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SD:Choosing a handgun for defense
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Choosing a handgun for defense
By: Dan Carlson, Special to the Black Hills Pioneer May 30, 2003
This is the second of four columns dealing with the subject of using firearms to protect yourself and your loved ones. Last week we focused on rifles and shotguns for home protection, but today we're going to look at handguns to be carried concealed for personal protection. I'll tell you upfront that you can ask any gun expert their opinion on this topic and get as many answers as people you ask, but I'm going to give you my two cents worth. If it rings true, fine, but if you want to seek another opinion on the matter I don't mind and even would encourage you to do so.
Before we get into the guns I have to emphasize two important points when it comes to firearms and personal defense. First, there is no harder decision for a person to make than to take the life of another, but that's what it comes down to when you decide to carry a gun. You carry it with the full knowledge that you may one-day need to use it to protect yourself or a loved one from imminent personal harm, and using it might very well mean killing another human being. The time to decide if you're capable of doing that is before you even consider buying a gun. Secondly, you must familiarize yourself with the laws concerning when you may and may not use deadly force in a defensive situation. I'll be talking more about that in an upcoming column when I share information on this topic provided by the South Dakota Attorney General's office.
When you choose a firearm to carry on your person it will be one of two varieties. It will either be a revolver or a semi-automatic pistol. Both types have proven track records in personal protection and law enforcement and both have inherent strengths and weaknesses. Let's talk about revolvers today.
Reliability is absolutely essential in a personal protection firearm, and revolvers are extremely reliable. When a loaded revolver is drawn and aimed at a target the only thing you need to focus on is aiming and squeezing the trigger. Revolvers usually don't have any safety switches or levers to turn on and a cartridge is in position to fire already so there is little else to think about except hitting the target. I recommend a revolver as a personal defense handgun to beginners and anyone who will not be doing a whole lot of recreational shooting so ammunition expense won't be an issue. Modern revolvers are inherently safe by their basic design meaning they're not likely to go off if dropped or be fired accidentally. You've got to pull the trigger for the gun to go boom.
The minimum defense revolver caliber I'd consider is the .38 special. There are smaller caliber revolvers available, but you have to consider the circumstances in which a defensive firearm is most often used. Statistics show the average self defense shooting takes place at a distance of seven feet or less. If an aggressor is lunging at you from seven feet away with a knife you will be able to get one shot off, maybe two, before he is on you. The attacker most likely is pumped with adrenaline and who knows what else in his system. You need hitting power to stop the attack and save yourself. Small revolver calibers like the .32 and .22 may eventually kill your assailant, but not before he's had some up close and personal time with you, and that's what you're trying to avoid.
There are also large caliber revolvers that may be too big to consider. The .44 magnum, .454 Casull, and .480 Ruger are primarily hunting revolvers that are very loud with big recoil and very powerful cartridges. Safety of not only yourself, but of others in the vicinity is top priority for conceal carry permit holders. One shot from any of the above calibers will stop your assailant, but it will also likely pass through him and keep going with enough force to seriously injure anyone or damage personal property some distance behind him. These guns are also large, heavy and hard to conceal.
For a personal protection revolver I recommend the .357 magnum with a two to four inch barrel. The nice thing about a .357 is that you can also load it with .38 special ammunition if the magnum loads prove too much for you. I've been very impressed with new ported titanium models offered by some manufacturers because of their lightweight and manageable recoil. Some may question my recommendation of the short-barreled "snub nose" models, but keep in mind we're talking about shooting inside of ten feet here and I've shot a number of these guns with more than acceptable defense accuracy. The small revolvers also fit nicely in a lady's purse and conceal well on smaller adults. Revolvers also come with barrels six or more inches in length, but that's where they get heavier and harder to conceal.
What are the disadvantages of a revolver for defense? You are limited to between five and seven rounds of ammunition in the cylinder before you have to reload, and for the average person loading a revolver involves several steps and takes longer than slapping another clip in a semi-auto. Still, in the average personal defense situation the number of shots fired is between one and three. Where you might have a problem defending yourself with a revolver is if you find yourself engaging multiple armed assailants. For the typical person going about their business in western South Dakota, such encounters are rare, though, and the revolver is a good choice for personal protection.
Next week we'll look at the pros and cons of semi-automatic pistols for self-defense.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8171575&BRD=1300&PAG=461&dept_id=156930&rfi=6
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878<P>
By: Dan Carlson, Special to the Black Hills Pioneer May 30, 2003
This is the second of four columns dealing with the subject of using firearms to protect yourself and your loved ones. Last week we focused on rifles and shotguns for home protection, but today we're going to look at handguns to be carried concealed for personal protection. I'll tell you upfront that you can ask any gun expert their opinion on this topic and get as many answers as people you ask, but I'm going to give you my two cents worth. If it rings true, fine, but if you want to seek another opinion on the matter I don't mind and even would encourage you to do so.
Before we get into the guns I have to emphasize two important points when it comes to firearms and personal defense. First, there is no harder decision for a person to make than to take the life of another, but that's what it comes down to when you decide to carry a gun. You carry it with the full knowledge that you may one-day need to use it to protect yourself or a loved one from imminent personal harm, and using it might very well mean killing another human being. The time to decide if you're capable of doing that is before you even consider buying a gun. Secondly, you must familiarize yourself with the laws concerning when you may and may not use deadly force in a defensive situation. I'll be talking more about that in an upcoming column when I share information on this topic provided by the South Dakota Attorney General's office.
When you choose a firearm to carry on your person it will be one of two varieties. It will either be a revolver or a semi-automatic pistol. Both types have proven track records in personal protection and law enforcement and both have inherent strengths and weaknesses. Let's talk about revolvers today.
Reliability is absolutely essential in a personal protection firearm, and revolvers are extremely reliable. When a loaded revolver is drawn and aimed at a target the only thing you need to focus on is aiming and squeezing the trigger. Revolvers usually don't have any safety switches or levers to turn on and a cartridge is in position to fire already so there is little else to think about except hitting the target. I recommend a revolver as a personal defense handgun to beginners and anyone who will not be doing a whole lot of recreational shooting so ammunition expense won't be an issue. Modern revolvers are inherently safe by their basic design meaning they're not likely to go off if dropped or be fired accidentally. You've got to pull the trigger for the gun to go boom.
The minimum defense revolver caliber I'd consider is the .38 special. There are smaller caliber revolvers available, but you have to consider the circumstances in which a defensive firearm is most often used. Statistics show the average self defense shooting takes place at a distance of seven feet or less. If an aggressor is lunging at you from seven feet away with a knife you will be able to get one shot off, maybe two, before he is on you. The attacker most likely is pumped with adrenaline and who knows what else in his system. You need hitting power to stop the attack and save yourself. Small revolver calibers like the .32 and .22 may eventually kill your assailant, but not before he's had some up close and personal time with you, and that's what you're trying to avoid.
There are also large caliber revolvers that may be too big to consider. The .44 magnum, .454 Casull, and .480 Ruger are primarily hunting revolvers that are very loud with big recoil and very powerful cartridges. Safety of not only yourself, but of others in the vicinity is top priority for conceal carry permit holders. One shot from any of the above calibers will stop your assailant, but it will also likely pass through him and keep going with enough force to seriously injure anyone or damage personal property some distance behind him. These guns are also large, heavy and hard to conceal.
For a personal protection revolver I recommend the .357 magnum with a two to four inch barrel. The nice thing about a .357 is that you can also load it with .38 special ammunition if the magnum loads prove too much for you. I've been very impressed with new ported titanium models offered by some manufacturers because of their lightweight and manageable recoil. Some may question my recommendation of the short-barreled "snub nose" models, but keep in mind we're talking about shooting inside of ten feet here and I've shot a number of these guns with more than acceptable defense accuracy. The small revolvers also fit nicely in a lady's purse and conceal well on smaller adults. Revolvers also come with barrels six or more inches in length, but that's where they get heavier and harder to conceal.
What are the disadvantages of a revolver for defense? You are limited to between five and seven rounds of ammunition in the cylinder before you have to reload, and for the average person loading a revolver involves several steps and takes longer than slapping another clip in a semi-auto. Still, in the average personal defense situation the number of shots fired is between one and three. Where you might have a problem defending yourself with a revolver is if you find yourself engaging multiple armed assailants. For the typical person going about their business in western South Dakota, such encounters are rare, though, and the revolver is a good choice for personal protection.
Next week we'll look at the pros and cons of semi-automatic pistols for self-defense.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8171575&BRD=1300&PAG=461&dept_id=156930&rfi=6
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878<P>
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