New Handgun
 

I am looking to buy a new handgun for defense of my downtown loft. I need advice (advantages/disadvantages) on differant brands (H&K, S&W, Glock, Beretta, etc.) size (9mm, 10mm, .40, .45), and ammunition type. Thanks

my advice, a handgun at home is useful to allow you to get to your shotgun. I'd purchase a shotgun first. I'll post more later.

handgun, shotgun, even a rifle...it's all about personal preference.

Visit the range, rent a variety of calibers and sizes, find out which one fits you best.

Pretty much any handgun is not appropriate for home defense if you are in a multi-family type of building, or for that matter most neighborhoods with wood construction and small plots. Your bullets will go way farther than you want them too.

A solution would be to buy Mag-Safe or Glazer bullets. These are meant to fragment on impact. This keeps them from over-penetrating walls, but at the same time, the frangible bullet does extra damage when it hits a person. As I understand it, they were originally designed for law-enforcement and were mostly intended to prevent deadly riccochet's (hope I spelled that right).

I already have a shotgun and a 30-06 rifle. I plan on getting a CWP, so this gun will also be used for protection other than at home. I would like to hear some differances in quality and advantages/disadvantages to differant makes and sizes. Thanks,

I have a Beretta 92FS (9mm) and I love it. So far, the damn thing has never even jammed on me, and I've put a number of rounds through it.

However, I bought it primarily for target practice. If you are looking for something to protect yourself with, I would probably recommend a larger caliber - probably the .45, since it has much better stopping power than a 9mm.

At any rate, I would also recommend getting frangible ammunition, just in case.

Everyone on here is going to have a different opinion on the "best" brands and calibers. All makes you listed are good. My advice: go to a range, shoot an assortment of different handguns, and pick the one that you like the best. Ultimately, you're the one who is going to be making the investment and spending the money on it, so what you choose for you might not be what others would choose for yourself. Personally for a dedicated self defense pistol I'd go with a double action revolver, but that's just my preference. Most places are going to have a big assortment in 9mm and .45 ammunition, and are carrying more and more .40 all the time. The places I've been to usually will have one or two types of 10mm, and that's about it. All have their followings.

1911... almost a century and still one of the best available
good caliber and good mechanism
It is a little big and heavy but worth it IMO.

Let's get serious here. Unless you have a bull elephant invade your home a 9mm bullet has plenty of stopping power.

I'd get a Ruger Security Six .357 magnum (I"m assuming they're still made, or whatever the next generation of them is). Practice with .38 cal. You'll hear lots of other suggestion, I'm sure many will be good, but I'd definitely rather have the revolver for home defense.

Get a DAO auto or a revolver. In a self defense situation there is no time to do anything but pull the trigger, so buy a gun with only a trigger. I prefer 9mm, but I'm sure that will open a huge can of worms.

Taurus makes a very good revolver, I think their 'Smith knockoffs are better than the originals.

Glock, HK, and Sig all make great pistols, but if the primary purpose of the gun is self defense, I would highly recommend a DAO (which all three manufacturers make).

I love 1911's but they are lousy carry guns, and the switchology can be a bitch in a stressfull situation.

If your going to carry concealed, think about the practicality of carrying. I had a .45 that i carried concealed occasionally, but truthfully a full size Kimber is a bit much to be trying to conceal when it's warm out. I currnetly carry a Kel-Tec P-11 9mm. the gun weighs 20 oz fully loaded. The trigger sucks ass, but it is double action only and that long heavy trigger pull is the safety. This gun is small enough to conceal, but not so small that I'm concerned about my stopping power. If twenty ea.(I carry a spare mag) 9mm +p jacketed hollow point rounds don't have the stopping power for the situation I'm in, then I am way over my head. The Kel-Tec has never jammed, and goes bang every time I pull the trigger.

Whatever you get ... train with it as much as possible.

If you don't plan on visiting the range on a regular basis or at least taking a real Defensive Pistol course (e.g. Front Sight, Gunsite, Thunder Ranch etc.) then I'd recommend getting a snub-nosed revolver with nothing smaller than .38.

If you don't plan at visiting the range on a regular basis, I'd recommend not getting a firearm at all. I owned a snub nosed revolver, it was a Ruger SP101 w/ a 2-1/4" barrell in .357. Even shooting .38 out of it was a miserable experience. I am not recoil sensitive at all, but that gun was no fun to shoot. If you're going to carry concealed, purchase a gun that won't discourage you from wanting to practice.

not true, its been high 90's here for all of july, not a single detection of my 5" 1911 under a single medium black hanes t-shirt.

That you know of. I didn't say it was impossible, just not as easy, I personally find IWB holsters very uncomfortable, so that's just been my experience.

Although I would tend to agree with you, statistically, a .45 has a relatively significant higher percentage of one shot "stops"

At any rate, I don't think it would matter all that much, but I thought perhaps it would be a consideration since the firearm will be used primarily for self defense...

If you're well trained with a pistol, the extra 1/10 of a second it takes to switch off the safety shouldn't pose much of an issue.

As a personal note, if I was going to purchase a self defense weapon, I would probably go with a hammerless revolver of some sort, likely snub nosed as well - if I were able to get a CCP.

You aren't considering external factors.

Rule number one of gunfighting is the KISS principal.