Please recommend a good handgun

[Charlotte M. Corday]

I need the advice of an expert. Two nights ago, in nearby community, a high school football coach and his teenage son were murdered by a home invader. In the wake of this, I have finally decided to buy a gun and take a class in how to use it.

Here's what I am looking for in a handgun:

1. Easy to use, but not easy to discharge accidentally.

2. Powerful enough to stop an attacker, but not difficult for a small woman to handle.

What would you suggest?

[BSunday]

How about the Taurus 40 ?

[biblewonk]

You should get a 22 revolver. You can shoot thousands of rounds through it for little money and actually get to where you are very comfortable with it. If someone is in your house and a gun goes off and he realizes he has been shot, he has absolutely no clue if it was a 22 or a 44, he is leaving. Your chance of hitting him with a gun you are very very confortable with is much greater. Your chance of an actual intruder in your house that you want to shoot is very small anyway

I could shoot an intruder in the eye with my S&W 22.

[Poser]

Smith & Wesson, Ruger or Taurus .357 revolver

• Always goes bang
• Easy for beginners
• Hard to accidentally discharge
• Will shoot 38 special for cheap practice
• Ruger and Taurus have good prices

For home defense, a pump 12 ga. shotgun is far superior.

[biblewonk]

PS, you'll want a 6 inch barrel.

[ought-six]

Get a .357 Magnum with a 6" barrel. Shoot 125-grain, .38+P hollow points (a .357 magnum round will probably be too "much" for you, both in recoil and noise). The .38+P hollow point will stop a perp. Later, when you are comfortable and efficient in shooting, you can increase your rounds to .357 magnum. I'd stay away from the regular.38 Special rounds, as they often don't have enough "mmmpf" to them to stop a perp in his tracks.

[ought-six]

Oh, nice screen name. Your name sake used a knife, as I recall, to do in Marat while he soaked in his tub. More "up close and personal" than a gun.

[archy]

This was usually more a problem with using the wrong ammo in the guns, usually 110 or 158-grain JHPs rather than the preferred 125-grain JHP or 158 grain lead hollowpoint, particularly in 2.5" barrelled .357 snubbies. But even after multiple .38/.357 hits there have been those determined assailants who survive long enough to also kill their opponent. A hit that eventually kills is sometimes not enough, whether it's a single hit or multiples that result. If only one connects, it needs to be the very best suited to the job. You slammed the .357 for not being a certain killer with a good, clean body hit. Now we are looking at snubbies; what would you carry instead of a .357 in a snubby?????

I'm hardly *slamming* the .38/.357; if that were the case, I wouldn't own the pair of S&W .38s and the three .357 handguns that I do. But the circumstances THEN for those who had to carry a city or department-issue piece and ammo are NOT those for an individual, who had some better choices then, and a better and wider variety of ammo choices now.

And with the right ammunition it's not a bad choice for a less-familiar individual, though it's not at all an absolute guarantee of success in a lethal confrontation- nothing is that certain, though there are better choices under certain given circumstances than others.

What do I like better than a short-tube .357 [or my 30-year-old model 49 S&W] in a snubby? A 3-inch barrelled .44 Special, Charter Bulldog or Taurus 441, or something similarly sized in .45 Auto Rim or .45 ACP.

Or a Glock 36 or 30, Taurus 145, or Colt Commander. I don't care much for the *Officers Model* sized mini-1911s, but there are those who do.

-archy-/-

M

[Fester Chugabrew]

[philetus]

A fairly newbee poster, asks for a recommendation on a handgun, and generates 184+ replies, without ever making another comment.

Usually, what people recommend is what they own.

Maybe I'm just overly paranoid.

[in the Arena]

I'm not sure about the Chief Special but the Airweight is made of an alloy material. The manual stated to not use +P ammunition. +P should not harm a steel firearm. I do know several people that said they regularly shoot +P in their Airweights and have not had problems...probably a lawyer clause to protect S&W...just like the 12 pound Remington triggers...

[archy]

I could shoot an intruder in the eye with my S&W 22.

Works for you. Kill the lights and use a pair of night vision goggles with an IR illuminator, and you rule the world indoors, at least until the sun comes up, unless they brought flashlights. In which case, anyone with a light is your first target.

In the daytime, though, the shotgun would be the way to go, at least initially. The muzzle blast from some loads can be real hard on your night vision however.

[ought-six]

My "go-to" home defense weapons are a Mossberg 500 12-gauge with 00-buck, and a Rossi .357 Magnum loaded with 125-grain hollow points. And my dog, of course.

[biblewonk]

Nothing really works for me since I've never had anyone come into my house. Most of my neighbors who would think of casing my place would stay away when they saw me and my family. I have 8 kids and my 13 yearold is 6' tall 210 pounds. I look like a skinheaded psycho with a lot of tattoos who works out a lot and then they see those Christian symbols on our vehicles and figure I'm one of those religious gun nuts tattooed skinheaded psycho's with 8 stout kids. Pass.

[petercooper]

Please recommend a good handgun

Don't think they'll be seeing this title on a DU forum.

[GailA]

I'm a small woman and shoot/carry a Bersa .380, the kick is not bad. Easy to clean, and conceal under your clothes. I'll echo others here GET TRAINING if you have never handled a gun. For general home defense a 12 gauge shotgun would be ideal. They are also reasonable in cost. Wal-Mart I think has one for about $170.

[ought-six]

"I'll agree with this. If you get a pump action gun, likely you'll never have to shoot it. They'll mess all over the place gettin' out when they hear you jack a round into the chamber."

Yup. If a perp breaks into my house, the first thing he'll hear is my dog (a pit bull) going ballistic; then he will hear me chambering a round of 00-buck in my Mossberg 500 12-gauge pump; then he'll hear me yell to my wife: "Cover me with the .357!" Whomever the fool was who broke in would be long gone by then. If not, he's not going home.

[tracer]

cweese says it all in post #4. Train/practice with .38 rounds until you feel comfortable enough to practice with .357 -- then stick with the latter for its stopping power and practice under many conditions of weather, light, and location.

The S & W Ladysmith is made for the smaller hands and wrists of women.

But it is of the utmost importance that you are able answer in the affirmative the question: "Are you capable of killing without hesitation anyone who would seek to harm you and/or your loved ones?"

And remember, protection of your worldly possessions by shooting someone is indefensible from every standpoint that matters.

Finally, learn to control your adrenaline (from a real-deal martial arts instructor, for example) and make sure that you know the laws pertaining to the use of deadly force in the course of defending you and yours wherever you anticipate having to do so.......

[xsrdx]

without ever making another comment.

No doubt, we scared her off.. I see your point regarding paranoia BTW, but I doubt the BATFE is lurking.

These threads usually all wind up the same; the only right answer is for her to get professional training, and try several guns until she finds something she's comfortable with.

Unfortunately, the litany of "this is the best gun EVER" replies serves only to confuse.

[B4Ranch]

I think my Chief Special was made back in the 60's when steel guns were better quality also. I can barely get a business card between the cylinder and the barrel.

[archy]

I'm not sure about the Chief Special but the Airweight is made of an alloy material. The manual stated to not use +P ammunition. +P should not harm a steel firearm. I do know several people that said they regularly shoot +P in their Airweights and have not had problems...probably a lawyer clause to protect S&W...just like the 12 pound Remington triggers...

I've shot all sorts of ammunition in the steel-framed 2-inch barrel .38 model 49 I picked up around my birthday in 1971 when I couldn't find a stainless chief special at a decent price- then around $300- $400 each, when I could get a Browning GPO for $125 new. That included most of three 5000-round cases of Lee Jurras Shelbyville factory 110-grain JHPs, at that time the Secret Service load used in their M66s and M27 S&Ws, and a few Colt Python .357s.

I'd guess I've put between 25,000 and 30,000 rounds through it, much of it hot ammo meant for 4 and 6-inch barrelled guns, and by now it looks it. It's loose and somewhat out of time beyond adjustment with new parts. It's done its job and served its time, and I won't be trading it off or selling it to someone who doesn't realize the problems they'd be dealing with, but I'll give it an honorable retirement and replacement. And I'll hang onto it as a spare, but it'll not be one on which I'd trust the defense of my life or that of others, not without a major overhaul.

I don't believe an alloy-framed gun would have lasted as well, but then maybe I wouldn't have pushed such over use on a lightweight gun, and it might thereby have fared better. I do wonder how the Stainless chief I originally was looking for would have stood up. In any event, I expect it'd be looking better.

-archy-/-