From factory box to holster...

[bannockburn]

RA40

Among mine, I'd pick the Sig with SRT for out of box function and nice trigger.

That's the same way I felt about my SIG P229 with the SRT: smoothest and cleanest DA/SA trigger out of the box in a semi-auto. Would also have to mention my Browning Hi-Power with having the best SA trigger of any Hi-Power I had tried while my S&W Model 686-no dash possessed the sweetest trigger of any revolver I owned.

 

[Meeks36]

I would use a Glock 19 with fmj. I know that some firearms dont like certain types of hollow points. While its not perfect. Neither is carrying a pistol you haven't tried.

 

[Varminterror]

If the world ended, chaos ensued, and I found myself smashing a gunshop window and grabbing a pistol to put immediately into service, my concern would be with other things more urgent than the lost opportunity to strip and lubricate, tune/upgrade, test fire, and acclimate to the weapon as I might have otherwise when afforded the luxury of having my preference.

Considering this question, I will easily acknowledge out of hand that I am willing to carry a pistol with far less PROVING or BREAK IN than what might be considered popular practice on the Internet. I function check and confirm/tune feeding, sight in or confirm POI, and carry the pistol.

It’s that last step which gives me the most concern such I wouldn’t buy a pistol, buy a holster, and wear it out of the store without firing. There is simply far too much liability assumed in carrying a pistol, such if I could not confirm to a judge and jury of my peers that I took a shot with reasonable and defensible expectation of where that bullet would travel, I would not carry the pistol. I’m responsible and accountable for every bullet I send downrange, so I am not personally willing to send a shot without knowing, reasonably, where it will go. I’m infinitely more comfortable with the idea of trusting a pistol to function and feed out of the box than I am with trusting a factory zero to coincidentally match my ammo.

 

[MistWolf]

There is NO handgun, rifle or shotgun I would trust without test fire. Always do a lock back check and fire at least one full mag before trusting your life or the hunt of a lifetime to a firearm.

 

[GJeffB]

Wow, I admit to being seriously surprised, or maybe I misunderstood the premise. The questions was (paraphrasing) what handgun would you choose to take out of the box and expect it to work so well as do depend one's life on, as I read it. Not the most efficient, tactical, fastest, greatest capacity, etc. Assuming that to be correct ...
Some said "wouldn't accept it without testing" (or some variation), and a few (very few) mentioned revolvers.

Me: I've always been a semiauto guy. I've *never* been a semiauto guy that'd bet his life without testing. If I HAD to pick it'd be a simple to operate, simple to evaluate, and simple to teach another in a pinch, double action revolver from a reputable/long known manufacturer. Can a new one go wrong? Yep, answered to ALL makes, models, actions. The most simple operation and internals? Prolly a single action. VERY close second and meeting all the criteria I assumed - DA revolver. YMMV

-jb, this from the semiauto guy

 

[Varminterror]

Across my workbench, I would bet my life on a higher likelihood of a typical semiauto pistol, lubricated, running properly out of the box than a DA revolver, also lubricated for kicks. At least AS likely to run properly. And certainly more likely to be more easily returned to service quickly by someone without specific understanding of the mechanism if it did have a common “first few rounds failure.”

 

[MistWolf]

Across my workbench, I would bet my life on a higher likelihood of a typical semiauto pistol, lubricated, running properly out of the box than a [lubricated] DA revolver

I was about to post the same thing

 

[23tony]

If, and ONLY if, there were no possible way to give it even a quick test of a couple shots (like a zombie apocalypse and I'm unarmed and in a gun store), then, in order, Ruger GP100 or Springfield XD (original).

I'm hard pressed to see a scenario (and I get the one posed) where I wouldn't want at least a couple of shots just to check it out, and to know how it handles.