For the E-budo Pistoleros

[Soulend]

What sort of pistol, overall, do you find you shoot better with? I am a dyed in the wool double action revolver guy, though I don't do too badly with a single action auto like the Colt 1911.

Although I can qualify okay, I always find my double action auto (M9) scores disappointing. I would be quick to blame the long, crunchy pull of the trigger of the first shot followed by the snappy pull of subsequent shots, but even single action only my shooting doesn't hold a candle to when I use a .357 revolver. I even own and shoot a Taurus PT-92, but I don't do any better than with the Beretta, regardless of load used.

Note that for this poll, I mean out-of-the-box stock pieces.

[Karyu]

You forgot the option to vote "AK-47". I love my rifle.

[Gene Williams]

My carry weapon is a Colt DT 2, and I keep a Colt King Cobra .357 with 6 inch barrel in the truck. I have a couple of 1911A which I sometimes carry or put in the truck. In your typical street or home defense situation, if you need more than six or seven rounds, the situation is either being mismanaged or you are in a fire fight. In the military, you need the firepower of the high capacity semi-autos,although if you really need that kind of firepower you you ought to have brought your rifle...oh, and your rifle platoon,too:D

[Soulend]

Originally posted by Karyu
You forgot the option to vote "AK-47". I love my rifle.

Because a rifle is not a pistol..and this here thread be about pistols. :)

[Mekugi]

Browning Highpower, I have always been most accurate with that. The next up in the list for me is the 'ol .45.

[Juan Perez]

We (in the team room) were actually just talking about handguns used over beyond the pond recently. It seems that the Glock 21's did very well according to the fellas; they were actually issued the weapons for one particular deployment. Not having a manual safety, but knowing that there was a ready round in the chamber, seemed to work well with my guys. They liked it. On the other hand, I'm biased as a Glock is what remains less than three feet away as I sleep.

[CEB]

Double Action .357 mag. revolver. If I want to practice with the thing I can run specials through it and its not as expensive to shoot.

When I was in Army ROTC I shot on the rifle team the pistol guys would let me shoot with them. I wasn't that good but the .22 High standards automatics were fun to plink around with.

I'm no pistelero though. I'm a long arms guy. An old farm boy hunter type. I don't really have much use for the pistol. I don't keep it loaded.

One of my 12 gauge shotguns is more my idea for home defense. But I live in a nice neighborhood. I have to need to kill anybody. If there was a need to reach out and touch someone then probably my Remington 700 BDL 30.06 or I have a mauser action interarms Mark X in a .270 caliber. Both rifles have some nice optics.

Sorry this is a pistol thread have a good week.

[Soulend]

Ah, Mr. Boyd, we're not talking about killing anyone - just which pistol you find easiest (and most succesful) to shoot.

A 12 ga. is wonderful for home defense....depending on your tactics. If you choose to search the house or a part of the house (say if you hear someone coming in and your kids are between you and the noise), a shotgun is far more easily grabbed by the intruder and less manueverable in close quarters - even with a pistol grip. If one plans to hole up in your bedroom, etc....it's an awesome piece of artillery. In your sleepy, disoriented state, you don't need near the accuracy. Which is good, because on the off-chance you miss (much like the .357 with 125 grn SJHP), you will be rendered both blind and deaf after firing in a dark house.

I'm all about rifles too - I own many. I reckon that a pistol is if you don't expect trouble, if trouble is expected, what you need is a long arm. I grew up in the sticks as well. Rifles for home defense is asking for trouble if you have neighbors nearby, too (apartment dewellers, etc.).

Anyway, this thread's about what kind of handgun you prefer - not killing people, not home defense, not combat - as much as I enjoy all of those subjects.

[Soulend]

Captain Perez, have you ever fired a Glock with your wrist untensed? I realize that one's wrist should never be limp while firing, but who knows what could happen. I have heard of stoppages in this situation. Thank you sir.

[Joseph Svinth]

Government Model .45s. Commanders weigh less, but I don't like their balance nearly as well. They fit nicely into the kangaroo pocket on the Gore-Tex jacket, too. Not a quick-draw rig, to be sure, but still as close to comfortable concealed carry as one is likely to get with Ol' Slabsides.

[Catalase]

I'm a 1911 fan as well. Frankly it's not so much because I'm terriffic with it as that I'm a rifle person as well, so is my family, and I just plain haven't had the chance to shoot that many pistols and work out my preferences finely. :)

[Juan Perez]

Originally posted by Soulend
Captain Perez, have you ever fired a Glock with your wrist untensed? I realize that one's wrist should never be limp while firing, but who knows what could happen. I have heard of stoppages in this situation. Thank you sir.

Generally, I fire in a modified Weaver with a slightly tensed wrist. I have found that too tense a wrist makes it hard to re-acquire a target quickly for a rapid double tap. With the Glock, however, I have only experienced malfunctions due to cheap target ammo. Twice the slide has neglected to cycle.

PS - Have you ever attended either Blackwater, or Mid South Institute?

[sean_stonehart]

I prefer the flat slab of a 1911 or it's variants. It's thin line makes it great for carry & conceal. However I must admit I sold mine last year due to a financial bind. I kept the Sig Sauer P220 though... :D If it weren't so bulky, it'd match the 1911 as great carry piece. This one is a wee bit on the bulky side for slipping out the door with and not wearing a jacket of some kind.

[elder999]

I use a .45 auto as well. It's great for riding on the bike or hiking, and it's one of the few such easily carried pistols that has a chance of stopping a bear.
I also shoot single and double action revolvers, thought the single action shooting is confined to cowboy action shooting events, when I can find the time.

As for how good a shot I am, well, I'm equally bad with all of them on the range..:p

[David T Anderson]

I'm a rifle guy too...but I have an abiding fondness for .45 Auto revolvers. The S&W 1917 and 25-2 are gems that I love to shoot...and I shoot them better than anything else.

Except for a rifle....

[Brett Charvat]

I'm a pretty equally miserable shot with any pistol, but since I like to torture myself I use an HK P7 for my main IDPA tool. I can't claim good shooting with it, but I will say that it's the pistol that makes me feel the best about myself when I am shooting it well (which is roughly never). My best consistent shooting is undoubtedly with my L-frame Smith. Big surprise.


Brett Charvat

[Steve Delaney]

Browning Hi-Power 9mm. I liked it, eventhough the trigger pull was like bending a nail with your index finger. Tried DA auotmatics and I don't know why, but I prefer SA.

[TommyK]

Greetings,

As a civilian I find that a revolver can do the trick. (And, yes I do have a legally owned revolver, and possess a pistol license in the confines of the NYC.)

I am a strong fan of Smith & Wesson and I believe my model 586 .357 magnum is well up to the needs I may have. The fact that it also can send relatively inexpensive .38 special wadcutters through it for target practice also helps.

The best thing about it is if you clean it every few hundred rounds or so, you should never have a misfire. In addition, at 42 ounces unloaded, it can aid strength conditioning every time you take target practice (lol).

However, if I was in law enforcement, today, I can see the sense of using automatic pistols, which I do respect. On the whole, I do believe my revolver can do just about anything necessary I may require.


My 2 cents from NYC,
TommyK

[joe yang]

I like to shoot just about anything, given enough amunition to master the gun. My personal weapon is an H&K USP .45 compact, with night sights, last years Xmas present from the wife. I just got an old Ruger Police Service Six .357 for work, I'm waiting for a Big Dot front sight. I also have a little S&W .22 single action semi auto, just for training.

I don't favor any one stance and use a variety of drills involving movement, but lately I've favored a new two handed grip. I cock my support hand, fingers down, thumb to the target. It seems to eliminate a lot of lateral movement. And I've been working with deliberately staging the trigger, while the gun is in recoil. Let me add, I'm getting coached, and not making this up on my own. I'm really big on training.

[Sekko]

Love .45s. My daily carry gun is a Kimber Ultra CDP with 185gr GoldDots.
Later,
Ron :)

[ZTD]

Walther P99 chambered in .40 S&W as primary (http://www.carl-walther.de/englisch/defense/defense-36.html) , Springfield Ultra Compact V-10 as back up. (http://www.springfield-armory.com/prod-pstl-1911-uc.shtml)

[kruger]

Originally posted by Soulend
What sort of pistol, overall, do you find you shoot better with?

My apologies, but I should clarify a definition. A pistol is a handgun whose chamber is integral with the barrel. A revolver isn't a pistol and a pistol isn't a revolver. They both are handguns. It is a minor issue (like the difference between clips and magazines), but in the interests of accuracy I bring it up.

Anyway, here is my answer to your poll. If your interested only in accuracy, then a stock revolver has a better chance of being accurate than a stock pistols thanks to the fixed barrel and sights on the revolver. Fixed barreled pistols like the H&K P7 or the Makarov still have their sights on the moving slide and lose accuracy there. I am as accurate with my stock S&W 625-3 as I am with the most accurate of my stock pistols. My IPSC race gun is the most accurate pistol I own, but it is _far_ from stock.

I'm interested in more than just accuracy, I'm interested in speed as well as accuracy. So, my answer is a 1911 by a good manufacturer, because:

1) The relatively light trigger means that less strength is needed to fire the shot, which reduces the chances of pulling the shot as some other part of your hand tenses up. A lot of the DA/SA and DAO pistols have quite heavy trigger pulls in DA mode. While good shooters can shoot DA/SA and DAO accurately the odds of pulling a shot while shooting rapidly increase.

2) The short reset allows for fast following shots. The Hi-Power has a good, light trigger, but a longer reset. The Glock has a great reset, but a long initial pull. With the very best revolver shooters you can get a faster shot to shot time with a revolver than with a pistol since you don't have to wait for the action to cycle, but only a few people (e.g. Jerry Miculek) on the planet are that good. I'm not one of them, so my fastest shot to shot times are with a 1911.

3) The short bore axis to grip distance when using a thumb on safety grip reduces muzzle flip. Sig's suffer from this (Ernst Langdon aside. :)).

Of course, the nut behind the trigger is the most important part. I've lost count of the number of times I've shot someone's handgun that was "inaccurate" or had "misadjusted sights" and shot a nice tight group in the center of the target.

Mark Kruger

[koma]

When I was on the job, I carried everything from a SW stainless 357, Colt Python 357, SW 439 9MM to the SW 645 45 ACP as duty guns. I preferred the SW 645 and eventually carried it exclusivly.
Favorite back-ups were, Walther .380, Colt Detective, SW Airweight and the much too heavy and bulky but really unique, COP 357.
I liked the SW 645 so much that if I were to purchase a new handgun, Thats the one I'd want. Had only one stovepipe in the 5 years I carried it. That was due to department made reloads,issued for monthly practice.

[Soulend]

Originally posted by kruger
My apologies, but I should clarify a definition. A pistol is a handgun whose chamber is integral with the barrel. A revolver isn't a pistol and a pistol isn't a revolver. They both are handguns. It is a minor issue (like the difference between clips and magazines), but in the interests of accuracy I bring it up.


Quite right..I have a bad habit of referring to all sidearms as 'pistols'. Sorry 'bout that.