Handguns

Buying your first self-defense Handgun
Written by Eran Smith Buying a handgun for self-defense for the first time can be very confusing. I'm addressing this article to the ordinary citizen because I believe that professional policemen and handgun trained soldiers do not need my advice.
When I went to buy my first gun, my knowledge was minimal. Good luck and good advice made me buy a good gun, this might not be the case for everyone. This is the reason I decided to publish this site, now that I have a few years of experience, and I feel that I can be of help.
For most of the people who are buying guns for self-defense, the first time will probably also be the last. This is why doing it right the first time is so important. Different people have different needs. I'll try to clear those differences as much as I can, however, everything here is based on my personal experience and I do recommend everyone to ask for more advices from other knowledgeable people.
Before I begin I have to add that I have no experience with revolvers, so I won't address this subject here.

Evaluating the needs
The most importent thing to do before buying your first handgun, is to sit and think. Buying a gun is an important step in your life. It is going to change them a bit and you have to be ready for that.
The first thing to think about is: "Is buying a gun is the best solution to your problem?"
Things to consider: Is it legal in your country to carry a gun? How are you allowed to carry it? (open carry? concealed? only at home or on your property? only at work? ), Does anything else better suits your needs? (electric shocker, knife, spray). Don't get mislead by my questions; I still think that when it comes to life protection, gun is, in most cases, the best solution.

Everything except the gun
Many people think that buying the gun is the problem. WRONG! Buying the gun is the easy part. Buying all the accessories, training and maintaining the gun are the difficult parts. A gun that you won't carry because the holster is not convenient is not worth the money you spent buying it. A gun that would be stolen from you because you were not protecting it properly, might turn you into an associate to a crime that might be committed with your gun. Maintaining your gun in good shape is too important to be neglected, and then comes selecting the proper ammo, practicing, all that and we haven't mentioned the gun yet...

Where do I begin?
Now, if you decided that you are willing to continue and buy a gun, and to become responsible for all the implications involving having a gun for self-defense, I'll try to explain a few terms. They may not conform with the dictionary definition, but hopefully, they will give you some basic understanding.
*Single Action gun - A gun that its hammer must to be cocked to be fired. Cocking is done by pulling the slide to the back .
* Double Action gun - A gun that can be fired in two ways; cocked or uncocked. On uncocked position, pulling the trigger will pull back the hammer mechanism and release it, firing the gun. These guns have a mechanism to lower the hammer safely (decocking it), and a stiffer trigger that requires greater power to pull for the first shot afterwards.
* Double Action only - A gun that its trigger never recocks, even after the first shot, and a long trigger pull is required to fire the gun on all shots.
* Decocking lever -A lever that transfers the gun into "Double Action" mode, and decocks the hammer.
* Safety - A mechanism that prevents the gun from discharge unintentionally.

Choosing the right gun
What is the ultimate gun? There is no single answer for this question. Many guns are of very high quality, many are not. How do we choose the best gun for you? This is the question you should ask yourself. The following criteria are not necessarily appearing in order of importance.
Lets begin:

THINGS TO CONSIDER CALIBER:
There are many different bullet calibers for handguns, more then I know of. I, personally, thinks that there is a minimum caliber for a self defense gun, but remember: Every bullet kills! However, we want to maximize our odds of survival in a lethal confrontation, and we need a bullet with some minimal stopping power. I am not going to get into details here. For more information check the ammunition part. I think that every caliber above 9X17 ( called also 9 mm short, .380 ACP) is good enough for self defense. Many others believe that 9X19 (9 mm Luger) is the minimum caliber and I'm not going to argue with them. For more about selecting the proper caliber, check the ammunition section.
SIZE / WEIGHT:
There is no use for a gun that you will not carry with you because it is too big or too heavy. It is as simple as that. But, be aware that too small a gun is sometimes difficult to shoot.
"Big" guns tend to be more accurate because of the increased sight radius and the longer barrel gives the bullet more stability and speed. The heavy weight of these guns also compensates better for the recoil effect. There is great importance to the gun's width when it comes to concealed carry, a wide gun is more difficult to conceal properly.
For the purpose of home defense, the gun size and weight are less critical and in my humble opinion, it is better to get a bigger gun for all its advantages.
MAGAZINE CAPACITY:
While in the U.S.A, the maximum magazine capacity for civilian use is ten rounds, on other parts of the world it's unlimited. There are guns with up to 19 rounds in a single magazine. Remember: fire power will not compensate poor shooting ability.
Magazine width will effect the grip width. Single column magazine will result in narrower grip that is more suitable for people with small hands and females. Good grip of the gun directly effects your accuracy. Choose a gun that suits your hand!
LEVERS and SAFETIES:
You should be able to easily reach all the levers, buttons and safeties on your gun, without shifting your hand from the shooting grip. If you can't do that, choose another gun!
A single action gun must have a manual safety. On some of the double action guns there is no safety, but one is not really needed. Remember: The less you have to remember when operating under pressure, the less you forget! Buy an easy to use gun and be trained to use it.
PRICE:
Buy the highest quality handgun your budget allows. Handgun is not an item you replace frequently. It will stay with you for years and it has one intention: protecting your life and the life of your beloved ones. Buy a gun from a major manufacturer with reputation for dependability and reliability. Do not compromise on your gun, it must be the most reliable thing you own, or you should not buy it in the first place.
Guns finish:
This aspect is important especially for highly humid environment, and should be the last thing to be considered. But, still with some importance, buy a gun with tough, wear resistant finish. For better conceal ability, choose dark, non reflective color. Good finish will increase the dependability of the gun (long run use) and your overall satisfaction from it as you won't need to deal with rust problems. EVERYTHING BUT THE GUN AMMUNITION:
Choosing the ammunition for your gun is most often then not far more important then selecting caliber. Poor ammunition in .45 caliber will work worse for you than good ammunition in 9 mm caliber.
The main ammo calibers for self defense (to my opinion) are:
9X17 (9 mm short, .380 ACP) - best suited for people with less strength in their hands. It is on the fine line of almost not suitible for self-defense, but if it is the caliber you can shoot, it's better then not having a gun at all. There are some very small guns in this caliber that are suitible for very deep concealment demands.
9x19 (9 mm Luger) - One of the widely used bullets in the world, probably the most usable caliber. It has a good balance between stopping power and recoil.
.357 Sig - Quite a new bullet in the market, it is a bottlenecked .40 S&M case with 9 mm bullet. Streat resaults show very encoreging resaults, however, this bullet has a bit heavy recoil. I would choose a heavy slide handgun to shoot this bullet, probably a gun with at least 4 Inch barrel.
.40 Smith & Wesson - The trendiest caliber in the market, many police departments over the States had moved to this caliber as they believe it gives the best balance between good stopping power and recoil.
.45 ACP - The bullet for those who believe that bigger is better, very popular among American handguners.

In every bullet caliber there are many bullet types. Here are the main selections:
FMJ - Full Metal Jacket, the standard bullet. It has a led round nose shape with metal thin cover. These bullets have low stopping power.
JSP - Jacketed Soft Point, almost identical to the FMJ, but the tip of the bullet exposing it's led.
HP / JHP - Hollow Point / Jacketed Hollow Point, to my opinion the bullet to use in self defense. The bullet's nose is designed to open on impact and cause maximum damage to the target.

Bullet weight:
Bullets weight is measured in grain. The heavier the bullet, the slower it fly. There are many advantages and disadvantages to different weights, but it's too wide a subject to be covered here. More information on the subject in the book list at the end.

Bullet rating:
There are three levels of bullets pressure ratings, which stands for the strength of the bullet. Not every pistol can fire all the three ratings. It's important NOT to use a bullet that its pressure is higher than the gun's capability or the gun might EXPLODE!
P - Standard pressure, can be used with every gun.
P+ - Higher then standard pressure, gives the bullet some extra velocity which enhances the bullet's performance. The disadvantage: increased recoil and wear to the gun. Very recommended if can be obtained.
+P+ - Very high pressure, usually used only by police.

Conclusion: I recommend on a JHP bullet in one of the calibers above, in P or P+. There is, however, big differences between different bullets from different manufacturers. You should fire at least 300 bullets from your chosen ammunition in your gun to see that it feeds reliably and groups well (I believe that 3.5 Inches group from 25 yards are O.K.). It is best however, to read some material on the subject. Se my recommendations at the end.
REMEMBER: First you have to hit your target in vital areas; only then will good bullet performance help you get the job done!

TRAINING:
Buying a gun and shooting few rounds at the range when you buy it are not enough. Unlike in rifles, handgun shooting must to be practiced on regular basis, with the minimum (to my opinion) of 50 rounds once a month. However, it is advised to take a course (at least basic) and to shoot more bullets more often. As I said in the beginning: buying a handgun is a commitment and a change in your life style.
REMEMBER: Hurting a bystander or one of the beloved ones you try to protect is as bad as if your attacker did so, so, PRACTICE, PRACTICE and PRACTICE.

GEAR:
Your gun should be with you all the time. If it's not there when you need it, there is no point in buying it in the first place.
There are many methods of carrying a gun, but I'll concentrate on holsters, which I believe are the best way to go.
Holsters:
Belt holsters - carry the gun on the belt.
Inside the pants holsters - carry the gun between the pants and your body, good for concealed carry.
Paddle holsters - inside the pants holster that allows quick removal of the holster.
Pocket holsters - as it's name implies, carry the gun inside the pocket, suitable only for small guns.
Shoulder holsters - carry the gun under the shoulder, very convenient, yet suitable only with proper dressing.
Ankle holsters - carry the gun close to the ankle, suitable only for small guns, not comfortable during long walks and difficult to draw from.
Crossdrow holsters - A holster positioned on the non dominant side of the shooter, where the gun is positioned with its stoke forward and is drown across the body with the dominant hand.

Options of holsters:
Thumb break - allows better security against falling and snatching to the gun, but slows you a bit on the draw. You should check that the thumb break is not over your grip! it should be ONLY on the back of the slide.

Leather / Kydex / Fabrics - all these materials are used for making holsters. It's impossible to describe all the advantages and disadvantages here, but, the holster should be of high quality or you wont carry your gun with you.

Belt loop / clip - two major methods to attach the holster to the belt. The clip makes the holster easier to take off, but check that the holster is not coming off too easy or it will be drown with your gun. Belt loops provide better attachment and holster stability and they earn my recommendation.

Holster angle/rake: - Holsters are coming in two methods; with or without rake. Large size guns usually lead themselves into strait angle holsters, while medium and small guns allow for forward angle which increase first hand to handgun contact comfort.

Conclusions:
A good holster will serve you for years. People are differ from each other on their body shape and therefore I do not recommend one method of carrying a gun as better then the other.

CLEANING KIT:
You should buy a cleaning kit with the gun. A set of these tools is usually inexpensive and very important for keeping the gun in top shape.

SAFETY:
Keeping your gun out of the reach of children and other unauthorized people is your responsibility. Remember: Anyone who gets hurt by your gun unintentionally is YOUR FAULT!

FINAL CONCLUSIONS Buying a gun involves many aspects not always considered on first thought. Think about it for a minute, make your decision, and go and ask as many knowledgeable people as you can. I hope that the basic guidelines I outlined here will be of help. Knowing more is never a bad thing. Now lets get to the botton line:

My personal recommendation for guns are as follow: (I do recommend that you'll try to shoot a similar gun to the one you intend to buy BEFORE you actually buy yours to see that it fits you)
Sig Sauer - I recommand all their guns (based on shooting some of them), they are of the highest quality.
Web site: www.sigarms.com
Glock - I recommand all their guns,(based on shooting some of them). I found out that their products are comfortable to some and very uncomfortable to others.
Official web sites: www.glock.com , www.glockmeister.com
Walter - I highly recommanded the Walther 99, I shot the gun and it is of the highest quality, has a good balance and very reliable. Walter has a line of .38ACP guns (PPK and others) that can be considered for deep concealment, also I personally didn't liked the feel of shooting the PPK. Site: www.walther-usa.com
Smith & Wesson - I had the opportunity to shoot only the S&W 6904 and did not like it. But, S&M makes fine pistols at reasonable price. My recommendation is for the S&W 99 which is based on the Walter 99. Web site: www.smith-wesson.com
Berreta - The 92F I had the opportunity to shoot impressed me a lot as a high quality and pleasant to shoot. I believe that other Barretas guns are of the same quality, definitely the 96 series. These guns are a bit on the havy side. Web sites: www.beretta.it , www.berettausa.com
Heckler & Koch - The USP series of H&K is getting very good reviews on the magazines as fine pistols. I have no experience with them, but I think that they are a bit on the "wide size" for every day carry.
Web site:http://www.hecklerkoch-usa.com
Steyr - The M series guns got some very good review reports. Modern gun of high quality.
Web site: www.GSIfirearms.com
Kahr - compact size pistols in double action only. Again, no personal experience, but heard only good things about them. Web site: www.kahr.con
Colt - Not having to be introduced to the public, they are making fine pistols, many of them based on the Browning design 1911. I shot the 1911 in .45ACP caliber and it is a great pistol. To our purpose, I think that this pistol needs some good training before you will be able to use it for self defense properly. Web site: www.colt.com
FN - The legendary pistol designed by Browning in 1923, the Hi-Power is still the most pleasant pistol to shoot in my experience. You should be very careful with ammunition selection for this gun to ensure reliability. They have a Double Action version now, the HP-DA which got good reviews. The main drawback of these pistols are their weight, but the polymer version now available should have solved the problem.
Web site: www.browning.com , www.fnmfg.com
CZ - Very good guns in reasonable prices. I had experience with the CZ-75, and I believe that the other pistols are also good. Again like with the Hi-Power, ammunition selection is critical for reliability, and weight considiration.
Web site: www.czub.cz/
Rugger - Good and reliable handguns to the best of my knowledge, I have no personal experience with them. check www.ruger-firearms.com

There are many companies on the market today that are making very fine pistols based on the 1911 model, of very high quality, they are too many to be mentioned here.

If I didn't mentioned a gun manufacturer here it's not saying that his guns are not good. These are my recommendation, I hope I helped you little.

Here are some magazines and books for further information:

Magazines:
HANDGUNS - Petersen Publishing Company, P.O.Box 56195, Boulder, Co 80322-6195 U.S.A. site: www.handgunsmag.com
COMBAT HANDGUNS - Harris Publications, Inc., 1115 Broadway, NYC, NY 10010, U.S.A, email: [email protected], site: www.combathandguns.com

Books on ammunition:
Handguns Stopping power - Evan P.Marshal, Edwin J.Sanow, Paladin Press P.O.Box 1307, Boulder Co, 80306 U.S.A.
Web site: www.paladin-press.com
Street Stoppers - Evan P.Marshal & Edwin J.Sanow, (continuation of Handguns Stopping power).
(These two books are the conclusion of a research about Handgun bullets performance. It is NOT reading books, but more of an "academic" ones. They contain a comparison of different bullets in the same caliber and can give some good information for the civilian shooter that cannot perform these tests by himself... I recommend the Street Stoppers for that purpose).

Costum feturs and custum guns manufacturers:
www.ajaxgrips.com
www.arotek.com
www.bagmaster.com
www.blade-tech.com (also holsters)
www.edbrown.com
www.glockworks.com
www.kimberamerica.com
www.kingsgunworks.com
www.pearcegrip.com
www.paraord.com
www.sentrysolutions.com
www.smithandalexander.com
www.usa-magazines.com
www.wallerandson.com
www.wilsoncombat.com
www.gunsprings.com

Finally - my gun? a Sig Sauer 228 in 9 mm, and Winchester 115gr. Silvertip HP.

If you think of things that I didn't covered and should have, or any comments you want to pass to me, please write to me at: [email protected]

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