LOL that is a bigger and more important conversation a)than I have time for right now and b) than you should have with some r-tard like me over the internet.

There are lots of resources for you to look into to help you figure out what kind of carry gun you might want and you should google something like "how to pick a carry pistol" to see.

It's a big discussion with a lot of factors, and I don't want to be responsible for giving you advice off the cuff and on limited information that may or may not be appropriate for you.

I will tell you though that basically, any caliber from 0.350/9mm to 45 is fine for self defense - shot placement carries the day there.

Shot placement is all about proficiency with the weapon. If it kicks too hard or is too expensive to shoot you will not likely be willing to practice enough to gain proficiency.

Gun size is important for two reasons - first, concealability (physical dimensions) and carryability (weight). You are unlikely to carry a huge honking gun if you can't conceal it in your normal wardrobe or if it pulls your pants down because it's so fkn heavy, and what the fk good is a carry gun that you don't carry?

Ammo is a consideration - you will want to practice to the point that you have 1000+ rounds down range with your carry gun. That cost will vary WILDLY with the caliber you choose. 1000 rounds of 45 practice ammo will cost you around $400. 1000 rounds of 9mm will cost you around $200...

There's just a lot of stuff to think about man... if you really want to have that conversation I will share my thoughts with you on it, but shoot me a PM.

 

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This or a Ruger LC9 make great carry weapons. Both Kel-Tec and Ruger make quality firearms, both back them up with no-bullshiat warranties, and both go BANG when you pull the trigger.


I haven't fired any of the pocket 9mm from Ruger or Kel-Tec, as they didn't exist when I was shopping for a carry weapon. I've fired the Kel-Tec P3AT, and it came down to that weapon vs the Ruger LCP, and I ended up buying the Ruger LCP. If I were doing it over again right now it would be the Ruger LC9... or the Kel-Tec PF9... but I'd have to shoot them first to know for sure, and so will you.


Most shooting ranges will let you rent firearms - go down and give them both a trial run. You won't know which is better for you until you've fired them. Pocket or carry weapons are difficult to choose because so much of it comes down to things that cannot be known until you actually have the weapon in your hand. The size of your hand, the size of your fingers, your grip habits - all of these are critical when handling a compact firearm. It doesn't do you any good to purchase a firearm if it turns out that your grip habits have you accidentally actuating the mag release every time you go to fire it.

 

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Yeah that makes sense. That site is actually a shooting range that happens to also have a gun shop on site.

(You may remember a few years ago when a woman shot her son and then herself at a shooting range, it was at this place)

 

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Follow Koneg's advice - try a bunch out, talk to different gun dealers. Everyone has their biases, some of which are about performance, some are based on ignorance of other brands, some biases are just rooted in urban legend, some are about what they have the best profits on...





I remember this and for some reason I can't explain, was just thinking back to this story last week, and how awful it was to hear abuot... anyway... yeah... do what koneg said, try a bunch, research expenses, look into carry systems - that definitely matters too...

 

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Have either of you ever bought one at a gun show? They have them down here all the time and I've been told it's the most economical way to go. But I don't think you can try before you buy.

 

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Yes but it's best to know what you want because as you mentioned, you can't try before you buy at most gun shows... buying used at a gun show is also a pretty big gamble unless it's a local dealer with a booth, that you can go back to if your used gun has issues...

 

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Beretta 92/96 9mm/40 or springfield xd9/40


one of them is pending wifes approval lol

 

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ruger feels like a womens gun
they dont feel solid in the hand at all, like they are too narrow or something.

glocks arent bad

im kinda preferential to sig, myself.

S&W

ive heard springfield arms is rock solid quality, theyre quite affordable too


go to the store and find one that feels comfy in your dainty little, petite hand
then come ask about it


im paying 20 bucks for 50rnd bags of reloaded .40 for range ammo
i think 9mm is a bit cheaper

 

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Outposters should NEVER

Reproduce
Own fire arms
Be seen surfing when fat

 

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As a side note, for about a $500 investment in a used progressive reloading press some dies and a few odds and ends, your ammo prices can be cut WAY WAY down. I am presently reloading 45 ACP for about $17/100 rounds (used to be about $8.00/100 rounds), 40 S&W for about $15/100 rounds and if I reloaded 9mm, I could do it for probably $11/100 rounds. But I load FMJ bullets - need to switch back over to lead bullets I think because the prices per hundred goes from $17/16/11 to $12.50/11.50/8.50 per hundred rounds...

I went whole hog on my reloading setup and dropped $1500 on it back in 2003 (arguably I may have overspent ) but I got a quality setup capable of reloading 400-600 rounds per hour. You can buy the same used setup for around $500 now if you shop around.

At the rate I shoot (5,000 pistol rounds/year on average - well down from my days when I shot SASS all the time and was up around 10,000 rounds/year), I save about $1000/year in pistol ammo alone (to say nothing of the rifle ammo that I probably shoot about 500 rounds of non 22 ammo/year at about a 60% savings over retail prices saving me another probably $300/year). Anyway, I made my initial $1500 investment back in the first year of reloading lol. It takes me about 4 weekends each winter to reload all my pistol brass with about a total time investment of ~15 hours not including the time I spend with the cases in the tumbler getting polished - which is just "turn it on and forget it for 8 hours over night" time.

1000 primers costs me around $21
A pound of powder which will load from between 1000 to 1500 rounds of pistol ammo depending on caliber costs about $22
Bullets are the rough part... for full metal jacket bullets I pay about $130/120/85 per thousand for 45 ACP/40 S&W /9mm (hypothetically) for lead bullets the price is considerably less $85/75/60 per thousand.

The big investment is the brass - which will be sort of expensive to start with an initial investment of $150 to $180 per thousand depending on caliber, but you can reload that stuff quite a number of times - I've got 12 or 15 reloads into some of my brass. Of course you can just reload factory brass that you buy loaded too... anyway... yeah... sweeney, it sounds like you're paying through the nose for your ammo dude.

 

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