What caliber handgun should I get?

[skippy]

Yep, but I want one with the wood grips.

I also like this:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=160552877

Ah,Dirty Harry revisited,you want to feel the sting in your hand/wrist.

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

It seems the model 29s really hold their value.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Taurus Judge.

One gun that will shoot either a .410 shotgun shell or a .45LC.

I couldn't run down a bear with it, but for a smaller critter or home invader it would do the job.

A 12 guage would fit the bill for everything but being concealable. I hunt deer with a 20 gauge and it will drop one at 100 yards. I am pretty they have more willpower than most people as far as trying to get away.

For a gun to shoot for fun I would love to get a Ruger Vaquero in .45LC (also avaliable in .38spc/.375mag) dad has a couple and they are a very nice gun... and I like the older style stuff. (hence why all of my pistols are blackpowder)

 

[crbnunit]

There has been some discussion about the Judge up here lately. The consensus is they are too big and heavy for CC and don't pack enough punch in either 45LC or 410 to be of any use up here. Might be OK for hiking in the South where the biggest thing you might see is a deer or rattle snake.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

There has been some discussion about the Judge up here lately. The consensus is they are too big and heavy for CC and don't pack enough punch in either 45LC or 410 to be of any use up here. Might be OK for hiking in the South where the biggest thing you might see is a deer or rattle snake.

.45LC is legal to hunt deer with in Iowa, I can hunt deer with my .44 cap and ball revolvers too for that matter.

.410 is not legal to hunt deer with but is a perfect varmit round, for example if you have a small preditor harrassing your livestock and you don't want/need to have a canonball bouncing around after it passes thru whatever hapless carnivore you have shot.

His sig says IL, so I imagine he won't be seeing too many things over there that I don't see here. Not really many critters out here that would require being shot for self defense, there are the very unlikely mountain lions that turn up... but I have lived here for all of my 26 years and have never seen one. Otherwise everything runs the otherway.

 

[crbnunit]

Yes, you can hunt with it but if you shoot at most things we have up here with a 410 or a 45LC, you are just going to piss them off.

 

[Muddycowboy]

i just bought a judge and a subcompact 9mm love them both. I really like the size of a 45 colt round tho makes the 9mm round look worthless.

 

[Mac]

For inside the house, I'm really been looking at the Judge. No way would I think about walking down a hallway in the middle of the night with dark rooms on either side, no time to swing it. One shot of bird shot to face will stop most people for a little awhile. Judge would work good in the back yard for Chipmonks, skunks and racoons, up to maybe 30-50ft. Op is right in that with his requirements, no gun is fit all the requirements. Fot the bigger stuff I'd just grab on of the 30 cal's with the 30 rd mag - but he wants a handgun, sounds like a wide open field there.
Dave

 

[Muddycowboy]

For inside the house, I'm really been looking at the Judge. No way would I think about walking down a hallway in the middle of the night with dark rooms on either side, no time to swing it. One shot of bird shot to face will stop most people for a little awhile. Judge would work good in the back yard for Chipmonks, skunks and racoons, up to maybe 30-50ft. Op is right in that with his requirements, no gun is fit all the requirements. Fot the bigger stuff I'd just grab on of the 30 cal's with the 30 rd mag - but he wants a handgun, sounds like a wide open field there.
Dave

would work alot better for varmits with the six inch barrel. but the CCW kinda goes out the window.

 

[Mac]

I don't think he is looking for a CCW, not allowed I believe in Ill Annoys. Don't know who brought that up. They do have had gun registrations there for maybe 30 years, not so up here in Wisconsin. Heard some radiacls on one of the Chicago radio stations all upset again about all the inter-city killings and wants to ban asualt weapons again, guy had no idea of the real problem.
Dave - Glad to be out of that state.

 

[Jim Oaks]

As a cop, I carried a .38, .357 and a .40. I've also shot 9mm and .45's.

My personal preference is the .40. I had a Beretta .40 and then a Sig Sauer .40. Hated the Beretta. You could always count on it to have atleast (1) misfeed during a day of qualifying. The Sig was flawless. I loved that gone.

The state stayed away from the 9mm because there were to many cases of people being shot with them and it not having any knock down power.

I even had a .25 semi auto that fit in my pocket. That was a good gun for close range if you really wanted to mess someone up.

I keep thinking I'd like to get a .40. I don't even know what the requirements are anymore to purchase a handgun in Ohio.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Yes, you can hunt with it but if you shoot at most things we have up here with a 410 or a 45LC, you are just going to piss them off.

And there are other parts of the world where the guns you have would only annoy the local wildlife too. Why worry about what what is in some other corner of the earth?

There are no grizzly bears in the midwest except in zoos, but to that point there are also siberian tigers and african elephants in zoos too. I wouldn't carry anything you have listed so far into battle with them (for sure not a pistol)

.45LC or a .410 will kill about anything around here that hasn't escaped from the zoo, at fairly close range (50yds) but it would get the job done. You can spice up the .45LC to be pretty hot for a rifle as well.

 

[Frank The Tank]

I love a .380 I don't care what anyone says. For home defense and plinking.
Yes i have every type of gun from a .22 competition pistol to a Sweet 16 for skeet and a 45-70 just to say my gun is bigger than your gun.

If i want to plink I use a .22 .22 mag or 77-17 because lets face it ammo is ridiculously priced for anything else and I like to use a hollow point on coyote's and ground-hogs Crows and such.
If i need to kill a cow quickly and cleanly.... .243 or 25-06 whichever is at the front of the gun-cabinent at the time.
But when it comes to a light-weight concealable gun that wont break your wrist but packs enough knockdown to stop anyone trying to get in your truck or kick down your front door it's a .380 for me I don't consider anything else. I carried a 45 for a while and it was just too cumbersome for the kind of close quarters that self defense weapons imply.

If i really thought a grizzly bear or a mountain lion was going to be where i was headed I wouldn't carry a pistol of any sort, i believe in killing clean, that includes dangerous game.

I like having a gun that i can wear on my belt or toss in the glovebox, slips under a pillow nicely as well.

And i know for a fact a .380 will stop a rotweiler with rabies that is charging you or an adult hog that needs to be eaten so i figure a geaked out meth-head shouldn't be a problem pushing hollow points.

that's just me though.

Frank

 

[Muddycowboy]

As a cop, I carried a .38, .357 and a .40. I've also shot 9mm and .45's.

My personal preference is the .40. I had a Beretta .40 and then a Sig Sauer .40. Hated the Beretta. You could always count on it to have atleast (1) misfeed during a day of qualifying. The Sig was flawless. I loved that gone.

The state stayed away from the 9mm because there were to many cases of people being shot with them and it not having any knock down power.

I even had a .25 semi auto that fit in my pocket. That was a good gun for close range if you really wanted to mess someone up.

I keep thinking I'd like to get a .40. I don't even know what the requirements are anymore to purchase a handgun in Ohio.

21 years or age or older and no felonies. less than that if you by it off the black market like some lol.

 

[skippy]

I don't think he is looking for a CCW, not allowed I believe in Ill Annoys. Don't know who brought that up. They do have had gun registrations there for maybe 30 years, not so up here in Wisconsin. Heard some radiacls on one of the Chicago radio stations all upset again about all the inter-city killings and wants to ban asualt weapons again, guy had no idea of the real problem.
Dave - Glad to be out of that state.

Les Baer moved his operation out of Illinois,15 miles to Le Claire,Iowa. His employees are still with him. He fires every gun built before it ships because his name is on it.

http://www.lesbaer.com/