The Handgun. What Is Your Choice From The Ones You Can Legally Own?

My choice ain't one of those. I do have an 1851 Navy. But my choice is a Ruger 9mm. Same caliber as my rifle.
Probably have lots of legal issues where you live. Sorry man. America has issues. I'm glad that isn't one of them.

 

Under my right armpit a Beretta 92
On my left thigh a cut down 12g

Covers all my needs

 

A Ruger 357 mag in a cross-draw holster on my left hip and a Ruger LC9 pro in my pants on my right hip or the small of my back. Another common carry mostly when I'm fishing is a NAA 22lr Mini revolver in my pocket.

I like cross draw because it draws easier when you are sitting in a car and is very comfortable while I'm sitting. Also I am left handed even though I shoot right handed and like a gun that is easily grabbed with either hand. Getting a gun out of a right hip standard holster with your left hand is tough. I also, when the LC9 is in the small of my back, carry it set for a left hand draw.

 

That was a great gun. I had one but just had the 6" barrel for it. It would put five rounds through the same hole at 25 yards. One chamber in the cylinder must have been just slightly off because it would print 2" low and to the right every time. I just marked that chamber and carried it with the hammer down on that chamber empty.

It was primarily a target gun and was great at that. My only issue with it for serious carry was that it took two hands to open the cylinder. The cylinder release is in the front of the cylinder for those of you unfamiliar with it. That slowed my speed load considerably.

It was the best shooting revolver that I ever owned or shot. It even out shoot the Colt Python that was designed specifically as a target gun.

 

Kind'a freaky reading your posts regarding firearms. Our firearm selections are clones of each other. My NAA is in .22 mag. The .357 revolver I prefer. My autos are in 9mm. You have a .357 lever, me too. The list goes on where we both prefer the same handguns and rifles. I use 20 ga for small game -- doesn't ruin meat.

Cross-draw holster, me too, my grandpa carried cross-draw (he was born early 1890s). Had to use his 32-20 against a couple of bad guys. One was left singing soprano.

Texas is my favorite state outside of my home state. Davey Crockett was born & raised down the road (20mile?) from where I was raised. Have in-laws down there in Texas. Been back and forth visiting and also on business trips. Will be there on business early 2019. Shame that all the Yankees have brought their lemming culture to the cities of Texas. I married a Yankee but she lived in Texas a few years and was cured. She married me. OK, so she did make that mistake.

 

I like cross-draw holsters for several reasons. For me it is more comfortable. The gun is at and angle facing forward so when I am sitting it sort of rests on my thigh. I can draw it easily when I'm in a car or truck and you can't see it if you just walk up to the car window. When I'm up and wearing a coat I can get my hand on it without having to flip my coat back and exposing it. I can easily draw it left handed and since I am left handed other than in shooting that is a plus.

I think that part of my preference for a 357 mag is that I never developed a multiple shot mentality. I actually started my pistol shooting off with single action and never felt the need for more fire power. I had a friend that was an "advisor" over in Vietnam in the early 60s. He carried a 3 screw blackhawk in 41 mag to great effect. He collected 15 ears with it. He was a little bit crazy! I actually saw him do bowling pins with that blackhawk one time and it was IMPRESSIVE. It sounded like a machine gun and the pins went flying. He was a part time deputy sheriff and carried a Model 28 S&W 357 mag that he also competed with.

He had a lot of effect on me and how I viewed guns and the proper way to use them in a defensive way. I had a couple of 45 autos but when he was working he wanted a revolver.

I also like 20 ga for hunting birds, bunnies and squirrels. I have a little straight stocked English style double barrel for that and a pump for ducks back before they went to steel.

 

That really is funny. I write and throw lefty but shoot guns and bows righty. Other than writing and throwing I can actually do most things either handed. I think that I shoot right-handed because I am right eyed and right footed. I think that most left-handed people have a wider level of abilities simply because they live in a right handed world and many like me have right handed parents that taught us how to do things.

I will say this, left handed kids these days have it a LOT better than kids did when I was young. To some extent teachers treated left-handed kids as if they were just doing it to be annoying. there are also things now like left-handed scissors and spiral notebooks with the coil on the other side. Best of ALL is ball point pens. The old school fountain pens were not friendly to left handed use. You can't push a nib and write with them and a lefty was constantly smearing the ink with the side of his hand unless he learned to write upside down which used to be common. I did it for years.

All in all I feel sorry for right-handed folks. Their life is easier but most of them to me are like cripples in that their left arm is almost useless. Being a lefty MAKES you be more adaptable.

 

Are you kidding me? This is like asking which child you love the most.

If I can only have one I will stick with the .357 magnum. I cut my teeth on a S&W Model 66 with a 4" barrel. I still love that gun. Shoots as sweet as any I have ever owned. I have a Ruger GP 100 as well. I like the option of being able to use different types of ammo. It has enough stopping power for just about anything in the lower 48, and I don't plan on being anywhere else. I think a wheel gun is easier to use, and easier to clean. No slide to rack, which is an issue. Point and shoot. If it doesn't go bang, pull the trigger again until it does.

All that being said I truly love the .45 ACP. I love everything about it except taking it apart to clean it.

 

I like this one, Smith &Wesson 8 shot 357 in a shoulder holster. Goes with my Henry 357 lever action.

 

Is that 8 shot S&W on a frame like the K frame 19, and L frame like the 586 or and N frame like a model 28?

I dearly loved the 28. The 586 was good but the 19 was more of a work gun than a shooter. By that I mean that it is lighter and better to carry. I always shoot a lot and my best friend wore out a model 19 and then a 66 while I'm still shooting my Ruger Securuty6 and the model 28. The model 28 is a massive gun and probably more then is needed for regular use. They punched the holes out on it screwed in a bigger barrel called it the model 29 and brought it out in 44mag. I really like the idea of the 8 shots but doubt that I will go there. My Ruger Securuty 6 is a part of my body when I hold it. I've shot tens of thousands of rounds through it and is so that I just look at my target and the gun shoots it.

 

and i have saved a copy of my posts, with the truth and the bias, and will show that and point out the sills to all new members with my new account, each day.

 

?????? I think that you have gone off roading in your head!!!! Go drink a few beverages and chill out...

 

My Ruger SuperRedhawk Alaskan 454 Casull.

 

RUGER Super Blackhawk with 3 3/4" barrel .44 Remington Magnum.

 

It is an "N" frame with the frame from Scandium Alloy (to reduce weight) and the cylinder and barrel from stainless. It is very comfortable to carry and shoot. it has a 5 inch barrel and is probably more accurate than I can shoot it. It is S&W's M&P R8, rumor has it, it was design for swat teams.

 

I have a ccw, and I have a collection of guns.

My primary carry gun depends on the environment that I'll be in.

Most times, it's a stainless Walther PPK/S in .380 ACP (same cartridge as 9mm Kurtz, sometimes also called a 9mm Short). I carry in a ballistic nylon ankle holster, and also two spare magazines.

I may also carry a S&W 442 .38 snubnose hammerless revolver.

My choices will, no doubt, receive lots of criticism.....especially over caliber.

My environment--I live in South Florida in a mostly urban and suburban environment--is crowded with people.

A weaker cartridge allows me to recover quicker for a second shot, and there is less likelihood of a bullet going completely through the assailant and killing an innocent third party.

Also, there are lots and lots of houses and other residental buildings, so a weaker bullet from a missed shot is less likely to go through a wall and hit someone inside their own home.

Lots of people brag about their .357 and .44 Magnums (I have a 10mm 1911), but weaker calibers are sometimes better for self defense.

 

Unfortunately I can't own a useable pistol here in the UK any more but in the past have used a threaded 1911 in ..22lr for clearing traps and a .357 S&W revolver. They covered everything I could ever wish for in a handgun.
(Edited to remove a Freudian typo)

 

Yes.........but the "animals" in your area have two legs and no 5" claws, and don't weigh 1/2 to 3/4 of a ton. I do agree the S&W 442 and 642 are wonderful pocket tools.

 

Thank you.

If I lived in a remote part of Alaska (I actually have a good friend who is a nurse practitioner on the Kenai pennisula), I would carry at least a 10mm, and more likely a .460 or S&W .500 revolver for the coastal brown bears and Kodiak bears....although specially formulated bear repellant spray actually has an excellent record for stopping these animals dead in their tracks without killing them, as a bear's nose--with all of the concentrated nerve endings in a small area--is the animal's Achille's heel.

I don't kill any wildlife if I can avoid it, although I'm not (currently) a vegetarian, and I understand the neccesity of hunting and managing wild game.