I met one of my college buddies for dinner tonight. Paul was in my wedding 23 years ago. We meet a few times per year and catch up. We used to play basketball for hours on end back in our college days. After college we would hit the local bars in his red RX7. We’ve taken different paths, but have reached the same destination – concluding that we’re doomed. We hadn’t met for over a year awhile ago. He was always more outgoing and laid back about life. When we got together two years ago I found out he had bought a doomstead farm in Lancaster County among the Amish. He had also bought a gun. Tonight he told me about his new website:
He has created a website to help people choose a handgun. I think it is a great idea. I know many people on this site are experts when it comes to guns, but us accountants are mostly clueless. With the country spiraling downwards and Obama trying to ban guns, interest among amateurs and first timers is rising. I plan on buying a handgun or two in the near future. I think his site will be a valuable resource for someone looking to buy gun.
He has different categories for:
Beginners
Women
Self Defense
Home Defense
Concealed Carry
Pistols
Revolvers
Check out the site and let me know what you think. If you have suggestions to improve the site, let him know. I know he would like people to post pictures and reviews of their favorite handguns. I’m going to stay on Paul’s good side. I see myself tilling the soil on his farm in the not too distant future after the shit hits the fan.
DC – well, you make a good point re Browning and the 9mm. He should have been shot for doing that. He must have gone senile or something.
GRGY-Whereabouts in the Great White North-are you a Canuck? Here in AK, we have our 30-06s, but pretty much everything else as well. And no life sentence for using justifiably-we recently expanded our “castle doctrine-no duty to retreat” legislation to include “anywhere you have a legal right to be”.
GRGY – I love 30-06s. They will handle just pert near any damn thing. Maybe just a tad too small for griz, for instance, but will get the job done even there is accurate enough. I have seen them make short work of somewhat lesser bear.
Ron – the reality is very few folk can hit the side of a barn with a pistol – me included these days. A person would be pretty safe at 25 feet to thumb their nose at at 90% of folks with pistols. Especially if the person were moving any at all. Shear volume of lead might overcome them in the end – say emptying a Glock in their general direction.
To be a good pistol shot takes a lot of practice. Even then pistols are near enough worthless shooting at something on the move 10 yards or more away. Barrel swing is simply too hard to control. And I know there are folks herein that could shoot the balls off a flying gnat at that distance, and I am not talking about you. Just talking in general about your run of the mill shooter.
I have known a couple of pretty good pistol shots. But they are rare beasts by and large. Scope, tripod, open sights even, etc – different story. Shotgun – point and shoot with midium shot – no problemo. Pistol – under pressure folks just are not very accurate with them.
Ron-your illiteracy not withstanding, you do make a valid point. For all the stopping power of the 45 ACP (and other large cartridges), they are, all else equal, more difficult to shoot well and require more diligent practice to maintain proficiency. Hence the US military’s decision to switch from the 1911 to Beretta 9mm. I will confess, having shot otherwise identical Springfield XDMs in 9mm and 45 ACP side-by-side, the 9mm is more fun-and easier to shoot well. Not a bad gun there either-a lot of nice safety features-if you like plastic and can tolerate that long, heavy trigger pull.
AKA – play nice with the rest of the ugn nuts. We are one big happy family one this topic!
I am sure you are right re the 9mms.
llpoh said: “DC – well, you make a good point re Browning and the 9mm. He should have been shot for doing that. He must have gone senile or something.” And you call my 9mm 1911 comment heresy? Questioning the mental faculties of John Moses Browning is, truly, blasphemy. There has never been a firearms designer, or perhaps any inventor/engineer in history that could hold a candle to the brilliance of JM Browning. And I hold some other folks in pretty high regard. Senile, shit….
Oh yeah, I was supposed to play nice in the gun thread sandbox. Ize surry.
As a former IPSIC shooter and total gunhead I can say whithout a doubt that having 3100 once or twice or 3peat 38 super sitting around is a good thing. WHY?
I have 2 kits to convwrt a GI .45 or my race gun from .45 to .38 super. Duplication is a great thing.
I still say the only way this flash mob shit will end is when a practical pistol shooter kills 8 idiots in 5 seconds with a race gun and the 3 people who were about to die say thank you on tv..
AKAnon, I’ll add that if you leave out the full length recoil spring guide in favor of the original version, one can press-check or chamber a round one-handed, an ability I consider quite useful in the real world where gun fights often cause injury to one hand and make two-handed drills impossible.
One thing I will note about caliber:
Anecdotes abound about multi-shot failures to stop for EVERY pistol round in existence. One such event was a cop who put 16 rounds of 40 S&W top of the line JHPs into a guy who just kept on ticking.
The 45 ACP (in ball or JHP) has failures to stop. The wound channel from a 45 is simply not that much larger than a .355″ bullet (380 or 9mm). Only a rifle round that is properly designed will throw off chunks of bullet into separate trajectories in the body, increasing the odds of hitting something vital.
Hell, the 5.56×45 NATO round (62 gr penetrator) has questionable performance due to yaw issues that are well-documented. This was why the Army Marksmanship Unit developed the 6.8 SPC, which has gone on to be vastly improved by civilian enthusiasts since then.
Everyone should carry what they feel most comfortable with, but I have to chuckle when someone paints one caliber or another as a panacea for the handgun’s innate lack of stopping power. The chart I linked from Winchester’s site (above) is pretty clear: all the rounds ABOVE 380/38 Special are very close in performance under controlled circumstances, which are the only valid way to compare (all else is simply anecdote and hyperbole).
Sarcasm is wasted on Alaskans. AKA with his buddy IS:
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I have eaten at the Grumpy Grizz a couple times. Nothing to write home about-in Tok, the hot spot is Fast Eddy’s. I reckon that proves your point about sarcasm.
You want a Browning? in 9mm?
Go with the Browning Highpower.
I’ve never had one jam. Reloads… factory ammo… Unlike my Baretta 92.
Gubmint, I read that the Hi-Power didn’t love JHP’s. Your comment makes me think I was misinformed.
Every design has its following. We are fortunate to have so many good designs.
Aknon, I can usually take any persons pistol and call out what I’m shooting and empty the clip without missing. I don’t even like semi auto pistols, why does anyone need so many shots? (if the thing is sited in right)Same with rifles, I put all my shots in one area about the size of a nickel. I almost feel sorry for animals and people ive shot, its to easy. I like shotguns though. As a kid i would shoot aspirins with my pellet gun from thirty feet away. If i can see it i can shoot it. Someday I would like to buy an semi auto shotgun. My spelling, i looked back. Well at least the wrong word was spelled write.
Ron, You need those shots for multiple targets. Thugs run in bunches. Fill your pockets with magazines and clean up the mess. A good Kimber in 45 cal is all you need.
Frenchie, nice shotgun. I keep a Mossberg 590 under the bed. Nine rounds of 00Buck will keep you safe, and so much fun to shoot.
D.C.;
3 of my friends have Belgian built high powers.
We have been target shooting and plinking, shooting hundreds of rounds of all kinds of ammo. On several occasions. No issues ever. My 92 FS didn’t behave as well with JHP’s, Regardless of the shooter behind these pistols.
Thats not to say you can’t have a bad apple somewhere, a feed ramp not right, a certain bullet design causing a problem.
As you know, thats why you extensively test run your ammo on the range before you really need it- especially rounds to be used for defensive purposes, to weed out any issues- bullet or weapon related.
Those of you that are afraid to shoot a 45, or afraid you might break a nail and end up in the fashion penalty box, stick with airsoft or a fucking bb gun.
Frenchie, that sounds really cool. Ive noticed many semi autos are more like duck guns. I have a 870 pump and loaded with buckshot, I feel I can handle about anything. With the ability to load many different types of shot Ive always thought of the shotgun as a scary weapon(to have pointed at you!) I tell about everyone to go to the local sporting goods store and buy a pump shotgun and buckshot, number six is handy also. Its a polite thing to not shoot through walls and kill neighbors. Many folks are crazy about AR15,but unless the range your firing at is far enough away? or do they consider how far and what the round well go through?
People who aren’t willing to do this to be able to protect they’re family just seem weak/stupid to me.
This could be just the one weapon to own. I was fortunate to have an uncle who showed me what different shot did at various ranges, he used a sheet of plywood covered with white paper. My gun nut uncle, his favorite weapon was the shotgun.
Ron: if you can own only one that is an excellent choice. Stay safe!
Ron-I can’t help thinking you are a bit brain-damaged. You really don’t understand why multiple rounds are desirable in a personal defense firearm? You are either disingenuous or retarded. Being a great shot (at least in your own mind) doesn’t trump practical tactics.
As an aside, AR-15/5.56 is among the safer rounds you can shoot in a residential environment. Over penetration thru multiple walls is far less than most pistol cartridges. Since you think home defenders should know how their weapons perform (I agree), I’d have thought you’d know that.
Re shotguns-I won’t argue against their effectiveness at close range. Every home owner should have at least one. But they are awkward to carry concealed, and I’m w/ Hope-in some scenarios it would be better to be several hundred yards away. Well within reach of a good rifle (since yours groups inside a nickel. At what range?).
llpoh-sorry, I tried, but ignorance combined w/ arrogance offering guidance to newbies offends me. Maybe I’m just having a rough day.
Ron,
the MP153 doesn’t look like a duck gun with the listed modification, it has a taste of SPAS12 with the pistol grip and folding stock. in short, badass.
it can shoot almost anything from ball-trap rounds to super-mags with the proper break-in.
it is darn reliable, works in mud, water, anything like an AK. you can field strip it with one hand…
they should test it in the next Walking Dead season.
as for over penetration, you’re right. there’s other troubles with jacketed rounds
I live in a concrete building and 9mm as well as 223 can bounce with the wrong impact angle and kill you…
I remember well the machine gun training in the air force, they used to make us shoot at a sloppy and rocky hill in southern France, so we could appreciate the sound of bullets returning to us over our heads. sounded like cats…mew..mew. scary as shit
this said, I also have an AK-103, a 92 FS, a 4″ 357 mag, a 12 mag over-under, a K-31, a Rem 700, and a CZ-452, + other things. they can come
we should make it through.
Frenchie, I said MANY semi auto shotguns look like duck guns. AkAnon, thanks for talking about my brain damage! I think most people are trying to make up for a lack of something, usually with crude remarks to wards others, and High powered assault rifles with big clips. Ive read about the spray and pray thinking of LA cops who pray to hit something after unloading a clip at some poor schmuck who has the misfortune to deal with them. I’m of the one shot one kill thinking, that and i watched to many rifleman shows on the TV. The average person can get by with one simple shotgun and a few boxes of various shells. How far do most people at home, plan on shooting at anyone? Id guess less than fifty yards for most. And now, your lucky to find ammunition. My shotgun idea, I was trying to point out what average Americans should at the least, go buy. Of course as a some what free person, you buy and use what makes you happy.
Funny the stores always have shot gun shells. And shells can be modified. Cut shells and wax slugs are nasty. Maybe big pistols and high powered rifles with big clips are a replacement for a small dick/mind!
Your most likely going to shoot at someone trying to steal your food or your protecting your family You really think anyone wants to come onto your property after someone shoots a shotgun at them? I’m guessing many in the survivalist groups have some fantasy about shooting it out with the government/military.
Rawles pushes this stupid thinking. I seriously believe civilians last defense is the military living up to They’re oaths. Other wise people are totally out gunned/screwed. Also my shotgun idea is affordable for most.
Weapons are like cars, everyone uses what they think is best.