I agree there, I would rather pull my MK45 any day if I had my choice of my pistols, accuracy is key to me and I would feel much better about where my shots were hitting with it than with the P89, I still pull shots with the P89 sometimes because of the trigger.

I failed to mention earlier that my wife carries a small .25 as a concealed. It's compact, light, holds 9 rounds, and is more than enough if you really had to use it. She carries hornady hollow points in it. I think it's like a 36 grain bullet and it's pushing around 900 fps, hot little round for a 25. Ammo selection is key in anything, that gun wouldn't be worth much with wad-cutters, it would just make a small .25" hole in someone with a very slow energy release but deeper penetration... not the case with the hollow points. I carry black tallons in the 9mm, my cousin carried them in his 9mm service pistol until he got his .40... Can you even get those anymore, someone told me they were banned.


If you still have your pistol check out the barrel, the one I have belonged to my dad... he got it cheap from his nephew, a correctional officer at a local prison here because it wouldn't hold a group to save it's life. This guy was the CLETE trainer for our county, and was pretty dis-appointed with the gun. After my dad bought it he tried shooting it but it was terrible. One day he had it apart and noticed that of the 3-1/2" or so of barrel only the last 3/4" or so was rifled.... the rest was smooth and milled out a bit, almost to the depth of the rifling grooves. He called his nephew and he contacted Ruger and they sent us a new barrel ASAP. I still have the old one and there is a definite difference, they had really messed up on the original barrel... just thinking it may not have been an issolated incident. It's a P89 DC I believe, stainless, not black. Anyway, with the new barrel it's like the difference between night and day, the gun patterns pretty average for a 9mm... nothing like my "Great Eight" MK45 though...

 

winchester sxt is the same round as the old black talon(more politically correct) without the moly coating.

 

I keep my 9mm loaded(actually just a full mag loaded,chamber is empty) with Speer gold dot hollow point 124 grain +P and have no doubt that anyone who breaks into my house would have a hard time holding one or two of them. Any gun is better than no gun but some guns are definitely better than others. Ammo choice is very important, so go with +P or +P+ if you can get them. The most important thing is shot placement. I have never seen anyone volunteer to take some .22 rounds to see how much knockdown power they hav either and I doubt that I will. If it is for a woman, definitely let them pick it out and make sure they shoot it first.

 

I prefer my Glock 23, which is a midsized .40 s&w. It's small enough for CHL and large enough to hold 11 rounds (10 round mag + 1 in the chamber). .40 is a great compromise between price, availability, knock down power, and accuracy. In my personal opinion it's the perfect round.
I use mine for CHL, "plunking" at the range, and home protection. Although for home protecton I prefer my 12 guage. Nothin can stop an intruder in his tracks like the sound of a 12 gauge being chambered.

 

I vote for Taurus guns.....of course right?

I ahve a nice little .45 millinium pro small, very conceilable....packs a mighty punh, reloads easy and I have not heard of anyone who has problems with them.

 

Johnboy,

I'll have to check into the barrel on that P89. The only reason I bought it was because a Casino traded in all their P89's at the local gun shop and got new Glocks (about 5 years ago), and I had my pick of 12 P89s and I chose the one that looked like it had never been shot, for all I know, it may have had 50,000rds put thru it. The price was right ($250 w/500rds 115gr FMJ).

 

Thanks for all of the replies. I going to look at the glock 23 first and see how I like it.

 

Check out the CZs while you are at it they seem to be good affordable guns.

 

I think one thing which I have not seen mentioned is the ability of a given round to neutralize an intruder. As gruesome as it may sound, this has to be done as quickly as possible. A persons goal, assuming they are buying a handgun for personal protection/self defense, cannot be to kill the intruder although that will most certainly be a by product.

You must first concentrate on stopping the attack vice wanting to kill the intruder.....this mindset does two things. First, it stops the attack and removes the element of danger from you/your family, etc---certainly the most important aspect of self defense. Secondly, if your stated goal (to the cops, neighbors, freinds, etc.) is to kill the intruder you can bet that statement will make it to the press/police. That may open up the door to charges being filed and a lawsuit. Even though you may be right in your defense, it is not wise to risk either the lawsuit or charges being filed.

Regarding caliber selection, I would suggest you stay away from anything less than .40 because velocity alone is not the key to stopping power. Penetration and mass of the projectile are more important factors when considering a caliber. In order to neutralize the threat, the bullet must penetrate to vital organs/tissue and disrupt as much of the same in as short a time as possible. Neutralize the threat. And, there must be enough of the bullet left to do so quickly. If the bullets energy is spent and/or the bullets mass spent in penetrating to those vital areas then the threat may still be able to inflict damage and do harm.

Accuracy is certainly a factor as well...you must practice and practice again. Consistently. Then do it again on a regular basis.


Yup, a 9mm and a .22lr will do the job of killing an intruder, eventually, but may not provide you with threat neutralization nearly so instantly as you may need.


You really should invest the time to attend a course such as Front Sight or, perhaps one of the best, Lethal Force Institute,---- for a series of handgun technique courses. They aren't cheap, but the cost of not attending can be quite high.


Lots of good choices here on this thread gun/caliber selection. One poster put out the idea that there are many ranges which will rent various handguns for use at their range. An excellent idea and well worth the effort.

 

No one mentioned Berreta, maybe out of the price range? The revolvers are always a good choice to the inexperienced shooter but always reliable and usually much more accurate.

 

My husband and I own a Ruger P89DC. I'm an ok shot with it. It does have a lot of kick back though for me. I personally carry a Berretta 25 semi auto in my truck. It's called a lady's gun because the barrel lifts up so she can insert one bullet if she needs to. When I worked at Pawn shop years ago they sent out a letter saying that the black talons were being outlawed. I'm not sure if they still are but they were for a while. Hollow points are alway a good ammo to go with for protection. If she wants one to carry with her be sure to get her a gun liscense. In some states she will be able to carry a concealed gun that way. And when you go to buy one you will also have to wait for them to do a background check. It is Federally Mandated now. It will also cost you about $15. I also suggest you get a pistol permit. They are well worth it. I've got one and my husband has one. With that they don't have to do the background check. Just a woman's opionion on this topic.

 

Feddoc makes a good point. First, to quote one of the gun mags, all guns are killers, not all are immediate stoppers. (A pellet in the gut will kill you, but it takes time) Also, you will be taken to task one way or another for using deadly force. Again, from the self defense articles in the gun mag-- you shoot the guy in the leg and say you didn't want to kill him. In the excessive force lawsuit he files against you, you have to explain why you used deadly force when you didn't think deadly force was needed. (i.e. you didn't want to kill him) Even if you are cleared criminally, you can be sued in a civil action--ask OJ!

I am glad to not see any of the "shoot 'em and drag 'em inside". Maybe all those CSI shows have sunk in and everyone knows they can figure out from the blood mist, hair and brains on the porch that you popped him outside, not to mention the drag marks.

Anyway, big sissy that I am, I have a full perimeter alarm system in our house. All the screens are wired, there are glass break detectors and door alarms. Costs a lot of bucks--just about what it would cost for the first meeting with an criminal defense attorney. If they get past that, they will be facing a nasty surprise--but anyone who keeps coming with a fire engine siren running must surely want to die.

And don't forget Fido. Dogs (if you like them and picking up poop) are as good as anything. Make sure fido will stand his ground around gunfire so he won't leave you while you reload.

One more thing: One of our friends lost her life when she came home early and interrupted a burgler. Even the most basic alarm can give you the heads up on unauthorized entry. (this guy had a key from a previous job he had done)

More to it than firepower, so cover all your bases. Lots of excellent info on this subject available everywhere.

 

do not listen to anyone....buy a revolver. if you are wanting a gun that is very reliable do not buy anything that can jam. Revolver does not jam. I own alot of guns so I know what hand gun to buy. Semi automatic can jam and you do not know if the gun has a bullet in the chamber. revolver is very simple to load and use.......

 

I've another vote for the revolver. I'd avoid any S&W. Ruger makes a far superior revolver with much stronger chambers and barrels.

You can pick up a Ruger GP for around $379.

 

I stick by my earlier assesment. 12ga and a mid size dog that will bark are an excellent home defense system. People usually avoid your house if you have a dog.

BTW the difference between 9mm and 40 sw are slight. Some 40 loads actually pack less punch than 9mm. The biggest difference was 60ftlbs. 9mm is quite lethal. 45acp has twice the energy as 40 and 9mm. 45 has half the energy of some shotgun slug rounds. Hitting what you fire at is still the most important factor.

http://www.remingtonle.com/ammo/pr_bal.htm