A few notes about the selection of a handgun for personal defense
These notes are intentionally left unstructured. They're food for thought, nothing else. Some of them are even contradictory. I do however claim that all of them are jsutified. These contradictions are intended to help the person looking for a defense gun, to face the choices (s)he has to make, to understand them better, and to make the right choice for him(her).
Fundamental facts: - Jeff Cooper is right. There is no such thing as a safe or foolproof gun. DA/SA handguns are not safer than SA handguns. - But this does not mean that they are without interest. - There is no such thing as a prefect handgun. As a consequence, there is no such thing as a handgun ideally adapted to every case of personal defense a civilian is susceptible to face. - The second consequence is that no handgun will free its owner from the intensive training which is required to take full profit of its advantages and to overcome its limitations. - In self defense, shot placement is key, stopping power comes second. - Whatever your shooting speed is, you cannot shoot quickly enough to make misses count. - A .380 on you 100% of the time is far from ideal, but it is much better than a .357 at home when you're on the street and need it, --------------------------------------------------------------------- Personal choices: Yes, there are contradictions between the following notes. That's where you have to make your own personal choice. - In many personal defense cases you are reacting to an ongoing attack. As a consequence, speed of reaction is essential. SA, squeeze cockers or safe action handguns with light triggers are thus favored. - In personal defense, situations are usually confusing and there is very little time to understand what's happening and make the right decision. So, everything which saves some time may be important. DA/SA self loaders, DA revolvers and Glock with heavier triggers are thus favored. - In many personal defense cases you are reacting to an ongoing attack. As a consequence, you'll have *VERY* little time to clear jams. Your gun must be 100% *RELIABLE* (or even better). DA revolvers, Glocks and 1911A1 are the best guns in this domain. - If the purpose is to "win" the case at every cost, then, being able to shoot both very quickly and accurately is essential. Once again, SA, squeeze cockers or safe action handguns (with light triggers) are a better choice. - If the purpose is to be able to avoid any unnecessary shot, then saving all the time which can be saved, without endangering your own life too much, has to be saved. In that case, once again too, DA/SA self loaders, DA revolvers and Glocks with heavier triggers are a better choice. The presence of a safety (instead of a decocker) may be a plus too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Experimental results: - Ayoob notices that when they were using DA revolvers, on average, policemen hit once in every four shots on the street. After having adopted an self loader, the LAPD police officers were recorded to hit twice on every three shots.[ Massad Ayoob, the semiautomatic pistol in Police and Self defense, Police Bookslelf 1987]. - 9x19 Glocks are incredibly durable and reliable. At least one of them has been shot 350'000 times. Chuck talyor did shoot his one more than 75'000 times with only two jams. Several have been shot more than 10'000 times in three hours and did perform beautifully. Glocks can also be adapted to different defensive "styles" by varying the trigger's weight. - 1911A1 are very strong, durable and reliable guns. Even if they crack, they're simple enough to be repaired easily. - The Beretta 92F have slide cracks (with NATO ammo), but all handguns are mechanisms and are susceptible to failure. The hotter the rounds, the sooner the craks. The SIG P-226/228 has frame cracks (near the rails). In fact, some IPSC shooters experienced that SIG's slides fly pretty well too. When they are intensively shot, the High Power crak everwhere. The P-210 proves much more fragile, in IPSC, than what everybody expected. Beretta has a reinforced slide which will help all the people shooting their gun intensively. The Phrobis's enclosed slide may help too. The South african clone (Vektor SP-88) uses a similar slide. - Time will tell wether the USP is successful in combining the Glock's durability, sturdiness and reliability with a conventional DA/SA mechanism. - As shot placement comes first, training does also comes first. If you can train more with a weaker but cheaper caliber (for example 9x19 vs .40S&W), you'll better served by the cheaper one.