needing advice on a handgun.

[petyweestraw]

Gonna be shopping for a handgun the end of July. Gonna be home protection / range toy. Eventually get license to carry. Of coarse reliable accurate and easy to use. Wifey gonna play too. Budget round $600. Buddy pushing me towards a g30 but heard scary things. Would get a 9mm but would like a . 45. Last gun I owned was a ruger 9mm. Thanx in advance.

[KBScobravert]

With you wanting to eventually make it a carry gun will limit you to your body type and just how big do you want to lug around everyday.

Full size guns (4" & 5" barrels) are great range guns but for a small guy can be too much to conceal in summer/spring attire.
Compacts and Subcompacts are great range guns when combined with mag extensions but carried that way you run into the same limitations on dress as the full frame pistols.
Pocket or Mouse guns (.380, single stack 9mm, etc) are not great range guns but are easy to conceal no matter body type or dress.

I am a resident XD fan. I have several 5" 9mm pistols and a XD Subcompact 9. The SC is a carry gun that I switch out with a Ruger LCP (.380) and if I can find a holster for my Khar CW9 I will add it in the mix also. I have a 1911 or two but I would not want to daily conceal it unless I was gonna be in a jacket all day long.

$600 budget would buy a Subcompact XD or Glock, holster, extra mags, ammo (ball and defensive carry) and leave you with change left over. Check out Cabella's and Cheaper than Dirt's used gun selections for deals also.

As you have probably read here and elsewhere peoples tastes in guns varries more than their taste in cars or women. Here is just my .02.

I would suggest and others will be along shortly to say the same; go to a range that rents and see what you like to shoot.

[franks]

If it were me a g36 if .45 is what you want and your wife wants to shoot it's thinner than the g30.

I don't know about picking a 9mm haven't ever thought about it.(sig?)

I might would look deeper into XD as well, I've always wanted one for some reason

[David]

Hk >*

[KBScobravert]

Hk >*

well that ought to get things started again.

[bottlerocket]

Gonna be shopping for a handgun the end of July. Gonna be home protection / range toy. Eventually get license to carry. Of coarse reliable accurate and easy to use. Wifey gonna play too. Budget round $600. Buddy pushing me towards a g30 but heard scary things. Would get a 9mm but would like a . 45. Last gun I owned was a ruger 9mm. Thanx in advance.

What scary things?

Best you can do is go to a range and try them out. See what fits best in your hand, and narrow it down to a few and shoot them. Just like a car, you aren't gonna ask us whats the best daily driver under $20k out there and go buy one never having sat in the thing.

Now if you get to the range and some how a S&W Sigma ends up in your hands, step away. Otherwise hit the range and shoot. If you get it narrowed down to a couple and cant decide, thats easier to get an opinion on.

As for home defense, a shotgun is ideal but for a handgun you really don't have many criteria to fit. Now if you want to conceal, thats a different animal. Some people due to their body size can carry a larger weapon. This is generally speaking, but it makes sense that a guy thats 5'3 and 140 isnt gonna easily conceal a full size 1911. Concealed weapons come in lots of flavors too. Single or double stack, 3 or 4 finger grip (many 3 finger weapons have an extended mag to provide the option), striker or hammer fired, SA/DA or DAO.

Just food for thought. I went to lots of boards when I was looking for my carry weapon. Wanted single stack and .40cal. Eventually came down to the Walther PPS and Kahr CW40. On paper and just about every forum I visited put the PPS on top, but after having a chance to shoot both I really loved the trigger on the Kahr as well as how manageable the recoil is. Gotta go shoot before you pick

[petyweestraw]

^this probly the best answer I could've hoped for. I've shot guns here and there from shotguns rifles to pistols. As far as my frame never took that into consideration. I'm not small lol 6 foot bout 205 210. Going out to Tyler tomorrow and we normally pop off some rounds. Ill have muh buddy bring his two glocs. 9mm and a .45. Brother in law just picked up a couple new handguns and a AR15.

[bottlerocket]

^this probly the best answer I could've hoped for. I've shot guns here and there from shotguns rifles to pistols. As far as my frame never took that into consideration. I'm not small lol 6 foot bout 205 210. Going out to Tyler tomorrow and we normally pop off some rounds. Ill have muh buddy bring his two glocs. 9mm and a .45. Brother in law just picked up a couple new handguns and a AR15.

If you're anywhere near Plano, Bullet Trap is a nice place to go if you're in the market for a new gun. They have dozens of models in basically every caliber that is common.

[stang2be]

If you're anywhere near Plano, Bullet Trap is a nice place to go if you're in the market for a new gun. They have dozens of models in basically every caliber that is common.

Agreed. I'm heading there tomorrow to test out an XD45

[ceyko]

Agreed. I'm heading there tomorrow to test out an XD45

Dude are you back from the dead or something?

[ceyko]

^this probly the best answer I could've hoped for. I've shot guns here and there from shotguns rifles to pistols. As far as my frame never took that into consideration. I'm not small lol 6 foot bout 205 210. Going out to Tyler tomorrow and we normally pop off some rounds. Ill have muh buddy bring his two glocs. 9mm and a .45. Brother in law just picked up a couple new handguns and a AR15.

The big thing is don't fall for the things you "heard." I can tell you right now that everyone is giving good advice in this thread, the XDs are great, Glocks are great and there are 1-2 other names in that price range that'll be great guns that I'm aware of...

...only thing you can believe what you've heard is Hi Point sucks.

If you're concealing this weapon, I'd take the time to research holster/gun combos. I'm of the opinion that the holster is 70% of carrying. You can have a small gun, lightweight and all that - with a shitty holster it's either going to print or be uncomfortable.

Even at 6' I would still recommend a gun with a smaller grip (compact, not sub compact) - it's better to be safe then sorry.

Have fun with this...I got a dollar that says you'll end up with an XD or Glock though. Hard to pass up BOTH of those for your criteria.

[War Machine]

HK hands down! 600 will be a nice down payment

[KBScobravert]

The big thing is don't fall for the things you "heard." I can tell you right now that everyone is giving good advice in this thread, the XDs are great, Glocks are great and there are 1-2 other names in that price range that'll be great guns that I'm aware of...

...only thing you can believe what you've heard is Hi Point sucks.

If you're concealing this weapon, I'd take the time to research holster/gun combos. I'm of the opinion that the holster is 70% of carrying. You can have a small gun, lightweight and all that - with a shitty holster it's either going to print or be uncomfortable.

Even at 6' I would still recommend a gun with a smaller grip (compact, not sub compact) - it's better to be safe then sorry.

Have fun with this...I got a dollar that says you'll end up with an XD or Glock though. Hard to pass up BOTH of those for your criteria.

I found that out when looking for a holster for my XD.

[2cammer97]

Best advice has already been given....go to a range and spend a day with your wife shooting a bunch of guns. With that said, Glock, Springfield, Sig, Beretta, CZ, Ruger, HK all make great firearms. Every pistol shoots differently. What is perfect for one person might not work for another.

I own a Beretta 92A1 (full size) and Sig P239 (compact). Both are alloy frame guns (I can't get use to poly guns) and both are 9mm. They are extremely accurate with minimal felt recoil. My wife shoots both very well, which was important to me.

Good luck and post up once you get something. :-)

Marcus

[saleen449]

HK Compact USP .45

Had mine for years and love it.