• Hi Guest - Come check out all of the new CP Merch Shop! Now you can support CigarPass buy purchasing hats, apparel, and more...
    Click here to visit! here...

I'm shopping for a gun

NullSmurf

NullSmurf

Das Bruce
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
7,851
I do not currently own a gun. Wife and I have agreed that personal protection is an issue. I will not hesitate to take the life of someone who is a threat to me or my family. Wife will also do what it takes. My experience in the service was extensive, but of limited use in this case. I have my orders, so here are my goals:

1. Personal protection in the home.
2. Portable and easy to load and fire
3. One shot, target goes down.
4. ~$600
5. Bling is not an issue, but I do NOT want an ugly gun.
6. Not intended for concealed carry...yet.


What advice do you have?
 
It doesn't fit your criteria but a Remington 870 Shotgun is what I swear by....

00 Buckshot, 3" Shell.

I don't have faith in my aim with a pistol if under pressure, so why chance it ?
 
Short version: Ruger GP100 or a 20 gauge shotgun.

There is no guarantee that any firearm that can be used safely will do, "One shot, target goes down."

Practice on both of your parts is essential.
 
There's a lot of shotgun guys on this forum, and I can only assume its because of their lack of proficiency with a handgun. Personally, I keep everything loaded. I'm not out to "impress" someone with a rack/rack sound of a pump. All the bad guy will hear from me is bang.

I personally would suggest either a Glock in .40 such as a glock 22 or a springfield XD in 40. I personally shoot a 10mm auto which is the magnum round of autos, but your wife may not like the large frame.

Shotguns overpenetrate, just like anything else. My 10mm with 165gr speer gold dots will overpenetrate in drywall far less than 00 buck or even 000 buck which is a better round for home defense. 00 buck far overpenetrates. I've done enough shooting in shooting houses to have seen what wallboard stops and doesn't.

The glock is the simplest handgun out there in my opinion. You put a mag in, you pull the slide back, and you pull the trigger. The safety is located on the trigger itself in the form of a little nub that gets depressed when you pull the trigger. There are no hammers or b/s decocking levers. Its stupid simple, pull the trigger and bang. The XD is similar but it has an additional grip safety.

in the old saying from those who've been there. KISS Keep.It.Simple.Stupid

Regardless of what you buy, I highly suggest spending some time at the range improving your skills. I shoot once a month as a rule, sometimes more.

12 gauge doesn't clear as well as a handgun, the myth of point and shoot is bull. The spread of shotgun pellets in the range of a home is probably 3 inches at most, probably less. I have 15 rounds and 1 in the pipe of one of the most devestating handgun rounds out there without going to a 41 magnum which is the next highest impact force of generally available caliber.

YMMV. but 9mm is too small. Go with at least a .40 in an auto or 357 in a wheel gun. I'm not a wheel gun guy, personally. Capacity is too low for confronting the average bad guy.
 
Medium frame is probably a must since your wife will have smaller hands than yours. As far as one shot one kill, there is no guarantee on that angle. I would suggest going to a range that has rental firearms, and try out several different ones that are comfortable for both of you.

Bill
 
For that price I would suggest a Springfield Armory Mil-Spec 1911. You get plenty of knock down with the .45 ACP, but not too much for the lady. And if you go with the stainless you even get a little bling. VERY well made guns for the money, I will quickly recommend them. I would be willing to trust my life to one. Very easy to shoot guns. No extra frills to it, but it gets the job done.
B

http://www.springfield-armory.com/armory.php?version=10
 
NullSmurf said:
I do not currently own a gun. Wife and I have agreed that personal protection is an issue. I will not hesitate to take the life of someone who is a threat to me or my family. Wife will also do what it takes. My experience in the service was extensive, but of limited use in this case. I have my orders, so here are my goals:

1. Personal protection in the home. A small to medium frame handgun.
2. Portable and easy to load and fire. A revolver.
3. One shot, target goes down. At least .357 caliber. A 357 magnum using 38 special +P+ and hollow points. If you should miss, you dont want to go through the walls of your house and your neighbors house and his someone there.
4. ~$600 Look for what is in your price range and feels comfortabel in your hand and your wife's hand. When you find it go the a range and rent one and shoot it.
5. Bling is not an issue, but I do NOT want an ugly gun. What is Bling? I'm too old to know what that is. However, a revolver is a revolver. Aside from the finish they look very similar.
6. Not intended for concealed carry...yet. If not intended for concealed carry get a revolver with a 4" barrel. If you may carry in the future a shorter barrel, say 2" -3", may be what you want. You may want another, smaller gun for carry if it comes to that.

What advice do you have?
Click to expand...

This is just my opinion. Look around at the local shops and on the internet. There are many quality firearms available that will fill your requirements. If you narrow the field to a few candidates, go to a range that has them for rent and shoot them. It may help with your decision.

Dave

Edited to clean up that mess I made trying to ues color and clarify one point.
 
I love my XD 40. I would nominate that, or even a springfield .45 the army version I believe it is around 500 for it, and it is a no frills decent looking IMHO gun. just my personal .02 though!

Don
 
Keep in mind capacity. I'd rather have too many than not enough, any day. I'm positive that I can use two to three rounds in a second or two and that should generally be enough. However, there's old Murphy looking over your shoulder.

I like 1911's too, but they're typically limited to around 7 rounds depending on the model. I believe the glock full frame 45 carries 10 or 11, don't remember.
 
Springfield does make a great line of well built and easy to use weapons. I also am a .45 fanatic but since your wife will also be shooting the same weapon I would say go with the Sprinfield EMP .40. Very accurate for a 3".
 
My wife and I went through something similar a couple of years ago. We cruised the gun shops...me picking out 45 and 10mm autos, she picking out the 32 snubbies.

We settled on a large frame, double-action, 357 revolver (Ruger GP100) with a 4 inch barrel. Her choice.

Here's how we compromised.
The semi-autos are all nice, but just too intimidating and complicated for the lady of the house. We don't shoot regularly and I travel some. If she is groping in the dark for protection, we both have confidence that the revolver will go bang when she pulls the trigger. It has some built-in safety features that keep it relatively safe, but no switches, levers, special triggers, etc...just pull the trigger, bang.

The smaller revolvers were very attractive in the store. We rented a few at the local indoor range I let my wife shoot them. (Shooting the gun before you buy is a must.) She hated them. What feels great at the counter, doesn't always feel great at the range.

She picked the big Ruger.

Nice thing about the 357 is you can practice with 38's. They aren't too expensive and you can blow through a couple of boxes and still be having fun. We always shoot at least 1 box of 357's for practice, but honestly, neither of us really like it.

For target practice and skill shooting, the gun can be shot in single-action mode (cocking the trigger). It offers a lot of versatility for a one weapon.

For us, it was really about finding a gun my wife was comfortable with. As the years have gone by and we go to the range less frequently, I'm confident that our original choice is still the right one. She pulls the Ruger out of the case, loads it and shoots all by herself, no questions asked. When I hand her the 45, she always looks at it like, "How does this thing work again?".

YMMV. Have fun, be safe.
 
Turk10mm said:
There's a lot of shotgun guys on this forum, and I can only assume its because of their lack of proficiency with a handgun.
Click to expand...

You're entitled to your opinion, particularly with the obvious amount of experience you have with firearms, but you aren't entitled to be insulting about it.

I've been shooting various types of guns for more than twenty years, am confident in my ability to use them, and continue to believe that a shotgun is a perfectly valid home defense tool.

Further, I think that Glocks are a poor suggestion for people without tons of practice and trigger discipline.
 
Turk10mm said:
YMMV. but 9mm is too small. Go with at least a .40 in an auto or 357 in a wheel gun. I'm not a wheel gun guy, personally. Capacity is too low for confronting the average bad guy.
Click to expand...

If you cannot sucessfully neutralize your target in six rounds of .357 then you need to spend some more time at the range. 2-3 rounds will be plenty if you are practiced. So going by that you have enough rounds to sucessfully neutralize 2-3 subjects. There are few home invasions in which more subjects than that are involved. The only need for 16 rounds of 10mm is to spray and pray. In a home scenario that is a VERY bad idea.

And as far as Overpenetration goes. If you go through the subject and the wall, then you are going to injure/kill the person on the other side. Overpenetration is something thats going to happen reguardless so you have to watch where you are shooting.
B
 
I would second a .357 revolver of some sort. The GP100 is a great gun, VERY durable. It isn't real easy to carry concealed if you're not a bigger guy, but for a home gun, I like them a lot. They also aren't real pretty, but they're not unattractive.

A lot of people like autos, but unless you're going to do some training to become proficient at clearing malfunctions, the simpler the better in my opinion. Modern handguns don't malfunction very often once broken in, but the possibility is there and it could happen at the worst possible moment. The likelihood of a malfunction with the revolver is less. If you need more than 6 rounds, you may be in over your head.

Good luck and be safe.
 
Stick with a 1911 style handgun. They have been around for a long time and are good guns. A lot of people make good ones. I am partial to Kimber but also like Springfields.

I do not like Glocks but there are a lot of people that do and swear by them.

This is what I got to carry when I get my CCW. Linky

I love the gun and highly recommend it. I paid around $700 for it.
 
gunsandcigars88 said:
Turk10mm said:
YMMV. but 9mm is too small. Go with at least a .40 in an auto or 357 in a wheel gun. I'm not a wheel gun guy, personally. Capacity is too low for confronting the average bad guy.
Click to expand...

If you cannot sucessfully neutralize your target in six rounds of .357 then you need to spend some more time at the range. 2-3 rounds will be plenty if you are practiced.
Click to expand...

Saves me from having to add to my prior post.
 
A bunch of your have made some great points, but I'd like to add one thing. I'd stay away from anything with a grip safety, such as a 1911, for personal protection. When a 1911 is gripped properly with one or bith hands, the grip safety is not disengaged, enabling firing, but is instead pushed in the opposite direction. Now, someone with little experience shooting will likely grip the gun improperly, disengaging the grip safety and allowing the gun to fire. However, if you know how to grip the gun correctly or accidentally grip it correctly in the middle of the night, you will end up with nothing if the trigger is pulled.

If you go the handgun route, I would stick with a revolver or Glock. Both are simple, "pull the trigger and it goes bang" type firearms.
 
ITs not about accurate rounds, its about murphy's law. there's a reason why cops carry high capacity firearms.
 
tigger said:
Turk10mm said:
There's a lot of shotgun guys on this forum, and I can only assume its because of their lack of proficiency with a handgun.
Click to expand...

You're entitled to your opinion, particularly with the obvious amount of experience you have with firearms, but you aren't entitled to be insulting about it.

I've been shooting various types of guns for more than twenty years, am confident in my ability to use them, and continue to believe that a shotgun is a perfectly valid home defense tool.
Click to expand...

X2! I have been shooting guns my whole life. I am very confident with everything, and a shotgun is still very valid for home defense. I keep one handy at all times. Along with my handguns and a few others.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top