More Thoughts on Handguns

I spend a lot of time helping people pick out handguns for various applications. With only one or two exceptions, I find that the rule of picking the handgun that feels best in your hand will be the gun you enjoy shooting the most to hold true. The exceptions to that rule would be guns that are chambered in an inappropriate caliber, guns that are too large, too heavy, too small or too light for the intended application. Fortunately, there is a wider selection of very accurate and reliable handguns on the market, from many manufacturers, than ever before. I'll often hand a customer 8-10 different handguns before they find the one that makes their eyes grow wide as it seems to become an extension of their arm. Sometimes, however, new guy buyers simply won't listen to experience and determine the big gun in the big caliber is what they just have to have. I often see these guns coming back in on trade a week or two later.

Before you can determine with which guns to begin the search, you must determine the buyers intended application for the handgun. Personal defense, concealed carry and home protection are the three most popular responses I hear. Unfortunately, I very often see customers who have already made up their mind based on what they read on the Internet or in a gun magazine. The Ruger LCP is a great example of this. For the past 1-2 years, LCP's have been in very high demand. I never thought I would see so many people putting their safety behind a gun chambered in 380 ACP. After all, the Beretta 84 & 85, Sig Sauer 232 and Walther PPK/S have been around for decades and all of them are tremendous pistols chambered in 380 ACP. Not to mention the Kel-Tec pistols that Ruger virtually copied with the LCP design. It was a marriage of the right sized gun with the right manufacturer at the right time. Now, 380 ACP is difficult to get. When we do find it, it is more expensive than 9mm or 40 S&W. I see people buy LCP's every day only to have them come back and complain about the pain in their hands from the snappy recoil the next day. Everyone seems to agree if you plan to carry a gun for protection, you need to practice with that gun. Firing more than one or two magazines through the Kel-Tec, LCP or new Taurus TCP is usually enough for most people. Many people profess that they may never shoot the little guns again unless they have to in order to protect their lives. These little guns are the guns that you can take anywhere. They make great backup guns. However, I don't believe you should be carrying a concealed firearm if you aren't proficient with it. That means practice time on the range. I usually try to steer customers to 9mm's or 38 special revolvers.

I carry a Browning Hi Power most of the time. 15 rounds of 9mm should get me out of most jams. If I'm wearing dress pants or lightweight shorts, I'll often go with my S&W 360 PD loaded with 38 Special +P rounds. I prefer Federal Hydra-Shok ammunition for defensive carry. I practice with these guns on a regular basis. The key is the holster. Once someone marries a compact or medium sized auto pistol or small revolver with a high quality concealment holster, they realize they too can carry a larger caliber weapon concealed. Another favorite saying of Clint Smith's is "handguns are comforting, not comfortable.". This is usually true. I carry concealed every day and most of the time I forget the gun is back there. However, it will sooner or later give me a little jab in the love handles to remind me I can't bend over to the right very easily with it on. I've been known to carry a Colt Lightweight Commander at times as well. It holds 8 rounds of 45 ACP, and I haven't found anyone to argue that isn't sufficient protection. It fits the same holster as the Hi Power and has about the same weight. They are both single action only trigger designs so I don't worry about having brain fade while trying to put one of them into action under stress. Except for my revolvers and .22's, all of my guns are single action only for that very reason. I've found that switching from safe action, DA/SA, DAO and SA to be a recipe for disaster under stress. I try to keep is simple. I had to sell some good guns, like my HK P7M8's, but my muscle memory is all the better for the sacrifice.

Some people are just too small to carry medium to large autos. They may want the extra power, but they often can't rack the slides, clear jams, or control the pistol during recoil. I like to put these people into revolvers when ever possible. A revolver chambered in 357 Magnum/38 Special is extremely flexible with all of the heavy and very light loads available for those guns. They can practice with very light Cowboy Action style 38 special loads and carry 38 Special +P loads for defense. Believe me, if they are truly threatened, they won't notice the extra recoil of the +P loads in a life and death situation.

I don't want to make any enemies, but I have never found much use for the 40 S&W round. Yes, it packs more punch and knock down power than the 9mm. However, I believe the increased cost of the ammo and the increased recoil that tends to turn people away from more practice shooting, offsets the extra power factor. I can more easily instruct a shooter to shoot their 9mm or 38 Special with increased accuracy due to the lower recoil. Also, they tend to buy more practice ammo because of the cheaper price of 9mm ammo. It's just my opinion, but I've seen these scenarios play out with hundreds of customers and students. I'll sell you a gun chambered in 40 S&W if that is what you want. However, if you ask my opinion, I'm going to steer you towards the 9mm.

The other obvious caveat to the rule are pistols intended for competition use. These guns tend to be much larger with longer sight radii. They are also often chambered in 22 long rifle. I'll discuss competition shooting and equipment in future posts.

Shooting is supposed to be fun, and never forget it that it is also a sport.

Live To Shoot.

Handguns

Handguns are handy. Handguns are personal. Handguns can be comforting. I see a lot of people struggle over which handgun or handguns they should buy. With the rise in CCW permits, so rises the sales of handguns. I'm a rifle man. I can do more with rifles and I feel safer having one handy. Clint Smith once told me "handguns are for fighting your way back to the rifle you shouldn't have put down in the first place". Clint is wise. He also told me that he knows some of the best hand to hand fighting experts in the country. They all have one thing in common, they all carry handguns. Sam Colt referred to the handgun as the great equalizer of men. I think life in the 19th century was a bit easier where choosing a handgun was concerned. There weren't nearly as many variations of handguns to choose from as there are today.

I see it every day. First, shooters struggle to decide what caliber they want in their new handgun. 22, 380 ACP, 9mm, 38 special, 357 magnum, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP are the most common choices in American gun stores today. I see most people waffling between 380 and 9mm. Auto loaders seem more popular than revolvers, and pistols that can be carried in pockets or waistbands rather than holsters seem to draw the most buyers.

Looking back in history we can see these same trends around the turn of the 19th century. In 1903 John Browning introduced 380 pocket pistol. In 1912, Browning introduced the 25 ACP along with several pocket pistols. The famous Baby Browning among them. Oddly enough, he found the time to develop the 45 ACP and the 1911 pistol during these same times. As the military was looking to upgrade in power from the 38 Colt to the 45 ACP, the general public seemed driven to consume as many small caliber pocket pistols as Browning, Colt and Smith & Wesson could turn out. Coincidentally, while the US gun buyers are driving more and more companies to develop very small, very light 380 auto pistols, the US military is looking to replace the 9mm M9 service pistol with an auto loader chambered in 45 ACP. History repeats itself. I wish we would see another innovator like John Browning driving the industry development. How great would that be?

The next hurdle for today's gun buyers is to find that balance between a gun so small that it is easily concealed and one that is powerful enough to stop an assailant. That brings a third variable into play. If you plan to protect yourself with a gun, you need to plan to practice with it. Small, light guns will recoil a lot more than a standard sized gun and make practice unpleasant. Savvy shooters search for the perfect gun that is small enough to carry, but large enough to be shot at the range. The common theory on this is to provide magazines with grip extensions for range work. The grip extension makes the gun large enough to be better controlled during practice. When the gun is carried concealed, a shorter magazine is usually used that makes the heal of the gun easier to hide. The gun that does this the best, in my opinion is the Springfield Armory XD Subcompact.

Their is another solution to this problem. Buy two guns. Most companies build guns of the same design in two or three sizes. I've been known to carry an Officers Model 1911 or a Light Weight Commander 1911. Both guns have identical controls and trigger systems. I can practice with the larger Commander sized pistol very comfortably for 100-200 rounds in a single range session. I'll then finish off the range session by firing two or three magazines through the Officers Model for practice and to ensure it is still in top notch functioning condition. Companies like Smith & Wesson, Colt, Kimber, Taurus, Beretta, Walther and Ruger all make small, medium and large frame versions of their popular auto pistols. The same can be said for most revolvers as well. I know it's more expensive than buying just one gun, but if you are serious about carrying a handgun for protection, the extra investment and increased practice just might save your life one day. It's something to think about.

I'll write more on this subject in the future. It's a very broad topic with plenty of perspectives and opinions. I'd be curious to hear from my readers via the comments section of this blog regarding this subject or any other.