A basic, brief, semiautomatic pistol primer

American Thinker ^ | 11 Feb, 2024 | Mike McDaniel

[MtnClimber]

You’ve noticed tens of thousands of terrorists and members of the Chinese Army are skipping across the border. The Mummified Meat Puppet Administration (MMPA) is delighted, and doing everything it can to keep them coming. Texans have known this forever, but you’ve decided it’s time to exercise your natural, unalienable right to self-defense. But what kind of handgun to buy? Perhaps a semiautomatic?

I learned to shoot with revolvers. Back in the 1400s, there were few semiauto choices, and reliability was an issue. Making just about any semiauto reliable required a trip to the gunsmith who would fix all the issues manufacturers just didn’t address. Circa 2024, manufacturers do address those issues, and semiautos tend to be reliable out of the box, though they are somewhat more ammunition sensitive than revolvers—Some guns simply function better with some makes and bullet weights than others.

All firearms, including revolvers, malfunction. There's an important distinction: a malfunction is a failure to function that with semiautos may be cleared within seconds without tools. A jam is a failure to function that requires tools, and often a gunsmith, to restore function.

Graphic: Author. Glock 17 with Crimson Trace Railmaster Pro laser/flashlight

A semiautomatic firearm fires one bullet for each pull of the trigger. Fully automatic weapons continue to fire as long as the trigger is held back and ammunition is available. Modern semiautos hold their ammunition in magazines, not “clips.” Because magazines are the weakest link, it’s essential to carry at least one spare. A malfunctioning magazine turns a semiauto into a hard to load single shot pistol.

One of the advantages of semiautos over revolvers is ammunition capacity. The Glock 17, Glock’s first design, is a full-sized duty pistol. It has a magazine capacity of 17 rounds.

[eastexsteve]

Shooting well is a matter of training and practice, not pistol size.

For you, I'll substitute the word "accurately" for "well." In my opinion, if you can't shoot accurately, then you can't shoot well. And, accuracy depends greatly upon sight radius.