What is your favorite pistol for accuracy and power?

Question

I am wanting to get a pistol for home secuirty and also good for going hunting. Don't need one as strong as a 44 mag or anything. just something semi-auto, like maybe a .45 caliber. Good for home protection, and good for hunting game like say rabbit or something medium size.

What brand do you like? Which model is good? Why? is it reliable? Is the accuracy on it good, based on the length of the barrel or whatsoever may affect it.

Answer 1

Your best bet is to go to a gun shop and handle a perspective gun. You need to make sure it fits your hand correctly and isn't to heavy for you. If you want to hunt with it you also need to think about sights. Barrel length does make a difference in the trajectory of the round. Personally for hunting I would use a revolver with a longer Barrel and if you talking small game I get a .17 much better than 22 Mag. For home defense I use a Bursa Thunder 380 with specific rounds to cause damage my wife has a Taurus 32 H&R Mag revolver again with hollow point rounds. Both guns are fun to target pratice with because they aren't abusive. But my main side arm is a Springfield 40 HD with laser/flashlight. Target reacuisition is much faster with a 40 than with 45 or 44 but it still has the power to knock them down and keep them down. The accuracy with larger or longer barreled weapons is much better than a short barrelled pistol. I have two gut guns (because you would have to be that close to hit anything) one is a berretta bearcat 25 auto the other is a derringer 22 mag. Larger framed longer barreled guns of the same calibers are much more accurate. Glock and springfield are two of my favorite for thier reliability, accuracy, and ablility to stand up to abuse. Go handle the guns check out some ranges you may beable to rent different ones and find one you like and save you from purchasing a pistol you hate.

Answer 2

YOU NEED TO READ THIS:

I've been skimming through the other responses here and they aren't taking into account that it is ILLEGAL in most places to hunt with a pistol that has a barrel length under 5 inches. This eliminates most of your semi automatics. There isn't a gun that is ideal for killing both rabbits and human beings. The best rabbit pistol would be the rugger mk III .22 caliber. This gun is so incredibly accurate, you can put it straight through the eyeball at 20 yards. However, this is a terrible self defense caliber. If you really don't want a 44 for self defense, then a 357 is the next best thing (that still has the 5 or more inches required for legal hunting - Otherwise I'd suggest a 45 acp for home protection). The 357 can be used for home protection, and the same gun can be used to fire 38 caliber bullets for rabbit hunting. This is still excessive power for rabbits, but won't destroy the meat completely. The 357 would then be reasonable enough for medium sized game, from racoons to coyote and even all the way up to deer and black bear.

Answer 3

Where is Bound's Hubby when you need him?

First of all, I'm not sure it's a good idea to rely on one pistol for both self defense and hunting small game. I'm not a hunter, but something tells me that you would be better served hunting rabbits with a .22 bolt rifle, or something accurate enough to hit small targets at a distance but not too much gun that would ruin the meat.

Okay, back to self defense. I like the Glock 19. It fits my hand like a glove, and it's accurate, reliable and rugged. But you need to find a gun that fits your hand and has a trigger that you can control. For me, I spent a small fortune collecting hand guns until I found the Glock 19.

For a first time shooter, I would recomment a 1911A1 gun in .45 ACP. This gun, IMO, is one of the easiest to shoot. The grip holds a single stack mag, so it's relatively thin and easy to grip. The trigger is designed to break cleanly in single action mode, promoting steady and accurate shooting. The .45 ACP cartridge is low pressured, so there's not much recoil, but the big bullet is good for self defense. And it's all steel, so if you run out of bullets you can bludgeon the bad guy with it.

I don't think you can go wrong with a 1911A1. But if you have the cash, then go ahead and buy a USP, CZ-75, Glock, Beretta, Sig, Smith & Wesson and H&K. They're all great guns, fun to shoot, and one or more of them may just be the perfect gun for you.

Answer 4

Something for rabbits and home defense? How about a .9mm? With ball ammo you won't destroy too much meat when shooting a rabbit and with quality personal defense loads you have a decent stopper. A friend of mine in South Texas used to regularly kill Javalina with a Browning Hi Power .9mm (I wouldn't try shooting the really big wild boar with it though).

Ball .9mm ammo is cheap especially bought in bulk. A 20 round box of Federal Personal Defense ammo won't put you in the poor house. You can get .9mm ammo anywhere you go in the world.

As for make and model, that is a very personal choice. I like the Glock and own a Model 26 in .9mm, a Model 20 in .10mm and a Model 31 in .357 Sig but as a first Glock I recommend the Model 19 in .9mm. The original Model 17 is slightly bigger with a longer barrel and holds two more bullets. Get a Glock Model 17 or 19 with nightsights, high cap magazines, good defensive ammo and you have a home defense pistol that will also double as a plinker and will take small game. Any .9mm can shoot through a lot of dry wall and you should never aim a gun at anything you aren't willing to destroy. If you still prefer the bigger .45, Glock can also fix you up.

Good luck.

H

Answer 5

My favorite for all around use such as home defense, hunting deer and carry conceal is a Ruger GP100 6 inch barrel in 357 Magnum.
This is a revolver and the accuracy is outstanding.
The 357 Magnum has nock down power out the @ss and is very flat shooting.
The maximum accurate effective range far exceeds the 9mm, 40 S&W, 10mm and 45 ACP.
The 357 Magnum also can safely shoot the lesser 38 Special ammo for home defense.
For home defense my GP100 is loaded with 150 grain wad cutters in 38 Special these are low power target loads so as not to punch through too many walls in a house.
I have speed loaders loaded with 150 grain black talons for a quick swap out if needed.
The only semi auto I have that is even close to the GP100 in accuracy cost over 3 times as much as the GP100, it’s a Kimber Grand Raptor II 45acp 1911.
Hope this helped


D58

Answer 6

My personal preference in brands are Sig, H&K, Springfield and Smith & Wesson. If you have kids I recommend the S&W only because it has some saftey feature the others don't, for example if the magazine is not fully seated in the gun the S&W will not fire all the others will fire if there is a round in the chamber.
As for as caliber goes there is not doubt in my mind that the .45 ACP is the best. Of all the semi-auto handgun calibers the 45 has about a 90% one shot stop rate. Meaning that it usually takes only one shot to kill or disable the attacker to where they are no longer a threat.

Answer 7

What have you got against the 44? I have two 44 Specials and a 44 magnum. The latter is a bit much for your needs, but the former has a reputation for accuracy, and my magnum doesn't complain when I feed it handloads at Special velocities (I don't use the Special cases in the Magnum revolver). My personal favorite is a Ruger Redhawk 41 Magnum, but again, that's more than you need. For rabbits and burglars, a 38 Special would do fine, but if you insist on an auto, knock yourself out.

Answer 8

Honestly, most quality pistols are going to be far more accurate than you are. I can't think of a single pistol that can't put a full magazine into a man-sized target at seven yards.

If you are considering buying a pistol for defense purposes, you should be concerned most with reliability, and then with caliber.

Because of its track record, Glock is the gold standard in this department. Durable, reliable, accurate, and available in many calibers from 9mm to .45ACP. There are many other good guns, though, and I am personally partial to the Springfield Armory XD45.

Hunting with a pistol is not generally a good idea.

Answer 9

I like my Glock models 20 and 29. They shoot the 10mm Auto, which with my reloads is almost twice as powerful as a .45. The Glock 20 comes with 15 round clips. The 29 comes with 10 round clips, and the 15 round clip made for the 20 also fits in the 29.
Glocks are the most dependable pistols in the world. Ask the cops that carry them...
I also have a Thompson Contender in 10mm and can shoot 2 inch groups with it at 100 yards. The Contender is a single shot and breech loads like a shotgun so it's not for self defense, but great for hunting, and when I take it out I put a 10mm Glock in one pocket, an extra Glock clip in another pocket so I have extra bullets for the Contender.

Answer 10

Being a revolver person i would say a S&W M686 combat magnum .357 is really hard to beat in tearms of accuracy,power and dependabilty. If you want more then get a M629 gives you the option of 44special and 44 mag and thats more power than you need for North American game.I own both and they never have let me down. I spend alot of time in wild country and have felt very safe with my 44 mag 6''