What gun?

[Deleted]

I didn't want to hijack Phoenix's gun thread so I'm starting a new one.  For a variety of reasons, DH and I let our concealed carry permits expire several years back.  And for another variety of reasons, we now feel the need to get new permits and carry.  We currently have S&W .38 revolvers which are a tad heavy/bulky for purse or pocket carry, plus they don't have a safety and the trigger pull is strong.  

We are currently considering three guns, the Sig P238, the M&P BodyGuard 380, and the Walther PK380.  They are all relatively small, light and have a moderate trigger pull.  I would love to hear from folks who have experience with the brands and maybe even these models.  The M&P is in the $400 range while the Sig and Walther are around $700 which is not an issue so much as ease of use and reliability.  We went with our revolvers because of problems we'd had with misfires with our automatics but time and technology have marched on so I think that's not the problem it once was.

TIA 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Is there a shooting range where you can rent these models to try out?  For a personal carry, you want to carry the gun that you are most accurate with.

Another place would be a defensive handgun class.  I know that my instructor probably has about 100 different guns to try out during classes.

[milee]

donethat,

You may find that you and your DH want different guns if you're different sizes, strengths and skill levels. Especially for women, the biggie is - can you rack it quickly and accurately 100% of the time? (I'm assuming you're not going to leave one in the chamber.)  Are you able to load the magazine yourself quickly as well?

Also, how accurate are you? Sometimes the guns that are easily concealable aren't as accurate because they have a shorter barrel.  Being able to easily conceal it is nice, but if you can't shoot tighter than a 4-6" grouping at 10 yards at the range, how the heck are you going to be able to actually defend yourself in a real-life stressful situation?  If you're really fearful and need these for self-defense, think about being accurate at greater than 7 yards, since under 21' is what many of the law enforcement guys consider to be close enough for someone to get to you before you can down them (takes less than 2 seconds to cover that distance.)

Definitely worth seeing if you can take these each to the range and try them out because you might like and be comfy with one and your DH like and be comfy with another.  Of all my DH's guns, I like his Walther PPQ best and have adopted that as the one I use at the range (he shoots competition and the PK models aren't large enough caliber for competition - must be at least 9 mm, so I haven't shot a PK.)  The Walther is nice, accurate, smooth and reliable.  But that's the PPQ, not sure if the PK has similar characteristics.

[constanz22]

I have a Taurus .38 revolver.  I really like it a lot.  The only guns I had shot before buying the revolver were a .22 semiautomatic and a 9mm.  I had problems with both of them jamming and when I went to buy a gun for myself, as a relative novice, I just thought the revolver seemed "easier" all around.  I attended the NRA basic pistol safety class last weekend.  I shot a 380 there, which was on my "possible" list when I bought my revolver.  I hated it.  Very glad I didn't choose it.  They also had a Ruger SR22.  That was pretty nice.  I may look into that for my next gun.  I have my carry permit but mine is more for home protection.  I don't really carry it when out, mainly because the state I live in and have the permit in and that state, the People's Republic of NY, does not recognize or honor my PA permit.

[Deleted]

May 5, 2014 17:56:39 GMT -5 @donethat said:

I didn't want to hijack Phoenix's gun thread so I'm starting a new one.  For a variety of reasons, DH and I let our concealed carry permits expire several years back.  And for another variety of reasons, we now feel the need to get new permits and carry.  We currently have S&W .38 revolvers which are a tad heavy/bulky for purse or pocket carry, plus they don't have a safety and the trigger pull is strong.  

We are currently considering three guns, the Sig P238, the M&P BodyGuard 380, and the Walther PK380.  They are all relatively small, light and have a moderate trigger pull.  I would love to hear from folks who have experience with the brands and maybe even these models.  The M&P is in the $400 range while the Sig and Walther are around $700 which is not an issue so much as ease of use and reliability.  We went with our revolvers because of problems we'd had with misfires with our automatics but time and technology have marched on so I think that's not the problem it once was.

TIA 

The DW and I are both carrying Smith/Wesson model 60 air weights. These are small, light, 5 shot .38 cal revolvers. In emergency self defense, a revolver can clear a bad round by simply pulling the trigger again. Now a days, automatic misfires are mostly ammo related and do happen. We do own many semi-auto handguns and shoot them often.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Now a days, automatic misfires are mostly ammo related and do happen.

Yep. I was in one of my shooting classes and was shooting my Kimber and it jammed. It was the end of the day, so the instructor handed me his personal carry, his Dan Wesson so I started shooting that and it jammed too. So we just hung it up for the day and went home.

When we got home, we found a squib on the barrel so TD emailed the instructor to check his gun and that one had a squib in the barrel too. We had just opened up a new box of ammunition and had gotten at least 2 bad rounds. Whole box went back to the manufacturer, and that was the only time it's happened.

[milee]

May 9, 2014 15:52:26 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Now a days, automatic misfires are mostly ammo related and do happen.

Yep. I was in one of my shooting classes and was shooting my Kimber and it jammed. It was the end of the day, so the instructor handed me his personal carry, his Dan Wesson so I started shooting that and it jammed too. So we just hung it up for the day and went home.

When we got home, we found a squib on the barrel so TD emailed the instructor to check his gun and that one had a squib in the barrel too. We had just opened up a new box of ammunition and had gotten at least 2 bad rounds. Whole box went back to the manufacturer, and that was the only time it's happened.

DH says that's one of the reason he loads his own - quality control. No idea if that's just him justifying something he enjoys doing or not, because he really likes the process of loading. It's been interesting for him and my oldest son - who's also into PSA competition - to experiment with different ratios and ingredient sources. I guess if you're a nerd, there will always be ways to get geeky with stuff you love.

[Phoenix84]

Interesting.  I didn't realize revolvers were still popular guns.  I thought they were considered outdated.

[milee]

Except for 22s. He doesn't do those.  Don't really remember the technical explanation, but it had something to do with rim fire vs. center fire; in my defense, his explanation was about 27 minutes long and after about minute two I was barely clinging to consciousness, so may have been going in and out.

The 22s are sometimes an issue because I like to use those for rifle practice.  The quality of what's available - and sometimes there's nothing available - is highly variable and can really screw up the distance stuff.  He's started to do some internet notice feature (again, long explanation and I can't help it if I can't stay conscious for all of it) that pings him when ammo is available so he can try to get the stuff he likes and that works well in our guns.

[milee]

May 9, 2014 16:37:31 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

Interesting.  I didn't realize revolvers were still popular guns.  I thought they were considered outdated.

Until they can make a semi-automatic that never jams and is easy for anybody to slide the action on, there will be people who want revolvers.

Around here, older people who may not be strong enough to easily load bullets into the magazine or who can't rack the slide buy revolvers.  In the handgun course I took, there was a very sweet older couple that seemed very scared they might be the victims of crime so needed a gun. Neither could load any of the sample semi-auto magazines or rack the slides and they had poor eyesight. No idea if they really lived in a rough area, but it seems to me that they were much more likely to accidentally shoot themselves or each other or have a bad guy take their gun away from them. They got a big revolver. God help their neighbors.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

May 9, 2014 16:33:49 GMT -5 milee said:

May 9, 2014 15:52:26 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Now a days, automatic misfires are mostly ammo related and do happen.

Yep. I was in one of my shooting classes and was shooting my Kimber and it jammed. It was the end of the day, so the instructor handed me his personal carry, his Dan Wesson so I started shooting that and it jammed too. So we just hung it up for the day and went home.

When we got home, we found a squib on the barrel so TD emailed the instructor to check his gun and that one had a squib in the barrel too. We had just opened up a new box of ammunition and had gotten at least 2 bad rounds. Whole box went back to the manufacturer, and that was the only time it's happened.

DH says that's one of the reason he loads his own - quality control. No idea if that's just him justifying something he enjoys doing or not, because he really likes the process of loading. It's been interesting for him and my oldest son - who's also into PSA competition - to experiment with different ratios and ingredient sources. I guess if you're a nerd, there will always be ways to get geeky with stuff you love.

Fortunately, our experience seems to be a one off thing.  It was in a box of 1000 rounds of 45 ACP, and the first time the instructor (who buys his from this place as well) had ever seen a problem.  We still buy from them, no problem since then.  

[ktunes]

We are currently considering three guns, the Sig P238, the M&P BodyGuard 380, and the Walther PK380. They are all relatively small, light and have a moderate trigger pull. I would love to hear from folks who have experience with the brands and maybe even these models. The M&P is in the $400 range while the Sig and Walther are around $700 which is not an issue

you won't go wrong with any of those choices so try to find a range that has those models for rent so you can compare and see which one you shoot the best and are most comfortable with...while i don't have any experience with the .380 caliber, i did have the walther ppq, great shooting gun...and own a couple sig's 9 and 45...since price is not a concern i would lean toward the sig or walther...with the sig, you'll get a stainless frame, it'll weigh a little more but you'll be getting a quality gun...

if you go that route look at the hd or equinox models...

[truthbound]

No one can answer this. You have to go to the range and test each one out.

[aliciar6]

my mom and I both got the Sig P238 for our carry gun.  we love it.  DH has a Kahr P380

we found my Sig (it had to be the tribal design) online for around $500.  shop around and you can find them at way better prices and then pay a typically $20 FFL fee to have it shipped to a gun dealer near you.  

[Deleted]

DH visited our favorite indoor range and they do have a nice selection for rental which makes a lot of sense because pretty is as pretty does and I want to actually feel how the slide and trigger respond and what it feels like in my purse.  

The comments on hand strength are really true; the issue of racking the slide was actually part of the reason we switched to the revolver, along with the misfire issue.  

I absolutely hate the fact that I need to carry but hating it won't make the need go away-that's just the cost of living in our city which I really love.  At least I'm eligible for the senior rate on the carry permit.  But now they've done away with the old-fashioned inkpad type fingerprints so you have to make an appointment and pay a fee to have your fingerprints digitally captured and transmitted.  

My next issue will be how to secure the weapon(s) when we must leave them in the car because concealed carry is prohibited in an establishment we are visiting, especially if we are valet parking.  I've heard there are built-in, hidden, code- or fingerprint-operated gun safes that can be mounted in a vehicle but that sounds very pricey, especially when you change vehicles frequently (shhhhhh, don't tell anyone on YM we do that!) 

[moneymaven]

My carry is a Springfield XDM 9mm. I have a magnet next to my right leg in the car and carry in my purse or on my person if I need to valet but I seldom in places where that's my only option.