Need handgun advice - 9mm or .357

[tokamak]

p228 is my favorite counterstrike weapon. stay away from the glock, that thing sucks - you gotta pray for a headshot

 

[Graphicd00d]

I recommend this. This is going to be the next one I get.

If you don't like that one, here is a selection.

CZ's are very reliable and the best bang for your buck. (No pun intended)

 

[Mr N8]

Originally posted by: Graphicd00d
I recommend this. This is going to be the next one I get.

If you don't like that one, here is a selection.

CZ's are very reliable and the best bang for your buck. (No pun intended)

Have to check those out later. "Forbidden by rating check"

 

[MooseKnuckle]

I agree with Don_Vito, 9mm ammo is cheap at Wal-Mart, I just picked up 3 boxes for the month. As for a gun, I love my Kahr MK9, but there are many good choices. You might consider the Springfield Armory XD-9, it's under $400.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Yeah Don Vito said.

A .357sig is just a necked down 9mm. Hot 9mm +P+ ammo is the same effectiveness. Nothing wrong with the .357sig, I have a Glock 32 in it and it's nice. Just no real reason to get it over a 9mm, which is MUCH cheaper to shoot.

I'll give another nod to the Springfield XD. Nice pistols and a great price.

 

[datalink7]

Desert Eagle .50

 

Originally posted by: ndee
Get an AWP or AK-47.

if you want the rounds to travel through the person and hit whatever is behind him, then sure. =)

9mm is decent, but I would go at least .40 for stopping power. 9mm is too small and in my opinion, less accurate than a .45 cal weapon. As stated before, glock or sig sauer would be your best bet.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Get the sig, it has good ballistics & better knock down power than a 9mm.

The 9mm is highly over-rated.

I have a conversion bbl in my Glock 22C for the 357 sig & I love it.

As far as the recoil BS, with a little training an 80 year old grandmother can shoot a .44 magnum fairly accurately.

 

[gururu]

My hands are somewhat small and I found a .357 pistol to be a little too wild for me. .45 and 9mm compact models were far more comfortable and accurate. I enjoyed the power of the .45 more than the 9mm, which seemed a little lightweight; the difference in the recoils also didn't lend for a proportional difference in accuracies. The .45 kicked more, but still very accurate compared to the 9. after awhile the 9 felt like a 22. Especially after trying out a 44. The .357 was nice, but the model I used had a long barrel and I had trouble keeping a straight shot. Thats what I meant by wild.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

No offense meant to anyone here, but I sincerely doubt the inherent accuracy advantage of the .45 over the 9mm is anything that would ever matter to anyone on this board. The .45 IS a more accurate round, but the 9mm is far, far more accurate than all but the best shooters, and its reduced recoil makes it a lot easier to make accurate follow-up shots. As I said above, I really like .45 ACP, but not because of its theoretical advantage in accuracy. To me, the .357 Sig is neither fish nor fowl, and does not justify its much higher ammo cost and shortfall in ammo availability. Honestly, I don't see that any of the new-school autopistol calibers (.40 S&W, .357 Sig, 10mm) have sufficient advantages to justify abandoning the tried-and-true 9mm and .45 ACP, with the tiny exception that "full house" 10mm rounds are better for hunting good-sized game than any other autopistol round (though they are awfully abusive to the pistol and shooter).

 

[MooseKnuckle]

If you want knockdown power, which BTW I think is overrated; buy a Kimber .45ACP. It's very tight and accurate. Personally, I'd focus more on placement than knockdown power. A few well placed 9mm rounds will certainly make a perp stop in their tracks... Just my 2 cents.

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: MogulMonster

Originally posted by: Graphicd00d
I recommend this. This is going to be the next one I get.

If you don't like that one, here is a selection.

CZ's are very reliable and the best bang for your buck. (No pun intended)

Have to check those out later. "Forbidden by rating check"

hehe your boss will now be keeping an extra special eye on the "gun guy" who works for him

 

[deerslayer]

Get both

Edit: BTW, do you have any tips/pointers on finding a female that hunts? If you do that would be great if you could share them with me

 

[edro]

Just get a Beretta 92fs, Sig P226, or Smith and Wesson 5906..... They all come in 9mm, and the are all really good pistols. I would definately get 9mm, they are cheap and accuarate.

 

[BuckNaked]

I agree in large part with Don_Vito..... For a defensive handgun, the .45 ACP has few peers.... But I do disagree on this...

Honestly, I don't see that any of the new-school autopistol calibers (.40 S&W, .357 Sig, 10mm) have sufficient advantages to justify abandoning the tried-and-true 9mm and .45 ACP, with the tiny exception that "full house" 10mm rounds are better for hunting good-sized game than any other autopistol round (though they are awfully abusive to the pistol and shooter).

I think the .40 S&W is superior to the 9MM, and would make every effort to go with the .40 over the 9MM.... The 9MM does have its advantages, but when the handguns primary role is as a defensive weapon, I'd go with the bigger and heavier round every time...

As far as handgun models go, I recommend Glocks.... I have several 1911 based handguns and really like them as a defensive handgun, but few guns are as reliable and ready to use as a defensive handgun, out of the box, as a Glock.... Get the model of your choice with night sites, a few extra mags, a surefire flashlight and take a defensive handgun class, and then practice practice practice....

Dave

After re=reading the original post, I see that you are looking more for a shooter.... I would go with the 9MM... Cheaper ammo cost and you can find 9MM just about anywhere..... Check out the Glock model 34, the 'practical tactical.....' Nice handgun.....

 

[DainBramaged]

Originally posted by: LordRaiden
Dude, get a 357. 9mm doesn't have the stopping power. Heck, actually, get a 44mag. Now those suckers will stop just about anything!

Once again, you failed to read the actual post that this was about.

 

[cavemanmoron]

.45 model 1911

 

[FrustratedUser]

Who needs stopping power for target shooting?

 

[edro]

Originally posted by: LordRaiden
Dude, get a 357. 9mm doesn't have the stopping power. Heck, actually, get a 44mag. Now those suckers will stop just about anything!

I am sick of these guys that keep saying "A .45 is better because it is much bigger and has more stopping power than a 9mm pea shooter."

You obviously have never fired a pistol in your life. A .45 does carry more punch, and more momentum, but you are sacrificing half your magazine for the extra power(typical .45 or .357 is 8 rounds, typical 9mm is 15). Do you really think a 9mm won't stop a man? A 9mm anywhere to the torso would drop you like a sack of potatoes.

Truthfully, no matter what caliber you choose, you won't notice a bit of difference in paper shooting or personal defense. If you are going to be target shooting, you will tire out sooner, reload more, and waste more money on ammo if you go with the .45. They again, .45s are just fun to shoot. Just buy one of each. They are a good investment. Buy a good used one from a gun show. Handguns keep their resale value better than gold.

 

[Yossarian]

where are you gonna get a 15 rd magazine legally nowadays?

 

[Mookow]

Originally posted by: edro13

Originally posted by: LordRaiden
Dude, get a 357. 9mm doesn't have the stopping power. Heck, actually, get a 44mag. Now those suckers will stop just about anything!

I am sick of these guys that keep saying "A .45 is better because it is much bigger and has more stopping power than a 9mm pea shooter."

You obviously have never fired a pistol in your life. A .45 does carry more punch, and more momentum, but you are sacrificing half your magazine for the extra power(typical .45 or .357 is 8 rounds, typical 9mm is 15). Do you really think a 9mm won't stop a man? A 9mm anywhere to the torso would drop you like a sack of potatoes.

Truthfully, no matter what caliber you choose, you won't notice a bit of difference in paper shooting or personal defense. If you are going to be target shooting, you will tire out sooner, reload more, and waste more money on ammo if you go with the .45. They again, .45s are just fun to shoot. Just buy one of each. They are a good investment. Buy a good used one from a gun show. Handguns keep their resale value better than gold.

Many of the newer 45 designs give you 13 round mags (if you can find them, *wink wink*). I'll trade two rounds for that sort of difference in terminal ballistics per round. As to the poster who questioned the availablility of "hi-cap" mags, unless Congress renews the AWB, or renews the provisions therein regarding magazine capacity, the national ban on hicaps runs out sometime in 2004.

Oh, I do have some problems with the statement in bold. While a hot 9mm with a good bullet will do a lot of damage to its target, a low torso shot with it will not make you drop like a sack of potatos. It might eventually kill you, but it wont instantly incapacitate you. IIRC, the mid 1980's shotout that resulted in the FBI moving away from the 9mm involved one perp catching a couple 9mm's to the chest and continuing on his way. I could be mistaken anout that, but one thing it did prove is the the 9x19mm is not the best round to have in your pistol in a firefight. Now, the 9x23mm aint bad, but the 9x19mm is destinctly "ehh".

Edit: clarified that the lapse of the hi-cap ban will be only on the federal law, if you like in the People's Republic of California, you will continue to have 2 round magazines mandated by the Politiburo... I mean, by the State... I mean, by the state legislature

 

[isekii]

how about a Para Ordanance ?

 

[Bleep]

If you want knockdown power, which BTW I think is overrated; buy a Kimber .45ACP.

Where in the heck can you buy a Kimber for $500.00 Just the frame goes for more than that and they are overated in my opinion.

I have a lot of handguns and my favorite is my 9mm Ruger, 15 round clips are all over the place and they are not illigal to own, our local gunshop sells them for 15 bucks for the Ruger.
If you are going to target shoot you will need to reload or the price of retail ammo will eat you up in short order, not only that you do not need or want to shoot +P or any high powered rounds just to knock down plates or bowling pins.

357 revolvers are a good choise because you can shoot 38 special rounds that are cheap especially if you buy reloaded ammo.
I dont know what kind of gun club you have there where you are but ours will have anywhere from 10 to 15 shooters every evening during nice weather and everyone lets everyone else shoot their guns if they want even providing the ammo.
Colt 45 cal simiautos are not a good choice because of the angle of the grip and take a lot of practice to be able to shoot one decently. As far as stopping power the 9mm will stop any man in his tracks, hit a person in the upper arm with one of these and his bone will generally be shattered and pretty disabeling believe me.
I think there is a lot of BSers on here that just blow off and have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to handguns.
I might also add that I am the Range officet in a club of over 200 members and speak with some knowledge.
Bleep

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: Mookow


Oh, I do have some problems with the statement in bold. While a hot 9mm with a good bullet will do a lot of damage to its target, a low torso shot with it will not make you drop like a sack of potatos. It might eventually kill you, but it wont instantly incapacitate you. IIRC, the mid 1980's shotout that resulted in the FBI moving away from the 9mm involved one perp catching a couple 9mm's to the chest and continuing on his way. I could be mistaken anout that, but one thing it did prove is the the 9x19mm is not the best round to have in your pistol in a firefight. Now, the 9x23mm aint bad, but the 9x19mm is destinctly "ehh".

True, true. I think you are thinking of a Miami shootout in 1986 - one of the perps was shot something like 8 times with 9mm and did not go down, hence the FBI's move to 10mm as their standard issue round. Actually, I seem to recall that the Army was motivated to move from .38 Special (ballistically similar to 9mm auto) to .45 ACP around the turn of the century by virtue of the fact that the .38 was not exhibiting sufficient knockdown power in combat - this was why the 1911 was required to be in .45. 9mm can be a highly effective caliber with JHP bullets, but per the modern interpretations of the Geneva and Hague conventions, combat troops are required to use only FMJ ammo.

 

[HEMIFREAK]

Originally posted by: Graphicd00d
I recommend this. This is going to be the next one I get.

If you don't like that one, here is a selection.

CZ's are very reliable and the best bang for your buck. (No pun intended)

be aware that the prices quoted here are wholesale prices for FFL holders only.there has been alot of pistols "thrown around" in this thread. I recently went shopping for a DA auto for my G/F. She is armed security for traffic court near our hometown.until this, she was carrying a Ruger GP-100 but the job is now requiring a DA auto.now the ruger was fine for her w/.38 specials, but the full load .357 might have been a little too much for her hands and wrist.I looked at a
LOT of autos (both new and used) 90 percent were out of the budget "$500" except fot the Ruger autos.I tried to talk her into the .40 or the .45, but she had shot my Barretta .40 and didnt like the feel in her hands or the kick, so she chose the Ruger KP95.if your budget is $500 AND you wife is going to shoot it, this is what I suggest


P.S. Ruger is offering a $40 mail-in rebate currently on this model