Because of my job, there is a small possibility of pissing off serious head-case types now and again. I decided that I wanted to have a concealable handgun in my tool-box, though I expect that I’ll never exercise my carry permit, just in case.
I have a pistol, but it is a big Glock 21, and not great for concealment. I went to a gun shop that also deals in used guns and they offered me $250 for mine if I bought the Glock 30, a small .45 calibre. That would still set me back over $350.
I’m thinking that a small shielded-hammer revolver might be about my speed, either a .38 or a .357–though I might just shoot .38 through it, but the option is there if my grip/wrist gets stronger; alternatively, a semi-auto could work though I really like the .45 for it’s low kick and outstanding track record.
I don’t want to spend much money, and if I’m gonna drop $350+, maybe I should look into a second, less-expensive gun, instead of just swapping out for the smaller Glock.
So the question is, what makes should I avoid? Are there particularly poor brands to steer away from?
Quality costs, so stay away from anything that has Lorcin on it! Taurus makes very good, fairly inexpensive revolvers. If it is just going to sit in your toolbox, then get a Taurus. If you are actually going to carry it concealed, then there are several short-mag .45s out there that are light and ergonomic. For small autos, try a Firestar in .40. I love mine. It is a bit on the heavy side, but a gem to shoot.
Get the second gun…don’t swap away the Glock!
If you hit the right gun shops, you might be able to find a suitable piece on consignment. Used, but still of good quality.
i don’t know much about guns. but i have heard self-defense trainers say that if you are going to carry a gun you MUST carry some kind of non-lethal weapon–pepper spray, a collapsible baton–too. you don’t want to be in a position where your only choice is to get hurt or kill someone, especially if your attacker is unarmed. there are very few circumstances where shooting an unarmed person won’t land you in jail. if the worst happens, you might be able to argue that the shooting was a last resort when everything else failed.
I have not tried it personally, but my friend shoots .38’s out of his .357 sometimes for target shooting. I would reccomend checking on this before trying it though. If its ok - it does give you the option of using at a .38 until you are comfortable and moving up to the .357 rounds later.
True though. In Maryland, if someone enters your house and threatens you and you shoot him, you better make sure you do it right the first time. If the guy manages to crawl out of your house and lives he can then sue you - and if he dies outside, his family can sue. Sorry I don’t have a cite, but apparently there was a case like this a few years ago and the attacker won a large settlement. They pretty much imply this on the Maryland gun safety video. We have really bizarre gun laws anyway.
As for the OP, there is a smaller SIG - the P229 that comes in .9, .40, or .357. I’m a small woman and it fit me. I found I could fire the much bigger P226 no problem though so I ended up with it.
Hang on the the big Glock. You can get a good, compact revolver for $350 or less that’ll fit just fine in your toolbox. You might want to consider a Ruger SP101 spurless revolver in .357 - as you know, you can fire .38 Special through it, or .38 +P if you want. Around here (Northern CT) used SP101’s in great condition go for under $350. Rugers are rock-solid and it’ll serve you well for a long time.
Or, have a look at the new S&W airframes. I was amazed when I tried them out at a local shop - as lightweight as a capgun; you can carry it all day and hardly even feel it.
I’d rather not get into what handguns I feel are inferior quality - that type of discussion usually goes straight into a trainwreck.
I have read from at least one self-defense expert who has advocated that, though not for legal reasons. Practice w/ mace in the off hand and use that as the first line of defense. If someone is close enough to mace (or pepper spray), you might not want to have your gun out in front of you anyway, but in near you with your other hand out keeping the attacker at bay and away from your gun.
I suppose that if you’re afraid enough to pull a gun, then if it gets close enough to use a baton, then you’d better shoot. So I’d say that the baton is right out.
A nearby township has had an on-going legal scuffle over a zoning issue that has come close to being an armed stand-off, and could easily become one, with a militia group threatening to come in and use violence to protect some guy’s property “rights”. My concern is the outside chance of a serious threat to life & limb, rather than a garden-variety angry citizen, so I’m comfortable with the gun since if I feel threatened to the point of being worried, it will because of a gun-worthy situation. But thanks for the heads-up.
Yeah–I worried about how to phrase the question. It’s just that there are so many manufacturers out there that it almost seemed easier to eliminate some right off the bat.
I love the suggestions. I will happily entertain more!!
I have a Ruger SP101 for CCW that I love. I added Crimson Trac elaser grips to it as the sights are not very good. I also had tritium nite sights milled into the frame and the front sight.
I had the hammer bobbed and trigger filed doen to about a 3 pound pull. This by far is my smoothest shooting pistol, and even though it only holds 5 rnds and is chambered for 38 special, I bet my life on it every day.
For true “self defense”- then even a .25 is fine. If you need to defend others, like a Cop has to- like when you’d have to take down a drug crazy loonie- thus yes, take into account “stopping power”.
My bro-in-law has a .357 and it will shoot .38’s. However I’ve noticed the shells of the .38 sometimes require you to push them out of the chambers with a stick/pen/whatever after shooting the bullets.
To the OP, not sure where you live, but do you know of any reputable pawnbrokers? I’ve bought all but 2 guns from one I know in my city. He won’t buy junk, therefore no junk to sell to the public. Worth a shot (hehe, not intended) if you want a good deal.
I would never bother to carry any mace (-or electric-buzz-toy-stun-tasers) because they don’t work. If they did, the police and military wouldn’t need to carry firearms anymore. And much of the value of a weapon is the attacker’s perception of it, and what message does a non-lethal weapon give? If you have a gun anyway, then a can of mace, a stun-toy or any other such thing is just one more item to get in the way of grabbing the real weapon you have.
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...For true "self defense"- then even a .25 is fine. ...
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-Ugh. ......I would not recommend *any* gun in .25 or .32 caliber. These two calibers are tremendously underpowered for the diameter of bullets they push, and have very poor penetration--worse even than a 22LR. --- If you can't bear a .380, then drop down to a 22LR. The Walther P22 is a small-handy 22LR option if you don't shoot it very much (it is not constructed very durably, but works well enough for a couple thousand shots...).
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Jeff Cooper wrote something to the effect of “Carry a .25 if it makes you feel better, but don’t ever load it. If you load it, you might shoot someone with it, and if you do that it will make them angry and they might do you violence.”
You just aren’t going to find anything of good quality that could be called cheap.
I’d say go with a small frame revolver from Taurus or S&W in .38 Spcl or .357. If you go for a snubbie, I’d say .38, because those short extractor rods don’t do so well with the marginally longer .357. Just tap that puppy really hard. Also, in my experience, .38 accuracy from guns chambered for .357 isn’t anything I’d call good, but that shouldn’t matter in this case because self-defence ranges are usually arms-length anyway.
The Smith and Wesson revolver Models 637, 638, 642 are fairly light weight for carrying but still heavy enough to get good practice in. They should sell for close to $350. I’ve owned several of Smith Wesson’s alloy revolvers (2 642s, 1 642LS, 2 342PDs, 1 317LS) and all were regularly practiced with and held up fine. The Barami Hip-Grip is great way to carry these small revolvers too.
About .38 & .357 shells running through the same revolver: there is a problem. As stated before, .38s are shorter, so the blast scores more surface metal in the cylander than the .357 (I’m not talking about power of the shells, just the surface area the blast reaches per round). If you run lots of .38s through your revolver, a residue/build-up tends to occur at the business end of the cylander, so that when you switch to .357, the shells stick going in and need to be ‘tapped’ with a thin chisel coming out. Eventually the shells will jam in, and you’ll have to stop firing & wait until the weapon cools to get the shells out. The solution? Fire .38s out of .38s and .357s out of .357s. Or, everytime you use .38s, Scrub the living daylights out of your cylanders with an oversized wire brush and some heavy-duty lead remover (your arms will Ache by the time you are done).
Lets face it: firing .38s out of a .357 just gives you a heavier weapon (frame) to lug about with no more stopping power. Why not just run .357s through it?
Now, back to the OP… I have to say I don’t know if your old glock is a 9mm. If it is, why not get a glock 14? You can even share clips, if they are the same calibur, and the 14 is a decent weapon. If the price is right, see if there is a 14 sized glock in your calibur (used will fit your budget better).