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[–] cyclops1771 1 point -1 points (+0|-1) ago 

Get a shotgun for self defense.

You;ll miss with a pistol and hurt yourself or an innocent bystander.

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[–] watchers ago 

anything you can shoot accurately is fine. go to a range with a friend and they typically have several models to rent and try out.

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[–] Beta_Ray_Bill 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

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[–] buggermeevenharder [S] ago 

TIL which gun to buy in case of werewolves or aliens. lol

https://invidio.us/watch?v=eNRGMIeBV78

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[–] acheron2012 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago  (edited ago)

Is this to carry or have in your home?

Either way you want a mid sized caliber.

A revolver has MANY advantages. Its limitation is that it only holds 5 or 6 rounds and it is best to assume you won't be able to reload it - one round at a time is out of the question and speed loaders are VERY bulky. Testosterone tends to make men ignore revolvers. But keep in mind that 5 certain shots are a lot better than MAYBE 15. There are lots of different failure modes for autoloaders, the most obvious is just a simple jam.

For a revolver the ideal load is .357 magnum. A .38 is OK-ish. But a .38 is not that much physically smaller and it has MUCH less stopping power.

Stopping power is the key. And unless you are planning to shoot down Superman, or at least Underdog, muzzle velocity could not possibly matter less. It is the single least useful parameter in self defense. Muzzle ENERGY is stopping power. No one is going to outrun 900 ft/sec. But drugs make a huge difference when evaluating stopping power.

The US Army determined that 103 ft/lb of energy is the minimum required to put an enemy soldier out of commission. Someone on PCP will need as much more as you can muster. Regardless the point here is do NOT get a .22; .25; .32 and ideally not a .380. They simply are not powerful enough to ensure you will do more than piss off an attacker.

For a pistol (autoloader) 9mm is really the absolute minimum. A 9mm is physically MUCH larger than a .380. This is because the increased chamber pressure forces a 9mm to have a locking breach. But if you are serious about self defense there isn't really any choice. Further the next step up from 9mm is .40 S&W. The .40 S&W is a MUCH better choice. This is the best possible pistol for self defense.

So:

For a Revolver - .357 magnum

For a Pistol - .40 S&W with a good solid second choice of 9mm.

Edit: As for manufacturer, it doesn't matter that much. Don't buy Juan's guns 'r us but anyone you have heard of is likely of quality higher than you need. The main thing is to get something that fits your hand. Also if you are going to carry it keep in mind that the big beautiful sights will snag and prevent you from drawing it when you need it. There are some self defense guns that have little more than a longitudinal groove along the top of the frame.

People will try to sell you a Sig if you look at pistols. And they are glorious guns. But you can have something completely adequate for 1/3 the price, maybe less. Surprisingly perhaps Taurus (Brazil if I recall) is a very good weapon. Sadly Ruger (US) has had some quality problems.

If you go to a place with an indoor range they will usually let you try out different models.

The most important thing of all it to practice. Don't buy a weapon, stick in a drawer, and assume in 5 years you'll be able to remember how to load it.

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[–] JodyOnTheBlock ago 

A little to add to this otherwise on-the-mark post... I would have to consider you a novice. Go with a revolver rather than a semi-automatic pistol. Double-action. Leave the chamber under the hammer/pin empty. The weapon cannot accidentally discharge if dropped if there is no round in the chamber. However, move the safety to the off position, cock the hammer back and/or just squeeze the trigger and someone is having a very bad day. There is no possibility of a round mis-chambering and you do not have to take those precious moments to chamber a round as you do with a semi. If you need more than 4 rounds to stop a home invasion, you likely need more than 11.

acheron2012 mentioned the Brazilian-made Taurus as a well made weapon and I agree. Especially at their price point. Specifically all models of the Taurus Judge are beautiful pistols because they are designed to hold a .410 shotgun round and a .45 caliber slug. Having a shotgun cartridge in your pistol means you get a "spread" of pellets sprayed downrange making the likelihood of striking your target even greater. Buckshot (for deer...bucks) cartridges run from #4 to 000 (triple-aught) which refers to the size of the shot pellets (a .410 slug is also produced). Number four buckshot has about 20 pellets maybe the size of bb's. Triple aught buckshot has 4 pellets maybe the size of pachinko balls. You can buy #4, #3, #2, #1, 0, 00, and 000 buckshot. There are also home defense rounds that are simply sick. Three .410 rounds and a .45 kicker will stop almost any land mammal.

The biggest benefit to a novice shooter is there is no chambering a round. I would never keep a round in the chamber even though machismo. Chambering a round will become second nature after you've done it a thousand times. If your life depends on it, a revolver won't let you down.

Dry firing. I have dry fired rifles and pistols both. In training a penny is put on the end of the round barrel and we dry fired for hours until we could squeeze the trigger smooth enough for the penny to stay on the tip of the barrell. Trigger control. I've never been told not to dry fire a modern firearm. Consult the manufacturer for best practices. https://www.taurususa.com/faq-results.cfm?faqID=24

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[–] buggermeevenharder [S] ago 

Is this to carry or have in your home?

Good question. I plan to keep it in home for now. Carrying has some complications I'd rather avoid, and I don't leave the house often enough to make it worth the hassle.

The most important thing of all it to practice.

Understood. I plan to practice semi-regularly, maybe several times per year. Can you tell me about "dry firing"?

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[–] acheron2012 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

"Dry firing" is to pull the trigger of a weapon without a round in the chamber. Most people will tell you it is a catastrophically bad idea. I would probably leave out catastrophically and just go with "not very good". Many decades ago it was likely to damage the weapon - break the firing pin. But gun designs and metallography have advanced to the point this is mostly baseless at this point.

That said even if it won't break your weapon it isn't "good" for it. You can buy dummy rounds that have a spring loaded percussion cap that will cushion the firing pin. In practice you probably won't dry fire enough to worry about it. One time (or 10, or 30) is just not something to worry about. 5000? Well maybe that's not such a great plan. But why would you do that? You'll find you won't.

It is a good idea to dry fire a weapon when you go to purchase it. You should ALWAYS squeeze the trigger. The faster you pull it the poorer your accuracy. However when trying out a new one squeeze the trigger as slowly as you can. Does it feel rough? Bind up at spots? Does it creep down with steady pressure? Any sort of dynamics is a sign of a poor quality weapon. In competition weapons a person will spend nearly as much on trigger work as on sights.

So yes. Dry fire at least once. It will tell you more, faster, about a weapon than much anything else you can determine. Of course for pure self defense it doesn't matter as much as for target practice. But still, if the trigger pull feels like it has sand in it the weapon is of poor quality. And if you get something that you cannot get at least decent accuracy at the range with you will be disinclined to bother. If you go to practice as a self defense labor of work and become a "gun nut" and end up shooting competitively every month... well you wouldn't be the first.