Posted on 01/09/2007 8:54:02 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
S&W M&P .40 ( Military and Police) should be on the list.
The most important quality of a self defense weapon is convenience-if it's in your glove box, it's the wrong gun. Carrying a gun, especially in the summer, is a pain in the butt. I can talk all day about the gun I would take to a firefight, but the real question is what gun do you take to the grocery store or movie theatre? For me, the solution is something small, concealable and reliable that I'll be most likely to have when I need it, like a Chief's Special or, my personal favorite, the .44 Bulldog.
A gun's power, recyclability, and accuracy don't mean spit if it's unreliable. And reliability is questionable if the owner/user doesn't properly maintain the weapon.
I just sent a Kahr PM40 back to the factory. It won't chamber hollow points and the back of the mags split at the seams (twice now!)
The owner is the critical component of the the gun.
The contain a massive ammo supply with no need to reload during critical moments. The guns always deliver their load to whatever is aimed at and innocent bystanders are not in danger.
Re ammo, I saw a commercial where Winchester is offering ammo emblazoned with the "Duke" name. John wayne rides forever!
The only handgun I own is my father's 38 S&W Special CTG w/4 inch barrel. It is a Silver Anniversary issue he received from work after 25 years on the job. Not much chance this gun will jam or misfire.
Colt Gov. 1911 w/Hydroshock .45ACP
Taurus Millineum w/Hydroshock .45ACP
And a lot of range time.
A major consideration is the operating environment.
Every firearm has different characteristics. You must analyze the characteristics that you value for your particular use.
The handgun you may want downstairs may differ significantly from what you would want by your bed.
The one you want outside while working in the Yard may be different still.
The one you would carry as a sidearm while hunting may be another one.
The one in the tv room is different also.
When I practice with the sword, outside in the Yard, next to the woods, prior to sunrise, I have an entirely different pistol.
: o)
Mine eats everything I feed it and goes bang everytime.
I won't guess how many you must own.
I might be well off with a USP Compact because of the size of my hands. The only problem would be paying an extra $125 for a left handed model.
Man, if five or six rounds of carefully placed .45 cal. don't do it, it wasn't meant to be. Throw the gun at the guy and run.
With a revolver, there's no elaborate safeties, no accidentally leaving a round in chamber, no "damaged" magazines to worry about, no jamming to worry about.
Now, a revolver is certainly not as sexy, true. But when you absolutely, positively got to kill everyone in the room, I'd go with a revolver.
S&W 659 (someday)
Wonderful, but not necessarily needed.
My Kel-Tec P3AT will shoot 65 to 75 rounds without fail, then will have occasional lockup into battery problems. So what? I clean it and it does another 65 to 75 rounds. Were I to apply their 'standard' I could not carry it. This is BS. It's reliable for much more than the two full mags I have with me. Good enough. It's not a target pistol, it's a close range self defense piece.
It's a .380, and I realize it's not the best round for self defense, but it's adequate. It's main feature is that I ALWAYS have it. It's clipped onto the belt just like the Leatherman tool, with the same effort & thought as putting my cell phone into my pocket. I used carry a larger gun, but I found it to be easy to leave in the car, or at home, because it was awkward, heavy and inconvenient.
A .380 (or .32 or even a .22) in the hand beats a .45 in the car, every time.
Ditto my Glock 22.
There are lots of guns that would be more than reliable enough for a target shoot that don't have any business in the field for military purposes.
It's all a question of what you want to do, where you want to do it, and how far away is the thing you're trying to do it to?
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