In light of New Orleans, I'm thinking of purchasing a gun...
 

Let me begin by saying that I did in fact review the "new gun" threads. Because of this, I went to a local shooting range/gun shop and talked w/ the proprieter. I am thinking of purchasing a pistol for home/personal protection. I realize that a shotgun is really the ultimate home-defense weapon, but if I buy a gun, I'm going to go all the way and get a concealed-carry permit too, so I think I'll be getting a pistol. After reviewing threads here and on other boards, I'm leaning toward a .40 caliber (seems to have excellent stopping power) w/ appropriate (fragable) ammunition to prevent over-penetration of the structure of the house.

Following common advice, I paid a flat-fee for a box of bullets and the priviledge of shooting as many of their .40s as I wanted. The pistols I shot were Glock, H&K, Springfield, and Sig. Of the four, I personally was most accurate with the Sig, but honestly the Springfield felt the most comfortable. While I've heard much discussion on boards about the virtues of Sigs vs Glocks vs H-Ks, I really haven't heard much about Springfields auto-pistols - in my case the XD9102HC - does anyone here have any particular opinions about this gun?

All the brands you mentioned make superior firearms, and you should make your final decision based upon personal preference as they will all be reliable, well made weapons.

My only caveat is that you ensure you can actually conceal the weapon of your choice. For instance, I chose to purchase a HK USP Compact in .40 because the full size was slightly too large for me to carry every day (I still have trouble concealing my USPC on hot days). But I know some guys who carry full size automatics with no trouble.

The Frangible ammunition may or may not be the best choice for you. Make sure you find the money to shoot enough of your intended carry ammunition to ensure it will function in your weapon (it should).

Good luck

The USP was the H-K I shot. I REALLY wanted to like it, but it just didn't feel that good and I was least accurate with it of the four. That is actually the size gun I'm looking at tho.

BTW Greg - I'm actually from Asheville...

I'm going to reiterate a couple things Greg said...Make sure it will function w/ your carry ammo, if you need to use it in a defensive situation, that is the wrong time to find out that the gun won't reliably feed the ammo you're carrying. The other point I want to repeat is, seriously think about ease of concealability. There is a HUGE difference between covered, and concealed. If the gun is to big, it is miserable to carry.

all of the guns you mentioned are great guns, and I would not feel at a disadvantage with any of them...
as for the springfield XD's, they are workhorses.


regardless what happens with your pistol situation tho, I'd still advise adding at least a $150 wally world shotgun to your armory. Pistols arent the man-stoppers everyone thinks they are.

ditto, all those are good guns.

ditto, if you want to conceal try each as a concealed piece if you can.

As for me, I went with a kel-tec 9mm for a concealed piece simply because it wasn't to be my main home defense weapon. Yes, it's accuracy sucks, but it's purpose is to get me out of a tight spot. And for the price of a Springfield .40, I can get a Kel Tec and a Remington shot gun.

Just some more to think about :)

Unless you are prepared to practice regularly I would not recommend an autoloader for defense at all. Everyone thinks they'll practice a lot in the beginning, but the vast majority of them buy a weapon that's going to remain in the drawer by the bed.

In this case I'd suggest a good 4" (or less) .38/.357 (nothing smaller than a .38) revolver. Ideally, you'd want a "hammerless" type, or a bobbed hammer, because it won't snag when drawing. Also, proper combat shooting is double-action only. Single action is for target shooting.

I wouldn't suggest doing anything fancy to it like porting. At best I'd get the best DA trigger job I can find and maybe (just maybe) have it cut for moon-clips.

Ammunition. There are fancy defense rounds that abound but I'd suggest you get regular ball or HP ammo for 2 reasons.

#1. Liability. Regardless of the circumstances, even in a justifiable use of deadly force on your part, you may find yourself arguing your case in a court of law. Face the facts, this isn't a perfect world. A prosecuting attourney will latch on to the fact that you used "special" bullets to "maim" your "victim" and portray you as someone looking for a fight. Don't give them ammunition for that argument. Stick with JHP ammo. Even people I know who reload their own ammunition use off the shelf JHP ammo in their personal defense guns because the lawyers will do a similar number on you if you were using "homemade" ammunition.
#2. It is important that you practice almost exclusively with the same type of ammo you intend to use. And if you use Glaser Safety Ammo/ BAT Safety Ammo/ Black Talons/ Corbon +P or whatever it's going to get mighty expensive. You wouldn't want ldiscover that your weapon behaves differently with the Corbons you have loaded up (maybe even fail to function!) than with the JHPs you used for at the range!

All those fancy rounds have seductive advertisement campaigns - but the only thing that consistently puts down the subject is shot placement - which comes from practice.

Personally, I use a Glock 23 .40 with hi-cap mags, and an HK USP Compact .45. But I practice a great deal - including malfunction drills and emergency/tactical reloads. I also keep around a very pretty S&W M-19 .357 revolver which would be the first gun I'd hand to someone like yourself in a moment of crisis (heaven forbid).

Oh and BTW the "ultimate home defense weapon isn't a shotgun."
It's a good dog.

I also carry the P-11 Kel-Tec 9mm, yes it's got a ridiculously long & heavy trigger pull that contributes to a loss of accuracy, however it isn't a target pistol, and I'm not trying to make it be one. I can maintain reasonable (about a 2" group) within 7 yards. Anything further than that in a self defense situation I'm not going to be shooting, I'm gonna be going for cover.

My advice as far as ammunition goes, ask your local police department exactly what ammuniton they issue their officers. Purchase a box of tha ammunition, test in your gun, if it functions then that is what you carry. I was advised to do this by the instructor of my concealed weapons permit class. The reason he reccomends doing it this way is simple. If you have to shoot someone (and I hope you never do), and you end up being sued, when questioned about your ammo choice (and you will be), your answer will be "Thats what the local police carry, I figure if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me".

smith and wesson has a nice compact .40 semi. real nice feel to it.

The Springfield XDs have recieved a lot of good publicity, and it's justified. My next gun is going to be an XD-9.

If you're going to CCW, don't forget a quality holster. I would recommend spending the $100 and getting a Milt Sparks Versa MAX II, which has had nothing but fantastic reviews. Brommeland Gun Leather makes a Max Con V, which is similar.

Both are IWB holsters, meaning the gun is kept inside your pants.

I don't have anything to add to the gun recommendations... I just have a question. What is the thread title supposed to mean?

Well, what it's supposed to mean is if the shit hits the fan here in Washington for whatever reason, I'd like to have a gun in my hand when it does. I fully intend to defend my self, my loved ones, and my property with deadly force should the need arise.

I understand that much. The question I had was about the phrase "in lieu of." Which, as far as I know, means "in place of," lieu being French for place. Maybe "in view of" makes more sense? I don't know. This has nothing to do with weapons, so I'll just forget it.

Ah, a grammar stickler. Yes, I realized after I posted that I had misused "lieu". Sadly, I couldn't edit the title. Sorry to have offended your sensibilities.

Ok guys, I've found my gun. I went back to the range today and tried a variety of 9mm pistols. I first tried a subcompact XD, then an H-K UPS-Sub - I really couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with them. I had no feel for the guns, and I went through about 25 rounds each with them.

Then I tried a Sig P239 - what a difference! It felt great and the aim was totally intuitive! I put a single bullet into it and it went exactly where I aimed! Super-nice! I tried rapid-firing 2-3 shots and they grouped within a few inches of each other, also where I aimed. I love this pistol! Once I get my x-mas bonus, I'm going to start seriously shopping for one.

Thanks for the advice!

i have a ruger security 6 snug nose. realy nice and small but if feels nice on the hand.

did you shoot the thing in doubl;e action mode, or did yuou stick to single action (was the hammer cocked for all of your shots?)

I only dry-fired it in DA mode - I will say that when I did tho, the action/takeup was quite smooth - I've shot revolvers this way and the Sig was quite different.