Handgun virgin seeks advice & recommendations

[mxracer317]

So this comes from an LEO that has been a range instructor for a while. I would recommend a 9mm practice and practice. practice first dry firing and reload drills. When amped you will fall back to what you practiced so practice not only shooting but getting the gun un jammed when you double feed or anything else in the moment. if you have practiced you wont have to think about it also start slow and stay safe. smooth is fast, fast is smooth. in this way your training yourself the correct way and you wont have to think about it in the moment if that occurs. I can tell you when in the moment it will be in your hand before you realize it. practice from where you will carry. I like what some other have said M&P shield or the ne i like the sig p365. you can get small safes with hand ID that can sit on shelf. we have a grandfather clock that the face tilts down to hold gun, the kids dont even know there is a gun in there. Buy a self defense +p round. you want something that will open and slow immediately so your not punching holes through something and through the remaining walls.

I say 9mm as that is what a lot of leo have gone to with the majority of new officers having no prior shooting experience. better to be able to put several small holes than one slightly larger hole. Less recoil will add to better accuracy, not being afraid, not developing bad shooting habits.

for in home i would honestly say go buy a cheap pump action shotgun. leave the action empty with round in magazine. The sound of a pump shotgun being racked will take care of anyone trying to break in.

review laws in your state regarding self defense. IE you cant shot someone for just being on your property. I will defer to your local laws.

I’m gonna have to disagree with both you and Joe Biden, on just the sound of a shotgun being racked will take care of anyone trying to break in.

But I do agree with you on 9mm.

Man cites Biden in shotgun defense

In February, Biden said people don’t need automatic weapons and should “buy a shotgun” instead.

www.politico.com

And if you want a video to laugh, check out the person conducting the interview. “It’s Pat”.

 

[Bob-WY]

I'm in the same boat, one concern is lack of a manual safety. People counter with keep finger off trigger. If that was all there was, then why does ANY gun have a manual safety

Surprised me when I started my search for a handgun that the industry sees to have gone this way

 

[noharleyyet]

20ga Mossy 590 Shockwave or a 12ga with mini shell capability.

 

[noharleyyet]

As for a pistol for the OP, I prefer S&W revolvers in .357

 

[300stw]

i guess i am against the grain,

the women in my life, daughters, exwives, ect, have been schooled, coached and practice with a 20 gauge double barrell shotgun, 12.5in pull, 24in barrel, 3in #2 lead loads,
i feel that if someones in the house, pretty hard to miss them with this setup, its pretty lethal at stopping an intruder, wont kill the person in the next room, couple extra rounds under the barrel for a reload, i wonder how many people have been in the situation of an intruder, how many rounds they fired, ect,,,,

i think proficience and the willingness to take the step towards a firearm in the hand is a big deal for many ladies,

my wife has dispatched various 4 legged animals on the ranch with the shotgun, she prefers it over her lady smith, that is her edc

there was a time in my life were there was an incident, and the double barrel, made the incident go away in extremely short order,,

 

[jt13]

20ga Mossy 590 Shockwave or a 12ga with mini shell capability.

I don't own one but I've shot a few.

A Shockwave with a flashlight mounted on it and a magazine tube full of buckshot is a mighty fine weapon for close range/indoor work

 

[Scott85]

Here is a good article about .410s as a home defense weapon.

NRA Women | Do .410 Bore Shotguns Make Sense for Home Defense?

Often dismissed as ineffective for personal protection, .410 shotguns can get the job done when loaded properly.

www.nrawomen.com

 

[huntergirl_19]

I would recommend the Shield EZ if she really wants a handgun, but has she considered an AR for home defense?

 

[rwc101]

 

[Jasher]

If you are going the shotgun direction for her in the house I'd just go with a 410. She needs to be proficient with the weapon. If you put her behind something that is going to beat her lights out she's not going to want to shoot it ever. Then if the time comes and she needs to use it she will hesitate pulling the trigger. I would never recommend any new shooter to start with a 12 gauge. You will have them out of shooting faster than they came in. I would also recommend a semi auto over a pump because the cycling of the action helps reduce recoil.

 

[Deleted member 52098]

Thanks all for the help and recommendations. After shooting a ton of guns this morning in 10mm and 9mm, I settled on the 10mm Smith and Wesson M&P 2.0 4.6”. Just felt the best in my hands and bonus, it was locally available

With all luck, it’ll never be used except at the range.

Appreciate y’all.

 

[JLS]

I'm in the same boat, one concern is lack of a manual safety. People counter with keep finger off trigger. If that was all there was, then why does ANY gun have a manual safety

Surprised me when I started my search for a handgun that the industry sees to have gone this way

Handguns typically spend the majority of their time in a holster. A good holster should cover the trigger guard. A traditional safety becomes rather irrelevant.

 

[Deleted member 52098]

I have been looking at these for a single gun safe. If you look you can see they have many safes you can get even for long guns with quick access so maybe get one of those and put it in the closet.

VAULTEK® View all Slider Series | Vaultek Safe

vaulteksafe.com

As for which gun....that is a harder question. If you can go where they rents guns and shoot as many as you can. We have a place here where you can rent tons of them for like 10 bucks each plus ammo, hopefully you have some place like that.

After talking to the former LEO and SEAL instructors at the range I go to, they both highly recommended the 20 series Vaultek, so ordered one today. i'll let you know how it works out

 

[Irishman]

Being Proficient is something that people always talk about with weapons. I've watched friends that are much better shooters of a bow than I, completely miss an elk at close range, not because they aren't "proficient", but because they panicked. So how well you shoot a handgun at the local gun range, and how often you practice, may have little bearing on what happens when you're put in the really stressful situation. So I'd be thinking about which weapon has the greatest margin for error.

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

I know there has been a bunch of handgun threads, but I wanted to dive into a few different aspects and spin offs. Let me first start by saying I am already planning on doing the following:

1. Taking a conceal carry class to learn about my locals laws, rights, etc.
2. I will be trying out the different suggested calibers and corresponding brands at the range before making a purchase
3. I never in my life thought I would own a handgun, so bear with me.
4. I definitely never thought my wife would want one in the house... so this is all quite a surprise ha

So here's the scoop: we moved to a wicked awesome place further up into the mountains. We have neighbors, but it's quite quiet up here at night, dark AF and there is a ton of wildlife (including bears and mountain lions; so far seen quite a few bears). I sometimes travel for work and am gone for 3-7 days at a time. We have a young daughter. Since we moved up here and had a bear encounter on the first night, and have heard more bears outside at night, my wife has become a little concerned about home protection beyond someone trying to break in. Like walking the dog, when I am out of town, etc. She originally requested I bring my shotgun to the bedroom and stash it in the closet. Done. But upon trying to teach her how to load it, etc - it became obvious that a gun that size might actually cause her more harm than good. So we had a talk last night and the queen of not wanting any handguns in the house said it probably makes more sense for us to have one and that I should start doing some research. She'd prefer the shotgun get locked up and I had a handgun that was as secure as possible & hidden out of reach from the little one.

So here are my questions:

1. What caliber do you recommend we get, when the conditions are: suitable for use on a bear or human, and that my wife can operate in a pinch (aka, no hand cannons) and isn't experiencing an ammo shortage
2. In that caliber, what brand(s) / model(s) do you recommend?
3. Besides conceal carry class, testing at range and studying up on local laws, what am I missing?
4. What is the absolute best handgun case for securing a gun with a small child in the house? Anyone have a biometric based model?

Been around guns my whole life, but handguns are a whole new world to me - appreciate any and all help I can get

Bear spray and if you have to have a handgun, then any DAO 9mm. Both locked up when not on your person. And hell yeah get another shotgun! Maybe a double .410 or 28 gauge. Simple action and low recoil.

 

[Bob-WY]

Wife and I went to a range and shot a bunch. Went in thinking sig 320 would be it. After shooting we decided on SW MP9 EZ

We both just shot it better and the EZ slide action made my wife happy.

One we tries was Kimber, it either jammed or double fed every shot. Plus wife couldn't work the slide.

 

[pilsner]

You can be brought up to a usable level of proficiency on a PROPERLY FITTING shotgun or AR in an afternoon.
Getting to the same level with a handgun takes much, much longer.
I'd recommend finding a 20 gauge shotgun in a youth or bantam size and topping it with a red dot. Find some quality copper slugs and/or buckshot and be done with it.
Bonus points if you add a light to it too.

They make low recoil mini-rounds (Aguila is the maker if I recall correctly) in both buckshot and slug for practice.

The other option would be a 357 revolver with red dot. Using 38 SPL ammo as practice ammo.

Whatever you end up with find some low recoil ammo for practice and put a red dot on it.

 

[Deleted member 52098]

These VAULTEK safes are awesome

 

[Don Fischer]

I'm completely in agreement with you and I keep trying to tell her a shotgun is way easier to operate... but she's convinced it's too big. And I also agree with you that if we go the handgun route, SHE needs to be shooting it too

There's shotguns and then theres shotguns. How much shotgun you pushing at her? if is a 12ga it's a looser for no more than recoil. I don't know if you can get slugs for a 28 but if so that would be the way to go I think. As for handguns, usually I'd say yes but your concern is mostly about bears. In a situation like that I think a 357 is close to worthless and would say either a 44 spec or a 44 mag. Then comes the problem of her shooting it! I would not own a 44 mag because I can't handle the recoil! She doesn't like handguns, she's gonna hate shooting the 44 mag! I think the best way is, as mentioned, the bear spray. But then I suspect there is some learning curve woith it also. Just seem's to simple to me the go buy a can and your good to go! In that case I'd still say bear spray and teach her to pay attentiom when shes outside! had an aunt living on a ranger station in California where there were lot's of bears and people saw them all the time. But they learned to live with them and I don't recall hearing about any really bad encounter's. One guy not on the station had them in his yard every night so when he went out at night he was very observent! Never had a problem far as I know. It's not so much that they are bears but hoiw you choose to live around them, believe it or not, they seem to think they have rights too!