While We're On The Topic Of Things I Won't Be Buying Anytime Soon...

100% for fun - you can't beat a Ruger .22/.22M SA revolver with a long barrel. Cheap, accurate and safe. Ammo is the cheapest thing that isn't a pellet. Wear a cowboy hat and quote spaghetti westerns between shots. Wallow in the savings of having bought a used one for $150.

I am not a fan of the 9mm for defense or plinking. Its fast and accurate but it does not hit hard and is not cheap enough compared to better rounds to make up for it in my wallet at the range. The .40 S&W was designed as a law enforcement round because of the suckitude of 9mm and is relatively new (the early '90s). It has nearly identical accuracy (drift/drop) to the 9mm but significantly more "stopping power" in the high energy loads. Tons less recoil than a 10mm or 45ACP so can be used in smaller frames. Cheaper than .45, a little harder to find but Walmart has them around here.

I despise Glocks. I don't have a tangible reason but IMO they feel, shoot and look like a Chinese knock-off of a better pistol. They are effective and a lot of good shooters swear by them but... a lot of good shooters also have fwd automatic cars. ;) Since I mostly shoot for fun I want a weapon that does more than just get the job done.

For lefties who carry - SIG and H&K both make excellent frames that are swappable.

I have an H&K USP in .40 S&W. It is a great all-around piece. It is light, extremely well balanced, accurate, never jams on E36 M3 ammo and can be carried cocked -n- locked so even if you drop it in full "ready to rock" mode - it wont shoot you in the face. It is also super easy to strip, clean and reassemble. The price was a bit high but not out of proportion to what a top end "off the shelf" of any ilk goes for. The one area it lacks is that it is barely small enough to carry unless its winter. I rarely ever do except to tuck it out of sight while going to a restaurant or something so its not in my car - and it can be done but if you live where you are in shorts all year it won't be comfortable AND concealed at the same time.

stroker wrote: FWIW the only 9mm I own is a Hi-Power. It's not small, but it's certainly concealable. Can't stand how Glocks feel in my hand, like a bar of soap, but it's tough to argue with their reputation. I'd look real hard at a Springfield XD if I were buying Tupperware.

The HP is the most comfortable handgunI have ever used. They are pricey but worth every penny. The CZ is also a very good weapon. The best thing to do is go and handle some, you need something that feels good to you.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: 100% for fun - you can't beat a Ruger .22/.22M SA revolver with a long barrel. Cheap, accurate and safe. Ammo is the cheapest thing that isn't a pellet. Wear a cowboy hat and quote spaghetti westerns between shots. Wallow in the savings of having bought a used one for $150. I am not a fan of the 9mm for defense or plinking. Its fast and accurate but it does not hit hard and is not cheap enough compared to better rounds to make up for it in my wallet at the range. The .40 S&W was designed as a law enforcement round because of the suckitude of 9mm and is relatively new (the early '90s). It has nearly identical accuracy (drift/drop) to the 9mm but significantly more "stopping power" in the high energy loads. Tons less recoil than a 10mm or 45ACP so can be used in smaller frames. Cheaper than .45, a little harder to find but Walmart has them around here. I despise Glocks. I don't have a tangible reason but IMO they feel, shoot and look like a Chinese knock-off of a better pistol. They are effective and a lot of good shooters swear by them but... a lot of good shooters also have fwd automatic cars. ;) Since I mostly shoot for fun I want a weapon that does more than just get the job done. For lefties who carry - SIG and H&K both make excellent frames that are swappable. I have an H&K USP in .40 S&W. It is a great all-around piece. It is light, extremely well balanced, accurate, never jams on E36 M3 ammo and can be carried cocked -n- locked so even if you drop it in full "ready to rock" mode - it wont shoot you in the face. It is also super easy to strip, clean and reassemble. The price was a bit high but not out of proportion to what a top end "off the shelf" of any ilk goes for. The one area it lacks is that it is barely small enough to carry unless its winter. I rarely ever do except to tuck it out of sight while going to a restaurant or something so its not in my car - and it can be done but if you live where you are in shorts all year it won't be comfortable AND concealed at the same time.

I hear what you're saying, but I feel the 9mm would be a better beginners gun for me, although I'm not ruling anything out at this point.

My father owns a nice little Ruger, which I borrow on a regular basis, so between that and a couple airguns I'm definitely covered on cheap plinking/practice right now.

I would not worry to much about the brand so much. Hundreds of these what gun threads are launched every day and most end up bashing one gun or another. Find a range and see what they have for rent. Most of the time whatever they rent out is a good indication of what works and what doesn't. Some guns work for some people and some do not.

I divide handguns into two categories, polymer and steel/aluminum/metal/ect. Most of the newer more affordable popular guns are polymer guns are MUCH cheaper to produce and in most cases are cheaper to buy. The advantages of polymer guns are corrosion resistance and a lighter weight. mostly though, its a preference thing as to if you like polymer guns or not. Most polymer guns are striker fired (Glock, XD, S&W M&P) with some exceptions (some sigs, HK, and some CZs). Steel guns tend to be more expensive heavier, and IMO feel better. Also almost all steel guns are hammer fired.

Personally i feel you can't really go wrong with a big 9mm, I recommend a CZ75. It has excellent ergonomics IMO and they are VERY well built pistols for a reasonable price. I own one and it is my favorite. You might want the CZ85 because it has and ambidextrous safety. Glocks are good guns, ugly and boring sort of like a toyota, it runs and does what you tell it to. I don't like how they feel, or how their trigger works. XD's are even uglier than the glock, but the tigger is better and so are the ergos. The bore axis is too high for my tastes. The S&W M&P i have never shot but they look great and i hear they are wonderful. Sigs are all wonderful guns but pricey, i will have one someday. HKs are expensive and i see no reason to buy one. I would stay away from all 1911's, just because i think they need a more experienced user and reliable ones tend to be very expensive.

I'm going shooting this weekend, I'll be posting some impressions after that.

If you aren't planning on concealing why bother with all those little girly guns? Get yourself a shotgun-pistol

That might not be allowed at the range...

3Door4G wrote: That might not be allowed at the range...

It also shoots .45s if your range isn't manly enough

"I have relatively small hands, and thin wrists."

"I have years of training in Kendo,"

I'm having trouble resolving those two statements. Not the small hands part, the wrists.

3Door4G wrote: I have years of training in Kendo,

Huh never thought I would see another person on here that did Kendo. I had started when I was 12 and even was asked to study in Japan.

As for finding a hand gun my suggestion is try out as many as you possibly can. Some will just fit you better than others both in your hand and the angle of the grip in relation to your natural point of aim.

For instance for me a 1911 is perfect and the Glock is alright but requires a slight bend to my wrist.

Guns don't kill people...oh wait, yes they do.

I am right in assuming that for a home-defense, hope I never have to use it application, just about any gun will work? If you are not planning on putting hundreds of rounds downrange, or hunting wild boar or al-queada, then something from a name you never heard of should be fine. Or perhaps a simple used S&W .38 would be OK.

In reply to pinchvalve:

Uh you could not be more wrong on all levels. The type of handgun you get for defense matters MORE than one you get for plunking. You want something that fits you well and is accurate for you. Also for defense spending time sending rounds down range is more important as lives are on the line. Lastly do you want to trust your life and that of your loved ones to some cheap POS that does not shoot straight or may jam on the first round?

I would write more but I'm on my BlackBerry.

In reply to rebelgtp:

I don't know if he's wrong in all levels... I mean an old sw .38 would make a reliable and cheap defense gun.

Joey

4eyes wrote: "I have relatively small hands, and thin wrists." "I have years of training in Kendo," I'm having trouble resolving those two statements. Not the small hands part, the wrists.

Once I learned to relax properly when I swing, controlling a bamboo sword doesn't take much energy. I can train for hours without feeling tired. You do have a point though. I guess my wrists aren't that thin when compared to the rest of my body. They get the job done.

RebelGTP, I've been doing Kendo for about 9 years now, but it's a weird variant that has a lot more in common technique-wise with Kenjutsu. We focus a lot more on defense, and practice blocking and dodging as much as we practice striking technique. Physical conditioning is almost nonexistent in our system, and kiais are few and far between as well.

When it comes down to it, what I'm looking for is a fun gun that I can also rely on when the chips are down if needed. At the moment, firing a large-caliber handgun takes a lot out of me in terms of mental and physical concentration. I'd rather have a smaller-caliber to start out with, but I want a step up from a .22. That's why I think 9mm would be a good first gun for me, but I am going to try a few things before I make any kind of decision.

joey48442 wrote: In reply to rebelgtp: I don't know if he's wrong in all levels... I mean an old sw .38 would make a reliable and cheap defense gun. Joey

Yes Joey but a Smith .38 is not some no name throw away gun your common street thug buys for $75. Also the idea that you can buy a gun, any gun and just stick it in a box and be able to effectively use it for self defense is down right negligent. It is normally the people that have this sort of attitude that end up hurting themselves or someone else. Any weapon that you have you should be able to effectively use and practice with, you need to know the limits of the weapon and your own.

3Door4G Yeah ours was more the traditional style they even had us do demonstrations at the Portland Japanese festivals. I haven't practiced in years now but still have most of my gear. About half of our dojo was actually directly from Japan.

I actually had my own "move" that worked every time and even my sensei could not block, though it is very much a full contact move and you have to be very fast to pull it off. I have shattered many shinai and had some that shattered and had large pieces stick in my arms.

Went shooting today. With a bunch of guns. I'll post my thoughts.

First gun I used I have a small amount of experience with. My Dad's Ruger .22 Great gun. It needs a bit of internal servicing. I had two misfires with it. I used it as a basis for comparison.

For comparison, I also fired some .38SPL rounds out of a few revolvers. A Taurus 6 shot, a S&W 8-shot, and a tiny little subcompact S&W 5-shot that stung like a bee. I was pretty accurate with the heavy revolvers, obviously, but I couldn't come close to hitting anything with that little one. Revolvers are great. I have a lot of respect for them. However, it's pretty difficult for me to be accurate when firing double action. In order to hit anything I need to cock the gun first.

I then rented three different 9mms

The first one was the Smith and Wesson M&P. It was... ok. It felt sturdy and well-balanced. However, the trigger pull was weird. I didn't feel like I was able to tell when the thing was actually going to go off. It was like I pulled the trigger all the way. And then had to pull it some more to fire it. Something I could get used to, but I didn't like it.

Next one I rented was a Glock 17. This one I definitely didn't like. I'm sure they're sturdy and reliable and all that but it just felt cheap to me. It was bulky, clunky, and the magazine would rattle. The trigger pull was another issue. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was just something about the way it pulled that felt weird.

Third one up was the Springfield XD-9. I was hoping to try the full-size, but the only one the range had available was a compact. Even with the smaller size, I was very accurate with this gun right off the bat. Even more so than with the Ruger. Trigger took a bit of getting used to, sort of like the M&P, but even while getting used to it, I was getting very good groupings. Results like that I can't argue with. For me, the XD was definitely the most intuitive of the bunch. My gun-owning friend (Who brought the two S&W revolvers) was also very impressed, and is now thinking of getting one.

The guy in the lane next to me was shooting a Taurus 24/7, which he offered to let me shoot, and actually let me put 20 rounds of his own ammo through it. Very generous, I thought. In that short space of time, I did like that gun. It was like the Glock, but with a better fit and finish. Very loose trigger pull, but with a clear "stop" before it fired, which was reassuring to me. That being said, I wasn't very accurate with it at all.

To me, the clear winner of this comparison is the XD. It's just awesome. The fact that I was able to pick it up and fire it accurately right away, without much previous experience with pistols, no experience at all with that gun, spoke volumes to me about its intuitive nature. And that was with the compact version. If I get one, and I probably will, it'll be the full-size, which I expect will be even easier to shoot accurately.

Of course, given the chance, I'll try any other gun that comes my way. It's my nature. And who knows, I might someday find something that I like even more. But even with that short experience, I know that if the XD ends up being the only gun I ever own, I'll still be happy with it.

In reply to 3Door4G: I'm glad you found a pistol that fits you. I have no experience with Kendo, but have studied Escrima, and Shotokan Karate etc., so I think I can understand what's involved. Maybe using an oak Boken for forms practice would improve wrist strength. I don't know the laws where you live, but inside your home (30ft.) a "live" blade can be a formidable weapon, even against an opponent armed with a pistol.

My wrists are probably stronger than I give them credit for. I just don't want a big heavy gun right now.

I may try to get ahold of the 4.5" XD(M) if I can. There doesn't seem to be much of a price difference. What really appeals to me about the M version is the ambidextrous slide release.