Gear: Handgun

Before talking about handguns I might need to make the case for guns.  If you are preparing and you don’t have a means of protecting yourself, your loved ones and the things critical to your survival then you are not considering possible outcomes.  It’s possible that all your preparation benefits someone else.  Someone stronger, less principled and well armed.  If you let that happen then all your work is for nothing.  Indeed your efforts to survive might even make you more of a target than you otherwise would have been.

Local gun laws obviously effect any decision to buy a pistol.  Depending on where you live you may not even be able to legally own a pistol.  Other weapons are great for their specific uses but nothing compares to the usability and and ability to conceal a handgun.  For sure we can say that in any situation a handgun is better than the long gun that is too big to carry.

Semi-automatic vs revolver

Revolvers have fewer moving parts so they could be considered more reliable.  Revolvers don’t not expel casings.  They are also intuitive to operate.  Unfortunately revolvers are hard to re-load once you have fired all of your bullets.  Revolvers have a vulnerable point where the cylinder swivels out and attaches to the frame of the gun, if that becomes damaged it may not work properly.  Many people consider revolvers to be a good backup weapon.

Semi-automatic pistols share the same basic concepts.  There’s a trigger, safety button, magazine release button and a slide release button.  For the most part the only difference is where these buttons are situated.  The safest bet is to purchase a semi-automatic pistol unless you know you have special requirements that only a revolver can satisfy.

Caliber

Stopping power is the ability to put a determined attacker down with 1 shot.  Obviously more is better.  I would consider anything above 9mm to have good stopping power.  Of course the larger the bullet the less capacity you can fit into a magazine.  If you are a new shooter you want more chances to shoot assuming you have a low probability of making one perfect shot .  Larger bullets cause more recoil, this makes it harder to aim the weapon for more shots.  Don’t consider any caliber below .380.

Caliber availability

When considering what the military and police use it goes both ways.  If you pick 9mm it is guaranteed that new rounds will be produced.  However in an emergency situation military and police may confiscate bullets that fit in their weapons.  Beyond 9mm, the .45 round is very popular.  Regardless of your caliber choice make sure you have a good supply of ammunition on hand.  Most guns make for poor clubbing instruments.  For beginning shooters 9mm is fine, if you feel the need and have good experience or training then consider the additional stopping power of the .45.

Barrel length

Barrel length is a simple trade-off between accuracy and the ability to conceal the gun.  Accuracy is great but most gun fights take place at about 10 feet when it’s dark out and you’re scared as hell.  Because of that, having a gun might be more important than having a gun that is accurate but difficult to carry with you.  The point is that accuracy does you no good if the gun is too impractical to have with you when you need it.

Model

1911

The 1911 model has served the military since about 1911 (hence the name).  The military abandoned the weapon only to standardize with the 9mm NATO round.  The 1911 design is implemented by dozens of manufacturers with varying quality.  The classic 1911 uses the .45 round, the biggest criticism is the low capacity (7 rounds in the magazine).  The design benefits from the standardization between all the clones.  It’d be trivial to find a gunsmith that knows how to work with the 1911 platform.

Glock

Apart from being ugly, Glocks are very well performing guns.  They are very popular with city police departments.  They are easy to maintain and are made with a minimum of metal parts.  Contrary to the initial fear they aren’t easily passed through metal detectors.  Glocks are also available in a wide variety of calibers and form factors.  You could pick either highly accurate long barrel guns or very easy to conceal models.

Everything else

Without commenting on every brand on the market I’ll just say that good names matter and you should expect to say more than $500 for a good hand gun.  Don’t depend on a Chinese piece of crap that rattles.  A handgun purchase isn’t a recurring cost, you should spend good money for a quality product.