealed carry gun while I was in AZ. Here in Hawaii, while they do have a CC law, you will never get one. Nonetheless, as far as stopping power, a .45 definitely will do the job. You can get ammo that breaks apart upon impact and will not go though a standard wall, but will kill a person dead enough... I will tell you though that no one I know had any problems with their M9 (beretta 9mm) in Iraq. I think one of the biggest factors is being able to stay on target after the shot. In this regard the .45 is probably at the bottom of the list. Although you wouldnt need more than one well placed shot, I would still go with a 9mm. You can empty a 15 round clip and stay within the chest region of a man for everyone of them. (trust me) Which brings us to the next advantage of the 9mm. Magaizine capacity. Most 45's have a 7-9 round limit to include the one in the chamber while the 9mm can have up to 16. Most people in situations where they had to use their gun, report firing once, maybe twice when in reality they emptied everything they had. And yes, if you ever need to use this thing, you are going to do some shaking, but its been my experience that its not until afterwards. When the time comes, if you have trained well and practiced enough, you're instincts will take over and you wont start shaking until after the shots are fired. I have a Beretta 9 that I love. You find a firing range and bring the ammo, we'll send some rounds down range. I can give you all the pointers you'll need and any day spent shooting things is a good day. Especially when no one is shooting back...

The very fact that there is so much talent in the forum whether it be shaving or otherwise, if a question is asked an answer is given and in many cases there is someone nearby if need be to help the person who asked the question. That's awesome Shaun to offer your assistance, thanks for helping make this forum great. bevansmw, I highly reccomend you take him up on his offer experience is everything and yes the shaking does usually occur afterwards but training is a key to that as well. Happy shooting.

Several things to consider in a house gun. The most important one being:

1) Where is the house?

- Where are the neighbors? Are you in an apartment, or are there any neighbors near by? Your first thoughts need to focus on safety, not stopping power.

2) Next, is this your first gun?

Don't overlook the revolver. It provides many, many advantages for a house gun. One important one being that it will work without being properly oiled and is easy to ensure its loaded. Some autos won't feed the kinda bullet you should be using for a house gun. A .45 auto is a nice sexy package, but its the bullets that do the work.

4) Guns have a tendency to be pretty effective, even in small packages, so remember that even if a gun is a "house" gun, strange circumstances can occur in your future in which you decide that, at least temporarily, your house gun needs to come with you.

I would suggest, and given my thoughts above, you can decide on any gun you want, that I would recommend a .38 Special or .357 Magnum (loaded with .38 Special hollow points) with a 4 inch barrel or less and any grip you feel comfortable with, to start. Otherwise, if you have a lot of experience with guns, are willing to oil the gun correctly, are willing to test shoot it often, and are willing to use magazines that function correctly with whatever bullet works well (usually a roundball), the .45 auto is a great choice.

I know, not the sexiest answer, but there is a lot to consider with a "house gun", I think safety and reliability are very high on the list. The downside of a revolver is they require practice and a "cool head" during a gun fight to be proficient. A .45 auto is a great gun if your leaping to the conclusion that you'll be the one using the gun in a crisis and are relatively experienced with autos in general. Two points that haven't been clarified yet. By most peoples definition a house gun can be used by any adult member of the house.

Lot's of good advice in this thread. There is no best answer. It has to fit and be comfortable to the one using it. If man and wife are in the household both need to be proficient with the choice. I have many wheel guns in calibers from .22 to S&W 500 Magnum. My choice in this category would be my .44 Special Rossi with my special hand loaded Horniday XP hollow points. If I need more than 5 shots I need more training. I also have a Glock .40 which is my first choice and what I use for home defense. It has never failed to chamber, easy to handle, has a 15 round clip for peace of mind and the caliber choice is a good one. It's spring and time to go to the range.

bj