*delete*

Barnstormer wrote:T
... and in the case of the Glocks at least there is no safety so you'll have to remember to keep your finger away from the trigger while you draw...

That's pistol handling 101! I don't care what the weapon is, anyone who has their finger on the trigger before they've committed to shoot is a damn fool.

Can’t argue with anything Hammer has said!
For me, 10 mm all the way.
I used to be a 45 fan but had a hard time killing anything with it. Bullets seemed to bounce off pigs.
Switched to the 10 and haven’t looked back.
The only thing I’d disagree with in the above posts is recoil. Once used to and proficient (relatively;) w the 45, I don’t find the recoil much different. It is a bit sharper but I’m VERY recoil sensitive and I can shoot it pretty well. I dont consider my self to be a good shot btw.
I’ve killed several pigs with it and a few whitetail so it seems to work.
Can’t recommend it enough!!

On the other hand, if I wanted a common caliber (think zombie apocalypse) I’d choose a 9mm.

Sorrry MTV but the 40 doesn’t do anything for me.

Chiappa Rhino 4" .357. Appropriate for the year 1945 or 2125.

Zzz wrote:Chiappa Rhino 4" .357. Appropriate for the year 1945 or 2125.

I bet that thing would hurt to shoot! I was at S&W a few years back and shot the lightweight .357 "J frame" (small revolver) that thing actually hurt to shoot! Very light weight but geeezzz no fun to shoot. It would be less with .38's but now you are shooting .38's.

Whee, if you lived closer you would be more than welcome to come and try out nearly everything that has been mentioned. If you can get your hands on a vast variety of handguns, you'll probably pick the one that just seems to 'fit'. I rarely will tel someone to get a particular gun due to everyone has different tastes and hand structure. The one that feels the best in your hand will generally be the one you can shoot best.

Everyone seems to be a Glock fan boy these days, and for good reason, cheap and reliable. Sure you can learn to shoot a block (Glock) but to me personally, they are one of the worst ergonomically fitting handguns I own. I have a G19 that I carry on the property most everyday. I really don't like the feel of the pistol, but I carry it due to being cheap (relatively) and I really don't care if I drop it in the swamp or it gets covered with dirt and dust when I am on equipment. Hose the dang thing off and it will shoot (joke, I do clean it). Others that are reasonable in price are the S&W M&P series, Walther, H&K VP series,even the Springfield XD's have a following.

I understand you have no desire for CC but the guns many of us use for such are good for normal woods carry use also.
For cold weather CC I most often have an H&K HK45CT with the Grayguns carry package done to it, nearly the same size as the G19 but extremely accurate and well built. Summer carry is a well broken in Kahr PM45 or KahrPM9.

I'm old school and prefer a revolver but lately have been carrying a semiauto more often. Either a DW Valor or the G19, I love the feel and slim profile of old slab sides. But .45 ammo is near double the price of 9mm. For that reason I probably have the G19 with me more often, the main reason is that 9mm ammo is so cheap and even though I reload for it, I don't worry if I lose a few pieces of brass. I buy it in bulk, $150-$175/1,000 rnds.

mtv wrote:...And, hotrod’s points are kinda valid, except for Glocks......no Manual safety, no decocking lever, just a simple, pretty much bomb proof shooter....

I agree, the Glock is about as simple as an autopistol gets.
I really like my G43, & will probably eventually buy another Glock.
But I stick by my comment about revolvers being simpler.
Successfully briefing a non-gun person on how to load / unload a handgun, esp a woman (yeah, yeah, I'm a sexist),
is easier with a revolver than with ANY autopistol. IMHO.
Just (fully) loading the magazine and/or racking the slide on some pistols can be a challenge.

For me it is my 10mm Smith and Wesson auto loader. Revolvers have not interested me because they kick too much, trying to get back on target is difficult and the double action trigger pull for me really affects accuracy when shooting quickly. Shot a few deer with mine and they all went right down. More power than a 357. Can be expensive to shoot but I reload 10mm and burn up 9mm for practice. Have not looked into it but the action pistol fanatics balance spring tension and loads to reduce kick to stay on target. If you watch those guys shoot that gun doesn't move at all. Could try balancing the 10mm and then maybe the FBI could shoot them. I've shot a bunch with local law enforcement and have not been impressed with their abilities as compared to some of us gun nuts. I have seen some very impressive revolver shooters but they pretty much shoot every day

I'm not a gun nut by any stretch, but do own the following caliber pistols: .22, 9mm, 40sw, .357 mag, 45 acw, 44 mag, and 10 mm. Each caliber has a sweet spot, depending on what you want to use it for. My choice for bear country is the 10 mm Glock. It doesn't have the stopping power of the 44 mag, but given the type of situation that you might find yourself in with either a griz or black bear, the 10 mm Glock reliably puts out enough high energy rounds in a tight situation to make it my weapon and caliber of choice. I live in bear country and even occasionally carry to the outhouse.

hotrod180 wrote:...
Successfully briefing a non-gun person on how to load / unload a handgun, esp a woman (yeah, yeah, I'm a sexist),
is easier with a revolver than with ANY autopistol. IMHO.

Tell that to the recipient of this: She was certified to fly ANYTHING the US Military had, up to 6,000 Hp. Or to any woman's face, frankly.

hotrod180 wrote:[ esp a woman (yeah, yeah, I'm a sexist),

How's that dry spell going?

G44 wrote:

Zzz wrote:Chiappa Rhino 4" .357. Appropriate for the year 1945 or 2125.

I bet that thing would hurt to shoot! I was at S&W a few years back and shot the lightweight .357 "J frame" (small revolver) that thing actually hurt to shoot! Very light weight but geeezzz no fun to shoot. It would be less with .38's but now you are shooting .38's.

I have a Taurus 605 that came with walnut grips that could bruise your hand.
Swapped to a rubber grip just so I could keep a hold on it during multiple shots.
It draws a crowd at the range tho.

I really appreciate everyone’s thoughts. I guess I need to find a place I can go and shoot lots of different guns. Tour the US visiting the BCP brotherhood with a stop at their local range sounds like a good vacation to me.

The Desert Eagle 357mag would be kinda cool. But it looks big, ergonomically horrible and completely impractical.

Aren’t there some shooting ranges in Vegas where you can shoot just about any gun known to have been created? That was my impression. Some friends went shooting last time they were down. I’d like to try it.

Whee,

This really depends on if you want a gun to deal with 2 or 4 legged animals. For 2 legged animals I like concealable, light, easy to shoot. For 4 legged animals (which around here are bear and moose) I prefer something a bit bigger which pretty much makes it not very concealable, light, or easy to shoot.

For 2-leg, glocks are great, though I don't really like how they shoot, so I'm more of a H&K/Sig/XD guy. I like 9mm, .40, or 45acp. I know a lot of people like the 10mm, so I would look into that too. I prefer single stack setups like the XDs or the glock 27 etc....

Many would question the 9mm, but the little 9 shoots very very well, and I'm very comfortable with them, especially with my small hands.

For 4-leg, I use the old 44mag. It's about as big as I can get without being super laborious to shoot. I'm not sure if I'm a good enough shot to save myself from some quick moving animal, but my plastic gun with 5 rounds isn't going to stop the critters around here either.

It's what works for me, opinion worth about what you paid for it.

Zzz wrote:

hotrod180 wrote:[ esp a woman (yeah, yeah, I'm a sexist),

How's that dry spell going?

Hahahahahaha

I carry a S&W Governor in a chest holster for my airplane gun. It's a big six gun with a wonderful trigger, shoots 280 grain hardcast 45 Colt rounds at 1000 fps through anything alive and you can throw some .410 birdshot in it for close range work on something to eat. No, you can't load it with monster heavy loads like a Ruger but the aforementioned load is plenty ample.

Oh yeah, you can drop 6 shots of .45 ACP in it fast with moon clips. Buffalo Bore makes a +P hard cast ACP load for 'em.

It's one of my favorite guns ever.

Several have made the point that some guns shoot better than others, which is often a personal thing.

We went from S&W 4046 to, in my case at least, a Sig .40. What a beautiful gun, especially compared to the S&W.

Then, somebody decided to “standardize”. And, they got a good deal on Glocks. So everyone was offered a choice: Glock 22 or 23, with a 27 backup.

I disliked those guns from the git go, after the Sig. Problem was after just a little shooting, my range scores went up, not huge, but consistently. Dang!

Point is, the best gun for you is the one you shoot best, and you find that out shooting them.

As a personal gun I got a deal on the H&K USP Compact, and I shoot it as well as a Glock, and a great gun to boot.

As to calibers, I can introduce you to a gent who killed a brown bear with a .357.....one shot. She was chewing on his ankle when he stuck the muzzle in her ear and torched one off.

When the shit hits the fan, a .22 is better than nothing. I like the .40 mostly cause it’s got more poop than the 9, but it’s eminently shootable.

Of course, to be practical, that Glock 10 will shoot .40 all day too.

And as a minor correction of the above, the Glock 27 is NOT a single stack pistol. It’s a little fatty.

MTV

denalipilot wrote:

hotrod180 wrote:...
Successfully briefing a non-gun person on how to load / unload a handgun, esp a woman (yeah, yeah, I'm a sexist),
is easier with a revolver than with ANY autopistol. IMHO.

Tell that to the recipient of this: She was certified to fly ANYTHING the US Military had, up to 6,000 Hp. Or to any woman's face, frankly.

I heard she was assigned to fly because she couldn't figure out how to load her 45.
Just kidding!
OK OK, my bad,
but remove the part about "esp a woman" and I will stand by the rest of my comment.

mtv wrote:…..Of course, to be practical, that Glock 10 will shoot .40 all day too.....

First time I've ever heard of this.
I was surprised, as they're both rimless cases they (should) headspace on the case mouth.
I did a little research, I guess this isn't all that uncommon a practice.
When shooting 40 in a 10mm barrel, the case is held in place for the firing pin strike by the extractor.
Not an ideal situation, but I guess it works. Usually.
Ditto for the shorter 40 round in the longer 10mm magazine.