First Handgun Purchase, Some Questions

Penguin VII · January 18, 2018

Every recommendation you will get is totally biased, including mine, so at some point you'll have to make up your own mind with what you like and feel comfortable with. Personally, I'd look for something in the 9mm category. People can say as they like about stopping power but modern 9mm defense rounds are at the least equal to that of 45. The FBI just switched and has a white paper freely available you can read on why with all the data. An argument could be made that the FBI deals with people and not large animals, sure fair enough, but if you're at close enough range to start shooting you should be able to rapidly put down at least 50% of your rounds on target and with a 16-18 round may you're talking 8-9 hits with a defense round. You're limited to 6 rounds with a revolver and although more reliable they are also harder to shoot as the grip rotates more, action is heavier and sights are usually worse (my opinion).

9mm will allow you to shoot often, which means more muscle memory and faster reaction time, on sights quicker and a spare mag means you can double your round count with very little weight extra. Carry options are virtually unlimited with glock/M&P options and are cheaper than other alternatives recommended here.

1911s are prone to a lot of malfunctions, and any guy that tells you different probably takes his out 4-5 times a year for a box or two. Their build quality can be a crap shoot and the ones that are most often built best are very picky with ammo types. Not to mention you are limiting yourself to 7 rounds of a harder recoiling round that will penetrate less than 9mm. My father is also a fan of large caliber pistols, as a lot of the old timers are (nothing against you guys, thanks for winning WW2 and all) but can't hit the broad side of a barn at 25 yards.

Polymer frame, striker fired pistols are big and for good reason. It's no shocker the US Army just went with a polymer frame Sig as their 9mm replacement. You may not be as comfortable with a striker as you are with a jframe now, but with practice you will be. Take my advice for what you will. I shoot fairly regularly, putting a combined ~3500 rounds down range in 2017 in a range of 9mm, 45, 5.56, 300blk, 30-06 and 12 GA. Most was done with 9mm because of cost and a pistol is a diminishable skill more so than rifle.

If you are in an area with Grizz I revise my statement in that you should be carrying 10mm, assuming you aren't taking trips to Alaska often then stick with 9mm. The NH black bears don't kill that hard. ;)

Imcrazy · January 18, 2018

I'm a big fan of 9mm, used to be a huge 45acp fan but, I'd rather have the higher capacity and low recoil of 9mm than the tiny bit of extra 'power' of a 45.... I really like the S&W M&P's I have...

Spurshot · January 19, 2018

Sounds like he’s looking for one gun to do everything. If so, it’s likely to be poor performing in uses outside its intended design. If the large animal defense issue is taken off the table, any pistol caliber in the 9mm and up is fine. If black bear or large cats are part of the tasks, none of the 3 (9, 40, 45) human defensive calibers are reliable, imo.

This is debate over calibers has been going on as long as I can remember. 9mm can do the job of human defense with the best modern ammo.

If grizzlies are the issue, the common handgun cartridges for humans are false hope. The 44 mag is not reliable on the big bears. A handgun would be last hope, imo. The thick hides, fat, muscle, and large bones are notorious for stopping even the big magnum pistol calibers from reaching vitals in all but ideal shot presentations. A large or medium caliber rifle is the only rational choice for planning on defending against a grizzly.

grizzled · February 1, 2018

On 1/13/2018 at 5:01 PM, Spurshot said:

Handguns are marginal stoppers.

Not really. Like everything, it depends----

I am in total agreement that for any critter of significant size (and around here, that means bears, including grizzlies) a 44 mag with a very heavy load is the absolute minimum I would consider. My two current go-to's are both S&W: 329 PD AirLite (44 mag) and the X frame 500 with a 4" barrel. I'm not sure there is any critter on the planet that the 500 wouldn't stop but it is a beast to carry. Surprisingly, it isn't that bad to shoot-except perhaps for somewhat notable muzzle blast.

I still do a lot of backpacking and the AirLite is the usual choice for that. But with 320 grain DoubleTaps, that is the most miserable handgun I have ever fired. It literally hurts. But I will not likely be thinking about recoil if something big is about to chew on me and 44 specials allow more or less painless practice.