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"Handgun or Revolver as a one and only weapon for SHTF?"
Anonymous said...
My background is a police officer, SWAT dude, firearms instructor and armorer.
I was an officer back in the day when we were issued .357s, most carried the S&W model 66, many bought the 686 or Colt Python.
We had many more break-downs, jams, stoppages, etc. with our revolvers than we have ever had with our since issued 9mms (we had the S&W 5906 series for almost 20 years, now Glocks).
The Glock 17 or 19 would be the top choice for a one and only SHTF weapon.
They are, in my experience, one of if not the most durable and reliable pistols ever built.
They are easy to clean, easy to work on when needed (which is seldom) and withstand abuse that would wreck a revolver.
For someone who will only own one gun, I'd VERY strongly advise getting a G17 or G19 (depending on what they can conceal), ammo, some extra magazines, and an Advantage Arms .22 kit for cheap practice.
Regards,
Chuck
Thanks Chuck.
This is the kind or advice you should take into account.
Even if you never owned or touched a Glock in your live, if you do your research well you’ll know what works and what doesn’t, what performs in the most extreme conditions and which tools fail more often.
“But FerFAL, I’ll never throw my Glock out of a plane and its very unlikely that it will get run over by a truck”
Of course, but these tests and these accounts by people like Chuck that have seem how hundreds of guns performed during extended periods of time gives you an idea of the capabilities of each weapon.
What if you accidentally drop you firearm in the mud, even on the side of the street where there’s that mud mixed with small pebbles? Its not crazy, that’s the environment we move around most often.
What if you drop to the floor or take cover behind a low wall? That’s not the time to worry about grit and dirt getting into your gun.
What about good old reliability and failure to feed or eject?
If a Glock and an H&K USP, both go into a bucket with mud and the USP stops working after that as seen on the Glock torture test, my friend, do whatever you like but I’ll choose the Glock.
I remember what an instructor told to a friend of mine, a die hard 1911 fan that shall remain anonymous.
He told the instructor that the 1911 simply felt better in his hand. The instructor told him “ well then just get used to gripping the Glock”.
Its THAT much of a better weapon, enough for you to make an extra effort and get used to handling it even if you don’t feel comfortable with it at first.
7 comments:
I love my G23. The 1911 crowd won't be happy, but what the heck? I hated the way the 1911 rattled when I was in the Army. I never did like 'em.
I'll keep my Glock, and other folks can choose whatever they want.
As for me, I choose G. and S&W is plentiful right now.
Although the Glock is arguably the most reliable and should be the first on one's list to consider, there can be other overriding factors. For example, if one does not has the time and money to invest in to training so that one can operate it reliably, then the extra mechanical reliability is moot. Under stress, I'll need to rely upon muscle memory. If the muscles do not know the gun, I'm in trouble.
The Glock is great if it is your first or have the time and money to make sure it becomes apart of you.
The AK is another such example of perhaps the most reliable out there. Like the Glock, it is the most likely to go 'bang' every time. I would not count on making reliable hits much passed 100-150 yards, yet that's all one will likely need, however, many are uncomfortable with such an inaccurate rifle. The average AK does no better than 6 inch groups and most find zeroing the rifle frustratingly difficult or impossible as a result. If it's 'pattern' is not 'zeroed', "it will not hit the side of barn, even when standing inside the barn". Without training, one does not have the confidence that it will actually hit what they are aiming at, and that it will do so with as much effect as most rifles. What ever it is, confidence in what you are using is intangible, yet key, and whatever it is, if it has not been run hard and long, there is no guarentee that it will live up to it's reputation.
Bottom line is that these two examples are perhaps the most reliable out there, yet there many other considerations. It is after all, man and machine, and the man is the most important part of the two. Whatever you get or got, get the training. A Glock without training is a Gluck*.
(*profuse apologies to FerFal for use of the slur 'gluck', the Glock is perhaps the best choice :O)
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A, Dont worry man, for an untrained person, I agree with you, I'll hand him/her a revolver.
Then again, anyone 1/2 way serious about armed self defense should get training.
An that's where the Glock advantage is significant.
Ammo is also cheaper than 38/357 revolver ammo.
A few classes and you pay for the difference.
About AK accuracy, maybe its no target rifle but 100 yards is extremly far away range for combat.
Even SWAT snipers, I remember a veteran saying that 50 yards was the greatest distance he fired after a lifetime of service.
Give me a 100 yard rile that works all the time any day.
Besides, VERY hard to claim self defense shooting at those ranges.
Here is were military operations and civilian self defense part ways.
FerFAL
It's worth mentioning that you can buy a single Glock .40 caliber, and then buy after market .357SIG and 9mm barrels for it for only $100 each. You can even get barrels that are 1/2" longer, threaded for suppressors. They are sold by Lone Wolf Distributers. You can swap barrels in ten seconds, giving you one gun platform capable of using 3 calibers, and suppressors.
Travis McGee said...
It's worth mentioning that you can buy a single Glock .40 caliber, and then buy after market .357SIG and 9mm barrels for it for only $100 each. You can even get barrels that are 1/2" longer, threaded for suppressors. They are sold by Lone Wolf Distributers. You can swap barrels in ten seconds, giving you one gun platform capable of using 3 calibers, and suppressors.
December 20, 2009 5:18 PM
As well as buying an Advantage Arms .22 conversion kit which would allow very cheap target practice and weapons familiarzation. I have done this very thing with my carry Glocks, getting the larger caliber guns, but carrying them with a 9mm barrel in them (because I like the 9mm round and it fires softer than the .40S&W or the .357 Sig)
You might find Claire Wolfe's recommendation of the Glock 22 as the weapon of choice for a first-time female gun buyer amusing. "Pull trigger, go bang."
I bought myself a Glock 22 with tritium sights two years ago, and it quickly became my primary pistol. I'm not a cop or would-be commando or anything; I just carry it while traveling by car, walking my dog around my diverse neighborhood, etc. (Yes, I have a Texas CHL.)
Glocks are a good buy. Mine was $499.95 before sales tax, $541 out the door at a gun show. Now that the Obama panic seems to have subsided a bit, the price of a Glock at gun shows in Houston has increased by only about $10.
I've not tried any caliber conversions. Converting the G22 to .357 Sig should require only a barrel change, but I think I'll just buy more .40 S&W ammo instead. I read in various places that a reliable conversion to 9mm requires replacement of the ejector, extractor and springs, so I'll probably just save my pennies for a G17.
FerFal, glad to be able to contribute.
I didn't add in my original e-mail that I was in charge of our firearms program for several years, and we have 325 gun carriers here between full-time sworn officers, reserves, etc.
I often hear folks say that their gun X works great in their experience, which may be a few hundred rounds.
Over the past three years I have seen 325ish folks fire almost a million rounds of 9mm ammo out of their duty and off duty Glocks, we have 17s, 19s and 26s being carried by our troops.
This is where my experience base comes from, not just a few rounds here and there.
I stay away from the Glock .40s after we had numerous reliability issues with the G22.
Regards,
Chuck
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