So a few weekends back i got the chance to shoot off my first firearms. First being a Smithh and Wesson .44 Magnum. Not much kick to the thing as i though and it was fun cause the cartridge size was nice. then i got the chance to shoot of a 12 guage with buck shot. Both pretty fun, but i enjoyed the .44 most. Except for the fact of loosing my hearing after every round lol.


So recently i have been throwing around the idea of having a gun in the car at all times, since i am in college and me and my girlfriend like to go to little rock or other parts of arkansas, its one of those "you never know" situations. Now i have always had the feeling that using a gun was cowardly and irresponsible. However, i can see where the gun could come into play. However, i wasnt raised around guns and i know very little about them, i do know how they work though, also i know how deadly they can be.

So, what i would like to know is good makers of quality handguns and what is recommended for personal use? I couldnt imagine having a .44 ( which my friend carries in his truck at all times ) because of the size and weight, unless it was a Desert Eagle ( but i dont have 1500 to spend ). What should i know? What does it take to get my license? All information is appreciated.

 

home defense... nothing will ever beat a shotgun. end of story.

i wouldnt get a pistol 'just' to carry in the car. i know of a handful of people who have gotten broken into and had their pistol stolen like that.
if your going to do that then just get a CHL and carry all the time.

it's all personal preferance. if the weight bothers you, size of gun, ect.
if you want something micro, then Kahr makes a tiny .380, but thats like pocket sized.
could get a baby glock in 9 or .40, or if size doesnt worry you, a kimber 45 in carry size or govt. size.

.45 if my favorite round and has proven itself time again. but i also liked the .40 alot. i didnt care for a 9mm at all and its got ballistic issues people dont like too.


but as someone else will chime in and say. HAVING a gun isnt the same as USING it. just because you have one doesnt mean your protected. if you dont know how to use it propery and are properly trained, you wont be effective and could actualy have it turned against you. so i believe the smartest thing to do is proper training/practice. thats WAY more effective than what round your using or type of pistol.

 

aggreed, what does training intail?

 

I carry a glock 22 in .40 cal. If you want a good quality, reliable gun you are going to spend some doe. I think that glock, colt, kimber, springfield, beretta, and smith & wesson. Call your local gun shop for rules and regs on the license. I know if you are crossing the border that you will have to check with that state and make sure your carry license is good in there state. As far as calibers go it all really depends on what you can shoot accurately. You dont want something that is over kill to carry and you get in the situation that you have to use it and you cant hit the broad side of a barn with it.

 

Sig .357! the only way to travel !

 

As far as traveling across state lines, check anyway, but you should be ok with a CHL due to the fact states have to extend "full faith and credit", just so long as you aren't staying for any extended period of time. Just get your CHL and that should give you all the training you need, and allow you to carry all the time, not just in your car (you aren't always going to be in or around your car when you might need/want the gun). As far as what calibre, I agree with xtremeBBQ, you can't go wrong with .45, preferably a colt or kimber.

 

Don't forget Sig Sauer. Sig's are very smooth operating weapons, but you pay for quality. Go with a .45 or .40, you won't regret either. .45 is a larger round, costs more, .40 is a bit cheaper to buy ammo for & you usually get a little more magazine capacity due to the round being smaller.

I'd recommend you getting a Sig P229 or P220.

The P229 would be best for concealed & car carry. Also, you can change the caliber on the 229 by changing the barrel. You can get 9mm, .40, and .357sig. I'm probably going to get one in .40 & get the 9mm barrel just to have a cheaper option when I want to go to the range & burn up some ammo.

It's important to shoot with the same ammo you carry with some also. I'm not saying shoot 100 rounds of defense ammo, because that would be expensive, but shoot maybe a box every now & then along with your range ammo. The most important thing is to actually go shoot somewhat regularly. It will make using the firearm instinctive. Look around for practical shooting classes also, I've been meaning to myself...but you do things like draw & shoot, have a mag with 2 rounds & you shoot those, drop the mag & reload & shoot again.....just different types of shooting that simulate real situations rather than just sitting at a bench on a range.

The most important rule you can ever remember:
TREAT EVERY GUN AS IF IT WERE LOADED, EVEN IF YOU WATCH THE GUY UNLOAD IT & HAND IT TO YOU, OPEN THE CHAMBER & VISUALLY INSPECT IT TO ENSURE THERE IS NOT A ROUND IN THE CHAMBER. Guns are just machined or molded mechanisms, mechanisms fail.....bullets get stuck in the chamber. Bad ammo is usually the cause, but sometimes guns just made it thru quality control that shouldn't have....so treat it with respect, don't ever point it at anything you don't plan on shooting.

Edit: Crager shot my Sig, he owns a Glock, send him a PM & ask him how he liked it. I shot his Glock .40 I was considering getting one but now I'm not. ..they are known to be good reliable guns, but his wasn't firing because the firing pin wasn't lubed or something like that. His gun is pretty new & probably hasn't seen near as many rounds as my Sig. I take care of my guns, but sometimes I get lazy & don't always clean them right away. I can tell you that my Sig has never had a misfire that was mechanical, it's always been cheap ammo. His firing pin wasn't even striking the primer. Anyhow, I did shoot his & it jerks up pretty violently compared to my larger caliber .45. It just seemed like target re-acquisition was much easier with my gun. There are die hard Glock guys out there, and I know they are good guns, but the best thing to do is find your buddies that have guns & shoot theirs til you find one you fall in love with. If you are ever down this way (Houston) hit me up, I'll let you squeeze off a few round.

 

Dont forget H&K!
All are good guns, some perfer some over others. Go to a gun store and ask to hold the ones you are thinking about. You should get something that feels right in your own hands.
There is an endless debate on what caliber is best, "stopping power" vs cost to practice etc. So just pick what you want, I would go with 9mm or .45

You should try to go to a range and get a feel for shooting before you take the CHL course. If you apply and shoot with a revolver, you are only allowed to carry that. If you apply with a semi-auto you can carry both, keep that in mind.

 

paging nine ball.....

 

I've always wanted to carry an assault rifle in my car. Am I crazy? Pistols don't really do it for me.

 

long weapon in a confined space....

 

You have to be 21 or older to own a handgun and get a CHL. You can check on the Texas website and see if Arkansas accepts a Texas CHL, but I would be more concerned with the college rules. Keeping it in your car is likely against school policy (and maybe illegal) and Im sure having it in your dorm room (if you live on campus) is against the rules. If you live off campus it may not be a big deal, but if you live on campus and your car is parked there all the time, it may not be worth the risk. Outside of that, just buy a gun you are comfortable with, everyone has their own likes.

 

There's probably a way to stick it in the passenger footwell somehow. It's perfectly legal and carry a rifle in the car in open view is it not?

 

It is, but you can't fire it from your car with near the ease of a handgun. I will shoot thru my windows if someone's trying to get into my car while I'm in it. Cops have shot/killed people thru their windshields. When they have people pulled over, the people get out of the car with a gun & come up & the cop takes em out thru the glass.....even with my carbine sized AR15 with the stock telescoped all the way in it would be hard to shoot with any accuracy inside the car. If you want to carry a rifle or shottie, carry it in the trunk & have it on some sort of quick release set of clamps/hold downs & carry a pistol in the cabin. If you get into a firefight, you have your handgun to grab first & if **** get's hairy, you don't want to be stuck in the car...pop the trunk, grab more firepower, take cover & go Rambo on some fools.

 

Why not .40? They are cheaper than .45 and have similar velocities. Only way I would choose a 9mm over a .40 or .45 is if I just 'had' to have super high capacity mags, just wanted a range only gun, or wanted an ultra compact/light concealed carry sidearm.

It's just like a cam, usually the first cam you get is conservative & you with you would have went bigger....same applies with handguns, lol.

9mm Cheapest ammo, great for a range gun
.40 Best value all around IMO great power, fair price ammo
.45 For those that like an easy round to find & like big grain bullets
.357 Sig excellent power but expensive ammo

If you like revolvers, a .357mag is really nice & you can shoot .38 ammo in it at the range to save money.

And yeah, I forgot to mention H&K. Also Springfield's XD line of sidearms is an excellent line that seems to have really started winning over a lot of folks, even some of the hardcore glock folks are using the XD's now. There are a lot of good guns out there, but there are also a lot of crappy ones too. is your frand! Research the ones you like once you start narrowing down the ones you may buy. I found an article on a test on the P220, that's what made me get mine, and out of the box, it's been one of the best handguns I've had the pleasure of shooting.

 

I have a hk usp compact .40 and love it, but it wasn't exactly cheap. My brother has the sig p220 and I really like it and would recommend it to anyone. Another gun I liked was the Walther p99. I would suggest researching as much as possible until you figure out what you really want and go to gun stores/shows to look and get the feel of the guns.

 

+1 on both the HK & P99. If you have kids, the P99 is really nice because you can 'lock' the gun so it won't work without using a clamshell trigger guard.

I've shot both of those & they were great, the HK was a sweet gun, it just didn't fit me, I didn't shoot well with it. The Walther was also very smooth & I could shoot well with it, I'm just not a 9mm guy. They probably have a .40, but I haven't looked. Also, check out after market grips when you look at guns, a nice grip can really change the feel of a gun, just realize some of them will make it a bit thicker if you ever plan to C.C.

 

i have a 9 mm glock and it is a good gun to carry in my oinion, cheap *** shells to shoot at the range and with a 17 round magazine full of hydrashoks , i doubt anyone would walk away if i ever had to use it.So unless you have a lot of coin to spend on practice ammo, i think this gun would work, even though there are much better rounds out there for stopping power.

 

Guys, we have a very active weapons forum over at www.SeatStaysUp.com , and your ls1tech user account works there too.

http://www.seatstaysup.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2

Lets move the firearms discussion there, where people might not get offended.