which hand gun should i buy?

lokie said:

That said, I believe you would be better served
by going into a shop where trained and SOBER professionals will assist you.
After all, you are buying from them so they should have an interest in helping
you pick the right one for you.

here you will get the answers of folks of all kinds, none of which know you and will not
be there if/when you may need to use YOUR weapon.

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True, to a point. However, nobody here is trying to make a profit off of him. A shop with trained and SOBER folks are. And nobody from that shop will be there if/when he needs to use the weapon. From the posts I've seen, sobriety has nothing to do with the advice given. Not sure why you even brought that up.

My 2 cents: Get a dog. If you can't get a dog, get a 12 gauge Mossberg or Remington. They are inexpensive and intimidating. The sound of a round being ratcheted alone is enough to be a deterrent. And, it's hard to miss.

If you must get a handgun, I'd go with a revolver - despite your desire for a semi-auto. Get a 4 or 6 inch barrel revolver in stainless steel. They are mechanically simpler, thus less prone to error. And stainless steel is easier to maintain without the blueing finish. Also, this allows you to shoot .38 special rounds which are cheaper. You can shoot tens of thousands of rounds thru these workhouses and never have a problem. They will outlive you.

Some final considerations. Do you have kids? In any event, get a semi-auto if you want to have fun at the range. Get something different if you are serious about home defense.

For what it's worth, I have a Sig 9mm and a S&W .357. Neither of which are ideal for home defense, but that's not much of a concern for me.

Your looking for a .40 caliber automatic handgun? Easy. 1) Springfield XD, 2) Smith & Wesson M&P. I'm not a big Glock fan myself. The company is badass because they invented polymer guns and they're barrel design is nice, but the guns looked blocky, felt heavy, and didn't fit well in my hand. The only reason I'd want a Glock is because of the name. Or maybe if I bought a Kel-Tec carbine. I'd want Glock to be my side arm because the Kel-Tec can use the Glock magazines.

If you want something just for home defense, think about ever situation you might run into. In my case, I wanted a gun that my gun-shy wife or my son when he becomes of age can grab and without any training be able to point and touch their targets. A shootgun is to intimidating for my wife and she might hesitate to grab it or the recoil might give her trouble with follow up shots. A small 22 was out of the question because it simply won't stop a serious and determined threat. A military style rifle would be way to much firepower indoors. So in the end I settled on a carbine that shoots 45 ACP handgun loads with 230 gr hollowpoints. A 45 ACP is big, but it's normally thought of as "slow" round going about 800fps. However, when a 45 ACP is launched from a rifle, the longer barrel allows the round to go over 1,000 fps which is 9mm territory. You also get drastically reduced recoil and a farther reach. Useful when the zombies come.

Anyway, I'm not here to tell you what to buy. Just to train and fire at least 500rs through it before trusting your life with it. Most ranges will carry glocks, M&P, and XDs for you to test out. Some even have shotguns for rent. Test them all out and see which one works best for you.

FootballFirst said:

what is a high point?

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don't buy a high point their cheap I had a .40 caliber one and it jammed quite a bit like atleast once every other magazine. I would go for a .45 caliber get a good brand even check out reviews on gun forums and shit. you don't wan't your gun to jam if some one brakes in with a gun and a .45 caliber with hollow points will put them clean on there ass you hit them with a 9mm they will have a chance to shoot back the best would be a 12 gauge pump with 00 buck shot you'll make that dude go down hard. but get a lot of practice you want to hit your mark every time 1 miss could cost your life.

winchester home defender 12ga pump. hand guns don't get the job done

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FootballFirst said:

i'm looking to buy my first hand gun for home defense. i was thinking about a .40 glcok, but my hands are small and some of the glocks grips are a bit big for me. help please!!!

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i would suggest going to a shooting range and fire a few of their rental guns in .40, .45, and .357 magnum to see which one feels better in your hand. There are many makers of quality firearm so i suggest finding the best fit for you. The calibers i suggested trying out are simply my personal choices for self-defense.

EDIT: You stated you didn't want a wheel-gun but you can get the .357 in .357sig. Same ballistics as a .357 mag out to about 1000ft.

My recommendation is to buy a full-frame .22 first thing. Put in range time with that until you know whether or not a handgun is even a working proposition in your hands. Not everyone has the aptitude or inclination. If you lack either, a defense-caliber pistol makes little practical sense.
In the defense calibers, i'd strongly prefer a single-action auto on the Browning pattern, i.e. a 1911-frame gun. Especially in .45 ACP. It's a large-bore low-pressure round which has the not-much-appreciated advantage of being quieter than 9s, 40s and magnun revolver rounds ... I would dislike an overloud gun for indoor work. It would stun me almost as badly as the other guy.
And if you discover that you're not happy with the .22 or a borrowed bigger gun, the pump-action shotgun rises to the top as the better choice. cn

scroglodyte said:

winchester home defender 12ga pump. hand guns don't get the job done

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Well, hand guns do get the job done. So, you're wrong there.

12 gauge home defender is good but what if the intruder is already and/or unexpectedly 'up on ya'?! Wouldn't it be easier if you had a shorter weapon like a loaded .45 hollow point round that is going to kill most anyone anyways?

Did I take this post more seriously than I should have

budlover13 said:

i would suggest going to a shooting range and fire a few of their rental guns in .40, .45, and .357 magnum to see which one feels better in your hand. There are many makers of quality firearm so i suggest finding the best fit for you. The calibers i suggested trying out are simply my personal choices for self-defense.

EDIT: You stated you didn't want a wheel-gun but you can get the .357 in .357sig. Same ballistics as a .357 mag out to about 1000ft.

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Bump this!!

Ty13 said:

Well, hand guns do get the job done. So, you're wrong there.

12 gauge home defender is good but what if the intruder is already and/or unexpectedly 'up on ya'?! Wouldn't it be easier if you had a shorter weapon like a loaded .45 hollow point round that is going to kill most anyone anyways?

Did I take this post more seriously than I should have

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Not really. You have to extend your arm at some point of the draw. It's much easier to hipshoot a long gun. Note also that long guns are typically caried close&forward like quarterstaves (proper plural of quarterstaff). A handgun is not ordinarily held in a blocking position like that ... and the buttstock of a long gun becomes a good closest-quarters weapon. cn

cannabineer said:

Not really. You have to extend your arm at some point of the draw. It's much easier to hipshoot a long gun. Note also that long guns are typically caried close&forward like quarterstaves (proper plural of quarterstaff). A handgun is not ordinarily held in a blocking position like that ... and the buttstock of a long gun becomes a good closest-quarters weapon. cn

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My FIRST weapon of choice is a 12ga 870 Magnum Express by Remington. 00 buck gives you 8 rounds instead of one, spread means you don't have to be precise to be effective (at 2 in the am freshly startled awake), psychological effect of racking a round in is often all that is needed (but you best be prepared to use it), as stated it makes a great club if needed, it's economical and reliable.

I would also have to opine that Ty's scenario, "the opponent suddenly and unexpectedly 'up on ya' " ... is the focus of a large portion of tactical training. It falls into the rubric of situational awareness, since surprise is as effective a weapon as any gun. The right training will deny the opponent that weapon in a great proportion of potential incidents ... be aware and avoid that trap. cn

cannabineer said:

I would also have to opine that Ty's scenario, "the opponent suddenly and unexpectedly 'up on ya' " ... is the focus of a large portion of tactical training. It falls into the rubric of situational awareness, since surprise is as effective a weapon as any gun. The right training will deny the opponent that weapon in a great proportion of potential incidents ... be aware and avoid that trap. cn

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No joke right?

budlover13 said:

My FIRST weapon of choice is a 12ga 870 Magnum Express by Remington. 00 buck gives you 8 rounds instead of one, spread means you don't have to be precise to be effective (at 2 in the am freshly startled awake), psychological effect of racking a round in is often all that is needed (but you best be prepared to use it), as stated it makes a great club if needed, it's economical and reliable.

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THIS, and your misses in the dark with a .40 inch projectile won't go through walls and potentially hurt or kill an innocent. I have handguns and rifles in all calibers and types, because they each serve a different purpose. If all you want is a good home defender, and you live in an urban setting, get a shotgun.

ClaytonBigsby said:

THIS, and your misses in the dark with a .40 inch projectile won't go through walls and potentially hurt or kill an innocent. I have handguns and rifles in all calibers and types, because they each serve a different purpose. If all you want is a good home defender, and you live in an urban setting, get a shotgun.

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Well, as for going through walls, there are projectiles out there that will keep that from happening and do severe damage to soft targets. Regular old 00 buck WILL go through doors and walls in most instances. Birdshot, on the other hand, will not, in most cases.

Sure. A thousand types of ammo, too. I'm just overly cautious in urban settings. I have a model 27 .40 under my mattress, a Remy 12 within arms reach, and a Bushy M4 two steps from bed on the way to the front door. I'm in the country, so I have to be ready for anything.

ClaytonBigsby said:

Sure. A thousand types of ammo, too. I'm just overly cautious in urban settings. I have a model 27 .40 under my mattress, a Remy 12 within arms reach, and a Bushy M4 two steps from bed on the way to the front door. I'm in the country, so I have to be ready for anything.

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You should add a rifle to that mix. ~giggling, ducking~ cn

[video=youtube;gNfZ1Xo_B64]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNfZ1Xo_B64[/video]

ive been looking at some of the pre-owned sigs lately. check em out, the certified preowned's right from the company. they are like 1/2 the price,and sigs are pretty awesome... or just get yourself a nice smith