Which pistol is best overall for combat?

Question

My criteria are convenient size, enough power & accuracy, parts & ammo readily available, manageable recoil & components, easy to maintain, ambidextrous, safe, quick draw capability, firepower, good bullet selection, and durability & reliability. I've tested many pistols and wrote books about it. I suppose that the Browning "Hi-Power' or "GP 35" has been used by more armies in the 20th Century than any other. I have a customized one that has more reliability, firepower and quick draw capability than the factory version. Is it best overall for combat? Serious answers only and no insulting remarks from Sarah Brady or her fans!

Top Guns in my tests! Convenient size- CZ-75, Browning Hi-Power! KO power- .73 Alex Henry, but .45ACP H&K P9S shoots 11%-24% harder than other .45's! Accuracy- H&K P9S, CZ-75! Available ammo-9mm Luger worldwide! Spare parts- Browning Hi-Power used by most world armies! Manageable recoil & components- Beretta 92F! Easily maintained- Beretta 92F, SIG P-226! Ambidextrous- Beretta 92F! Safe- H&K P-7, Beretta 92F! Quick draw- Colt Peacemaker, CZ-75! Firepower-My Beretta 92F has 15-25 round mags and fires and reloads quickest! Bullet selection- S&W M-586 revolver, but Beretta 92F leads for semi-autos! Reliable- Beretta 92F is in a class by itself working well after burial in wet sand or mud and feeds even empty cases and has most leeway with underpowered or overpowered loads that jam most guns. Durable-still testing, but Colt 1911 looks great. Revolvers lose in firepower. I don't like my brother-in-law's pair of Glocks that score poorly in my tests overall. He disagrees. Subjectivity here!

Answer 1

Ok Garrett,
From your list of requirements one pistol stands out.
It has seen action in "actual" combat more than any other.
Ammo for it can be found in every country the world over.
The comfort of it's grip and "point-ability" is legendary.
It's accuracy is among the best in it's class.
Parts and replacement magazines are to be found world wide.
It is well designed and very reliable.
It has been made in many forms,even a shoulder stocked version
It has been licensed for manufacture more than any other pistol.

You already own one.
The answer is :The Browning HI-Power

Answer 2

I have personally been looking into buying a firearm for my wife and I for home protection and concealed carry. I have shot a few rental pistols at the range and so far I am really leaning towards the Ruger sp101.

Its a revolver, which means that when I pull the trigger it will shoot, no safeties to worry about. It is calibered in .357 which gives it more than enough fire power to stop anything. But, if the .357 is too strong for you you can shoot .38's out of it which is a nice option. Both rounds are very readily available.

It is very compact and lightweight which lends it towards a good carry gun. The only possible draw back I can see is that it is only 5 rounds, but if you spend some time at the range and learn how to use it, like you should with any firearm, you'll be good for up to 5 bad guys.

may I suggest going to your local fireing range and rent a few different pistols to test out, this way you get the feel for it before you invest the money.

That being said, my next choice would be a mid sized to compact Glock in the .40 caliber. I'm biased against the 9mm I don't think it's an effective round, the only advantage it has for me, is round capacity, but you can get about as many .40 rounds in a pistol as you can 9mm and in my opinion the .40 is a much more compotent round.

Answer 3

I love the S&W 629 Classic with a 5" barrel. It's the right length for carry and still have some reach. Yes, the S&W wasn't made to fire a steady diet of full power .44 magnum rounds. I think, hope, this will be carried more than fired. Through eventuly all firearms will were out. The Redhawk would be my other choice. I'd place it above te Blackhawk because the Redhawk is double action. Rugers are good rugged , reliable firearms, but tend to be heavy. For Hunting I'd choose the Blackhawk, for defense the Redhawk gets the nod.

Answer 4

Thats a tough one. 9mm Para(or luger, or 9x11, or whatever else you like to call it) and .45ACP have guns, parts, and ammo readily accessable, but they lack in terms of killing power. perhaps if the barrel was lengthened on a .45 it would increase the muzzle velocity to a value that would kill your target with 1 shot in center body mass. That would also increase the noise of the weapon, making it unsuitable for some missions. 9mm para is available in subsonic variants, making it worthwhile to get a suppressor, but the reduced velocity of subsonic bullets decreases the wounding potential of the weapon. The newer 10mm pistol cartrige looks promising, as the increased bullet weight will be more effective than 9mm at the same velocity. Of course you can go the other direction with machinepistols such as the m-10 or skorpion, but those are sometimes unmanageable on full auto with 1 hand. Youll need to analyze your technique and fnd a pistol that suits it. if you prefer to take down targets with more than 1 shot youd be ok with a lighter hitting bullet, but if you want to take each man out with 1 shot go for a bullet that hits harder. as to guns, you cant take popularity into account whether its on the street or in the military. they choose their sidearms for more than stopping power and reliability, cost and logistics are also factored in. You may want to start with a pistol thats passed all the US government reliability and durablility tests and then add some frosting like better sights, a match barrel, or a match trigger. some of the springfield .45s are pretty sweet.

Answer 5

there are two: GLOCK (any caliber or model) and the Colt Model 1911 (aka 1991 a1) 45 caliber.

the glock is prob the best overall and def the best for "police " type combat situations, hands down.

the colt 1911 has been battle tested and proven for almost 100 years and is the standard which all other semi autos are compared too.

Answer 6

yea the glock 18 fully auto 9mm but sense u cant it the 19 semi 9mm will have to do but for more power an acuracy go with a 1911 styler 45cal i prefer kimbers an les bear but colts are good to

Answer 7

9 mm Para or a Glock .

Answer 8

I would say a Glock. How many guns can get dropped in water, buried in sand, frozen, and still fire reliably?

Answer 9

When Dirty Harry was asked "Why do you carry that [.44 magnum revolver] cannon?"

He replied, "Because I hit what I aim at."

Everything else is kind of moot.

Answer 10

H&K or Glock.