One more gun thread: Which pistols should I rent?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Violent crime seems to be on the rise near where I live (Mesa, AZ). I’ve been thinking about getting a firearm for home defense.

While I know that the traditional advice is to get a shotgun for home defense, I’m not sure that it would be the right choice for me. I live in a 2-story townhouse condominium that is only about 1400 sq. ft. total. Shotguns seem inconvenient; I don’t see myself hauling it up and down the stairs all day, whereas a pistol is portable.

I think I’m going to go with my wife to a gun range and rent some handguns this weekend. Which three would you recommend that we get acquainted with? FTR, I’m around 6 feet tall and about 190 lbs, while she is 5’4 and has an average build. My hand is about an inch and a half longer than hers; is there anything that is a good compromise in size for both of us? We just don’t have the money to buy two firearms now.

2

If yer concerned about how well she can handle the gun, you might start off with a 9mm. Glock makes an excellent one. There’s also the Springfield XD-9 that I would recommend.

3

I’d avoid Double-action/Double-action Only semi-autos, they tend to have a much longer and stiffer trigger pull. This can be a problem for some women (or men) with smaller hands and weaker grips. With revolvers, you can almost always thumb back the hammer and shoot it single action, so it’s less of an issue.

I’d suggest you handle as many as you can at the counter, to see which seem to “fit” your hands comfortably, then decide which to rent. Also, give thought to caliber. It’s generally thought that 38 special is the “minimum” recommended for self defense, but there’s a lot to choose from once you get past that. 9mm, 40S&W, 357 mag, 357 Sig, 10mm, 45acp, etc…

You might consider a pistol that uses a “single-stack” magazine as opposed to a “double”. They have a thinner grip and thus are easier for smaller hands to handle. This is especially true of most of the current crop of “military” or “service” grade 9mms with 14+ round mags.

There really is no way to suggest a specific model or brand, as it’s a far too individual situation. It really depends on what “feels right” in your hands. Try as many as possible, then, if it’s an option, try the same pistol in different calibers.

You should also give thought to the potential “over penetration”. Any medium or larger caliber pistol bullet can easily penetrate several standard interior walls, so depending on the layout of your home, considering a “frangible” cartridge, such as Glaser Safety Slugs. They are quite expensive, but may be a wise choice.

Good luck!

4

Why would you have to haul it up and down the stairs all day? Most people would leave it someplace where it would be easily accessible.

5

Figure out who is the better shot and who is actually going to be using it. If she’s just going along at your insistence and will lose interest in about a week, it might not make much sense to find a gun that you can both use that compromises comfort/control/safety.

Personally, I shot a bunch of the same make in various calibers to decide which caliber felt right, and then shot a bunch of different guns in that same caliber. Depends on what your local range has available for rent and what they’ll let you do. In my case they were happy to sell me a bunch of ammunition and let me swap guns. Someone else might charge you a new rental fee for each gun.

6

Going to a range where you can rent before you buy is an excellent idea, and the range employees should be able to give you basic familiarity training with whichever gun you choose. However, more formal training is a good idea; the NRA Basic Pistol or Personal Protection in the Home courses are designed to give an overview of gun safety and operation.

In terms of specific models to try:

I agree that .38 special in revolvers and 9mm in semiautos are acceptable minimum calibers for self-defense, and the recoil of these calibers in larger handguns (which I’d recommend for a dedicated home defense gun) should be easily manageable by most anyone.

In 9mm semiautos, there are many good models. The Glock 17, Springfield Armory XD9, Smith and Wesson M&P, and CZ-75 are all good guns and can easily be found for under $600 new. Sig-Sauer and H&K also make good 9mm pistols but they are a couple hundred dollars more expensive new.

I’m not much of a revolver shooter, so I can’t give you much in the way of specific models. I wouldn’t recommend anything more powerful than .357 magnum (which can also fire .38 spl) for home defense.

Don’t let the range steer you towards small revolvers simply because your wife may be using the gun too. Many ranges try to steer women toward revolvers since they are mechanically simpler and don’t require racking the slide, but the ones gun shop employees tend to recommend for women also tend to have more recoil than larger guns. I’ve never met a woman who couldn’t master the workings of a semiauto just as fast of a man, and with proper technique anyone who is not physically disabled should have the strength required to operate most handguns.

7

In terms of ammunition for home defense, any round that is capable of penetrating enough to stop an attacker will, if you miss him, have enough momentum to penetrate several internal walls. The first defense against this is to practice enough to minimize the chance of missing. You should also be familiar enough with your surroundings to identify several angles of fire that are clear of anything you don’t want to hit.

Choice of ammunition is a lesser, but still important, concern. I’d recommend a quality hollowpoint such as those that law enforcement use; some good brands are Speer Gold Dot, Federal HST, and Remington Golden Saber. Frangible rounds do have less chance of overpenetration but are also less likely to penetrate deeply enough to give a good chance of stopping an attacker. The FBI recommends that a round have at least 12-14 inches of penetration in ballistic gelatin, and this is the standard most police departments have adopted when evaluating ammuniton.

8

My wife is smaller than your description of your lady, and her handgun of choice is a Browning HiPower in 9mm. She seems to have no problems with the recoil.

9

I’d stay away from any pistol that has such a strong trigger spring that it causes the gun to go off target during the act of firing. I don’t like double-action revolvers for this reason alone, but I also don’t get to the range enough to train myself out of this problem.

10

My wife an I are similarly proportioned to you and yours. She hates shooting my Beretta 9mm because of the sharp snap of the recoil but loves shooting my S&W .357.

The general rule of thumb, so to speak, is if you can touch your thumb to the tip of your middle finger, the pistol isn’t too big for your hand.

If the range you’re talking about is Caswell’s, I haven’t been there in three or four years since I moved across town. Traditionally, though, the staff was always very friendly and knowledgeable. I hope that’s still true. I always liked the place

I’d personally recommend renting a 4" .357, a midsized 9mm like a Kahr or a Glock and a NON-1911 .45. I say non-1911 because unless you’re willing to pay premium for a Kimber, most of them require a bit of customization in order to perform reliably and accurately. Kahr’s .45 is pretty good, and is the Springfield XD, generally. The XD has had some longevity and parts/service issues, though, so just be advised.

Glocks are great guns to learn on and are ultra-reliable if maintained properly, but many people, myself included, hate the way they feel in the hand. When I was shopping for a 9mm 15 or so years ago, I came down between the Glock 17 and the Beretta 92FS. Actually holding and shooting both of them tilted me 100 percent in favor of the Beretta. The thing was an absolute tack driver and a joy to shoot, where the Glock was merely acceptably accurate and felt like holding a hamhock. I’ve put more than 70,000 rounds through my Beretta since then, and have never regretted it once.

As to what was said above, definitely invest in quality, frangible hollowpoints for home defense. They’re more effective at stopping an assailant than full metal jacketed ammo and far, far less likely to exit the body or punch through walls. I personally have 147 grain Federal Hydra-Shoks in my Beretta and 158 gr .357 in my Smith.

After you start practicing and learning how to shoot, dole out the extra cash and burn through 1 box of your defensive ammo for about every 10 of the cheaper FMJ when you go to the range. The increase in power and recoil is noticable, and it’s a good idea to train with what you’ll actually be using should you ever need it.

Welcome to the shooter’s club. Feel free to PM me at cianmurphy,yahoo if you have any other questions I might be able to provide overly long-winded thoughts on. :slight_smile: