LTD, I have a gun, I have my CCW permit.

But I hate my gun, it sucks. It's a semi-automatic .22 and half the time it fails to fire, etc. Especially as I am NOT an expert. I'm a decent shot on the range, I am NOT a gun expert.

Try better .22 ammo. There is a Mexican company that is supposed to make the best .22 ammo. Aguila is the name.

Our instructor said American made 22 ammo is good for plinking and target practice, but in a quality sense, it's not there. For carrying, you want expensive ammo.

My wife doesn't like to use my semi-auto. The rack is too hard for her to pull.

She preferw a revolver. At the firing range she will shoot it all day.

So, maybe a revolver is best for you.

Tell your husband you want a "Judge" or "Governor". You'll hit everything you point at!

I've got a Ruger 9mm that I carry. Also have a Ruger SR22 that I swapped out a Walther for that I keep in the nightstand. The Walther was CRAP. Have put a lot of rounds thru them & have never had it jam or misfire. Once I learned how to pull the slide back correctly I have no problems whatsoever. I like Ruger; couldn't justify the dollars for a Sig or Glock.

Get better ammo. That may help a lot.

Old school.. my service 45.. Circa 1969... carry as I property manage.. and at home...

Old school.. my service 45.. Circa 1969... carry as I property manage.. and at home...

Hi WMH - we'll call this the "Primer on LL Guns."

"Mid-size, high capacity, 9mm," for an all around defense pistol, so long as it is a Glock, Sig, Ruger, Beretta, certain Springfield or Smiths and a few others I can't think of at the moment. There is a reason most professionals carry Glocks.

Do not buy a gun with an ILS - "Integrated locking system." Taurus, Smith and Springfield have these lawyer locks as part of the gun, I don't want my gun locking up in the middle of a gunfight - it may take the rest of your life to unlock it.

And with all respect to OKHMBLDR - please DO NOT buy a Judge. They are gimmick guns. They are not a blunderbuss or an adequate gun and are generally too big to conceal. There are a number of semi autos that are easy to rack. Glocks have aftermarket parts that hook on the slide and provide a "t" handle for charging. You can also have a gunsmith TIG weld a pin or flange to the slide on other guns that you can grab and yank. I work with a lot of older people and deal with slide racking issues all the time.

Please DO NOT buy a revolver as a primary gun. They are pre civil war technology. Most people can't hit a barn from inside with a snub nose revolver from more than about 5 feet. They are called "belly guns" for a reason. Many but not all defensive incidents are very close, some are not. You don't know which you will get. Yes I know Jerry Miculick (world's top shot) can hit a 300 yard gong with one. But gentlemen, please stop telling women to buy a snubbie. I can't tell you how many ladies I take to the range, fire five shots from their new polymer snubbie, shake their bruised hand and then ask if they can shoot my Glock.

Here is why you need high capacity. You can maybe shoot quarter size groups at a static target given all the time in the world. Gunfights are dynamic, people are running, turning, ducking, weaving, falling - it is VERY hard to put hits on target in a real situation. MANY events involve multiple aggressors all moving, a 5 shot revolver or 7 shot semi auto is not enough to deal with the threat.

It is unlikely you will be reloading in a defensive incident. Of two thousand surveillance gunfight videos that were part of a recent non-scientific study - EIGHT involved reloading in the heat of battle. Plain and simple - if you run out of ammo or your gun jams in a gunfight you are toast. We learned that back in '86 with the Miami FBI shootout. So carry your spare ammo in your spare gun, and if like most of us you don't carry two guns, carry a REALLY GOOD gun with a lot of ammo in it!

Same with the small "single stack" semi autos - LC9's, Sig P938's, Glock 43, etc. They mostly hold 6-7 rounds. It's not enough. That said you sometimes have to "dress to the mission." A single stack is a great SECOND or third gun or for those occasions where you need high concealability. But for your primary stick to the mid size high capacity 9.

.22's have a high percentage of misfires mainly due to the manufacturing process. Yes, I know there is some match ammo that is pretty reliable, and expensive, so if you are paying 9mm prices anyway get a bigger bullet! UNLESS arthritis or other condition makes recoil painful I stopped recommending .22's for self defense several years ago because of the ammo issues. I used to say .22's are better than a rock, but frankly I'm not so sure anymore, a rock always works.

Don't agree? Come out to our monthly "rimfire challenge" at the gun club. Here's how the old guys sound shooting their .22's. ;) Bang! Rack, rack... Bang! Rack rack rack... "gawddamit, stoopid gun!"

.40, .45 are fine but you can't fit as many cartridges into the gun as with 9mm. Ammo advances have put 9mm very close ballisticly with the bigger rounds so I go for capacity. Times change, we have better equipment now. A .22 and .380, and other marginal rounds will "stop the threat." But they may not "stop the threat" fast enough to stop that threat from making you get dead. I don't want to be the person saying, "If I only had ONE more bullet!"

My G19 holds 16 rounds. If I'm going into some sort of higher risk situation I swap for a 20 round magazine, 21 total. It isn't as concealable, but I want the rounds in the gun not buried in my purse.

I mostly carry a Glock 19 that I custom built with a Trjicon RMR red dot optic and Crimson Trace grip laser. It is your basic $2,000 Glock. I am a Glock factory certified armorer. My "duty gun" is a Glock 17, set up the same. I understand not everyone has the budget I have. A stock gun will do just fine.

If you are not familiar with red dots - ALL defensive handguns will be using them in 10 years. I am a big believer in technology, SO LONG as you retain fundamentals. If my optic fails I can instantly revert to the fixed iron sighs or switch to laser. I switched to the red dot Glocks almost 4 years ago and haven't looked back.

I hope this helps. Go check some gun stores. If the clerk says, "You're a girl," and hands you a snubbie, RUN! You will eventually find someone knowledgeable. Try a bunch of different guns.

BTW - don't worry what the gun costs. The difference between a Taurus and a Ruger is maybe $100. That's about 6 boxes of ammo.

I agree with Julie, "Friends don't let friends buy Taurus, Walther, Kel-Tec, HiPoint, or other junk guns." Stick to the major makers. Anybody know why George Zimmerman only fired one round? His Kel-Tec 9 jammed.

OPM - I love my 1911's too. I carried one off an on since the 80's. But I retired them for daily carry in favor of the Glock. For years I was of the "bigger bullet" camp. But with the increase in multiple threats and active shooters, more bullets beats bigger bullets for me. With a 1911 I'd be on a third reload while still shooting my Glock. And if we are unlikely to reload in a civilian incident, as proven by real events, I want the rounds in the gun.

BTW #2 - Here's what I have for class guns for beginning students who don't own a gun. Ruger SR9 (full size) and SR9C (compact) SR22, LC9, Glock 19, 43, 30, Springfield XDM, Baretta M9 and a 1911. All make good carry guns. And we have a couple of revolvers in .22 and .38.

These guns all have thousands of rounds on them and other than normal maintenance and a few new springs here and there they all work fine.

Oh, and one last story. Last spring we were holding an "Intermediate" pistol class. Most of the students were shooting 9's, except one older, petite friend of mine who is a nurse practitioner and 70 years old. I didn't really focus on her gun other than it was the only snub nose revolver but she wanted to shoot it.

Anyway - everyone lines up at their target and we start shooting. Pop, pop, pop, pop... KA-BLAMMM!! My friend is shooting full load .357 magnums in her snubbie. She shot the gun all afternoon and out shot the rest of the class. LOL

Everything else said, it's the shooter, not the gun. :)

GLOCK it is. I hear that all the time, there has to be a reason.

Thanks LTD for this great education on handguns here!

Personally, I would not feel comfortable (too self-conscious) carrying a weapon (handgun) at all times of the day (or night). For home defense I do have a Mossberg 12 gauge pump (you can't beat the racking sound of a Mossberg pump). With an 18 inch barrel, you don't have to take a careful aim,..you just point it in the direction of your intended target.

I am not a gun expert but I have had several brands and types. As Living the dream said, you want reliability. The most reliable gun I have owned is a glock 19. I have owned many CC guns like the S&W bodyguard 380 but the problem with it and many of the small guns is the recoil hurts your hand. I can't fire more than a magazine through the bodyguard 380. The glock 19 is smooth as butter. I can fire that all day.

So my inexperienced point is don't get seduced by the really small cute guns that look perfect for concealed carry. find a friend and test fire a bunch of guns and see what works in your hands

Revolver. They don't go off by accident. .38 special or larger caliber. .22 is too small for personal defense.

Pack'n a Glock 31. (Past 16 Years)

Roy - Mossy 500, one of the best guns ever made. I have three, two class guns, and my own that I've had like 35 years. (We also teach Trap and Skeet classes and defensive shotgun.) I use the Mossberg 930 semi auto for defense.

Sorry, but regardless what Uncle Joe Biden says racking the slide won't scare anyone. I tried it once in Key West in my 20's when a druggie came on our boat in a marina. He taunted me to shoot him, but he was unarmed, so of course I couldn't and he knew that. Luckily other boaters and the cops came before my patience wore out. Lesson learned, don't pull guns on people unless there is an IMMEDIATE need for deadly force.

Keep in mind too, shotguns are not blunderbusses. The shot only expands about 1 inch per yard, and that varys a great deal depending on what you are using. You should pattern a shotgun at different distances, with the shells you are using. Buckshot usually stays tighter further than birdshot.

As for carry, that's state subjective. Here in AZ you can carry a concealed bazooka if you want. There are some short shotguns, and "NFA" shotguns with like 10" barrels. But I see them as gimmick guns of limited use. You need a stock you can mount to your shoulder. The pistol grips bruise your palm, especially with 3" mag rounds.

Google:

Bostitch,

Past that it gets too confusing for me. As confusing as 1.6% rent to purchase price ratio in a C+ neighborhood with a D- Milkshake joint.

Great advice LTD!

I think it may have been mentioned but the quality of the round makes a huge difference. Spend some money on a good round for defensive carry even if it is $1-$2 a round.

Yes Danny - we recommend handguns for home defense over shotguns. You may need a free hand, and long guns are too, well, long.

Bit - agreed. For training we shoot whatever cheap stuff we can get, cheap.

For defense I currently use mostly either Hornaday Critical Duty or Defense hollow point, depending on the gun. Mainly because I got a really good deal on a bunch several years ago - like 20 cents a round. I also have smaller amounts of several other brands.