Best Vehicle Handgun?

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Large capacity semi-auto, stainless. The S&W SD9VE or SD40VE are excellent (they have a stainless slide) and cost under $300. The suggestion about a 3d Gen S&W in stainless (5906, etc.) is a good one, too, in the same price range. I personally would stay away from the brands that have less than stellar reputations for reliability. Choice of ammo is another thread, but choosing the ammo that your local police use is always defensible. Whatever ammo you pick, practice with it (make sure it works in your pistol) and carry at least one extra mag.

Nothing wrong with having a holster to carry the pistol during the time you are dismounted. Someone's idea of a tanker holster (just slip in over your head) makes sense. Since Louisiana allows open carry, it is okay to have the gun visible (a deterrent) and readily available (quick reaction if needed) and secure (not in a pocket or belt).

I also agree 100% about the responsibility to prevent theft of the gun from an unattended vehicle. A stolen gun will end up in the hands of a criminal in NOLA or go upriver to Chicago or something like that. In the broad expansion of CCW use in the past decade, which is wonderful and makes us all safer, not enough emphasis has been placed on training about when it is justified to shoot; how to secure a weapon in a car or house so it doesn't get stolen or into the hands of children; and how to prevent shooting something or someone by accident (the dreaded ND or AD, more prevalent with light, short triggers -- which seems to be what everyone wants in their striker-fired pistol).

As a side note, rehearsing what you might have to do with this gun is a good idea too. Use your headlights to illuminate the places perpetrators might lurk. Break contact and drive away if you see a threat -- call the police. You are generally better off if you are in the car and it is running, so leave if threatened. If on foot, retreat if threatened -- run away if at all possible. Don't get caught chasing someone or shooting at them as they run away after seeing your gun (it will all be on the bank's video). The reason you are carrying a gun is to protect your life while doing something that attracts bad guys who would kill or injure you. You are not carrying a gun to protect a lousy few thousand dollars of cash, or to arrest or punish anyone intent on breaking the law. The Police have enough trouble with that.

Be safe.
 
CraigC said:
Precisely! Another side-effect of the nanny state. Folks think THEY are responsible for the actions of a criminal. If somebody takes your property and commits an evil act with it, THEY are responsible. Not you.
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I respectfully disagree. If we leave guns out for someone to get their hands on them easily -- and it could be just a kid, a wiseacre teenager, or a hardened criminal -- then we have contributed to the mayhem. You don't leave a gun lying on your front porch - obviously. That makes it too easy to steal, right? Well, a car isn't very hard to break into and leaving a gun there is only a little different from leaving a gun in the open. A recent report says 600 guns a year are stolen from cars in Atlanta, just one city. http://news.wabe.org/post/atlanta-s-growing-problem-guns-stolen-out-cars Why wouldn't we take steps to prevent this if we can?
 
3. Consider taking a vehicle pistol course.
I would hope that after I went through basic and AIT training as a 19F btw that is no longer an mos. Tank Driver They no longer have 2 platoons of 19f and 4 platoons of 19e in an armor training company. I feel like I have had enough training in the safe handling and use of weapons that the class would be rather boring as I have been through comprehensive training at the expense of the taxpayer in the care and use of weapons.
Also to reply to the folks who think locks keep criminals out of trucks or cars.
Having redundancy in securing your truck weapon only restricts your ease of access to it. Bank vaults are broken into and armored cars are robbed. Who are you kidding.
Locks keep honest folk honest and restrict access of children. If Brinks trucks get robbed what makes you think a safe in the truck makes it more secure. Get real.
If upon my return to my 20 year old truck some punk or idiot has bashed the window and gained access am I legally responsible for any crime after having secured the door in a manner provided by its
manufacturer. I think some folks put safes in the truck when ten loaded thirty round mags of ammo makes much more common sense.
I take it we can choose,time,place,weather conditions in the event of a crisis. If you would please let me have knowledge prior to a terrible event I would prefer to go elsewhere or stay home. It is my hope to never point a firearm at another human being, but I dont think common sense should be disregarded.
I dont think your punk gangmember has a clue what a sustained overwhelming rate of fire really is or the average citizen who has not undergone training to be a killer. I pray I am wasting my time,and efforts to keep my friends clean,serviceable and with me sometimes 16 hours a day. I cannot choose the circumstances or train for any and all possible problems that may or may not arise.Niether can anyone else. Be calm,deliberate and do not hesitate when you must act. Alyways be surveying your surrondings,make use of any object that will let you take cover or be an advantage ,stay sharp. BTW hold your white flag and request time out to retrieve your tool from redundant locks. See if that works id like to know
 
HighRoadRover said:
I respectfully disagree. If we leave guns out for someone to get their hands on them easily -- and it could be just a kid, a wiseacre teenager, or a hardened criminal -- then we have contributed to the mayhem. You don't leave a gun lying on your front porch - obviously. That makes it too easy to steal, right? Well, a car isn't very hard to break into and leaving a gun there is only a little different from leaving a gun in the open. A recent report says 600 guns a year are stolen from cars in Atlanta, just one city. http://news.wabe.org/post/atlanta-s-growing-problem-guns-stolen-out-cars Why wouldn't we take steps to prevent this if we can?
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Utter nonsense. Leaving anything in a locked vehicle is not where "someone can get their hands on them easily". If they have to commit a crime just to gain access to it, it's a huge difference from leaving it on the porch. Where do we draw the line? Lock up all your knives, blunt objects and firearms within your home? Isn't your home just as easy to break into? No, we are no more responsible for someone breaking into our cars than into our homes. We are no more responsible for a criminal robbing a liquor store with a firearm they stole from our vehicle than we are them using our baseball bat to beat up an old lady or using a stolen knife to stab a man in an alley during a mugging. Or using our stolen vehicle to transport drugs or run over somebody. Sorry but this is the logic of the left.
 
Also to reply to the folks who think locks keep criminals out of trucks or cars.
Having redundancy in securing your truck weapon only restricts your ease of access to it. Bank vaults are broken into and armored cars are robbed. Who are you kidding.
Locks keep honest folk honest and restrict access of children. If Brinks trucks get robbed what makes you think a safe in the truck makes it more secure. Get real.
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Given enough time and decent tools vehicle burglars can breach any obstacle you set in their path.

However will they have enough time before the owner or some other person notices what they're doing and either confronts them or calls police and will they have the right tools to breach a safe or a lock-box bolted to the frame of a truck? Unless the vehicle is in a remote area or there's literally no one around probably not. They'll generally smash a window and grab what's easily accessible and bail.

The key issues is the amount of time available to them and the number of people around who might stop them or call the police.

There's also the factor of being able to get a safe open. The 3 tools that are used the most often by vehicle burglars are rocks/bricks/chunks of concrete, large screwdrivers and crowbars/tire irons. Most vehicle burglars are into smash and grab type activity. These generally aren't highly sophisticated safe crackers up the criminal food chain.

So while any sort of safe or lockbox is possible to breach, they might not be able to get it open if there are time constraints and a ton of people around.

•. •. •. •. •.

As to the idea that the vehicle safe is somehow restricting your access to your weapon the only time you're ever using it and placing your gun inside of it is if you have to go into a business or building where you're restricted from carrying it by law anyway.

Otherwise your gun is still on you or easily accessible inside the vehicle.

In Texas it's illegal to carry in certain places (Hospitals, Nursing Homes, secured areas of an airport, jails/prisons and so on), so you have to leave it somewhere inside your vehicle anyway. Might as well be inside a vehicle safe where it takes a vehicle burglar longer to get it than just smashing a single window, rooting around inside your car/truck for 20 secs and walking off with it.
 
doc2rn said:
Ruger sp101 5 shots of .357 and built like a tank, or the venerable GP100 6 shot.
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Mine's a stainless Security Six. It's old and worn, but still works real well.
The OP is going to get a hundred responses saying "Get whatever gun you don't mind having stolen." And that's fine. But the last time one of my vehicles was broken into was when I was in the service and was stationed in Southern California. Someone broke into my car to steal my 8-track. If you're old enough to even know what an "8-track" is, you know it's been awhile since one of my vehicles was broken into. In other words - yeah, for the convenience of always having a gun handy in my old truck, without having to carry it back and forth to the house, I AM gambling that my truck won't be broken into. But it's a small gamble. Heck, for that matter, back in our backpacking days, my wife and I sometimes left our vehicle parked at a trailhead in the mountains for two weeks and never had a problem.
 
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As far as a good truck gun, whatever is reliable and inexpensive. A gun that is kept in your vehicle is bound to get beat up looking after a while, don't put something in there that you want to keep looking pretty.

I would recommend some reliable striker fired, polymer framed 9, 40, or 45.
 
I don't wish to discourage you from a dedicated truck/car firearm.
I also don't think that you'd be responsible for it being stolen and used unlawfully by a thief.
If possible stay away from high risk area's where you are more likely to have a problem.
Stay alert and observant of others and your possible exit opportunities.
That said hundreds of dollars for a safe in your truck/ car is a waste of good money, just buy 2 firearms.
Lastly my best firearm is always loaded and the one I have with with me. I own several but if they're not with me they're lazy by nature and of no use to anyone. So a Kimber 45 acp in the safe is never as good as a High Point 45 acp that is loaded and with you. I hope that you are able to find one that will meet your needs without the undue expense of extra locks,safes or other things that also restrict access by you in a SHTF moment.
 
Something to consider if you have a newer push-button start vehicle. Might not need brute force to get in your vehicle and perhaps drive it away. I don't keep anything of value in my vehicles longer than I need to. Of course GFZ's from time to time force me to disarm briefly and I use a good quality lock box when I do.

In a series of unscientific tests at different locations over a two-week period, 35 different makes and models of cars, SUVs, minivans and a pickup truck were tested at dealers, auto auctions, NICB employee vehicles and personal vehicles.

In 19 of its 35 tests, the device opened the vehicle. In 18 of those 19 entries, it was also able to start the vehicle and drive away.
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http://foxsanantonio.com/news/offbe...ing-mystery-device-to-open-and-start-vehicles

 
I use a Tokarev that ran me all of $150, with mag in the gun loaded with old Czech steel core. Not ideal for anti-personnel use but I figure if I need the car gun I may be shooting around/through cars, including my own.
 
While Furiousa had many choices (luger on the cab wall, flare gun on the dash, scoped sks behind the seat, BHP in the glove box etc.) Her best truck gun was a glock in a break away ceramic skull. :neener:
 
Just an oddball thing to be aware of: I routinely kept an original Kahr 9mm in my truck's center console. Normally when I got in the truck I'd check to make sure it was there, but rarely picked it up. One time after not handling the gun for several months I picked it up, only to discover it had been laying on one of those small ketchup packets. The packet had broken open due to the weight of the gun and the ketchup had totally removed the finish from a 1 inch area on the slide!
 
Why not something in an oddball (or at least less popular) cartridge? If stolen, a cheap 9mm/40S&W/.38/.357 will be easy for the thief to use or fence. I don't have a candidate ... just trying to think creatively.
 
I keep a Makarov in my truck console. It is arguably the most reliable shooter out there, rugged and tough, and was very inexpensive. I don't stress over a few dings that it might get bouncing around in my truck.
 
Cooldill said:
That is not high road, brother.

Stay in your lane my friend.
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My lane? What road is that?

Nothing intended to be low road, just pointing out that we have a "like" button for stuff we agree with but not the equivalent for things we don't. I will grant you that the Glock 19 is a very popular handgun, and that it is also very durable and reliable, but so are a slew of other modern handguns that aren't nearly as ergonomically abominable. I most definitely "unlike" the idea the G19 is the "best" handgun by some set of universally accepted criteria. Just ask the FBI.
 
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My truck gun is my carry gun, usually my Ruger LC9S or my LCP when it is not on my hip or in my pocket. I don't like leaving a gun in a vehicle overnight but I understand it, and if locked up, always having a spare in the vehicle is not a concept I fully disagree with, I just choose not to do that at this time.

I must admit that I have thought of doing this, and if I decided to do so, it would probably be my hi-point I left in my truck locked inside a console and behind locked doors. It has been 100% reliable for me, 9mm, i have extra mags, etc. It is a pretty tough finish, and if it did get dinged up or stolen I would not be out a bunch of cash.

If it did get stolen being behind at least two different locks it is the bad guys fault, not mine, i agree with this, but if that did happen in my neighborhood, it would most likely be a kid, or less likely some random drug addict, neither of which I would want to have a gun, so, I have chosen not to do so to date.

I do think that this is an ideal purpose for a hi-point, once proven reliable, a truck or toolbox, or long term hideaway gun. I dont carry my Hi-point, I own a lot of other nice reliable guns I can carry, I bought it new for less than $100, so, for me, that is this tools most likely purpose, other than taking it to the range to pop cans, if I someday choose to or need to do so.
 
I have looked at the High Point pistols. The bulk of them is why I haven't tried one out. I also have reservations for firearms that I have not personally proven reliable too.
The size and magazine capacity of the 45 is probably the only reason I don't own one at the present time.
Today's a new day and I might be shooting one before the sun goes down.
If price was the only factor it's definitely in the top 5 I'd think for a dedicated truck gun.
By the way I could care less about how old this thread is or when the OP last logged in.
It is still an open subject and as long as we are reading and posting on the subject.
Let us
 
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