Why do you choose the gun and caliber you use for defense?

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I have 3 qualifications for a defensive handgun, and will gladly consider any model that meets them:

1. .45 acp, because after all these years it is the only handgun cartridge I have any confidence in.

2. Double action only, because the New Jersey state animal is the lawyer.

3. Extremely high quality. A defensive handgun is too important a tool to settle for 2nd rate quality.
 
Carry...Rohrbaugh 9
Home...FN-Five Seven w/M6. It has 20 rnds, light, laser, and will shoot thru my wet plaster walls. You can run, but I'll shoot ya thru my fridge.:D
 
Home Defense : CZ 75 Compact (9 mm) - Fits my hand very well, high magazine capacity, very accurate, I am confident in the round I use, recoil is good for follow-up shots, I love this pistol!

Personal Defense (CCW) : Ruger SP101 (357 Mag.) - Heavy enough for full-house 357 loads, light and small enough for comfortable carry, I am confident in the round I use. Stainless finish so I don't worry about the effects of sweat and rust.
 
This is simple, whenever possible I carry somthing in .452 / .454. My general carry is a 1911. I have been known to carry a New Service in 45 LC. I have been known to carry one of those CZ52, I am sometimes perverse, but for some reason I sometimes like the 7.62 x 25 at 1400 FPS.

The reason for the 45 is simple, 9mm / 38s are cute, but the US millitary gives up on this class of cartridges every hundred years or so because they are not really all that effective. To be effective they require well placed shots, at which point you may as well carry a 25. A friend of mine kill a armed robber at his shop a few years back with a Walther PP in 32 with a single shot, but this man is a true expert shot, having shot on the Army pistol team for year. If you are just throwing lead towards your oppoent, you will most likely miss, it is better to take aim and hit, at which point the number of cartridges is not realy important.
 
I don't carry, even though I have the proper LTC, do to the assine laws in this state making it almost impossible to not get in legal trouble if one needed to use it. For home use I have a Ruger Gp-100 .357 Mag.
 
I use a 9mm, and a .38 special because the hit hard enough without leaving a massive fireball in night situations

I like rugers and berettas, they work for me
 
Seems in the gun world they are always trying to reinvent the wheel

some innovations are good

SS for example.

but as far as caliber goes

I stay with the time tested and proved rounds

.38 spec
44 spec
45 acp
44 mag
and 357

hard to beat any of those for protection in my book, some are better than the others - in the end they all work if used right.
 
Glock 26

Easy to conceal, corrosion-proof, easy to replace any part without a gunsmith, reliable, shoots like a big gun.

9mm

cheap to practice with, available worldwide, effective, light recoil.
 
This is a neat thread so i thought I'd ressurect it!

I carry:

1. Keltec P3AT .380; perfect pocket carry. I'm a pastor and business projessional who needs perfect concealment and wears thin dress pants a lot with a tucked in shirt. This gun pocket carries is ideal, next step up...

2. S&W J fram 637; will be trading this towards a 642 to go hammerless; I feel DAO with no controls is the very best for defensive CCW. This is my "heavier" pocket gun that works good in heavier pant material with larger pockets. Only draw back is slow reloads with speed strips compared to any auto.

3. SP101 .357/.38 3" barrel; didn't really intend to get this but fell in love with one handling. I think it's somewhat of a poor choice for CCW because it's heavier than most light weight .45's, is thick, only has 5 shots etc. and even though .357 is a great round for putting down a bad guy, it's recoil makes 2nd shots harder and it is very loud. I intend to shoot +p .38s in mine since the recoil is WAY better than the 637/642 Airweights. I'll use mine more as a field gun or winter "under the coat" gun but this one will probably never be a main CCW gun due to weight and other issues but I love this gun! :eek:

4. Kahr P9; my main carry whenever I do have a cover garment to wear. Again I alwasy wear dress shirts tucked to even in the winter it's hard for me to carry IWB unless i don't take off my coat inside. I'm going to experiement with sweaters but never liked that and I don't think I can pull of the vest look so I carry this mainly when i know I can keep my jacket or suit coat on. It's the most concealable IWB type weapon I've ever used. It's flat, light, etc. and is deadly accurate with 9mm

5. Last in the line up I have an SA .45 full size 1911. If I was going into a high risk situation, this is what i would carry with one of the others acting as a bug. I can shoot this gun well, followup shots are pretty easy, recoil is very manageable and is more of a push than a flip. Its a potent round for defense but the flash/recoil doesn't feel as bad to me as full house .357's but it is a VERY heavy rig even with a good belt and holster and it's not easy to conceal (for me) unless I have a heavy cover garment on.

Someday? I've always dreamed of having a compact (4" barrel on officers frame) 1911 for main carry. The lightweight models are close to the Kahr in weight, nearly as thin, I love the trigger and I'm very accurate shooting the 1911 but I am concerned about the recoil of the .45 in a lightweigh small 1911 and along comes Springfield's EMP in 9mm. I love it but feel guilty thinking of spending $1000 on a 9mm for carry when I have the Kahr P9, still, with the SA emp you end up with 10 rounds of 9mm in a single stack and the gun fits my smallish hands like they made it personally for me. So I'm thinking about it.

To clean up my line up...

1. I'm going to trade my old 637 and 1st generation P3AT (its' had some reliability issues) in for a new 642 j frame
2. Then I'm going to buy a new P3AT 2nd generation
3. And finally I'm going to get some type of 1911 in either 9mm or .45 in a small compact configuration and that'll be it. No more handguns for the rest of my life. really...:(

God Bless
Gideon
 
I chose the .45 ACP, because it is a proven cartridge that will greatly slow down, if not stop two legged predators. I chose the XD45 to carry .45 ACP in, because of its capacity, and it feels good in my hands. I tried the .40 S&W, but the recoil on it is just too snappy. Although the .45 ACP has more "bang" it doesn't seem to be as snappy, its more of a roll. I also feel comfortable with 9mm, but I sold my XD9 to help fund the .45.
 
SP101 2.25" for every day carry - rugged , reliable , small enough for me to carry IWB .
GP100 4" for target , HD , and sometimes cold weather and woods carry - rugged , reliable , accurate and soaks up the recoil of the 357
Remingon 870 12 ga. - great gun for hunting or HD
I chose the revolvers because they are simple and reliable . Point and shoot , no safetys , no stovepipes or jambs , 5 or 6 for sure . I chose the 38/357 because I feel the 38 is as good as the 9 mil and I have the option of using the more powerful 357 if I want to .
 
And noone has produced a 1911 in 50 yet.
Click to expand...

Not true :) http://www.m1911.org/mod_guncrafter.htm I'm not sure it if was this particular 1911 in fifty cal, but i saw a gun magazine advertised in another gun magazine (like a back issue i think) that had a .50 cal 1911 on the cover, so there may be more than one company making such a weapon, though in my opinion a .45 acp is more than adequate for the job.
 
Glock 19 for Home Defense w/Federal Hydra Shock 124 grain.
Glock 26, Kimber Ultra carry II for CCW with S&W 642 as BUG w/Federal Hydra Shock
S&W 686 4" for Home Defense & Hunting w/Federal Hydra Shock
Kimber .45 Raptor II for Anything and everything w/Federal Hydra Shock

Remington 870 w/ #4 for Home Defense #00 or Slugs for pig hunting.

SA M1A Home Defense for 2 legged Varmints when TSHTF
Mini-14 for fun & Small varmints & Home Defense for 2 legged Varmints when and if TSHTF
SA SOCOM-2 Home Defense for 2 legged Varmints when TSHTF
Remington 700 CDL 30-06 for hunting Large or small game.
Winchester 70 7mm hunting Large Game
 
1911 . . . points well, easy carry, I shoot one well, 45ACP works. Quite fond of the "big bullet moving slow" theory . . .
 
Why do you choose the gun and caliber you use for defense?

I chose a 1911 for HD because I was familiar with them from the Army and knew little of revolvers. If I were to do it again, I'd probably choose a K frame in .357.
 
I choose my G23 because it's light, powerful and if it's good enough for law enforcement it's good enough for me.
 
1. Accuracy. Doesn't matter what caliber it is if you can't hit with it.

2. Familiarity. You should shoot it a lot. Know how to re-load, clear a jam, shoot on the move etc.

3. Reliability. (You won't know much about this unless you shoot it a lot.)

IDPA and other 'gun games' are good places to practice all three.



I think the rest is really personal preference. For me, that's single action auto with few bells and whistles and a magazine full of quality ammunition. (See #3)

I shoot my 9mm HP clone a bit better than my Colt .45s, but I'd feel confident with any of them. I'm working on getting up to that proficinecy with my .357 snubby but it's a slow road, and the re-loads are tricky compared to moon clips and a 1917 Colt. (Which don't fit in that itty-bitty IDPA box.)
 
I wanted a stainless Colt Officer in .45 but couldn't part with $1000 so I built my own. This is a retro styled SS built on a Caspian slide and frame. I hand fit the slide to the frame. All internal parts are Wilson. She will put all 7 shots into 2 inches at 10yds with the old style lo pro sights
Casper1.jpg
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My primary carry weapon is my Springer LW Champion .45ACP held in a BladeTech IWB holster. This gun has proven to be very reliable and accurate with any of the defense loads I've tried (use Hornady TAP for carry).
Home defense duty is done by my Sig P220 due to the fact that the girlfriend is comfortable with the weapon. I might change over to my P220 SAO once it proves itself reliable. Really the handgun is a backup at home with the real duty being done by an 870 loadded with 00 Ranger and a Ruger PC9 loaded with Corbons.
 
Initial requirement:

1. Self loading pistol.
2. Minimum of 10 round magazine capacity.
3. Reliable and accurate.
4. Compact to full size.
5. DA first shot

Result: SIG, Beretta, S&W, Glock, Ruger, H&K.


Additional requirement: "No manual firing inhibitor"

This ruled out most of Beretta, S&W, Ruger, and H&K.


Additional requirement: "Ergonomic handling"

This dropped Glock from the list, because of its grip angle. Beretta was also dropped from the list because the grip did not feel as good as H&K or SIG.


Additional requirement: "Ease of accurate delivery of first shot"

I can hit with DA, but the new medium pressure DAO triggers excels in this department.

After this I was only left with two companies:
SIG: P226R in DAK, SIG P229R in DAK.
H&K: Their compact to full size pistol in LEM.

I went with P229R DAK. There was no significant performance difference between 226 and 229, and SIG is more ergonomic for my hand than H&K.

Caliber selection:
I follow the doctrine of "use the largest caliber that I can handle effectively."
With a P229, that happens to be 40S&W. With a lighter or smaller pistol it may go down to 9mm. So, there it is.
 
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