Best Pistols for Self Defense

[Deaf Smith]

IMy uncle, a notorious rough guy back in his day, was talking to a group of my friends one day when we were out wrestling around.......one of them mentioned to him that they'd hate to see me mad.........he laughed and told him that they had nothing to worry about in making me mad, as I wouldn't do anything to anybody purely out of anger....I just wasn't that type....but that I was the type you NEVER wanted to SCARE, as i'd kill someone if they scared me enough......

That reminds me Sgt. of a saying. "Do not frighten a little man, he'll kill you." Don't know if it's totaly true, but as they say, even a cornered rat will fight.

Deaf

 

[BLACK LION]

That reminds me Sgt. of a saying. "Do not frighten a little man, he'll kill you." Don't know if it's totaly true, but as they say, even a cornered rat will fight.

Deaf

Just look at that deer that kicked the @%&# out of that hunter while his wife filmed... showed plain as day who the better killer was at that time... Or that fish outta water that would rather take a bite of a hand than take his last breath... ETC... we see it all the time in nature...

Good points guys...

 

[Hawke]

Instead of buying those books, try your local library. You can also get some books as audio downloads if your library supports it.

The Gift of Fear is a good book.

Also look at increasing your skills if you want a higher income.

I think it's great that you want to finish your college degree. A college degree will give you more options for employment.

Peace.

 

[rdonovan1]

Just look at that deer that kicked the @%&# out of that hunter while his wife filmed... showed plain as day who the better killer was at that time... Or that fish outta water that would rather take a bite of a hand than take his last breath... ETC... we see it all the time in nature...

Good points guys...

I think that I caught that one on tv. It was interesting, but I am less concerned with killer deer than I am things like bears, poisonous snakes, and of course Bigfoot.

I don't give much credence to things like the loch ness monster, ghosts, or UFO's, but I do know that bears and poisonous snakes do exist.

While I can't say if Bigfoot exists or not I sure as heck would not go out into the wildneress without being armed. With all of the controversy that I have heard about him and due to all of the stories that I have heard about him I don't think that I would hesitate to shoot him if I were to see him.

From what I hear he tends to stand 8 to 10 feet tall, weigh's in the range of 500 to 1,000 pounds and can throw 50 gallon drums around like they are toys. I don't know about anyone else, but that sounds like something that I would definitely shoot.

There's a couple of problems though with that. One is as to what kind of gun would you need to bring him down and what size of caliber. Another thing that I think one would have to take into consideration would be as to how they are going to get both them and him out of there before his friends show up and turn you into mince meat.

 

[rdonovan1]

Instead of buying those books, try your local library. You can also get some books as audio downloads if your library supports it.

The Gift of Fear is a good book.

Also look at increasing your skills if you want a higher income.

I think it's great that you want to finish your college degree. A college degree will give you more options for employment.

Peace.

I'm looking forward to my upcoming job with Akal Security. That ought to be very interesting.

 

[sgtmac_46]

That reminds me Sgt. of a saying. "Do not frighten a little man, he'll kill you." Don't know if it's totaly true, but as they say, even a cornered rat will fight.

Deaf

Exactly! I've never been much of a competition fighter.....I enjoy it, but there's really no internal heat that drives me to excel in a ring.......I'm not angry at my opponent, and even if I was, i've never been the kind to hurt people out of anger, so there's not driving force for me to hurt a fellow competitor......i'm just a nice guy.

When confronted by someone who wants to hurt me, however, there's a controlled inner panic that acts like a blast furnace, and has the effect of sharpening my wits and focusing my mind to a singular course of action........that is, of hurting them BEFORE they hurt me.

Now, that having been said.......it doesn't mean i've not let anger GET me in to situations where I suddenly realized that perhaps i've gotten myself in over my head, and have to fight my way out........but even in those situations, when push comes to shove comes to blows, i've not hit anyone out of anger.

 

[rdonovan1]

My preference is to not fight at all if I can help it, but I do believe that it is better to be prepared than unprepared.

I figure that if I am going to fight then I am going to end the fight in the shortest amount of time that I can and with me being the winner of the fight.

I'd rather be a winner than a loser anyday of the week.

 

[bamarammin87]

Most all pistols made today are excellent for self defense. I carry a 1911 10mm dan wesson now, but I've carried a glock 26, steel frame .38 snubbies, and a s&w 638 airweight. Out of all of them, the .38 airweight is EXTREMELY easy to carry. The 1911 is a big ol chunk of steel, but with a nice holster, it isn't as bad as you might think. I would get a s&w airweight .38+p if I were you. Decent power, but the main thing is they are excellent for carrying. I carried mine in a ankle holster while at work, IWB hoslter while at college, and in my right pocket any other time. I carried it every day, and miss it alot. I'd recommend a 638 or 642. I had the 638 and liked it alot.

 

[bamarammin87]

I think that I caught that one on tv. It was interesting, but I am less concerned with killer deer than I am things like bears, poisonous snakes, and of course Bigfoot.

I don't give much credence to things like the loch ness monster, ghosts, or UFO's, but I do know that bears and poisonous snakes do exist.

While I can't say if Bigfoot exists or not I sure as heck would not go out into the wildneress without being armed. With all of the controversy that I have heard about him and due to all of the stories that I have heard about him I don't think that I would hesitate to shoot him if I were to see him.

From what I hear he tends to stand 8 to 10 feet tall, weigh's in the range of 500 to 1,000 pounds and can throw 50 gallon drums around like they are toys. I don't know about anyone else, but that sounds like something that I would definitely shoot.

There's a couple of problems though with that. One is as to what kind of gun would you need to bring him down and what size of caliber. Another thing that I think one would have to take into consideration would be as to how they are going to get both them and him out of there before his friends show up and turn you into mince meat.

The answer, my friend, is 10mm. I carry mine juuuuust in case a bigfoot happens to wander into town. Naw but for real, 10mm is an amazing cartridge.

 

[bamarammin87]

Before you jump into something as potentially final as carrying a firearm you would best be served by doing a few things first (and this is simply my own opinion).

1) Take a personal defense and awareness class, the mention of leaving a door open allowing someone to walk in is not good. By law you might be able to "shoot" someone but he didn't sound like a threat to me. The personal defense course might be something more up your alley and at the very least would give you more potential responses to possible threats.
2) If you are adament about getting a gun take a gun safety course first the NRA has two courses First Steps and Basic Pistol, I recommend Basic Pistol since it is longer and covers more informtation (and this would only be the first class you would want to take; just owning a gun doesn't mean you are good with it or even safe with it).
3) Talk to law enforcement and find out what the law is and take it to heart; find out other cases where people did something that you are imagining taking place and see what the end result is and see if you are willing to risk everything you hold dear so you dont have to "run" from a fight; since you sound a might too eager to get your hands around a multi-launch capable, solid metal missile firing device.

If you go through all of this and you have the right to bear arms then try out a slew of guns and find the one that works for you, not your buddy, not your brother, not the one recommended by the gun shop but the one that you have tried (50+ rounds with) and you can handle the kick, the reloads, you dont flinch and basically feel comfortable with.

After a .22 in the hands of a skilled marksman who likes his .22 is far deadlier than the .44 mag in the hands of a nervous twit who just wanted a cannon.

Also, pick up this book. In the Gravest Extreme by Massad Ayoob. The hardware side might seem a little dated, but the software side never changes. I'd recommend this to anybody who carries a gun for self defense.

 

[zDom]

I have another book by Ayoob and have browsed a couple others. He writes good stuff.

 

[bamarammin87]

Yeah he does. I'm looking to buy the ayoob files sometime.

 

[rdonovan1]

Has anyone ever seen some of the stuff that Paladin Press and Delta Press publish?

I am just curious because I have seen and been aware of many of their publications and from what I have seen a lot of it is extremely interesting. They tend to have a lot of stuff relating to guns, but they also have a lot of stuff relating to topics like martial arts, new identity and other related topics.

 

[rdonovan1]

The answer, my friend, is 10mm. I carry mine juuuuust in case a bigfoot happens to wander into town. Naw but for real, 10mm is an amazing cartridge.

I've never heard of a 10mm cartridge before. This is the first time that I have ever heard of that.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm thinking that if you were to run across a bear or Bigfoot then the best cartridge with the most stopping power would probably be .50 cal. 30-06 might work as well, but at the moment I am just not quite sure about that.

Just the other day while I was in my level three training for AKal Security the instructor was saying there was once an incident in which an entire police force had to take down a guy that was so drunk that even 6 bullets in him had no effect at all. The guy did not die, but tends to really make you wonder about things a bit.

 

[bamarammin87]

I've never heard of a 10mm cartridge before. This is the first time that I have ever heard of that.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm thinking that if you were to run across a bear or Bigfoot then the best cartridge with the most stopping power would probably be .50 cal. 30-06 might work as well, but at the moment I am just not quite sure about that.

Just the other day while I was in my level three training for AKal Security the instructor was saying there was once an incident in which an entire police force had to take down a guy that was so drunk that even 6 bullets in him had no effect at all. The guy did not die, but tends to really make you wonder about things a bit.

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh35/GTS197_2008/10mm-1.jpg
:shooter:
http://frontlinearmory.com/misc/10mm.jpg
there's a reason people carry it as bear protection!

 

[prokarateshop]

rdonovan1,

How old are you?

May I suggest this. You need more awarness to keep yourself safe. This is ten times more important than weapons.

Like answering the door. Or walking the streets at night, or how to talk to strangers and still keep a safe distance.

The handgun is the last resort, not the first. Keeping yourself safe takes far far more than a weapon.

Deaf

I agree,

Be careful, there are times when firearms will cause you to escalate a situation..

 

[bamarammin87]

I agree,

Be careful, there are times when firearms will cause you to escalate a situation..

Yes, but when I'm carrying a firearm, I find myself trying harder to stay out of trouble and m.y.o.b. As do most people, I hear. Confidence is a great thing.

 

[Larry G. Bethers]

Greetings. I have read your post and the responses offered for your personal situation. I concur. Carrying a firearm is an awesome responsibility and one not to be taken lightly. The recommendation for Gavin DeBecker's "Gift Of Fear" is an excellent recommendation. Another book I recommend is "On Killing" by a former Army Officer. You do not want to put yourself in a position where you have to take another person's life. It will really mess you up for the rest of your life. Avoidance is best. "Best block, no be there" concept really works. As for a firearm, it is your personal choice but to make that choice you need to have professional training in all aspects of handgun use not just going to the range and putting bullets down range. Then you need to practice and drill on a regular basis. If in your personal, final analysis you still feel the need for a gun get some expert, in person advice and try a few out to see what fits you. Then sit down and really decide if that is the correct decision. As one post so aptly put it, once the bullet leaves the barrel there are no do-overs and your decision to shoot better have been the correct one.