Best newbie self-defense (concealed) handgun?

[Eric]

Let's hear 'em boys...

[Black Dog]

If you have no handgun experience I would recommend a revolver in at the very least .38 caliber but preferrably .357 magnum. Revolvers have simple actions that are tried and true and they almost always go bang when you pull the trigger. I'm partial to Smith & Wesson.
Personally I would recommend a small semi-auto in 9mm or .40 caliber. These will give you a higher capacity and a little less kick. My preference in these is Glock for their simplicity, durability and reliability.
Either way safey is paramount. And as always: Practice, practice, practice. I recommend a good Personal Protection course for anyone considering concealed carry. Self defense shooting is nothing like any range shooting you've likely ever done. And then, practice some more.

[Jwrussell]

Well, Brian pretty much has it covered. If you don't have any experience with firearms, then the revolver is the most simple of firearms to work with. Of course you lose some ammunition capacity, reloading somewhat more complicated than with a pistol and they tend to be a little harder to conceal.

If it were simply for home defense I'd say go revolver and leave it at that. However, since you are talking concealed carry, I'd say go with the 9mm or .40 that Brian mentions above with plenty of practice. Personally I like Sig and HK, but Glocks are kind of the revolver of the pistol world. They go bang just about everytime. No safety though. Your best bet is if you can try out what you are thinking of before buying. Nothing shows you if the ergonomics are right for you better than actually shooting.

[Eric]

Where would one go to try out the guns before buying? Local range?

[Jwrussell]

Yes. I would check out the local ranges. Most around here have rentals, many also sell firearms. If you get a good range with a decent array of rentals you can usually find the ones you really want to try. If they also sell, and have good prices...you might be able to bargain with them on rental fees (say one rental fee for multiple firearms since you really shouldn't need to put more than a couple clips down range to get a feel for each firearm). You live in a pretty gun-friendly state so I would assume the local ranges are pretty good. :dunno:

[Black Dog]

Check out this Link (http://www.packing.org/range/index.jsp?state=TX) for ranges in your area.

[1f1fan]

Brian just about covered everything. I have an HK USP 9mm Compact, still a little too big and heavy when fully loaded IMHO for CC. I'd go for a Glock 26 or 27 if I were to purchase a gun for concealed carry purpose only.

[Black Dog]

Glocks are kind of the revolver of the pistol world. They go bang just about everytime. No safety though.
Technically Glocks have three safeties. A trigger safety, a firing pin safety and a drop safety. In order to fire the trigger must be depressed correctly. It is true that they don't have a mechanical safety that disables the firearm but then neither do revolvers. The most important safety with any firearm is the one between your ears.
Another point about safeties was made clear to me during a training course. Should you ever find it necessary to draw a weapon in self defense you will be under an extreme amount of stress (fight or flight). One of the things that happens is a marked decrease in manual dexterity. There were several people in the class that used 1911's carried with the safety on. On several occasions at the command to draw and fire, they drew but could not get off the first shot because in their haste they forgot to thumb off the safety. The instructor had two words for them: "You're dead".

[Jwrussell]

Yeah, that was worded wrong. Thanks for clearing that up Brian. :thumbsup:

[Eric]

Technically Glocks have three safeties. A trigger safety, a firing pin safety and a drop safety. In order to fire the trigger must be depressed correctly. It is true that they don't have a mechanical safety that disables the firearm but then neither do revolvers. The most important safety with any firearm is the one between your ears.
Another point about safeties was made clear to me during a training course. Should you ever find it necessary to draw a weapon in self defense you will be under an extreme amount of stress (fight or flight). One of the things that happens is a marked decrease in manual dexterity. There were several people in the class that used 1911's carried with the safety on. On several occasions at the command to draw and fire, they drew but could not get off the first shot because in their haste they forgot to thumb off the safety. The instructor had two words for them: "You're dead".

I've always wondered about Glocks and the lack of a 'physical safety'. Your explanation makes sense to me now.

[Jwrussell]

Yep. It's all about what you are comfortable with and what you will be using the firearm for. I actually leaning Sig when I went to purchase my first handgun (Sig's also lack a physical safety) but the wife felt more comfortable with a gun that actually had a physical safety. I don't carry so it's not a big deal. I have run through IDPA courses with the gun though and feel comfortable that if need be I can draw, de-safety and fire. God willing, that will never be necessary. Speaking of, IDPA is a good way to practice and it's fun as well.

[Black Dog]

Another note on safety. A properly carried firearm is resting snugly in a holster that completely covers the trigger/trigger gaurd preventing anything from moving the trigger. It is also has enough retention to keep the gun from accidentally slipping out of the holster. I'm not a fan of clipdraws, thunderpants and that kind of stuff. A good quality holster that is made for the particular gun is a must for me.
Now that I've ranted on about safeties and such I should tell you that when I'm not carrying a Glock, I carry a ParaOrdnance 1911 variant. It does have a mechanical safety and I carry it with the safety on. I practice my draw so that my thumb slides down the side of the gun on the way up and takes the safety off. It's become so automatic for me that I draw the same way with my Glocks even though there is no thumb safety.

[segundo22]

Well.. intersting here, since I have probably shot more ammunition that all other members here combined, I can give you my opinion.

Much depend on the size and strength of your hands. If you have smaller hands HKs are defintinatly not your guns, if you have larger hands I find that Sig 239s are uncomfortable.

Stength of wrist- goes into the seletion of the caliber of the weapon, those with weak wrists cant get follow up shots on .45 cal and those larger that .357.

Ok so funtionality, you want to carry it and have it at the house, or just carry it?

Personally there are many people that will argue calibers here. I must say that I have seen every caliber popular argued more over than the whole religion debate. Here are the most popular for what you are talking about.

.380 Smaller caliber. Can be very danderous with the correct type of ammunition

.38/.357 Popular revolver ammuntion. I do not like revolvers for first time shooters. I will outlay some of the facts below.

9mm The general purpose ammunition for most weapons. People have argued that these do not have a lot of stopping power and tend to underpenetrate. I disagree as I have personally seen what a good 9mm can do. He a advantage is the magazine capacity (Dont call them clips- as that is what goes in womens hair)

.357 Sig I love this round as it is a .357 projectile that is being pushed by a necked down .40cal casing. Imaginge a .357 round flying at the speed of a 9mm +p

.40 cal one of the most popular rounds to date-98% one stop shot percentage with Federal Hydrashock ammunition. Now you also have to note that this percenatge is baseed on LE and Military incidents-not by consumers and this does matter- Will expand below.

.45 caliber made poular by the 1911s and widely used in WWII and vietnam. One reliable round that kicks like a mule and is deafening.

Ok so now to expand. Most civilaian gun exhanges occur in sistances less than 3 meters. Also there tend to be about 7-14 rounds expended per incident. Of these round only about 10% of the rounds find there mark. ( one of the reasons that I do not revolvers for first timers)

I dont care how much time that you spend in the range shooting at a target. You have what I call the pucker factor. In a live stuation with return fire your a-hole will pucker so tight that you cant drive a nail in with a sledge hammer. It is the most adrenaline rushing experience that you will ever have and I have seen trained soldiers do some god awful weird shooting once the lead satrs flying.

Now for different firarms

Kahr - good suns, I dont use them as they havent been around long enough- why trust you or your families life to a gun that has not had that many laps around the block

Glock- cobat tupperware as I call it- these things are industructable- You can leave them in the water for dasy in mud and pull them pout and fire them. Can be dropped from 15 feet high and picked up and fired, can be heates and frozenand still work. NO EXTERIOR safety is actually abonus when that pucker factor comes into play.

Beretta- Once a great gun and thenhad to produce quickly to keep up with the military acquiring them. There is a 12% failure rate in the military weapons, but they are used far more and harder that a civilian will use them.

H and K - Indestuctable as well, many of the SF uyse these guns Seals use the SOCOM, us SF Marines could use them, but mostly, we chose other weapons as these are bulky. These are great guns for primarly unconcealed weapons such as LE.

Sig Sauer- My favorite here the cadillac of guns. These were what most of my team carried in the Marines. These are undestrucable and tons more accurate than another guns due to the fact the slide is on a full length guide. These are more expensive as well.

For kicks the following:

Kimber - great 1911 variants that are highly reliable and great guns. If you do get one of these get the .40 cal

For first timers and general combat situations, I stay away from .45s. Firstly these guns are loud and if you fire and someone falls the next thing you are going to watnt to do is take cover and listen, which is hard to do with some ringing ears. At night these things throw some tremendous flaes as well from the barrel.

So in summary look for the following

Glock 26, 27

HK USP 9 Compact

Kimber ultra carry pro in .40cal

Sig Sauer 239, 228, maybe a thin 226.

Whatever you choose, practice, practice, practice. One handed, lying down, ducking, weakahded, patch over strong eye, with glasses, witout glasses, with hearing protections, without hearing protection, behind cover, shooting from around your belly button (To get shot off quicker), no light, bright light, flashing light. The more that you dont have to think the better, trust me.

Seg..

Semper Fi

[Black Dog]

Excellent post Seg!

PS - I'm planning on a Sig P229 for my next handgun. I'm also a big fan of .357sig.

[N2Advnture]

Best newbie gun...Ruger SP101 (IMHO)

Simple, reliable revolver

Can chamber .357 or .38s

Fairly inexpensive

[Jwrussell]

That's one that's been on my list for a while now Mark. Great little guns.

[Eric]

... still using the F-shooter :skew: :skew: :skew:

[chipslave]

Thunderpants?
I am not sure I even wanna know.

I will be moving to MN in the next few months, which now has pretty liberal laws about guns, so this is all good info.

[Black Dog]

LOL! They're actually called Thunderwear. It's essentially a bag on a belt that you wear under your pants. How you can stuff a bag, gun and spare mag down the front of your pants and not look like you're wearing a diaper I'll never know. Some people swear by them though.
http://www.thunderwear.com/holsters.asp

[chipslave]

Yikes! Too close to the goods for me. I would imagine it would be uncomfortable to sit down as well.

Probably no different than thugs that wear thier guns tucking outta the front of thier baggy pants.

Funny story about thugs... I had a buddy that went to basic training and he told me that the two most accurate handgun shooters there were a couple of brothers from inner city Detriot that shot all sidearm (like the thugs do). Go figure...

[David]

Yikes! Too close to the goods for me. I would imagine it would be uncomfortable to sit down as well.


Although I don't use Thunderwear, I carry at the 1:00 position which is basically what you are seeing in that picture. It can tend to be a little uncomfortable but it is the best concealable spot for me.

[Black Dog]

I can't carry at 1:00. My dunlap gets in the way.

[DSturg369]

Don't overlook this as a defense handgun.

http://www.gunblast.com/Taurus-Judge.htm

http://www.taurususa.com/whatsnew/revolvers.cfm

[caudio51]

hehe, nice bump

[joshua]

http://www.gunblast.com/Taurus-Judge.htm heheheh... just kidding.

[jwintosh]

.22 long Derringer 2 shot in your left front coat pocket, the lady Smith .38 five-shot hammerless revolver in your right front coat pocket, and a glock 23 .40 strapped to your right ankle! yep, that'll do!!

[njsarge]

I carry a Sig P239 as my off duty, I have med to large hands and I find it very comfortable to shoot. It has a narrow profile due to a single stack magazine so it is great for conceal carry as it is not as bulky as the glock. It is double action only and has a very smooth trigger pull. I have qualified with this weapon for 10 years and it shoots like a dream. The only weakness is it only has a 7 shot magazine.

[DSturg369]

I used to carry a Glock 23, Gen 1.....but now I carry this....

[RX7Boricua]

My first pistol was a Kahr MK40 Elite 98. It was a work of art, but it was heavy for it's size. I traded it for a brand new Glock 33 subcompact in .357Sig and was awestruck by its simplicity. I know it's going to make noise every single time I pull the trigger. I'm a big fan of the subcompact and compact glocks for everyday carry. A glock 19 would make an excellent first pistol. 9mm rounds are cheap and plentiful, they're incredible accurate, and extremely reliable. Go rent one from your local gun shop and take a test drive. Good luck!

Jose

[Pendaboot]

Maybe I'm showing my age, but for concealed carry, for my money nobody has ever beaten a Walther PPK-S .380. They come in stainless or blued, and in many years mine has never failed to go boom. Not so much sex appeal in a .380, but if you need sex appeal, it was the sidearm carried by James Bond and a host of Nazi badasses. :gangfire:

[WalterLars]

well I start out shooting a GI 45 at age 11 My Father was USAF reserve and I got to go with one day when His AF reserve group went to local Sheriff s dept range
The Old Gunny SGT when was in charge of the 45's saw how poorly the other officers were shooting and asked My Father if He would let shoot and show
the other Officers and Gentlemen how poorly they were shooting
after about a hour of couching I was shooting pretty good and scored highly than most of the men

My point to this story is you can get used to any amount of recoil if that all you know

like others have said go to a gun range where have rental guns and test drive several different ones to find what you like consider things like recoil and how it fits your hand

is this going to be home defense gun that you don't have to carry day in and day out or a carry gun ?
if its a home gun go with a larger gun with more power
if its a carry gun consider your going to dragging it around on your hip think about how your going to carry
if you have the greatest gun in the world and its left in your house it does you no good out on the street
Jeff Cooper said carry the biggest gun you can control and shoot accurately

to wrap this up snice I tend to get long winded
I would recomind a 38 or 357 revlover or a 45 revlover
45 long colt is a low pressure round and has less recoil that a 41 mag or 44 mag but its still a proven man stopper
OK OK I will get off My ammo crate (soap box ) now