Handgun you trust your life with?
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Zendude
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My Charter Arms 38 Undercover and Charter 32 H&R mag Undercoverette
softailron
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- May 28, 2015
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My ccw rotation are Beretta PX4 Storm compact in .40, CZ 75 D PCR, and Springfield XDs 9, all AIWB, with the occasional LCP ink the pocket. Extra mag in horizontal mag carrier on belt at 11 o'clock
softailron
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- May 28, 2015
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Continued....I think we all agree that we conceal carry only what we're comfortable and (hopefully) proficient with. Otherwise, what's the point?
softailron
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- May 28, 2015
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blarby
Member
Colt Trooper II, .357
SC Shooter
Member
When I carry a weapon for personal defense, I do so to protect myself and family from possible threats. I can't imagine carrying a weapon I couldn't trust. I have carried a S&W model 36 to a Sig P938 and carry a makarov in my truck console. I don't own a gun I cannot trust, including my range guns
Twiki357
Member
I trust all 32 of my S&W revolvers except one and that’s only because it’s over 100 years old and was somewhat abused before I rescued it. But there’s only six that I will carry. The others are to heavy and pull my pants down.
gamestalker
member
Well if it's make and model, I carry my 66-5 about 95% of the time, the other 4% would be the 66-2, with 1% accounting for those rare times when I carry an AL-ing pistol. Those two snubs will shoot a ragged hole at 25 yards off of a rest, and off hand I can put them all in a 2" group if I'm wearing my glasses. But at 15 yds. I can get that ragged hole with or without prescription glasses on, and I consider 15 yards to be about the maximum distance I can imagine a self defense situation becoming. Sure it could happen, but IME, most encounters have been much closer than that, so I keep them sighted in for those practical distances.
GS
GS
guyfromohio
Member
My PPS choked at the range last week. It's no longer mine. Too bad because it carried and shot extremely well.
wanderinwalker
Member
Was it one malfunction once? I have a difficult time following this kind of logic. Guns malfunction, the best one can do is learn how to resolve it quickly and get back in action. To me trading a pistol that had one failure to feed is akin to trading a car because the battery died.
And having said that, any of the center fire pistols in my cabinet are more than acceptable to be my go-to. Any one of them will work as intended if needed.
X3
I'm pretty sure my collection of guns would be reduced to nill, if I lived by that mantra.
They all will have an eventual malfunction regardless of the name on the slide. If it has not happened your either making excuses for failures or haven't shot it enough.
Hammer059
Member
On a daily basis, my 642 which I pocket carry whenever I'm not at home. When I'm home, I usually still have my 642 in my pocket. When I'm in my room and don't have a 642 in my pocket, my firearm of choice would most likely be my 686+
guyfromohio
Member
If I had a Hi-Power that wasn't reliable, or a 1911 that constantly failed or a Luger, that would be different. Those are collectible in my opinion. Fun to shoot at the range, look pretty in the safe, pass down to kids. A Walther PPS is ugly as sin, dropped in value by 25% since July, and has one job....shoot when I need it to shoot. Can I clear a jam? Yep. Can I rack the slide when it fails to pick up a round? Yep. But why would I waste the time or energy on a $375 gun?
My PPS failed to strip a round out of a magazine about two weeks ago. I marked the magazine and continued shooting. On another magazine, it failed to go fully into battery. Pushed the slide forward and continued. Was actually shooting fantastic groups at 25 internet yards
. Brought it home, cleaned it well and carried it. Took it out last week and again, it failed to strip a round out of the other magazine. Magazine was seated appropriately. Took it home, cleaned it, and traded it (full disclosure) to someone who thought as some of you do. I now carry my P30SK which shoots great and carries ok. I guess I see no reason to take that gamble on an inexpensive gun with no other purpose.
I will likely get another as I'm very impressed with the accuracy, handling, and concealability of the little Walther. I've had three of these and this is the only one to act up.
My PPS failed to strip a round out of a magazine about two weeks ago. I marked the magazine and continued shooting. On another magazine, it failed to go fully into battery. Pushed the slide forward and continued. Was actually shooting fantastic groups at 25 internet yards
. Brought it home, cleaned it well and carried it. Took it out last week and again, it failed to strip a round out of the other magazine. Magazine was seated appropriately. Took it home, cleaned it, and traded it (full disclosure) to someone who thought as some of you do. I now carry my P30SK which shoots great and carries ok. I guess I see no reason to take that gamble on an inexpensive gun with no other purpose.I will likely get another as I'm very impressed with the accuracy, handling, and concealability of the little Walther. I've had three of these and this is the only one to act up.
herrwalther
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- May 1, 2013
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I keep the ones I trust. I am against the grain when I say I have never fired a reliable Glock. So I don't own any.
OP
OP
ACP
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- Dec 29, 2002
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- 1,334
Thank you for your thoughtful replies, gentlemen.
Herr Walther, I am with you, in that I have owned four Glocks and not one of them was 100% reliable. I wanted to like them, I think they are a wonderful design and pistol. Not for me.
My BHP is 100% reliable, though I need more practice with it.
My S&W revolvers are stone flawless.
I'm hoping to put my used TRP through the wringer once I get the EGW bushing fitted and the Trijicon lamps replaced.
Herr Walther, I am with you, in that I have owned four Glocks and not one of them was 100% reliable. I wanted to like them, I think they are a wonderful design and pistol. Not for me.
My BHP is 100% reliable, though I need more practice with it.
My S&W revolvers are stone flawless.
I'm hoping to put my used TRP through the wringer once I get the EGW bushing fitted and the Trijicon lamps replaced.
hemiram
Member
Any gun I can't trust is gone, ASAP. Right now, I don't have any handgun that I'm looking to get rid of, they all work great.
In the past, I've had a lot of semiautos that had issues like:
Limpwristing. Off they went. I gave up on trying to fix them a log time ago.
Mag issues. Usually another mag or spring replacement fixes it.
Mystery guns: No obvious problems, but they just don't work. Last one was my Taurus 809. My second, and last Taurus gun. I don't need a third one to learn my lesson. A friend is fiddling with it now, and he's got it almost trustworthy.
All the revolvers I have owned over the last 38 years have been perfect out of the box, or after their previous owner's "improvements" were removed. The primary cause of the problems was a shortened main spring. I have to admit, I was shocked at how many Dan Wesson 15-2s have had this done to them.
In the past, I've had a lot of semiautos that had issues like:
Limpwristing. Off they went. I gave up on trying to fix them a log time ago.
Mag issues. Usually another mag or spring replacement fixes it.
Mystery guns: No obvious problems, but they just don't work. Last one was my Taurus 809. My second, and last Taurus gun. I don't need a third one to learn my lesson. A friend is fiddling with it now, and he's got it almost trustworthy.
All the revolvers I have owned over the last 38 years have been perfect out of the box, or after their previous owner's "improvements" were removed. The primary cause of the problems was a shortened main spring. I have to admit, I was shocked at how many Dan Wesson 15-2s have had this done to them.
I don't think you will get many people stating they currently carry an unreliable handgun. Anyone who does should probably remedy that situation. As noted above reliability is the first and foremost consideration for a defensive gun. I don't care if it has surgical precision and is a death ray if I'm not sure its going to work when I pull the trigger.
I value the following in order for a defensive gun:
Reliability: Nothing else matters if it doesn't go bang when it needs to.
Shootability: Meaning how well can I shoot it and manipulate it. The gun can go bang but if I cannot effectively put it into action then not much else matters. The way I determine shootability is to compare and contrast guns using various shooting and manipulation drills quantified in terms of speed and accuracy measured with targets and shot timer. An easy example is an El presidente with a heavy time penalty for any errant shots. I consider being able to effectively draw the gun (also has to do with the method of carry but using the same holster its easier for me to draw a G19 than a G26 w/o an extension for example), shoot the gun, reload the gun (I love my Steyr M9 but it has a very small mag well and simply is a bit more difficult to reload than certain other guns, not that it is a deal breaker but its good to know), and do malfunction drills. This is were so many "great" little carry guns start looking not so great.
Carryability: The gun needs to be one I can reasonably carry and conceal in the attire I wear. Now I believe this typically comes down more to one's holster and method of carry than to the gun. In the same clothing I can get a G26 to print so badly its not even funny and a G17 to disappear and carry comfortably. The difference is the combination of carry position, holster and belt. I routinely carry a duty size gun in shorts and a not particularly baggy T-shirt. Like real estate carrying a gun is about location, location, location. Now there are times when a deep concealment gun makes more sense and that is why I own smaller guns too.
To me the ideal carry gun accounts for all of these. Number 3 is typically at tension with numbers 1 and 2. Really small guns are simply more difficult to use and in very general terms less reliable than full size guns.
Now even formerly reliable guns or designs that are generally reliable can have a problem at the most inopportune time. The are mechanical devices and stuff happens. Ironically enough I have had both a S&W J-frame and a Ruger SP101 that were working fine give me problems. Happily it happened at the range, and I was able to repair the issues. I do not regularly carry either of those guns these days but not due to considerations of reliability. Just to throw a wrench in things another time I had the a bullet jump the crimp (factory load) and lock the S&W up too. Reliability issues are not always gun issues. User error, ammunition and of course magazines are more common from what I have seen.
I value the following in order for a defensive gun:
Reliability: Nothing else matters if it doesn't go bang when it needs to.
Shootability: Meaning how well can I shoot it and manipulate it. The gun can go bang but if I cannot effectively put it into action then not much else matters. The way I determine shootability is to compare and contrast guns using various shooting and manipulation drills quantified in terms of speed and accuracy measured with targets and shot timer. An easy example is an El presidente with a heavy time penalty for any errant shots. I consider being able to effectively draw the gun (also has to do with the method of carry but using the same holster its easier for me to draw a G19 than a G26 w/o an extension for example), shoot the gun, reload the gun (I love my Steyr M9 but it has a very small mag well and simply is a bit more difficult to reload than certain other guns, not that it is a deal breaker but its good to know), and do malfunction drills. This is were so many "great" little carry guns start looking not so great.
Carryability: The gun needs to be one I can reasonably carry and conceal in the attire I wear. Now I believe this typically comes down more to one's holster and method of carry than to the gun. In the same clothing I can get a G26 to print so badly its not even funny and a G17 to disappear and carry comfortably. The difference is the combination of carry position, holster and belt. I routinely carry a duty size gun in shorts and a not particularly baggy T-shirt. Like real estate carrying a gun is about location, location, location. Now there are times when a deep concealment gun makes more sense and that is why I own smaller guns too.
To me the ideal carry gun accounts for all of these. Number 3 is typically at tension with numbers 1 and 2. Really small guns are simply more difficult to use and in very general terms less reliable than full size guns.
Now even formerly reliable guns or designs that are generally reliable can have a problem at the most inopportune time. The are mechanical devices and stuff happens. Ironically enough I have had both a S&W J-frame and a Ruger SP101 that were working fine give me problems. Happily it happened at the range, and I was able to repair the issues. I do not regularly carry either of those guns these days but not due to considerations of reliability. Just to throw a wrench in things another time I had the a bullet jump the crimp (factory load) and lock the S&W up too. Reliability issues are not always gun issues. User error, ammunition and of course magazines are more common from what I have seen.
MotorCraft
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- Jul 14, 2014
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