I have been looking and thinking about buying a pistol to carry in the truck. It would also double as my camping/woods/riding pistol. I have considered several types. I have considered everything from a Glock to a Taurus Tracker 357. After all my looking, I have about decided that I want the new Ruger P345. I feels good, has a slim contour, light/easy to carry. From what I have gathered, Ruger P series pistols are very reliable. I looked at one today at the gunshop for $400. I think thats a pretty good price, and am considering buying it. I was wondering what was yalls favorite pistol to tote.

 

i like glock and springfield armory both are very well made 45 acp is the caliber i perfer

 

Ruger makes a fine handgun, no question. Out of all the pistols I own, if I had to bet my life on one of them, it would be the Bulgarian Makarov. They are cheap, not very accurate, and crudely finished but they always go bang. Like the AK47, the Makarov is made for battle. It doesn't jam and everything is made a little stronger than necessary so dropping it won't bend the slide or frame. For less than $200, Bulgarian Makarovs are an awesome deal for a small, ULTRA reliable, carry pistol.

If you like revolvers, the Taurus Ti snubby in .357 is a darned nice little pistol. I like the ribbed grips, ported barrel, and 7 shot cylinder. I don't know how accurate they are with a 2" barrel but it's as light as a feather and very compact. Being a revolver, it should also be as reliable as a brick.

A smaller, lighter pistol will get carried more than a larger pistol, pick a pistol that's easy to carry. It's better to have a small pistol on you than a larger one at home. For a carry gun, simple and reliable should be at the top of your list with light and compact immediately following. Capacity, accuracy, appearance, stopping power, etc. fall way down the list compared to the first 4 "must haves".

 

When I ride my Polaris I carry a Glock 20, 10mm. For home defense I'm using a Glock 31, .357 Sig with a UTL light attached and of course I have my 870 shotgun alongside the bed also....

I also have some springfield XD series guns....I also have a bunch of guns...lol...more auto's, a nice S&W 586 .357 Mag.....

for defense though I like the Glock best, but just like any gun you need to get out and shoot it on a regular basis to be thoroughly familiar with it....

I shoot USPSA/IPSC and IDPA pistol competition, so I'm very familiar with the pistols I own....my Competition gun is a Dawson Precision Signature Series .40 S&W, built on a STI frame, configured like a Govt. model .45, but all custom fit, bull barrel, wide body, full length dust cover....

I think that the .40 S&W round is the best for defense....although the Glock .357 Sig I have shoots 124 grain hollowpoints at 1380 fps

 

Ok, let me ask you this. How long do you let your semiautos set loaded. I have heard some ppl say that leaving them loaded for long periods of time weakens the mag spring. If this is so, I may opt for a revolver, most likely a Ruger 357. There is a good chance that the gun I get will sometimes sit for a while between being shot. This is one reason I was highly considering a wheel gun to start with. I'm just trying to look at this from all sides. I always buy a gun w/ intentions of keeping it from then on, so I want to get something I'm going to be happy with for a long time.



BTW, I already have a Glock 22, thats the main reason I'm steering away from another one. I like variety.

 

Mag springs will weaken if you leave them loaded. I swap mags every week. I have two mags sitting near the gun, one in the gun loaded and then unload it once a week and load the other mag and load it in the gun....

As far as a wheelgun, good choice. My problem with them is the amount of rounds they hold....I like the fact that my Glock 31 has 13+1 and my Glock 20 has 17+1 (+2 basepad on mags).

A good choice in a wheelgun would be a .357 as you can also shoot .38 spl in it. I only have one .357 right now, its the 4" Smith 586. Its and ex-cop trade-in gun. I do gun refinishing with the spray on, bake on finish like that used by Springfield, Wilson, etc. Most of my customers are cops. I have my 586 finished in OD Green and Black. One of these days I'll take a pic of it so you can see if you want.

I like Taurus revolvers also, good bang for the buck...

 

Well, how bout this. While I was at the gun shop today, I saw a taurus Mountain Gun??? Idk, but it was a 4 in ported barrel, and a green and grey contoured grip. (looked almost like a laminated rifle stock) It was a 44 mag, one of my fav cal., for $350. Do you think the recoil would be too much w/ the ported barrel for a self defense gun? I have a 629 S.W. w/ a 8 3/8 in barrel Also a 44mag. I can shoot it comfortably, but it does have alot of extra barrel out there to help w/ recoil. The Taurus is really nice, and I think its a great buy at $350, but do you think its a practical gun to carry?

 

im sorry i never will think a 44 mag is a good personal defense gun, shoot that gun at defense loads in a small frame pistol with either a 2inch or 4 inch barrel is asking for trouble the recoil would so far off the walls for a normal person, u may actually let go of the gun and by the time the barrel comes back down, i could have shot 2-3 more times accurately with a 357/ 45. not to mention if you fire the gun pervous to using it defensly, and u realize how bad the recoil is, u will become afraid of the gun and will flinch when firing the gun thus making it less accurate, hell u may even miss if the flinch is bad enough

 

The key to the weapon is what type of self-defense are you talking about[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] Is it for wild animals, while out on the trail? Home self-defense? or general self-defense while at the grocery store or wherever?

The guns that have been mentioned, all have a purpose and self defense fits some, better, then others. Bottom line is practice, practice, practice.

For wild animals - .357 or .44 mag

grocery store - small enough to conceal and large enough for ammo capacity. I prefer a semi-automatic; small, compact and nice carrying capacity[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Home defense - Shotgun, cover a larger area while shooting down a hall way, shot will not penetrate exterior walls and enter neighbors house[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] the sound of a racking shot gun is universal and will instantly, give the "******" an instant pucker factor of 10[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] Just a few of my thought on the subject. rescue

 

I have several pistols but there are really only two that I really feel comfortable trusting my life with and they are a Glock 21 and a Sig 226. I use Cor-Bon as my defensive ammo. The Glocks are incredibly rugged and I wouldn't hesitate to buy any of them. My Glock 21 is accurate and a joy to shoot. Just rack a round into the chamber and you're good to go. A simple, reliable working pistol that is quite reasonably priced. Love 'em. The Sigs are just a wonderfully crafted weapon. No clumsy switches, safeties, loaded chamber indicators, grip safeties etc. to deal with just a pure and simple weapon. As far as I'm concerned the high capacity 9mm "wondernine" reached its zenith with the 9mm version of the 226. Simplicity and quality. It feels wonderful in the hand and the controls fall just where one would want them to be. Expensive but you get what you pay for.

I've never been completely comfortable with a shotgun for inside the home defensive purposes. I have a Mossberg 590 riot gun for that purpose but there are some drawbacks. A shotgun is too long and awkward to maneuver through doorways and hallways. It also seems to be far too easy for an intruder to close the distance and be either inside the length of the barrel or at least be able able to grab the end and control the muzzle. A house, mine anyway, just seems to be just a little to tight for a shotgun. If I was in a bit more open area I would rather use the shotgun than the handgun. In my house almost every conceivable shot will be under 10 feet. Far too close for comfort with the shotgun.