New to Guns!

Question
Hi,

Just wondering what type of gun is good for home defense or to carry in a car for self defense. What type is reliable? and what brand as well? My dad and I were going to go to the next Houston, Texas Gun Show in December and looking to purchase a few guns for the house. My dad had a few guns back in his days and said to me that smith & wesson brands are reliable. Also said that a revolver is best at reliability simply because it does not jam or anything. Is that true?

Buying a gun for me is an investment, especially when I need it in the neighborhood that I live in. But anyways since Im going to be investing in something I like my things to look nice as well. To some people it doesnt matter but to me it does. I would like a gun that looks really nice as well as how good it is in reliability and power. Please let me know what gun could fit in my criteria.

What guns do they sell in a gun show? To narrow that broad question like do they only sell USA brand guns or all around the world guns such as Russian, German guns as well? To me I wouldnt know the difference but I am just wondering. I am looking around at websites looking for answers and such. But I would like to ask an expert about this instead of my own knowledge. Thanks.

Answer
Andrew,

Depending on who's sponsoring the gun show, they will have all kinds of brands there. From the ones you've mentioned, you're in the market for a handgun.

Truthfully, you would be better to take an NRA class, go to a range and rent some guns before you bought one.

Here are some general principles for you to consider, though.

1) All handguns are poor stoppers, and the days of people psychologically giving up simply because they've been shot once are pretty much over. In several of the shootings I've reviewed, the perpetrators were shot 5+ times before believing the defender was serious.

2) To me (and most police agencies or people serious about self defense), that pretty much takes revolvers out of the running. 5-6 shots are just too few for me to bet my life on. In the days of sloppy milling machines, lead bullets and messy lube, and bad spring metallurgy it WAS true that revolvers were more reliable than autos. That is no longer the case. In the modern technological world, owing to the small and finely-fit parts of revolvers, revolvers today are slightly LESS reliable than autos.  If you did want one, S&W makes the best and most expensive. If you wanted to go cheaper, Taurus makes very nice revolvers that look nice and work just as well, though among revolver aficionados they do not believe that they are as smooth as the Smiths. One other thing - if it's for self-defense, get a double-action only model. An exposed hammer is a liability for drawing the gun, and if you have to use it, you can count on the opposition's attorney saying that you cocked the hammer with your thumb (even if you didn't), thereby making a "hair trigger."  This is not theoretical - it's happened in court.

3) Beauty is as beauty does. The "prettiest" auto you can get is probably a 1911 of some make.  Being that the design is now almost 100 years old, that gun from any manufacturer also malfunctions with regularity.  I see it all the time in classes that I teach and at IDPA matches.  I've owned a few over the years and like them, but for games only.  I would never entrust my life to one unless there was nothing else.

The most reliable guns are often considered by people new to guns to be "ugly" - these being Glocks and the new S&W M&P (most S&W auto pistols are dogs, but the new M&P is an exception, and is giving the Glock a run for its money).

In the classes I run, I see people having trouble with SIGs (feeding malfunctions if it's rainy or muddy), Berettas (cutting their hands or tripping safeties during manipulations due to a poor ergonomic design), and similar problem with others.

The Glocks and M&Ps are totally reliable out of the box, have no sharp edges, and disappear in your hands when you are manipulating (reloading, malfunction drills) or shooting them - the only thing an experienced shooter is aware is the sights. The rest of the gun just melds into your hand. Contrasted to other guns, which variably bite, pinch, abrade, or have little protrusions that stick into the hand (s) of the shooter, there is nothing distracting about them.

Guns are tools, and that is underscored for self-defense guns.  It would be foolish to choose a hammer based on its sight-appeal - the question is how well does it perform the task you need a hammer to do.  When you look at it that way, it changes your perspective.  I think that Glocks are the most beautiful guns on the planet simply because they are accurate, easy to shoot, and I go literally several tens of thousands of rounds without malfunction. In fact, in the 15 years I've carried, trained with, taught with, and competed with a Glock, I have had only 4 malfunctions, and every one of them I could trace to shooter error - in other words, it was something that I did, and should have known better than to do. It was not the fault of the gun.

I'm not sure if this is the answer you wanted, but the truth is that Pretty is as pretty does, not as pretty looks.

I've owned nearly every brand of gun, and have gotten rid of most of them. I've had Glocks now for 15 years. The S&W M&P, while new and without Glock's track record, is showing promise.

You'll find guys out there with SIGs that are as reliable as the sun coming up.  I don't doubt they are telling the truth.  I'm saying that in observing literally hundreds of every major make and model of gun in use, the one I have observed that works most reliably is the Glock.

It's hard to pick a gun for someone else, but playing the odds, the Glock will probably work FOR YOU (that it, it will fit you hand, etc.). Mechanically, it will work every time. And working every time you pull the trigger is the first order of business in a self-defense gun.