Looking for home defense pistol

[theammobroker]

Regardless of what you end up with, be sure you either have laser sights or some type of glow-in-the-dark sights.

[hansom]

I do not recommend Glocks for beginers, they are great handguns but also very unforgiving.

As the othes have mentioned the Ruger P95 is a great home gun , the Sig is an outstanding gun but very costly, another gun you might want to look into is the FNP .40 with night sights, and if your wife or children will be using it too i recommend the Beretta 92 fs, simply the easiest full size gun to handle , even a todler can "rack the slide"

[johnlives4christ]

dunno about glocks being unforgiving... i'd probably say that about all handguns. my opinion is that the safest and best home defense handgun is a single action revolver. but if a person is set on an auto there are many good ones.

[hansom]

I do not recommend Glocks for beginers, they are great handguns but also very unforgiving.

As the othes have mentioned the Ruger P95 is a great home gun , the Sig is an outstanding gun but very costly, another gun you might want to look into is the FNP .40 with night sights, and if your wife or children will be using it too i recommend the Beretta 92 fs, simply the easiest full size gun to handle , even a todler can "rack the slide"

[johnlives4christ]

dunno about glocks being unforgiving... i'd probably say that about all handguns. my opinion is that the safest and best home defense handgun is a single action revolver. but if a person is set on an auto there are many good ones.

[jacksonco]

[QUOTE=hansom;688946]I do not recommend Glocks for beginers, they are great handguns but also very unforgiving. [QUOTE]

If a person is unable to safely handle a Glock perhaps they should reconsider obtaining a gun.

[johnlives4christ]

whats up with the copy and paste in response?

[oscarmayer]

you see alot of these what is best for me type of questions and the truth is who knows.... are you a experienced shooter if so what do you use now ? are you willing to practice practice practice ? will you be taking a firearms safety course ? have you tried out any guns at the local range ? do you live in a house or a apartment. these are all things to consider before joining the ranks of the armed home owner..... if new think about a revolver if your a little more advanced sure try a auto, and now you have tons of choices sig's glocks, cz's ruger, etc..... notice smith and wesson isn't on my personal list i wouldn't walk across the street if they were giving them away. the new ones i should add.( but thats just me i know of many a happy sigma and m&p owner) so what are you looking for ? price ? get a ruger, reliability many fit in this catagory. ease of operation.... glock. fool prove proven design ditch the double action idea and get a quality 1911.asking a group of people what is best for you will get so many different replies you'll be more confused than before you asked. hard to say what is best for you, it like asking what shoes are more comfortable with knowing if your flat footed or missing toes ......

[Randy1944]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I felt that I would get many varying answers. All of the information is useful. I have had and used hunting guns for decades. In the past twenty years I have not used them and do not even keep them in my home. I was thinking of just one gun for home defense. One of the suggestions brought to my mind, that I already have a Thompson single shot .410/45. I bought it new back in 1969 and used it as a snake gun in the swamps while hunting raccoons and bears. I am no longer able to hunt in that manner, but still enjoy the memories. Those certainly were the "good ole days". Thanks again for all of the information and for triggering my slipping memory. Randy1944

[lucky-gunner]

Depending on your amount of experience with handguns. I would just borrow/rent as many as possible. The above suggestions are perfectly fine. Just about any of the modern polymer pistols will be accurate enough, reliable and within your budget. You may or may not like the Glock, XD, or S&W M&P. The only way to find that out is by shooting them. It's much cheaper to spend some dough trying out different pistols than to buy one mistake.

For home defense just get a 9mm/.38 spl and up and you'll be fine. I wouldn't suggest using a .357 Mag as a HD gun, unless you are just going to fire .38 spl out of it.

[22shot]

Randy1944

You mention your Thompson 45/410 single shot; so..

Here com da Judge!

Model 4510
Taurus Judge:
5 shot revolver
.45LC/.410shotshell

Put on some CrimsonTide grips; load it up with some of that new Winchester pellet and disc .410 and tuck it away.

That laser sight will do the trick; but if not, you still have the ultimate option...

"Home defense" is up close and personal.

[Boris]

Originally Posted by 22shot

Randy1944

You mention your Thompson 45/410 single shot; so..

Here com da Judge!

Model 4510
Taurus Judge:
5 shot revolver
.45LC/.410shotshell

Put on some CrimsonTide grips; load it up with some of that new Winchester pellet and disc .410 and tuck it away.

That laser sight will do the trick; but if not, you still have the ultimate option...

"Home defense" is up close and personal.

The PDX1 410 from my 10" SC is awesome. I have seen it fired from a couple judges and at defensive shoot ranges it would be tough to beat. It also recoils harder than any 410 ammo from a pistol I have ever fired........

[Jay]

Compressing a mag spring to its rated capacity, will NOT hurt it at all. You can leave it loaded for years, and barring inferior steel, there will be no issues. The cycling (loading and unloading) of a spring over time, is what weakens' them.

This is strictly my opinion, and has worked in many years of firearms training, and for men and ladies alike. Buy a handgun just like you would buy a pair of shoes. If Ol' Joe over here says he likes Charlie China tennis shoes, and you're looking for a new pair of shoes, do you run out and buy Joe's pick, just because HE likes 'em? Probably not. If a new shooter is asking what to buy for a carry gun, it doesn't matter what works for me, or anyone else. I suggest telling that new shooter to go to many gun shops, and/or gun shows, and handle all the guns they can get hold of. Just like they would try on shoes. Before long they'll be able to make a list of guns that feel ok, pretty good, real good, and "that really feels great in my hands". The last two are the ones to pursue, and here's why I say that....
If a given handgun doesn't feel "right" in your hands, you'll not shoot it enough to become proficient with it, because it's not comfortable, and you won't like shooting it. Just like you rarely wear shoes that are UNcomfortable. If you're not gonna become proficient with it, save your money, and buy a ball bat to carry. With proper fundamentals, he/she can learn to shoot almost any handgun, or any caliber. Very few folks can re-train their hands to make just any handgun feel comfortable. The last suggestion.........proper shooting techinques, practiced slowly, but proficiently, will breed speed. Do it slowly, and do it the right way, every time.......If you practice speed first, and introduce less efficient techniques into your training, you'll have to do it all over again to get it right.

By the way..... anyone who introduces a new shooter to our pastime by having them start with a large-caliber handgun, makes a very poor decision. Yes, some folks do ok starting out with large calibers, but the vast majority will not continue to shoot if their very 1st experience is with .50 S&W. Start with a .22 caliber something, and as your technique/accuracy improves, work up from there.

Again, just my ramblings.... but they work for me...

Shoot Safely....

[Regular Joe]

P95 warning... I bought a P-95 awhile back. The extractor went flat. I mean, it cannot extract a fired case. I replaced it with one that Ruger sent. Very soon, the same thing happened. If the gun cannot extract fired cases, it cannot chamber a new one. NEVER EVER AGAIN will I buy a semi-auto Ruger. The problem was fixed by replacing the P-95 with a pair of Glocks.

[johnlives4christ]

i owned a p95 about 5 years ago. i shot i would guess a couple 1000 rounds through it. i ended up wanting something more "cool" and sold it. last i heard it's still running strong.

while you've had a bad experience joe i wouldnt let that dissuade you from trying another.

i have owned 2 ruger 10-22's and barrowed another that all failed to eject properly. the two i owned were both new from walmart. my personal bad experiences are not enough to give ruger 10-22's a bad name when most all ruger 10-22's work flawlessly. a guy i know has one that runs great. i've further learned that mostly likely an extra power extractor spring would have fixed the problems i had.
i now desire another 10-22. this time i'll know what to do if i have problems, not give up one what is unanimously known as a great gun.

another example. i have owned 2 naa mini revolvers. the first one had the dentent fall out of the base pin. my current one had the same thing. and the main spring break. and it had the cylinder stop turning. upon returning it to naa and receiving it back it works fine. i dont plan on giving up on the naa because i've had some problems. even if i have more.

guns are build by man, nothing man makes is perfect though. with all things there are lemons.

im sure there are bad glocks out there. i had one actually that shot so far to the left that the rear sight couldnt be adjusted enough to fix it. that didnt stop my from buying another glock.

[denny 714]

Go with a .357 mag., you can use a variety of choice loads, just be careful with children in the house! 38 short, 38 long, 38+P, and on and on....home protection IS up-close and Personal.

Denny G.

[cluznar]

What do you have experience shooting? If you never shot a pistol I would say a good full size 9mm, like the Ruger SR9 or maybe a Bersa 9mm, or maybe a Stoeger Cougar 9mm.