Another question...this time to pistol owners

[Apache Warrior]

Any closer to a decision, Mapes? Or maybe you have to do community service time in Cali before buying the gun, huh?

He probably has to have one with a built in GPS sending unit.
Apache

[Skud]

He probably has to have one with a built in GPS sending unit.
Apache

Lol. Maybe a carbon filter for emissions control.

[mapes]

Shudda up all ye all Still working it with the wife.

[Apache Warrior]

Take her pistol shooting and get her hooked.
That's what I did with my wife years ago.
Apache

[rusty99]

Just a few thoughts -

9mm is a fairly fast round, but full metal jacketed (FMJ) rounds have knockdown issues. The temporary and permanent wound cavities are rather small, which means that it can take time for a target to bleed out. Hollowpoint rounds are much more effective. .45 is an old, slow round that has lots of kinetic energy, and leaves large wound cavities of both types. The only problem, imho, is that the large rounds mean smaller magazine capacity.


I really like .40; you get almost as much capacity as 9mm, and a lot of the stopping power of .45, especially if you use hollowpoint ammo. Plus, at least here in Texas, I can usually find .40 at Walmart, whereas 9mm and .45 are usually out of stock.

357 Sig is an interesting beast; It's a necked down .40, so it has a lot of the powder propelling a smaller round. Texas DPS Troopers all carry it now. I've heard of at least one instance local cop was firing on a semi truck, and the .45 round were not penetrating into the cab. Another officer arrived with a .357 Sig, put a few rounds into the door, and the bad guy surrendered a few moments later with a few new holes in him. Some people say that there are no overpenetration issues, however, you have to remember that you are responsible for ever round that you fire... potential backstops that would stop other pistol rounds won't stop 357 Sig.

Which leads to 5.7x28 (if you've seen SG-1, you've seen them carry P90's). The rounds also can fire out of a pistol, the FN Five Seven at over 2000 FPS - which means that the rounds have serious issues with penetration. Great for military, not so good for civilian/police use.

[Skud]

Just a few thoughts -

9mm is a fairly fast round, but full metal jacketed (FMJ) rounds have knockdown issues. The temporary and permanent wound cavities are rather small, which means that it can take time for a target to bleed out. Hollowpoint rounds are much more effective. .45 is an old, slow round that has lots of kinetic energy, and leaves large wound cavities of both types. The only problem, imho, is that the large rounds mean smaller magazine capacity.


I really like .40; you get almost as much capacity as 9mm, and a lot of the stopping power of .45, especially if you use hollowpoint ammo. Plus, at least here in Texas, I can usually find .40 at Walmart, whereas 9mm and .45 are usually out of stock.

357 Sig is an interesting beast; It's a necked down .40, so it has a lot of the powder propelling a smaller round. Texas DPS Troopers all carry it now. I've heard of at least one instance local cop was firing on a semi truck, and the .45 round were not penetrating into the cab. Another officer arrived with a .357 Sig, put a few rounds into the door, and the bad guy surrendered a few moments later with a few new holes in him. Some people say that there are no overpenetration issues, however, you have to remember that you are responsible for ever round that you fire... potential backstops that would stop other pistol rounds won't stop 357 Sig.

Which leads to 5.7x28 (if you've seen SG-1, you've seen them carry P90's). The rounds also can fire out of a pistol, the FN Five Seven at over 2000 FPS - which means that the rounds have serious issues with penetration. Great for military, not so good for civilian/police use.

Yeah, I was intrigued by the FN Five Seven. They say from it the 5.7 round can pierce a kevlar helmet. I have a few FN products (SPR, SLP Mark I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9mAEedYoGA (lol, just threw in this vid I found) and they are great quality...I'm not too sure about the feel of their pistols though, so I stuck with my Sig. Still the velocity and mag capacity of the 5.7 are intriguing...maybe some day...except ammo costs are keeping me content with the toys I have.

[mapes]

Well here is where I'm at. The wife doesn't want a pistol in the house. She's ok with long guns. (which is good cause I want a semi too). So with that in mind I have the green light to buy whatever I want I just have to store it at my friends house 15 minutes away. This is someone I trust completely and they have a safe. Which I can access whenever I want. so with that in mind. I'm thinking of a USP in .40 S&W

[Skud]

Well here is where I'm at. The wife doesn't want a pistol in the house. She's ok with long guns. (which is good cause I want a semi too). So with that in mind I have the green light to buy whatever I want I just have to store it at my friends house 15 minutes away. This is someone I trust completely and they have a safe. Which I can access whenever I want. so with that in mind. I'm thinking of a USP in .40 S&W

Sounds good, man. The USP is a very nice gun.

[{CLR}geneSW]

Gotta ask, why not just get a gun safe... Then she can't complain...

1.) People are afraid of guns because they don't understand them, not because they can be a lethal weapon.

2.) What's the point in having any firearm if you cannot use it for home defense. Sure, you may only get one real shot with a bolt action riffle... but at close range that may be all you need and it will still be better then having no weapon at all...

Just my

[Skud]

Gotta ask, why not just get a gun safe... Then she can't complain...

1.) People are afraid of guns because they don't understand them, not because they can be a lethal weapon.

2.) What's the point in having any firearm if you cannot use it for home defense. Sure, you may only get one real shot with a bolt action riffle... but at close range that may be all you need and it will still be better then having no weapon at all...

Just my

Good points, Gene. It's funny how pistols get so much attention when they have the least stopping power and accuracy of the lot. I saw a survey once where about 8% of the folks used rifles for home defense, most likely because the shot would go through their walls and maybe the walls of the next couple neighbors, lol. And a 12 gauge flat out would do the most damage in close quarters. Yet the little pistol gets most of the negative attention. As you said, the people most afraid of guns have never been introduced to them...besides through movies and whatnot.

Anyway, it's good that you can maybe make out a deal to keep the gun at your friends, Mapes. And I guess for home defense it wouldn't have been too handy if it were locked in a safe at your place, anyway. Send a pic if you get it, man.

[Apache Warrior]

Gene is right on the money.
Apache

[mapes]

So a little back story. My wife had a bad experience with one of her mothers BF's and a pistol when she was younger.... So she's fine with long arms but for some reason sidearms get her goat. As for the home defense well... I'm not that worried about home invasion. Also I know it's not as good as a firearm but, I sleep three feet away from a rack of truly medieval weapons and I'm a light sleeper. Mostly I want to learn to become proficient with a sidearm. In case you know....ZOMBIES. Also maybe do some reloading . I have a progressive press and it seems a waste to only be churning out 308 for my Rem 700

[mapes]

For all you that were curious I ended up getting a HK USP in .40. I gotta go to the shop and fill out paperwork to start my 10 day wait...

[Skud]

For all you that were curious I ended up getting a HK USP in .40. I gotta go to the shop and fill out paperwork to start my 10 day wait...

Very Cool! I bet those ten days will just fly by!!!

[mapes]

I finally got it. I also convicne my wife to let me store it here at the house. Now next week I get to go shoot it.