Journal FroMan's Journal: Pistols 16
I have been looking into pistols for the last couple months. Since shooting with some men from church last November I have been researching and reading up on different pistols.
I've narrowed my search down to just a few guns:
- Glock 17L
- Glock 34
- Taurus 24/7 Pro Long Slide
They are all longer barreled pistols which in theory are more accurate, and all in the 9mm family for less recoil. I would mainly consider them to be for using for home defense and target practice. If I choose to carry at some point in the future I will look for something smaller and more concealable, and likely not consider a glock since because of the trigger safety.
From my research I have found that glocks are riskier to reload since the stock barrels are slightly oversized adding to the stress on the brass. But as I am just a noob and without any reloading equipment it isn't much of an issue. Additionally, shooting unjacketed lead bullets will foul the barrel of glocks because of the way the barrel is threaded. This shouldn't be much of an issue either as I'll likely be shooting jacketed rounds anyways.
I've read mixed reviews of the Taurus. It is hard to separate fact from general dislike. Taurus as a Brazillian company had lots of quality issues, but Taurus USA is supposed to have a much higher quality guns. It is hard to figure out if folks are just being "bigots" or if there is still valid concerns with the Taurus.
Huh (Score:1)
I still love my Beretta 92FS / M9. It's awesome, and if you can get good with it, you're good with just about anything.
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The Beretta 92FS was on my list for the longest time. Though biggest feature (ha ha punny) I am looking for is barrel length, and if I recall correctly it comes in at 4.9". Not a bad length, but a bit shorter than the others I've looked at. I've heard nothing bad about the gun from my research.
firearm newbie alert (Score:1)
From what (little) researching I've done, it sounds like one is better off with a shotgun for home defense, as in freak mode you prolly wouldn't be able to hit anything with a pistol anyways.
Are the lighter triggers of those two Glocks a good thing or a bad thing?
Do you have good-sized meathooks? Mine are smallish, and the Glock 19 seems to be well-spoken of by the ladies. :)
"Riskier to reload"? "Reloading equipment"? Huh? I definitely do have more research to do.
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Shotguns have a couple advantages for home defense. First the distinct "cha-chunk" sound when chambering the round which lets the bad guy know someone is home and it is time to leave. If it does come down to shooting (assuming you are not using a slug) there is less chance of excessive wall penetration. The length of a shotgun makes it more difficult to use in close quarters compared to a pistol.
I believe all glocks ship with a 3.8 pound trigger, though it is adjustable. I'm not exactly sure where that
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Whether this is a negative for you might depend on whether your contingency plan is to only be the pursuee, or also alternately the pursuer. If I was the kind of person that would want to search for and confront an intruder hiding in my home, I definitely would rather have a shorter weapon. But I'm no Rambo. I'll prolly plan on standing my ground at the end of a hallway, or even better at the top of a long run of s
Me too (Score:2)
But I'm looking at a Makarov-compatible East European handgun... I'll let you know how it goes.
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I just looked up a little information on Makarov guns, but am by no means an expert. I'm a little curious why you would look for one.
Makarovs use 9x18mm instead of the much more common 9x19mm (at least here in the states). And while it claims to be 9mm, it is actually 9.3mm, but that was done to prevent NATO forces from using capturedammunitions. That alone is going to raise the per bullet cost of shooting the gun (for practice).
Also, the floating firing pin seems to be an accident waiting to happen. Wh
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Two reasons: they're uber-reliable, and cheap. And the ammo I priced wasn't bad in comparison.... a $25 difference between Makarov and NATO 9mm for a 1K box of rounds (this is on the Internet, of course). And when you look at the increasingly popular .40 cal standard, that ammo is $47 bucks more per 1K box. So I'm fine with the cost of the Mak ammo.
Actually, the only thing that's given me pause about the Mak clones I've looked at is that they tend to have really, really tight triggers, especially the Hungar
Probably not the first or last... (Score:1)
I'm probably not the first or last who will tell you this, but if you want your target down, you probably want hollow-point. FMJ is fine for target shooting, but I wouldn't recommend it for defense.
Of all the handguns I've fired, my favorite is the XD, which is essentially a 1911 that fits my hands better. I understand they make a 4" version designed for concealed carry, too.
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I don't disagree with your point on hollow points. But there are jacketed hollow points, see the wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacketed_hollow_point [wikipedia.org].
I've looked at some of the 1911 options out there. Sadly the million and one different makers of their own 1911 with slightly different specs just makes it too difficult to keep track of. Perhaps it is a failure of being too popular. For a second gun I might wade through that various 1911s and see if there is anything I like.
What I did... (Score:2)
Was start by buying a .22, that way I could spend the money on ammo and basic range accessories to begin with while building some basic shooting skills. Remember to budget for ear muffs, glasses, range bag, targets, ammo, case, any lock box/cabinet/safe, trigger/cable locks, cleaning supplies, range membership...
Once I had the .22 I could learn how the range works, and more easily decide what I liked and didn't like about the gun. So when buying the next gun after a few thousand .22 rounds, and renting a fe
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Part of the reason I am looking into a gun right now is our current change in government leaders. I do not expect it to be long before we have "scary guns" outlawed and would like to have something pre-ban.
You bring up some good points about accessories. Luckly I have some land to shoot on, so going to the range is not likely to be very common (especially since it'll require quite a drive to find an indoor range). I plan on digging out a bit of a hill behind the house this spring to give a nice backstop.
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Yeah, longer sight picture would be the biggest benefit with the extended slide.
Not to push the issue, but a 4-6" revolver with .38 target loads is comparable to a 9mm in recoil, my wife has a couple revolvers and much prefers them to pistols. Partly because she doesn't get hit by flying brass. Have your wife look at someone doing the hot-brass-down-the-cleavage-dance-videos and see how she feels about that prospect :-)
But if revolvers aren't your thing, you might want to look at a Government sized 1911 in
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Oh boy. I'll have to look around on youtube for one of those videos. Sounds like a riot. I mean, that is terrible.
I'm not hugely interested in a revolver though. I'm not sure why, maybe I don't like the Dirty Harry look. And as I said before, I'm mainly looking for a gun with features which might become harder to pick up incase of incoming bans. I would think revolvers are pretty safe, and in time I might pick one up.
Yeah, I have been leaning towards the 17l. Other than the barrel and slide I am pret
No Taurus, go with a Sig (Score:2)
As for anything else, is there a reason you wanted the 9mm? I personally have a Sig Saur P229
But no matter what you pick, make sure you are good with it. A tool can't help you if you don't know how to use it. And getting together with the guys for practice is awesome.
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The 9mm is the cheapest and most common ammunition available, which makes it very desirable to stay with the 9mm. Also, I want to make sure I go with something the wife can shoot comfortably.
I've looked at some sigs, specifically the p226 x-fives and x-six. They seem like nice guns, but are a out of the price range at the moment. If I am good enough at some point to be competative I would consider them.
If I recall, you are about 45 minute south of GR, certainly within range of shooting if you are ever in