Probably ball ammo (full metal) our armed forced don't use any small arms ammo that isn't ball ammo to my knowledge.

 

ball, still I just dont trust 9mm. If the "home invaders" on anything and they ussually are, I dont belive a hollow point 9mm would stop them.imho

 

Home protection. I like this one better than my shotgun.

 

I shoot a Sig P226 9. I recommend 9mm for an all around gun since ammo is cheaper and practice is the most important thing anyway.

That said, if it's mostly for HD, get a .45 or a shotgun. Your wife can probably handle a smaller shotgun, too.

Hollowpoints only in the house. FMJ can overpenetrate (walls, etc.) which is not good if there are kids in the house and such.

 

view this! vary good video!
hollow point vs full metal
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/875708...point_bullets/

 

When I shoot at the local range the only difference in ammo price between 9mm and .40 is $2 / box of 50 rounds. After shooting each I wouldn't get a 9mm for anything other than shooting for fun. Look at the holes in this target I shot.

The 9mm looks like it tore the paper.


The .40 looks like it punched a hole straight through it.


If you're talking home defense though I'd just stick with a good old 12 gauge.

 

or tyler you can put down both of those women guns and get a .45 lol

 

LOL, I shot my friends dad's .45 Ruger revolver. Old school western style looking thing. He only shoots his own reloads and needless to say he doesn't skimp on them. Talk about a hand cannon. When we were shooting it everyone around us stopped and looked in our gate wondering what we were shooting. Every shot was blowing chunks of cardboard out of the target backer. I'm not talking a little either... I'm talking like good 2-2.5 inch diameter pieces. It definetly was impressive.

 

wanna see what wins, without firing a shot....good old AK-47 never jam, never clean it.....never stops.

I ve fired many many of these all diff kind and none of them jamed or refused to fire, and Im talkin ones that were buried for 2 or 3 years. The whole rifle has like 3 moving parts......not that M-4s are not better, but anyone thats carried one into battle knows It requires ALOT of cleaning.

 

^ Good point. You can't argue with the good old AK. They're old as ***** and still in use all over the world. The balistics on the 7.62 round are very nice too.

 

My dirty Harry gun, .44 magnum. This is still mine but no longer my inside the house shooting choice!

 

Yeah, those are beasts. I had an SKS 7.62 but I felt like a soviet. I'd rather have the NATO weapons

 

Yur not kiddin about that, the first AK I ever bought the gun shop threw in a 1000 round of ammo, 5 mags and a bunch of other stuff. Not 10 seconds out of the parking lot I got pulled over(taillight) It took about 45min to explaine what I was doing with that kind of wepon and all that ammo, At least I can look back on it now and smile.

 

Some very good information.

 

OP, the best way to pick a handgun is:
1. pick your caliber, you'll get a million opinions but the bottom line is for home defense you want a manstopper, ie: big hole, low penetration 9mm,.40,357mag, .45
2. auto or revolver? revolver is as dependable and easy to shoot as it gets, auto has more shots and rapid fires easier but can you work it in a panic? can you unjam it quickly?
3. pick a quality brand sig sauer,glock,ruger,colt,smith and wesson
4. narrow your choices down to 3 or 4 and shoot them all. Which one feels the best in your hands? Which one can you hit something with? Which one would you choose if your life depended on it in the dark, when your awakened suddenly and terrified?

Resist the temptation of bigger is better. You want a one shot man-stopper, but if it kicks so hard or is so heavy you can't properly handle it you won't practice much and if you ever need it may not be able to hit a damn thing.

Better a shot to the center chest with a 9mm than a big *** hole in the wall next to your foe from a .44magnum!

All that said, if you are an average sized and strength guy I would say a S&W.357 magnum revolver or a S&W .45 auto is a good starting point if you don't know where else to start.
Practice and proper training IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT than what gun you have.

For the record, I used to have a S&W 9mm and then a Taurus PT145 .45auto for home protection. Now it's the Bushmaster AR-15 M-4 I have in the picture above. And a 12 guage shotgun. choices, choices

 

No one has mentioned the 50 cal., now that is a hand cannon!!

 

I have a Mossberg 12 guage for my primary and a makarov 9mm as a back up.

 

Richie Carbone has a gold desert eagle in .50 AE.

 

9mm will do you just fine. The ONLY time 9mm would be insuffcient is when your opponent is wearing kevlar (which would be about .01% of the time). Ask anybody who has been shot in the chest to see if they could identify the caliber they were shot with. It don't matter a bullet is a bullet. 9mm hollow point will **** up somebody just as good.


Me, I like XD's. I have shot Glocks and I own a XD 9mm. The XD has never jammed and I can shoot bowling pins at 25 yds with ease and at 50 yds within 3 shots with cheap 115 gr walmart FMJ.

Glocks have too much of a grip angle for me.

My answer would be to pick out three different handguns and go to a dealer with a range in house. Shoot all three and buy the one you shoot the best.