Hand gun

[dustint21]

I have owned and shot all of the name brand pistols made! The 247 is a good gun for the money, but resale is not great! IMO I like Springfield Armory's XD series! Great gun, great customer service! It is all in how it feels to you! The 247 has a lock built into the gun which is really nice if you have kids or grand kids! Just make sure you like the way it shoots and feels! If you plan on using this as home defense go with 40 or 45!

[Mighty E]

i own two handguns. both are Springfield Armory XD series.
.40 & .45
the .40 is a sub-compact (3" barrel) while the .45 is a standard 4" barrel
i absolutely love both of these weapons. the .45 has about 3500 rounds through it & the .40 is at about 2800 or so. i've had one jam with the .45, but that was using a cheap reload a friend gave me & it didn't eject properly. this line of weapons rec'd handgun of the year & has had great reviews. the sight angle on it is unbeatable. go to academy & compare with the taurus & glock. hold the gun at your side & raise it up to sight in an object. the glock will require some wrist movement to get the sight picture correct as will the taurus. the xd should be right on the money.

springfield makes the .45 in a compact as well with a shorter grip making carry easier and it comes with a full length magazine & grip extender for versatility. obviously i'm an advocate for the XD but i did my research & talked to a few gun freak friends in the military & all agreed.
the .45 is actually easier to shoot with the longer barrel despite the heavier round and the recoil isn't bad at all. in fact, i'm due for a day at the range soon so shoot me a pm if you want to join me & shoot for yourself.
plan to spend 500-550 for a springfield but it's well well worth it. remember, you're buying this for protection & safety. going cheap is, well....you get what you pay for
captexas mentioned the kimber (1911)...that's a nice weapon. kimber makes one of the better 1911's out but they dont come cheap (think 7-8 hundred on average)

ps. get the .45 in which ever brand you choose. you might as well have the stopping power available.

[Zoofan]

I am active duty and overseas right now. I carry a 9mm everyday and I would not want to get into any bad situation in it.(however, a well placed round is effective) I guess it depends why you want gun. For me where I am at I rarely go outside the wire so it is nicer to carry a 9mm and 2 clips then a 45 and 2 clips for weight purposes. But if you want real stopping power then go bigger. If you are just worried about putting some holes in paper then the 9mm will do the job. Kimber is a great gun and worth the price if you have the money.

Mike

[alteredego]

I have shot many brands and diffrent cal. pistols, from a bottom of the line hi point to a full comp STI. I own two hi pionts, two rugers, two comp STI, Glock .40, S&W .40, Tauras pt1911, and a DE .50 for looks. I was an active competitor in the USPSA competitions at the bullet hole range. I shot in both the production class as well as the single stack 1911 class. The big question was always "what pistol do you shoot" If you went by everyones personal preference you would own just about every gun on the market. I went out of my way to make a point that it's not all the pistol. With out any mods I was nearly always in the top 25% of the coarses. The pistol I was using was a hi point .40sw, and a tauras pt1911 .45, these were about the cheapest in there cal. The hi point being $125.00 at the gun show in austin, and the PT1911 being $460.00 at a local dealer. I had no problems with both factory ammo and reloads. You have to decide what you are going to use this weapon for and go from there. If it a home protection gun, make sure all in the home that may use it are well schooled on it, that means dozens and maybe hundreds of rounds are shot by each member. There is nothing worse than a "gun shy" member of your family pulling a weapon they are afraid of in a hostile situation. If it is for recreation, just get the one that feels right in your hand. No one can tell you what brand will fit you. As for reliability, price doesn't dictate this. I've got a $1600 STI comp peice, that I wouldn't protect my home with because it's so modified it wont put off the shelf ammo out consitantly, we've got to make special comp loads. The key factors I've found are shooting the correct loads and cleaning for the type of ammo fired through it, as well as proper lube. If you fire the "off the shelf" dirty rounds you get from academy for 3.99 a box you need to dig a bit deeper into your weapon for cleaning each time you come home because the powder resedue is every where in the gun. If you shoot lead you need to use a diffrent cleaning method to get the lead out. Not all lubes are the same. I use a lube that kinda feels like honey, but you use much much less, you apply it with a very small paint brush to a few diffrent points. When you ask people their idea of a weapon they own, also ask what types of ammo they use and how they clean it as well as how often. I may have great luck because I tear down every weapon I take to the range to its basic peices. When you do this you'll find every little thing before it becomes a problem.
Sorry for the long reading, but I have been on both sides of the fence on this one and I'm just sharing what I found. I gave the same advice to my brother and sister in law, and they saved a bunch of money and enjoy shooting on the weekends trouble free.
BTW, you may have to ask your local gun club or even gun store on help getting a few models apart, and even back together, I did. They were glad to help.
Also check out Ho's guns on culebra road near the sonic. He is always glad to help.

[Darth-Tater]

I want to say thanks to everyone for all of the advice.I knew it would be a long process when I started this. It seems funny for 30 yrs it has been no guns in the house (wife put her foot down) now she says it's OK to get a gun . Go figure. I am off to Bullet Hole today to some exploring and to fire several guns. Hey Ray the El Camino is my favorite auto. I restored a 74 many years ago & spent bundles of money in motor etc only to have to sell it while I spent 4 yrs in a wheelchair and could not drive it or work on it. Painted it Chicken s**t yellow. I will be waiting for gun shows and will begin the process of finding one. Thanks again to everyone in the help me make a decision.

Tater

[ismvel]

AUSTIN
JUNE 21-22 AUSTIN, TX
Gun Show, Crockett Center, Austin, TX. Saxet Gun Shows, PO Box 5677, Corpus Christi, TX 78465.
(361) 289-2256.

JULY 19-20 AUSTIN, TX
Gun Show, Crockett Center, Austin, TX. Saxet Gun Shows, PO Box 5677, Corpus Christi, TX 78465.
(361) 289-2256.

SAN ANTONIO
JUNE 28-29 SAN ANTONIO, TX
Gun Show, Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, TX. Saxet Gun Shows, PO Box 5677, Corpus Christi, TX 78465.
(361) 289-2256.

JULY 12-13 SAN ANTONIO, TX
Gun Show, Alzafar Shrine Temple, San Antonio, TX. Saxet Gun Shows, PO Box 5677, Corpus Christi, TX 78465.
(361) 289-2256.

[tony]

guy in my ccw class had a 2 week old $1200 kimber 1911. about 20 shots in the sights fell off. gorgeous gun though.

i had a .40 XD sc as mentioned earlier, loved the gun but hated the feel of it therefore i didnt shoot well with it. great gun though.

glocks, outstanding guns but once again they dont feel right in my hands.

this wasnt made to bash any opinions but more as an example of what is good for one, might not be for another

sounds like you have the right approach. catch the gun show at freeman, the one at the shriners temple tends to have everything but guns

good luck!

[captexas]

Kind of strange, but Live Oak Civic Center will have their little gun show the same weekend as the SAXET show at Freeman on Jun 28 to 29. The SAXET shows are the bigger ones and the best ones to go to if you are looking to buy new. The smaller shows tend to have a lot of individuals selling used guns and a lot of other stuff non-gun related. Between SA and Austin, Austin's gun show is bigger for some reason.

[carlinsa]

hey tater head i told you come over and we can go shooting i only have 5 hand guns you can try from 22 to 40 cals. and i can get a few others. i have a friend sellinghis pt247 we can go shoot that one too.

[tony]

Between SA and Austin, Austin's gun show is bigger for some reason.

it used to be the opposite, then the lease was lost on the convention center on broadway. we didnt have a saxet show for probly a year or so while they sorted out a venue