Post: #26

(12-18-2015 08:47 PM)LeeEnfield303 Wrote:  Some day I'll save enough pennies for a Kimber Ultra Carry.

I was considering these but went with the Kahr PM45 and don't regret it. Has been very reliable and no beaver tail poking me in the stomach when I lean over with it on me. Firm trigger and no safety. Springfield XD is another decent, cheaper, non 1911 45.

Post: #27

Company invents a concealed-carry .380 pistol that looks like a smartphone. I don't know how practical it would be (since you apparently have to unfold the grip) but it's a very cool idea.

http://www.examiner.com/article/company-...me-worried

Quote:A company invented a gun that looks just like a smartphone when it is folded for concealment. The Ideal Conceal Company that makes the gun that conceals itself did so because there is a need for a firearm that doesn’t look like a gun, cites the inventor Kirk Kjellberg. He found that out shortly after securing his own gun permit.
This company has made a gun that looks like a smartphone and despite it not being on the market yet, it is getting quite the buzz online today!

As a gun owner Kjellberg cites an event that got him thinking about a gun that conceals itself. He went into a restaurant and a child spotted his traditional handgun and yelled to his mother, “Mommy that man has a gun.” The child’s voice was loud enough for other patrons to hear and immediately all eyes were on him, said Kjellberg. He said with his new concealed gun, it will just slip into his pocket, reports according to NBC News on March 30.

Post: #28

I like this for CC: Walther PPS In this: Urban Carry Holster

I like this in the bedroom safe with a light: Glock 17

I don't see any reason to go below or above a 9mm for self-defense unless you are bent on a pocket pistol. Though, in my opinion the linked-to holster is a better option than a pocket pistol. Most modern HP 9mm will be gtg. I have a weak preference for Federal HST rounds for self defense and whatever is on sale at Wall-Mart for the range. Alternatively, you can use http://ammoseek.com/ to find good deals on ammunition (as well as to scout average cost per round for whatever chambering you are considering in a new firearm).

Post: #29

I've been casually shopping around and I think my next gun will be a Glock 43. I've never been a big fan of Glock aesthetics, but it looks like a solid pistol. Decent compromise on size, concealabilty, and firepower.

Post: #30

(08-15-2016 07:43 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  I've been casually shopping around and I think my next gun will be a Glock 43. I've never been a big fan of Glock aesthetics, but it looks like a solid pistol. Decent compromise on size, concealabilty, and firepower.

Glocks are ugly but they work well and are easy to maintain.

Post: #31

(08-15-2016 07:43 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  I've been casually shopping around and I think my next gun will be a Glock 43. I've never been a big fan of Glock aesthetics, but it looks like a solid pistol. Decent compromise on size, concealabilty, and firepower.

Speaking in terms of 9mm single stacks I would also recommend to consider the S&W Shield and Walther PPS M2, if possible renting each to see which you prefer. The aesthetics/ergos are fairly different across the brands.

Post: #32

I do not own any handguns as I am in Canada. Plenty of rifles and two shotguns though.

Lately there have been more bear attacks getting closer and closer to home. A couple days ago some guys had to club a sow over the head a couple dozen time before she dropped a kid. Kid is still pretty critical.

Anyways, I have always like the little S&W .357. But this one has been catching my eye:



Is there an advantage of .410 over .357?

I envy you Americans, it must be nice to have the right to carry protection.

Post: #33

@Laner - What type of bear? Inland black vs coastal brown/griz is a large delta. I would choose 10mm over both in the form of the Glock 20/29 series due to their light weight, corrosion resistance, recoil mitigation, and their 15/10 round capacities respectively.

To answer your question though I would choose the .357 over the Judge.

Box O' Truth #41: Taurus Judge

.410 3" ballistics
.410 2.5" ballistics
.357 Magnum ballistics
10mm ballistics
44 Magnum ballistics

Truth be told your best bet is a .338+ rifle or a 12 ga with a heavy slug.

Post: #34

(08-15-2016 09:39 PM)Adonis Wrote:  

(08-15-2016 07:43 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  I've been casually shopping around and I think my next gun will be a Glock 43. I've never been a big fan of Glock aesthetics, but it looks like a solid pistol. Decent compromise on size, concealabilty, and firepower.

Speaking in terms of 9mm single stacks I would also recommend to consider the S&W Shield and Walther PPS M2, if possible renting each to see which you prefer. The aesthetics/ergos are fairly different across the brands.

Indeed it is a good idea to shoot a few before purchasing.

Rex I would also recommend giving the XDS a try if you can.

When you look online the differences in dimensions all seem so close and insignificant, but when you handle them you will notice quite a bit of difference between them.

Then, when you fire them, you'll quickly realize which triggers you hate or like, another factor.

After going back and forth between all the single stacks I chose the XDS in the end, which I didn't expect to like so much.

When testing out the others, these were my personal conclusions

-Glock 43: Didn't like the feel in hand, didn't like grip angle, terrible trigger like all Glocks, 6 rounds. Wasn't able to be real accurate with it.

-Sheild: Nice gun overall, but I hate M&P triggers. A smaller point- I find it odd looking.

-Walther PPS M2: Excellent gun, super well made, best ergonomics. I just found it a little more bulky than the others, especially being 6 rounds. Should have been 7 at that height. I would go for it without question if slightly smaller or if 7 rounds.

-LC9s: Super slim, very smooth and snag free, good overall, just the trigger is a little lighter than I want, and I didn't like the feel in hand.

-XDS: Felt good in hand, was crazy accurate for me at distances well beyond intended use, trigger is acceptable, holds 7 rounds. Just was the overall best for me when considering the factors I wanted.

It's important to give a few a try, or at least handle all of them, and dry fire. There are differences in ergonomics, bulk/size, capacity, trigger feel, accuracy (personal and the gun) etc.

Post: #35

Kahr CM or CW9, definitely give one a try. Best DAO trigger I've ever used

Post: #36

For those on a tight budget but want/need a tough and reliable semiautomatic, the first pistol I bought a couple years ago was a Smith and Wesson SD9VE. It's clearly a stripped-down entry-level firearm and not pretty by any means, but it's remained my favorite. Every time I consider trading it for something a bit sexier, I pick it up and immediately change my mind. It serves as my bedside bump-in-the-night and carry weapon.

Biggest complaint from most owners I see is a heavy, gritty trigger pull. It's never bothered me, but that could be my being used to beat-up M9 pistols in the military.

9mm, DAO, 16 round magazine (capacity 17 with a round chambered), rail for flashlight mounts, has eaten everything from top-quality hollow points to the cheapest steel-cased FMJ junk without a hiccup. Bought it for just over $300 a couple years ago; not sure what they're going for now. I love it.

Post: #37

Any of you guys carry a HK P30SK? I'm really starting to like mine. Picked up some +1 pinky extension baseplates from HK parts, which made it even better. Used to have a Glock 30 which was pretty nice but it got the boot when I decided to keep fewer calibers around.

Post: #38

Here's a list of handguns I want to own someday.

Glock 17 - I owned this for a while but ended up selling it to a very close friend. The Glock is very versatile, you can get a shoulder stock, a red dot sight, and a 33 round magazine and turn it into a civilian semi auto submachine in a hurry. Honorable mentions would be it's subcompact little brother, the G26 (also known as the Baby Glock). This would be my conceal and carry, it shoots 9 mm and holds 10 rounds. The G43 is the newer single stack subcompact but it only holds 6 rounds, so for versatility's sake I'd stick with the G26. Fact is, any size doublestack Glock in the same caliber can use any magazine of equal or larger capacity. So a 33 round magazine would fit in a G26 even though it looks hilarious.



Taurus .357 model 608 with a 4 inch barrel (ported)- This is an 8 shot revolver in .357. It is a big ass gun, I believe it weighs 3 pounds unloaded. This would be a "nightstand gun" or one that I could keep loaded at all times and have ready instantly if someone were to break into my house and I was asleep. Depending on recoil I might go with a longer barrel. I'd have a flashlight and a laser on it.



Ruger SP101 with a 3 or 4 inch barrel - I haven't decided which length of barrel would be best. Supposedly revolvers have a quickdraw advantage that semi autos do not. You can also "limp wrist" a revolver or shoot it through a jacket pocket, which you cannot do with a semi auto handgun. The drawback, obviously, is that you have to make those 5 shots count. A revolver is also supposed to be better at "point shooting" which is an instinctive style of shooting. I guess in a fight or flight situation, it is very common to revert to point shooting. If I were to conceal and carry an SP101, I would get a laser pointer and "snap caps" and just drill point shooting every single day. Depending on the situation I would try to practice at least once or twice a week with actual ammo.

The biggest upside to the Ruger SP101 is that it's tanky enough to handle .357 without breaking a sweat. Compared to other revolvers at it's size, that is definitely not the case. It is a very easy shot with .38 special as well.

Using lots of .357 in a similar sized revolver that isn't massively overbuilt like the SP101 will result in quick destruction of the gun.

The upside of point shooting is that it's a lot faster in a defensive, close quarters situation and the downside is that you have a practice a lot to get any good at it.





Another handgun I'd like to own is the Thompson G2 Contender.

It's single shot and it's break action so I know what you're thinking. Hannibal, why the hell would anyone want anything like that? I'll tell you why. Not only does it come in bunch of different calibers, but you can switch out the barrels between calibers in seconds. Want a .223 handgun with a scope? No problem. Do you want to switch it to 30-30? Not a problem there either. You don't even need tools to pull this off. You can also "build your own" on the website to whatever specification you desire.

If I were to buy one of these, it would be for hunting and I'd have .22, .223, 30-30, 45-70 Government and 410. If you've ever looked up long range pistol shooting, this is THE gun to own for that purpose.



Honorable mentions include the NAA Sidewinder or Black Widow .22 magnum revolver, most any flavor of 1911 (I'd like to build one one day), the Taurus Judge because 410 in a handgun is hilarious, and the Serbu Super Shorty 12 gauge "shotgun" that's basically handgun sized.

Post: #39

(12-19-2015 12:31 AM)Gorgiass Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 08:47 PM)LeeEnfield303 Wrote:  Some day I'll save enough pennies for a Kimber Ultra Carry.

I was considering these but went with the Kahr PM45 and don't regret it. Has been very reliable and no beaver tail poking me in the stomach when I lean over with it on me. Firm trigger and no safety. Springfield XD is another decent, cheaper, non 1911 45.

Speaking of which, I recently picked up a Springfield XDS 3.3 in .45ACP and like it a great deal.

Post: #40

Quote:The Glock is very versatile, you can get a shoulder stock, a red dot sight, and a 33 round magazine and turn it into a civilian semi auto submachine in a hurry.

With appropriate ATF approvals, of course.

Pretty decent choices, Hannibal, but I'd definitely recommend the S&W 627 instead of that Taurus. Or go with the 327 TRR8, it's not so heavy but it's heavy enough to tame the 357 Magnum recoil fairly well. Weighs about the same as the short barrel 686+ I had, and that wasn't bad with full power 357 Mag loads.

You might want to go with a T/C Encore instead of the Contender, too. Beefier frame, can handle higher pressure rounds. I have been wanting an Encore and a pile of barrels since I was a teenager, but I've never found one for sale locally when I had money. That's kind of amazing considering how many guns I've bought.

Post: #41

One of the best gun channels on youtube

Classy

Post: #42

(08-18-2016 09:41 PM)weambulance Wrote:  

Quote:The Glock is very versatile, you can get a shoulder stock, a red dot sight, and a 33 round magazine and turn it into a civilian semi auto submachine in a hurry.

With appropriate ATF approvals, of course.

Pretty decent choices, Hannibal, but I'd definitely recommend the S&W 627 instead of that Taurus. Or go with the 327 TRR8, it's not so heavy but it's heavy enough to tame the 357 Magnum recoil fairly well. Weighs about the same as the short barrel 686+ I had, and that wasn't bad with full power 357 Mag loads.

You might want to go with a T/C Encore instead of the Contender, too. Beefier frame, can handle higher pressure rounds. I have been wanting an Encore and a pile of barrels since I was a teenager, but I've never found one for sale locally when I had money. That's kind of amazing considering how many guns I've bought.

Yeah I know, still a cool idea though.

I don't ever buy anything Smith and Wesson, they can go straight to hell as far as I'm concerned. My father and grandfather hold a grudge against them for their acceptance of gun control back in 2000 and I plan on continuing the tradition. You might have some other information concerning that event (I was fairly young at the time), but from what I understand they compromised with the feds to push gun control and stay in business themselves.

I don't have much of an opinion on Taurus other than they have a lifetime warranty (perhaps they need it? don't know) and that the 608 is a big ass gun that wouldn't get used a whole lot, definitely wouldn't bother carrying it. It's job would be to stay loaded 24/7 and to go bang when I pull the trigger.

I did not know about the Encore and that's definitely something I'll look into.

Post: #43

Quote:I don't ever buy anything Smith and Wesson, they can go straight to hell as far as I'm concerned. My father and grandfather hold a grudge against them for their acceptance of gun control back in 2000 and I plan on continuing the tradition. You might have some other information concerning that event (I was fairly young at the time), but from what I understand they compromised with the feds to push gun control and stay in business themselves.

Ah, yes.

So the short version is in 2000 S&W was owned by Tompkins, a UK-based multinational. After they made that deal with Clinton, there was massive backlash and they were boycotted by loads of people which resulted in S&W being sold cheap to a new company that is not made up of gun-hating cockholsters. (Just looked it up, there are details on wikipedia.) So the people who made the 2000 deal have nothing to do with S&W now. But lots of people don't know that, and they just remember that S&W screwed American gun owners.

Thompson/Center is a subsidiary of S&W, as it happens.

Along similar lines, lots of people still avoid Ruger products because Bill Ruger sold out gun owners by supporting magazine capacity limits in the 90s (actually 1989, looked it up). Well, Bill Ruger's been dead for over a decade and in the last 5-6 years Ruger has really jumped on board with producing high quality, affordable weapons that old Bill would've never been okay with.

Gun people have long memories but sometimes the details just get lost in time. I'm all for voting with my wallet, but when the assholes who actually sold me out are out of the picture, it doesn't make much sense to me to keep punishing a good pro-RKBA company forever.

As to Taurus maybe they've gotten better, because supposedly in the last couple years they've been making a real push to improve their quality control, but they have a terrible reputation for QA/QC and customer service. Their guns are in the "buy if you cannot afford anything better and really need protection" category as far as I'm concerned, and I'd expect even a new and improved Taurus to start failing after a few thousand rounds. On the other hand, I know S&W (and Ruger) wheelguns are good.

Post: #44

(08-18-2016 09:41 PM)weambulance Wrote:  

Quote:The Glock is very versatile, you can get a shoulder stock, a red dot sight, and a 33 round magazine and turn it into a civilian semi auto submachine in a hurry.

With appropriate ATF approvals, of course.

If you used something like the ENDO adapter with a "brace" like the KAK Shockwave instead of a stock you could legally do it without getting the ATF involved. Just don't let the "brace" touch your shoulder

Post: #45

(08-15-2016 10:48 PM)Laner Wrote:  I do not own any handguns as I am in Canada. Plenty of rifles and two shotguns though.

Lately there have been more bear attacks getting closer and closer to home. A couple days ago some guys had to club a sow over the head a couple dozen time before she dropped a kid. Kid is still pretty critical.

Anyways, I have always like the little S&W .357. But this one has been catching my eye:



Is there an advantage of .410 over .357?

I envy you Americans, it must be nice to have the right to carry protection.

The governor model is a bit of a fad IMO. All chamber and no barrel. They would beat out the .357 in snake country except you can just use these in your .357 anyway.



If you live where you can carry, then it's not unreasonable to carry a full powered 10mm and a pocket .357 loaded with snake shot. I certainly would.

Post: #46

Relevant given the last thing I wrote in this thread, S&W gives $500k to help MA gun owners who are getting fucked by the state government:

Quote:Among Healeys critics is Springfield-based gun maker Smith & Wesson.

Earlier this month, CEO James Debney said the company made a $500,000 contribution to the Connecticut-based National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry association, to help with its voter registration and education campaign.

Debney said the company made the contribution on behalf of law-abiding firearm owners of Massachusetts, who have so recently been denied their fundamental rights through arbitrary government action that threatens to turn lawful gun owners and dealers into criminals.

The foundation is considering challenging Healeys actions in court.

----

In other news, I had another bear encounter at my cabin last weekend. This time with a sow and three cubs, and I was out in the open. I was walking back toward the cabin from my target stand after picking up my brass from shooting the day before, looked up and the sow was about 8 feet away. These bears move like ghosts, I didn't hear a thing walking up on me. So I drew my gun, backed off slowly about 15 feet, and just let her decide what to do. Fortunately she went back the way she came and took the cubs with her right when I was about to start making noises.

I fired a shot into a tree to scare her off a few minutes later, after getting my shotgun, but she just looked at me like "what do you want, asshole?" and kept doing what she was doing, rummaging around for berries I guess.

If this keeps up I expect to have to shoot a bear in defense within a year. I just don't make much noise when I'm there alone, so nothing tells the bears to stay away. I'll walk around a corner and trip over a damn bear or something before long.

I normally carry my Glock 19 down there, and while I'm sure dumping ten hot 9mm hollowpoints into a black bear would do the job, I'd be a lot happier with something more powerful. I'm going to keep my eyes open on gunbroker and either buy a Glock 20 Gen 4 (10mm), or if I find a good deal a used S&W 629 (44 Mag).

Post: #47

I'd love to be able to use a 10mm at the range but although you can get the gun easily enough down here, the ammo/ammo components are a different story.

Post: #48

Can you just ship stuff in from an overseas source, or are there legal barriers? I'm really asking about components like brass and bullets here, since I assume importing ammo is a big hassle.

Post: #49

There are many people that test handgun ammunition on YouTube, but in what has quickly become the definitive source Lucky Gunner has updated their test results for defensive handgun ammo to now include 146 different types. Many of the new loads tested are the extremely popular loads designed and marketed toward Law Enforcement use (but still legal for civilians to use). The entire test bank is a long, very detailed, and worthwhile read for both beginners and the experienced. As always thoroughly test the ammo of choice in your particular application before going live.

Of special note, their methodology is to use compact pistols to give an accurate representation of performance you could see "on the street".

My ammo choices for all calibers remain:
1. HST
2. Ranger T
3. Everything else

Lucky Gunner SD ammo test

Original test summary which includes some background for the standards used.




Update test summary.

Quote:Update 8/4/2016: We just finished testing another 29 loads, including several from Winchester, Federal, and Remington, bringing our total count to 146 loads tested. Data for the new loads has been added to the charts below along with a “***NEW***” tag following the name of the load so you can easily identify them. If you want to see only the new loads in the charts, click on the search box at the top of each chart and type in “*NEW”. That will hide the data for all loads except the new ones.

Here’s a complete list of the new loads we tested:

.380 ACP
Federal 99 gr HST
Winchester 95 gr Ranger

9mm
Federal 124 gr HST +P
Federal 135 gr Tactical Bonded +P
Federal 147 gr HST +P
Federal 150 gr Micro HST
Magtech 124 gr Bonded JHP
Remington 124 gr Golden Saber Black Belt +P
Remington 147 gr Golden Saber Bonded
Speer 124 gr Gold Dot
Winchester 124 gr Ranger T-Series +P
Winchester 127 gr Ranger T-Series +P+
Winchester 147 gr PDX-1
Winchester 147 gr Ranger Bonded
Winchester 147 gr Ranger T-Series

.40 S&W
Federal 155 gr HST
Federal 165 gr Tactical Bonded
Speer 155 gr Gold Dot
Winchester 165 gr Ranger Bonded
Winchester 165 gr Ranger T-Series
Winchester 180 gr Ranger Bonded
Winchester 180 gr Ranger T-Series

.45 ACP
Federal 230 gr Tactical Bonded +P
Magtech 230 gr Bonded JHP
Speer 185 gr Gold Dot
Speer 230 gr Gold Dot Short Barrel
Winchester 230 gr Ranger T-Series +P
Winchester 230 gr Ranger T-Series
Winchester 230 gr Ranger Bonded

Post: #50

Any recommendations on where to buy high quality bulk ammo for reasonable prices? I bought 1000 rounds of American Eagle 9mm rounds from my cousin - which I thought would last me a while - but after a few trips to the range, I'm down to my last two boxes of 50.