Stuff Hit the Fan Handgun: Which one?

[Beat Trash]

For your intended usage, I'd stay with a 9mm.

For the choice of gun, I'd go with a M&P full size 9mm. My first choice would be a Glock 19 or a Glock 17, but there have been too many having issues with some of the parts (extractors) that Glock has redesigned. Older Glock Gen3 guns (before 2010) don't have the newer outsourced parts. These guns, especially the Glock 19 are about as bombproof as it can get.

As for the basic concept? While your idea is noble in it's intent, I feel you'd be doing your family members a better service to try to persuade them to start shooting now. Take them along shooting with you. Convince them of why you feel it's important to have access to a defensive handgun. Have them buy their own gun. That way it'll be available to them for regular practice. And also available should they have need of it.

 

[Bovice]

Unless you're in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, or any country who's military primarily uses the AK pattern rifle, forget about your AK. How do you expect to keep it fed? If that was all that I had, I'd use it to obtain something with a NATO chambering, and hang onto it until it was empty. Then I'd pitch it.

9mm for your pistols, and either .308 or .223 for your rifles.

 

[goon]

If you're determined to go with handguns, I agree with the DA revolver option. Glocks are also a good choice as is something like the S&W M&P series. Ruger P-95's turn up used in my area for around $240 pretty regularly and are only about $300 new last I checked.

Having said that, handguns require practice. If you shoot handguns, you know this is true. If you don't practice with a handgun on a semi-regular basis your ability to hit anything really decreases. If you feel compelled to arm non-shooters, I wonder if you'd consider NEF single barrel 20 gauges - probably youth models.
Hear me out:
1. They are cheap enough you don't really need replacement parts. Just get two more of them in case one breaks - but I've still never heard of one breaking even after years of use. The last one I bought used at a gun store cost me $59.
2. They are more effective than you'd give them credit for. Sure, only one shot, but it's still a 20 gauge and throwing damn near an ounce of buck shot with every shot.
3. Simple to use. Any ten year old kid can learn to use one and probably handle the recoil. And they're simple to aim - put the bead where you want to hit out to 25 yards and pull the trigger.

So I think that rather than trying to arm your family with the best weapons when most of them won't be able to use them any more effectively than a single barrel shotgun anyhow is a waste. Instead, arm them with something, then spend the rest arming yourself very well. Your skill and weapons can provide the core of your family's defensive needs with the weapons you've provided them with adding a bit more security to your group as a whole and a lot more to them as unarmed individuals.

 

[SFsc616171]

Practicality and simplicity on the plate! Since you will be more discriminate than our uniformed folks, "spraying and praying", because you won't have their budget at your disosal, and you are more inclined to "be the true Marine ... one shot, one kill", i suggest the following: handgun, either the SW M15 with four inch barrel, or the M19, and here's why. You are going to couple that to, a handgun lever action rifle that can handle both .38 Special and .357 magnum rounds. Both of these calibers really sing, coming out of a 16 inch barrel carbine. Besides, the reports I have read, state that .357 Magnum coming out of a 16 inch barrel, are the OPTIMUM, as far as ballistics. Lever action rifles are so easy to know how to use, as in watching Lonesome Dove. Fire three rounds, load three rounds. Why these two calibers? You mentioned SD rounds, no? A SW M15 4 inch is a tactical workhorse. Sure, the GI rounds were 130 grain FMJFP's, but if you were to use 159 grain semiwadcutters in either caliber, you would not be behind the eight ball. This is a rig that I have. (Sorry, no pics yet.) A RossiM92 16 incher, with the big ring (great for home defense dental work), and a SW M15-3, that the last LE agency that owned it, gave it a teflon coating and Hogue monogrips. Good luck.

 

[SFsc616171]

oops, I meant 15_8_ grain semiwadcutters.

 

[Hoppes Love Potion]

I like the .357 revolver + lever-action rifle concept. No magazines to worry about. Devastating in close quarters or out to 200 yards with the rifle. I would be real happy with a GP100 and a stainless Marlin 1894CSS.

For inexperienced shooters or kids, you might be better off with .22 revolvers or Ruger Mark III autos.

S&W 317 is a 10-oz 8-shot .22LR revolver that would be perfect for a teen or woman with little firearms experience. Same goes for the Ruger semi-auto but it's a lot heavier and you have magazines to think about.

With .22, you can afford to have 10k+ rounds of ammo and have the ability to carry hundreds of rounds on your person.

 

[JFrame]

Practicality and simplicity on the plate! Since you will be more discriminate than our uniformed folks, "spraying and praying", because you won't have their budget at your disosal, and you are more inclined to "be the true Marine ... one shot, one kill", i suggest the following: handgun, either the SW M15 with four inch barrel, or the M19, and here's why. You are going to couple that to, a handgun lever action rifle that can handle both .38 Special and .357 magnum rounds. Both of these calibers really sing, coming out of a 16 inch barrel carbine. Besides, the reports I have read, state that .357 Magnum coming out of a 16 inch barrel, are the OPTIMUM, as far as ballistics. Lever action rifles are so easy to know how to use, as in watching Lonesome Dove. Fire three rounds, load three rounds. Why these two calibers? You mentioned SD rounds, no? A SW M15 4 inch is a tactical workhorse. Sure, the GI rounds were 130 grain FMJFP's, but if you were to use 159 grain semiwadcutters in either caliber, you would not be behind the eight ball. This is a rig that I have. (Sorry, no pics yet.) A RossiM92 16 incher, with the big ring (great for home defense dental work), and a SW M15-3, that the last LE agency that owned it, gave it a teflon coating and Hogue monogrips. Good luck.

I like the .357 revolver + lever-action rifle concept. No magazines to worry about. Devastating in close quarters or out to 200 yards with the rifle. I would be real happy with a GP100 and a stainless Marlin 1894CSS.

For inexperienced shooters or kids, you might be better off with .22 revolvers or Ruger Mark III autos.

S&W 317 is a 10-oz 8-shot .22LR revolver that would be perfect for a teen or woman with little firearms experience. Same goes for the Ruger semi-auto but it's a lot heavier and you have magazines to think about.

With .22, you can afford to have 10k+ rounds of ammo and have the ability to carry hundreds of rounds on your person.

I'm certainly not endorsing the above solution for everyone -- and if I'm ever faced with a Red Dawn scenario, I'm sure I'd wish I had a belt-fed SAW with about 20,000 rounds of ammo -- but it's the approach I take also.

I happen to like shooting revolvers, and the .38/.357 is about as fun and versatile as it gets, so that's what I have on hand (both firearms and ammo). In addition, being in a fairly built-up suburban area, I have most immediate access to an indoor range that only allows "handgun" ammo. So I can practice with .357 to my heart's content.

In .357 for handguns, I keep a S&W 686, 65, Pro-60, and 360PD (plus a myriad of .38-only wheel guns). I also have a Winchester Trapper in .357, and am looking cross-wise at the new Ruger 77 as a possible back-up. Ammo inventory is kept fairly simple (though, of course, I also have 9mm, .40, .45 acp, .44 mag, .22 LR, .22 WMR, etc.).

One size does not fit all, but I enjoy and feel reasonably comfortable with this "solution" -- for me.


.

 

[Mike1234567]

Assuming you'll be handing these out to folks of different sizes plus they're not accustomed to shooting... maybe the little Kel-Tec P-11 with inexpensive but ultra-reliable Mec-Gar S&W Model 59 15 round mags. Get Kel-Tec extension grips for all the mags. The extended grips make handling this lightweight pistol quite manageable. I've shot over 2K though mine without a singe malfunction. They're small, inexpensive, comfortable to shoot (with ext. grip), and reliable. These would really only be useful for close combat SD.

 

[1stmarine]

A Keltec seems like a good option too. That would have to be broken in and tested over and over with the loads and magazines you are going to put in the survival pack and when it shows a few hundred rounds w/o stoppages you have to clean it, test it once more and put it away.
A survival pack would mean you have to write off everything in it including the pistol. This means fill it with the pistol, rounds, lights, comm. package, long term food, water, etc... and do not open it. Only maybe once every 5 years to replace batteries and food.

I think for some a mode affordable US made like the keltec is a great option more affordable and less painful to write off but something like a Glock 19 is hard to beat in the end, specially with the single action trigger and the proven track record through the years.

Hamlet:
Not a whit, we defy augury. There is special providence in
the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to
come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come—THE READINESS IS ALL. Since no man, of aught he leaves, knows what is't
to leave betimes, let be.

 

[amprecon]

For me it is the Glock 21, it is my only semi-auto and I shoot it the best.

 

[Flfiremedic]

Ok I'll play...Glock 19s-more concealable...and G18 mags are available...if no concealability issues, G21s.

 

[goon]

I remember the first time I shot a handgun.
I was about fifteen. It was a .22 revolver. I missed an empty gallon water jug by several feet. I continued to miss by feet.
However, my first shot from a 12 gauge shotgun a few years before that resulted in a very bruised shoulder but a solid hit at more than twice the distance. And I continued to hit with it in spite of the very punishing recoil of that particular gun.
This is the best anecdotal evidence I have.

Not until I got my own handguns several years later and really got into practicing did I get good enough to use one for defense. I still think just handing out handguns to people who aren't familiar with guns is a waste of resources that won't really leave them that much better protected.

I think if the OP wants to do this, he should acquire a couple of his prospective handguns (actually, the little Kel-tecs do win on price but IDK if they'd be that effective for a new shooter) and take a couple of his family members to the range with him a few times. Perhaps they'd take enough interest to want to prepare for their own defense... in which case he would have a few good firearms to give as gifts to help get them started.
As it stands now though, I can think of several of my friends/family who have never used a gun. Handing them a handgun in a crisis would be a waste. I'd be better off to hand them a crowbar.

 

[cougar1717]

I just keep reading these posts and thinking about what I would prefer to have in a post-Katrina, Haiti earthquate, or Joplin tornado type situation as a main source of personal protection if the rule of law has been compromised. Just think about this - after water, food, and a shelter that won't collapse on you, the goal is to protect your family and the things you have left from looters or those who seek your harm until you have transport out or are able to rebuild. Then to think about arming your family- wife, kids - people who have shot handguns but may not have the skills to hit a target at 25yds under duress. I still don't think I would prefer a handgun in preparation for this possible circumstance.

 

[JTH]

The Glock series comparison to an AK is fairly accurate, lots of variety and lots of mags. If you need a handgun the Glock 9mm and really the whole series of Glocks come in sizes for what fits your hand grip best is there. There are plenty of mags and after market mags also. I've really been thinking about a Hi Capacity handgun for about 6 months. At a gun show yesterday I was able to handle all the 9mm series, I thought I wanted a Glock 19 but after handling a model 17 it fit my grip better. You're not going to find a Glock that is an easily consealable pistol IMO. I was asking what the difference between the cheap 33 round mags and not so cheap, he said the cheap mags were aftermarket and more expensive were proprietary, for all I know he could have not known what he was talking about but he did ask what caliber did I plan on using them in and he said to avoid the aftermarket .40 cal, said the 9mm both worked okay. Looks like if you want a consealable you may have to go with a lower capacity single stack. Hi Capacity is good insurance but if you can't dispatch a problem with 8-10 rounds a 15-33 rnd. mag. probably won't make that much difference either. For a vehicle CCW, I'd go for the high capacity.

The above reasons are easily cancelled out with a shorter barreled shotgun, like a Remington 870 law enforcement issue but most semi auto or pump shotguns cover most self defense issues and situations. The odds are you'll also have a side arm also. You can get 2-3 Mossberg shotguns for the price of 1 Glock pistol at $500-$600 each.
JT

 

[jlott00]

glock 19 .... takes the g17 mags as well...can conceal decent, and does everything the g17 can do and more. my first glock 19 had 700-800 rounds through her before her first cleaning . Not one problem or ftf of any kind

of course a shotgun is better im sure the OP knows this. he wants to know about pistols

the small keltecs are to snappy for most women and children.and not as reliable as glock imho

Ak's are good, stalk up on ammo and you wont have to worry about it not using the .223 or what ever nato.
really think about it. either way if you run out of ammo, youll have to go steal ammo....we woud like to avoid that but
get another gun while you are at it..simple. But odds are if you have a 1 or 2 of the spam cans,1400rns of 7.62x39 ammo you probably wont run out before the SHTF scenario runs out

 

[skoro]

Stuff Hit the Fan Handgun: Which one?

I'd go with a 357 revolver.

The 357 round is enough for taking game. The gun can accommodate 38spl ammo, giving you some flexibility there. Revolvers are very simple to operate and mechanically rugged.

My $.02

 

[FSJeeper]

For the pistols I would definitely go with 9mm. There are many good choices in a wide price range.

My choice was Sig 226's and the Keltec Sub 2000's that take the Sig magazines.
Sorry, but these Sub 2000's are incredible little pieces and are reliable and accurate. Also a lot of fun. They are useful to 100 yards.

My rifle calibers are 7.62 x 39 and .308. In my neck of the woods the 7.62 x 39 is just as common and available as the .223 and a more useful cartridge in my opinion.

Changing gears, why aren't you buying shotguns first? The NEF 870 knockoff is cheap and better than the new 870's. They are on sale for $169 fairly regularly around here and are the best value in a firearm I know of. The shotgun is a very viable self defense weapon and should be your first stop.

 

[BleysAhrens]

Seriously...? How is this thread still open?
Okay, I agree with the police trade in 38 specials.. Cheap, reliable. Now if you need to clear a path, go with the Glock 19, or 17. And maybe a cheap highpoint c9. It goes bang, and sends lead down range.

 

[gyvel]

If I ever see the "flash" the one I will grab will be a Smith & Wesson Model 10.

 

[Gun Geezer]

Seriously...? How is this thread still open?
Okay, I agree with the police trade in 38 specials.. Cheap, reliable. Now if you need to clear a path, go with the Glock 19, or 17. And maybe a cheap highpoint c9. It goes bang, and sends lead down range.

As the OP, I gotta admit I never thought 3-pages. But it has some really good points made and wise advise.

 

[Zach S]

I'm the only shooter in the house. If the S were to HTF, I'd probably still be the only shooter in the house...

Everyone else's job would be simple, refill the mags I empty.

 

[jlott00]

yes dont under estimate just how poor a shot people can be. i took a buddy shooting and he could not hit a 7in plate at 10 yards with a 9mm if his life depended on it.

and he was missing bad. I was amazed and after an hour of working with him he still only hit 50%......

 

[goon]

yes dont under estimate just how poor a shot people can be. i took a buddy shooting and he could not hit a 7in plate at 10 yards with a 9mm if his life depended on it.

and he was missing bad. I was amazed and after an hour of working with him he still only hit 50%......

I have seen people miss targets 15 yards by feet with handguns, sometimes flinching so bad that they hit the ground six or more feet in front of it. If I were in a situation where I needed to arm my non-shooting friends, I wouldn't want to hand them handguns. They could make noise which might scare off attackers but that benefit would be offset by the ammunition they'd be wasting and the stray bullets they'd be sending off to God-knows-where, possibly injuring innocent people hundreds of yards away.

IMO, the best solution with handguns (and really with any gun) involves training to go along with the gun.

 

[dagerv]

colt python 6 inch barrel .357 magnum from walking dead.....

 

[Smaug]

Another vote for Glock 19. They are not as affordable right now as S&W 10s, but a LOT easier for a novice to shoot well, not to mention higher capacity cannot hurt matters. Almost revolver-like simplicity. (one has to be aware not to limp-wrist and that all the safeties are internal except the switch in the trigger)

The smaller size compared to the 17 is better for women and children's hands, IMO, without losing too much sight radius.