S& W

[1sttruck]

I didn't want to spend what they were asking for a tuned .45 so I started with a S&W 586, and just never felt the need to change. I had fun with bullseye, practical pistol, etc. At club shoots I would typically place a bit better than mid pack when doing practical shoots, which I though was fine for a $300 pistol. The gun shot much better than I did, as some of the good bullseye shooters could usually do ragged hole 5 rd groups at the 25 yd line. In one cylinder I could shoot primer load wax rounds, slow wadcutter loads, and medium or hot magnum loads. Never had a problem. The auto shooters had classes of problems due to ammo not matched to the gun, rough ramps, magazine problems, wrong bullet shape, etc., including not holding it right.

Anyway, autos are mandatory for shooting at certain levels, they can shoot very well and be reliable (I have some), but on a civilian range I saw a lot more problems with autos than with revolvers.

 

[daemonite]

9mm, .40 and .45

They will all meet the minimum pentration in gel.

Anyway I own a .40 S&W Walther P99, my friend owns an XD...i like the XD alot for the price!

 

[gj]

i see springfeild has just offered the xd in .45 acp.lifetime warranty.

 

[Thermo1223]

I own a S&W 40VE, very simple gun. Just point & shoot, I for one can't get over how heavier it is compared to a much bigger 9mm Ruger. The slide closes with much more force too. I even got a bullseye with it first time out(more luck I'm sure lol).

 

[badnews]

Get a glock

 

[Thermo1223]

My father in law doesn't like his, it's akward and heavy. I tend to agree...

 

[Dark Jedi]

sorry but a 9mm isnt worth buying. heard to many stories of people shooting a person multiple times and the guy kept comming twards them. now hit by a 45 no matter what the guy is going down and will have to pick himself back up. I heard the military are getting rid of their 9mm due to no stopping power compared to the old 1911 colt 45. the seals been using the H&K .45 for years now and love them. they said a BB gun had more stopping power than a 9mm lol. H&K .45 is one of the best built guns around. may cost more but well worth it. I would say for personal protection get a .40 or .45. me personaly I will have my H&K .45 gov issue.

but glock is a good one too. my cousin who is a cop has a Glock .40 and its been around the block a few times and still a great gun. now he said he saw sig;s other departments use and they always jammed. he did say he didnt know if it was not because they kept them clean or if just a poor gun. but he did say seeing that he will never use sig.


also look at taurus firearms. I have heard alot of people like them.

I would say if you can ask your local police Dept. or better yet SWAT. they should be able to tell you what the best sidearm is and for your price range. after all these guys eat sleep and bath with their guns

 

[DSpag]

Everyone has their preferences for caliber and make. I should just state that I have several Glock, Ruger, Kahr, Colt and Keltec pitols in 32, 9mm, .357sig, 40S&W and 45acp and many S&W revolvers in 38 and 357mag. I spent years and hundreds of dollars in premium ammo testing, recoil spring weights, polishing internals, different mags and followers trying to find the most reliable setup for a high cap semi-auto to be used with any type of grip - IE Limpwristing.

The only Glock I would half trust in a weak grip situation is the G21 in .45. 14 rounds fully stoked with a big grip. G19 was a close second. G32 third. G23 had more failures to eject or feed than the 19 and 32.

Glocks safeties are a joke in my opinion - trigger safety - pull the trigger and it goes off. That is no safety, at least not safe enough to keep under the pillow or tucked in my pants.

The most reliable pistol that I own is a cheap Ruger P95. It has never jammed or failed to fire with any ammo jammed through it. The mags don't have to be perfect, just factory or mec-gar. The grip can be as weak as you can make it without dropping the pistol on the ground.

I once loaded up 12 15 round Ruger hicaps with a mixture of 9mm wally world win white box and Speer 124gr +P gold Dots and shot them all as fast as I could change mags. One handed, right handed, left handed, super weak grip - I was trying to make this thing jam but couldn't. That is 180 rounds in abought 5 minutes. Talk about hot and smoking.

The P95DC is no tack driver but the long hard trigger pull on the first shot and pefect reliability makes it my "If I could only keep one" pistol.

Don

 

[badnews]

The only Glock I would half trust

So I guess 75 percent of all Law Enforcement Officers are wrong in trusting their lives to a Glock ?

 

[badnews]

Plus I hear the Glock is currently under consideration for Navy Seal carry.

 

[DSpag]

Glocks rock as long as you hang on tight. They are definately better made but take a Ruger and a Glock side by side and start shooting from awkward one handed positions and the Glock will be the first to lock up.

Try it

Don

 

[Dark Jedi]

Why would they want a glock when the seals swear by their H&K .45. they love this gun. they put this handgun through **** and it preformed better than anything they ever used.

 

[Blue_Goose]

I like my Glocks and never have had one jam. I also own a Ruger P97 and will agree...it is one great pistol...especially for the 199.99 I paid for it

Goose

 

[Doug C]

Get yourself a Glock and lose that nickel plated sissy pistol.

 

[outrun]

Here is my 2cents worth from shooting strictly as a hobbyist.

H&K is superior to Glock hands down IMO. People keep raising the SEALS & SF use of the SOCOM .45 Pistol. Of course this a 2000+$ MSRP piece! When comparing H&K the better question is the more readily available "USP Tactical .45" nearly as nice or comparable to the SOCOM pistol? It has many of the features of its big SOCOM brother at almost half the price.

Nor do I favor Glock's idea of a safety ... that also goes the same for the US GOVT Model 1911 with the beaver tail style. The M92F Beretta may be cheesy, but the red-dot style safety ranks high to me.

I would use 9mm only in competitions; such as IPSC, IPDA, and paper target practice. A match grade CZ75 or H&K USP would be my favorite

If it came down to self defence, and para-military applications I would recommend a .40 or .45. It is all about learning to control and accepting the inherent recoil of the .40 & .45. It is something I need to learn

I love shooting 12gauge Remington 870's ... the recoil means nothing to me now. I know the only thing important is power and getting it to the right place. Although some would rightfully argue its not caliber but placement thats tactically crucial, IMO regardless, 9mm's do not give me that confidence ... +P+ or not.

 

[Cycle Freak]

The 9MM is a good round but tends to overpenetrate if hardball(FMJ) is used, especially NATO 9mm which tends to be hot(+p) so it will function submachine guns(like a uzi). The military probably is not happy with the 9mm because they are limited by treaty to using hardball(FMJ) ammo in these guns due I believe to provisions in the Geneva Convention which says in war nobody can use hollow-points, dum dums, soft points, soft lead or other bullet designed to explode when it hits people and cause massive damage and trauma. The 9mm is only effective as a self defense weapon if you are a civilian or cop and use hollow points, soft points or some type on soft lead.

 

[Reg# 43897]

I have sent thousands of rounds of 9mm of ALL descriptions from lead ball to +P+ with NO stoppages of any sort. The gun is a S&W Model 5946 which is a stainless DAO. The gun is completely reliable PERIOD. I love Smith's revolvers and own two of them (a 19 and a 636) however this particular automatic just plain works.

My two cents' worth...

John.