Handguns? What is the best handgun for home protection. Glock?

Answer 1

A revolver, preferrably in .357 Magnum.

-Totally reliable.

-Simple to Operate.

-Effectively Deadly.

Answer 2

Honestly, I wouldnt depend only on a handgun to protect my home (no family, bachelor). I do have a 9mm semi-auto, and a .357mag revolver. But a good pump action shotgun is what is best for home defense. I would recomend either a remington 870 or a mossberg 500 in either 12 or 20 gauge. 12 gauge will be easier to find a wider variety of ammo for. But the 20 gauge will work just fine too. If you are dead set on a handgun I would recomend a revolver. You can always have it loaded, without the worry of ruining magizines. Caliber wise, I would go with a .357mag. This way you can pick between shooting either .357's or .38 spl's. The top brands of revolvers would be Ruger, Colt, and Smith and Wesson. Other good brands would include Rossi and Taurus. These are great guns, and less expensive than the top three. Over all, whatever you end up getting practice makes perfect. A hit from a .22LR is better than a miss from a .44mag.

Answer 3

Yes, Glocks are the best, and that's why most police departments use them. Don't listen to the fools who tell you only experts should have Glocks. That's an arrogant way of calling you too stupid to learn how to shoot the finest, and possibly the simplest, self defense pistols ever designed. The simplicity of the Glock design is one of the things that makes them so great. I have been shooting Glocks over 15 years, and never had a problem with the trigger safety. In reality, if you are nervous you are far more likely to forget about taking the safety off with a more complicated pistol than you are to accidentally pull the trigger on a Glock.
If you value your life, get a Glock, and I recommend the model 20 because the 10mm cartridge it shoots is devastating and with 15 rounds in the clip you have enough to take out a whole gang of thieves if you need to.

Answer 4

If you are inexperienced in handguns I would look to a decent .357 with a 4" barrel. You can practice with .38 special ammo, which is less expensive and has less recoil and is easier to master for a new shooter than the .357 is. A 2" barrel will have much greater muzzle blast than a 4" and it will tend to have more recoil. That muzzle blast can temporarily blind you if your eyes are adjusted to the dark. A 6" barrel is gives you a bit more velocity and the longer sight radius makes for more accurate shooting but it’s not as handy as a 4" and in very close quarters it’s a bit easier for a opponent to grab and wrestle you for.

The other advantage of the revolver for new shooters is that long heavy trigger pull. It’s not an aid to good shooting but it does give you some margin of error in terms of an accidental discharge that can happen under the stress and adrenaline of an armed confrontation.

A more experiences shooter may prefer an autoloader. Many good pistols are available in wide range of calibers. I would simply say to pick the largest caliber that you can shoot accurately and quickly. Almost any revolver will go bang every time, but the same is not true of an autoloader. You will need to spend more to get an autoloader of high reliability.

I don't really care for traditional double action/single action autoloaders. You will spend considerable time dealing with the difference in the first shot difference to the rest of the shots. I would suggest a double action only or striker fired type of action.

The 1911 uses a single action trigger. Even a cheap 1911 will normally have a much lighter trigger pull than even a high dollar double action auto. These guns are safe, PROVIDED they are in the proper hands. I shoot thousands of rounds each year in practice and in competition and so this is my preferred type of pistol but unless you can get the proper training and subsequent practice time, I wouldn't pick the 1911.

Good luck

Answer 5

A better question might be, "What pistol cartridge would most likely incapacitate an enraged or drug crazed perpetrator that is hell-bent on attacking me in a home invasion scenario?"

In that scenario, forensic pathologists usually vote for something 40 caliber and above. Now, the 357 magnum has a PROVEN track record for one-shot stops in this regard. So does the 38 special +P. My personal favorite is a 357 diameter JHP at 1400 FPS.

Regardless of choice, placement of the first shot is the most important thing in self defense with a firearm.

Me? If I were to choose one, it would be a .45 ACP in a Colt 1911 styled pistol. Shooting is always a last resort. The perpetrator has to get past my alarm system and two German Shepherds. If he still wants a piece of me after running that gauntlet, he is awarded a lead missile.

Answer 6

Your question stated another way: "Is the Glock the best handgun for home protection?"

Quick answer, "It can be the best handgun for home protection."

Pros: 1. User friendly; 2. available in many calibers from .9mm to .10mm (.45acp; .45GAP; 40S&W; .357Sig). 3. It is high capacity; 3. available with nightsights; 5. latest generation features rails for laser sights or light; 6. It is extremely dependable; 7. Each pull of the trigger is exactly the same.

Cons: 1. May be too thick around the grips for some hands; 2. without pre-fragmented ammo it will tend to shoot through a lot of dry wall.

That last one is true of any caliber including the .22 Long Rifle as the pros are true of many other semi-automatic pistols.

Actually, a Glock Model 19 loaded with pre-fragmented ammo and equiped with nightsights is hard to beat as a home defense gun. With high cap mags it is good protection against against burglars and other things that go bump in the night. The hardest decision is which model and caliber Glock you want.

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Answer 7

Generally, the answer to this question is a revolver chambered in .357 Magnum, loaded with .38 Special hollow-points, if the thought of enormous fireballs ruining your night-vision and deafening you upon firing full-house .357 Magnum loads causes you to wake up in a cold sweat.

Why? Because a revolver doesn't have a safety-lever that a panicked, inexperienced homeowner might forget to take off when confronting an intruder. They don't have slides that have to be racked (if one keeps their home-defense semi-automatic in Condition Zero, i.e. hammer down on an empty chamber.) The only two safeties a revolver has are a long, heavy double-action trigger pull, and the one between the shooter's ears.

Strangely enough, the same thing that makes a revolver the best bet for a home-defense firearm is what makes some writers shy away from Glocks . . . since the only safety a Glock has is a double-action trigger pull that requires one's finger covers enough of the trigger to depress that little safety-lever in the center. And the DAO (double-action only) trigger pull on the stock Glock is close enough in weight and feel to quite a few stock semi-auto single-action trigger pulls that the thought of a Glock in the hands of a half-awake, and frightened homeowner who may or may not be practiced with his or her weapon, can be a very unnerving one indeed.

Though one can render a Glock as safe as any revolver, but it requires a visit to a Glock armorer and the installation of a NY #1 or NY #2 trigger assembly (which ups the Glock trigger pull to 8 to 11 pounds, and gives you a long heavy pull just like that of a double-action revolver.) Or a lot of practice time with an empty, unloaded gun, learning how to keep one's finger off the trigger until the gun is properly on target, and learning the feel of the trigger (Glocks can be dry-fired to your heart's content,) followed by live-fire practice at the firing-range of your choice.

Answer 8

I would deffinately go with a .45 acp, however, this is depending on if you're going to use it for something other than home protection. If you may in the future get serious about shooting, according to tests .357 sig and 10mm auto exceed the standard. .45 acp, however, is widely used and circulated, unlike the .357 sig and the 10mm auto. .45 is used normally as the sidearm in hostage situations- you need penetration, expansion, and knockdown power. .45 has all of them, however, if you plan on far I would not go with a .45. The bullet is huge, and despite the large amount of powder in the cartridge the amount of propulsion isn't great enough to do a large amount of damage at a greater distance. For home, get a .45. For anything that doesnt have to do with cqb, go with .357 sig or 10mm auto. I would suggest a 1911 in .45, they're great guns, nice and simple. Please though, stay away from 9mm. Sure, you get 15+ shots, but if you don't hit what you want to hit by then you're probobly dead anyways. Or you can just go nice and simple with a 12 gauge Remington 870 shotgun. It's not as small, but it'll certainly get the job done.

Answer 9

Definitely not a Glock, which is a very good pistol for an expert who never gets rattled, but it does have the safety on the trigger, which has been equated to engraving the combination on the lock of your safe. If you're sleepy and frightened, there's too great a chance of accidental discharge. The best backup for your shotgun in home defense has to be a double-action revolver. The caliber is open to argument, but in view of the current popularity of the 40 S&W, I'd not be surprised if the rational choice mightn't be 38-40, though it would be a challenge to find such a combination.

Answer 10

A good, used .38SPL S&W model 10/64 or a new Taurus model 82. There is no need to spend the extra money for a magnum chamber in your gun. .38SPL only revolvers can handle .38+p and +p+. Both suggestions run under $300 new (Taurus) or used (S&W). A used gun just has to work,not look pretty or be super tight as in rarely ever shot.
A good round is 125gr+p or +p+. Practice with 130gr FMJ and a few hotter ones. Get what you really need as opposed to something that "looks good" or is an armchair commandos "favorite".

Answer 11

.357 is proven in stopping attackers and is easy to operate, doesn't jam.

.38 is right behind it in stopping attackers.

Larger calibers seem to not transfer as much energy but carry it through the target. Less powerful rounds such as the venerable 9mm doesn't fare at that well either. Along the lines of going through the target, use a frangible bullet so if you ever have to defend yourself in your house, you are not shooting through walls.

If you want to know brands, stick with the well made firearms. This is especially true with semi-autos. Remember the advantage of the revolvers I mentioned earlier? They don't jam. Cheap semi-autos jam often.

One more thing. If you want to shoot .38 why get a .357? .38 is smaller, lighter and usually cheaper. That is like using 44 spl in my 44 magnum, why? The only reason I would shoot .38 out of a .357 is if I wanted to shoot a bunch at the range and the .38 rounds were significantly cheaper.