{"id":147712,"date":"2021-10-17T15:36:42","date_gmt":"2021-10-17T19:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=147712"},"modified":"2021-10-17T15:36:42","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T23:22:10","slug":"selecting-a-handgun-for-self-defense-focus-on-fit-form-and-function","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/selecting-a-handgun-for-self-defense-focus-on-fit-form-and-function\/","title":{"rendered":"Selecting a Handgun for Self-Defense: Focus on Fit, Form, and Function"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Selecting
The Langdon Tactical Beretta 92G Elite LTT Compact, is a great choice for DA\/SA carry It features a special Vertec\/M9A3 style slide with forward cocking serrations, fiber optic front sight, blacked out rear sight, G style decocker, beveled sharp edges, a spurless hammer, and a compact M9A1 style Frame that Beretta shooters have always loved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Selecting a handgun should be easy. We are truly in a golden age of handgun development with many well-made reliable choices.  That is the problem for some shooters, the vast array of choices can seem daunting. Once you apply some common sense, you can get a model that fits your hands and your needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is an old story about a Texas Ranger. He was attending a social event with his family, wearing his issue sidearm.  A woman approached the Ranger and said \u201cI see you are wearing a pistol, are you expecting trouble?\u201d  The Ranger replied politely, \u201cWhy no ma\u2019am, if I was expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Selecting
Large caliber revolvers deliver great performance but have stout recoil and are difficult to conceal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pistols aren\u2019t what you bring to a fight, they are what you have when you don\u2019t expect a fight.  They are designed to keep you alive long enough to get to a rifle.  They make it easier to \u201chave a gun\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given that the pistol is not a primary weapon, how much pistol is enough?  One school of thought is that a .22 (.25 or .380 or .32) will be fine because you will be at close range and you can \u201cshove it under his chin and empty the magazine\u201d.  The small pistol you carry is infinitely better than the large frame .44 at home. More than once, I have heard the argument that the .22 is used by assassins and poachers (I am not sure where this common knowledge comes from) and has killed many people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Selecting
The SIG P365XL with a ROMEOZero and a Streamlight makes a great compact carry gun with full capability.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My response:\u00a0\u00a0For uncounted millennia far back into pre-history, the sharp stick was the dominant weapon on the battlefield.\u00a0 Arguably it is highly effective and has killed countless millions of humans and game animals.\u00a0 Some claim these sticks powered the Holocene extinction that killed off the megafauna\u00a0at the end of the\u00a0last glacial period.\u00a0 In spite of this, I choose to carry a more efficient tool that harnesses chemical energy.\u00a0 A lot of chemical energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another point of view emphasizes shot placement and accuracy.  These guys say that handgun rounds won\u2019t reliably stop a threat unless you shoot repeatedly with a large-caliber and get good hits.  They advocate full-size guns with calibers beginning in four. There is an old saying among hunting guides;  “Don’t hunt something unless you have enough gun to kill it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Selecting
Rock Island’s new STK100 is a full-size all metal striker fired handgun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The most important quality a handgun must have is portability.  If you will not carry it with you (for most of us, that means concealed) you may as well bring a rifle.  This makes small handguns valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have heard a thousand variations of this- “The Secret Service carries the Sig 229 in .357 Sig.  They protect the President, so that must be the best gun out there.  I want to carry a 229 in .357 Sig”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Selecting
Lone Wolf’s LTD is a feature rich choice for concealed carry.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Some people want a gun because the SEALs use it or they heard that Special Forces has it or the police carry it. These may be good indicators of quality but your requirements are not the same as theirs and you may find that what works for them is merely an over-priced range toy for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me, this sounds just like “Michael Jordan was the best basketball player in history.  He wore size 14 Air Jordans.  I want to wear size 14 Air Jordans.”  If the gun doesn’t fit, just don’t get it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Selecting
Custom platforms such as Nomad Defense’s Nomad 9 frame allow you to build the gun you want, not just buy what the gun store has in stock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The gun must fit the shooter.  If your hands are large or small, fingers are long or short, the gun must fit your hands.  Imagine an Olympic runner with the finest, most technologically advanced shoes on Earth.  Now imagine one of the shoes is several sizes too small and the other too big.  The runner\u2019s potential speed would go unrealized because of poor equipment fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A gun that fits the shooter will be faster into action, inspire a better mindset in the shooter, and be more efficiently operated.  All of these are key advantages in a fight.  The practical accuracy of a handgun depends much more on the fit to the individual user than on the gun\u2019s potential mechanical accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Selecting
80% kits are another option for custom guns. Lone Wolf’s Freedom Wolf kit is a great base for a complete custom gun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Trigger manipulation is the most profound fundamental in shooting.  A heavy and long double-action trigger pull can make it difficult to shoot accurately under stress even though they have great potential accuracy. For people with small hands, long trigger pulls require constant adjustment of the grip to gain leverage.  People with big hands have trouble with sub-compact guns.  This doesn\u2019t encourage rapid shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many ranges offer rental guns. The best technique for checking handgun fit is to get a gun on the range, manipulate all the controls (right and left-handed) and then shoot it. If you can reach the controls without major changes in grip and manage the recoil, you have a viable candidate for your new pistol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Selecting
The SIG P320 offers modularity which allows you to turn your fire control group into any gun you want.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the days of \u201cSaturday Night Specials\u201d cheap handguns fired small rounds and had little chance of hitting a man-sized target at 25 yards and a smaller chance of functioning long enough to empty a magazine.  Modern custom pistols can shoot one ragged hole at 25 yards from a machine rest, and production handguns normally shoot head-sized groups. Your results may vary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Selecting
Small 5 shot revolvers like this Ruger LCP are great for concealment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Police Marksman Association conducted a study that examined 180 cases where the Law enforcement Officers WON the confrontation. The results:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Average distance was 20 feet<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Average number of rounds fired: 3.5. This was dependent on caliber; .367 Magnum the average was 2.3 rounds and 9 mm it was 5.5 rounds, and other calibers fell in between these two figures<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Police Officers hit 61.5% of the time<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Selecting
A full-size custom P320 might be great for the range or around the house but is a poor choice for carry.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Civilians have similar distances in their confrontations. If someone is going to steal your wallet or try to rape you, they have to get close. They will try to approach without alarming their prey and will not become threatening until they are within conversational distances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At typical shootout distances, most guns on the market have the mechanical accuracy to hit the vital areas of a threat.  The bad news is that potential mechanical accuracy may not translate into hits on a threat under stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want a quality gun that has high potential accuracy and high reliability.  With modern manufacturing techniques, accuracy and reliability are not polar opposites; both are possible in the same gun.  If forced to choose, I prefer reliability over accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A handgun that shoots a smaller group than another handgun with the same ammunition is likely to have been made with more precision. An accurate handgun is not necessarily less reliable. Closer tolerances come from quality manufacturing.  This quality translates into consistent lock-up and accuracy. Making a precision weapon that works reliably is harder and generally more expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short barreled handguns can be as accurate as or better than long barrels when fired from a rest, but there are two other critical issues.  The longer the barrel, the faster the bullet goes, imparting more energy.  Long barreled guns provide a longer sight radius and often balance better. If the gun becomes so big that you will not carry it, those advantages are moot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be useful, a handgun must be capable of stopping a hostile human from doing us or others physical harm.  We need bullets of sufficient energy to penetrate to the brain or spine for instant incapacitation, or into the heart or major blood vessel to produce a quick stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Selecting
Caliber matters, but not as much as you may think. Do your homework.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Based on my examination of ballistic data, I believe that modern hollow point ammo in calibers 9mm and above offers sufficient energy to use on feral human threats.  Anything less may have poor outcomes.  Carefully select defensive ammo.  Shoot enough of your selected ammo to make sure it is accurate and reliable in YOUR handgun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Selecting
Buy quality ammunition and know where it hits.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Target shooting doesn\u2019t predict performance in defensive shootings.  Reality-based training using Simunitions or airsoft is more relevant.  If money is short, buy a factory gun and high-quality training.  Stress can translate into poor trigger control and poor aim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human threats don’t have scoring rings indicating vital areas. Your ignorance of human anatomy may negate the potential accuracy of your gun.  If someone is attacking you, you will probably move.  Threats tend to move too, especially if you pull a handgun out and start shooting.  Sight alignment and point shooting become significantly harder when we add movement or other tasks like blocking or receiving punches.  Even with great marksmanship abilities, people miss close, large targets in real fights, sometimes missing completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To sum it up:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Most American factory guns are accurate and reliable enough out of the box for defensive shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get the best gun you can afford to train with.  Quality is expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carefully select a gun with an adequate caliber that fits your hands and is small enough that you will carry it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Train with your chosen gun and ammo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get reality-based training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a>***<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Selecting a handgun should be easy. We are truly in a golden age of handgun development with many well-made reliable choices.\u00a0 That is the problem for some shooters, the vast array of choices can seem daunting. Once you apply some common sense, you can get a model that fits your hands and your needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":110976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[694,859,892,1107],"tags":[132,127,102,985,640],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-147712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gun-reviews","8":"category-gun-reviews-handguns","9":"category-columns-home-defense","10":"category-mark-miller","11":"tag-buzz","12":"tag-concealed-carry","13":"tag-feature-articles","14":"tag-handguns","15":"tag-self-defense"},"yoast_head":"\nSelecting a Handgun for Self-Defense: Focus on Fit, Form, and Function<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Selecting a Handgun for Self-Defense: Focus on Fit, Form, and Function - Mark Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/selecting-a-handgun-for-self-defense-focus-on-fit-form-and-function\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Selecting a Handgun for Self-Defense: Focus on Fit, Form, and Function\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Selecting a handgun should be easy. 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