Need help Picking out a Pistol

Throw me some ideas websites and knowledge about what you think would be a good Duty weapon for me.

Oh looking at .45 btw....

I recently was looking at the Glocks....9mm though. There is so much info and support for them on the net, it feels like a no brainer. Alternatively, I was looking at a 9mm Sig as well. Rave/Attius might be able to chime in with their recommendations but I think they like Glocks as well.

I havent got anything yet but I've registered my hands with the local sheriff in case something goes down. Can't ever be too careful with lethal weapons....litigatious society of ours.

Guy at work got a sweet Beretta 9mm for Xmas. Personally, I like .40cals or 10mm. I think both Glock and Sig Sauer make 'em. More stopping power than a 9mm with about the same recoil. The standard .45, using ACP ball rounds, actually has less muzzle velocity and stopping power than a 9mm, with a heck of a lot more kick.

You need to define the mission of pistol. I can give no further advice until you tell me what it is for.
Please also advise me as to why the .45acp round is the one you have decided on.

BTW I do have lots of advice on this, I try to shoot as much as time and $$ allow, and am just waiting on the weather to get nicer before I get outside.. I do foundly sneak out to my gunsafe and check my pistols every so often..
I just got into cigars recently I can't wait to get all the crap that is in my garage out so I can sit out there and clean guns and smoke my cigars.. seems dreamy..

You need to define the mission of pistol. I can give no further advice until you tell me what it is for.
Please also advise me as to why the .45acp round is the one you have decided on.

It is my duty pistol for when i officially become a Police Officer...

.45...was advised by a few officer friends of mine.

attius wrote:
I just got into cigars recently I can't wait to get all the crap that is in my garage out so I can sit out there and clean guns and smoke my cigars.. seems dreamy..

Ooooh! Cigar thread! Cigar thread!

I've been smoking them for several years and have a well stocked humidor (I can advise you on how to make a cheap "igloodor" once you graduate from the small wooden box). Favorite brands, price vs. value, discussion aplenty!

Ooooh! Cigar thread! Cigar thread!

I've been smoking them for
several years and have a well stocked humidor (I can advise you on how
to make a cheap "igloodor" once you graduate from the small wooden
box). Favorite brands, price vs. value, discussion aplenty!

Gonna stop this hijack right here lol......this thread is about guns.........guns guns bang bang guns...

Paranoia wrote:

Ooooh! Cigar thread! Cigar thread!

I've been smoking them for
several years and have a well stocked humidor (I can advise you on how
to make a cheap "igloodor" once you graduate from the small wooden
box). Favorite brands, price vs. value, discussion aplenty!

Gonna stop this hijack right here lol......this thread is about guns.........guns guns bang bang guns...

Did I forget to mention my EXPLODING cigars?

/hijack off

Lontano wrote:

/hijack off

What you do in your spare time is your own business.

What you do in your spare time is your own business.

Brakkish wrote:

Lontano wrote:

/hijack off

What you do in your spare time is your own business.

Of course spacing matters...

/hi jackoff

Is it an insult, or greeting followed by lewdness? You decide!

Paranoia wrote:

You need to define the mission of pistol. I can give no further advice until you tell me what it is for.
Please also advise me as to why the .45acp round is the one you have decided on.

It is my duty pistol for when i officially become a Police Officer...

.45...was advised by a few officer friends of mine.

Alright couple of things Paranoia.

1) Many agencies at least here in Oregon provide the duty handgun or give you some cash towards one but you have to buy a particular type. You may not have a choice in caliber, or make and model. This is a good idea in general as it allows you and random backup buddy to do things like swap mags when the SHTF, or be 100% proficient with the other officers firearm. Standardization in this area is a Good thing.
2) Opinions about calibers is a never ending debate. I am 9mm shooter, I choose this caliber because ammo is cheap, readily available, and for real work I shoot a bullet that makes quarter size holes in my target, and fully loaded I have 20 rounds. My .45acp friends are like you don't need 20 rounds if you hit what you aim at (under fire great shooters still miss a lot). There is an incredible amount of science in this area, and it is a moving target, what you know today is out of date in 6 months. I was just talking to someone that's job was to rescue ambushed special forces guys in iraq, and he was raving about the 10mm as it punch's type 2 body armour and occasionally type 2+. The FBI has switched to 10mm for this reason. (btw type 1 body armour is what police wear ). I would consider 40S&W and maybe 10mm seriously, and 9mm and 45 secondarily
3)Gun brands, there is a reason all the cops use glocks, I can summarize it like this. It is always loaded and chambered, the only wait the round discharges is by pulling the trigger, period, assuming your gun isn't internally damaged in some bizar fashion. Glocks are not pretty but they work. buying a salon gun like a sig is not a good way to go, when you get involved and you discover the cock and lock methods to get a gun like a sig or 1911safely chambered you will wish you had a glock. I say this as a guy whose main rifle is a Sig 5.56, it is a beautiful weapon, shoots like a dream.. I got nothing against Sigs, but for the job you.

I can go on and on and on this would be easier in chat, and compared to the guys I know I am no expert, but I can certainly help point you in the right direction.

Thanks for the info...i was going back and forth between the .40 and the .45....Reading alot on the diffs between the manufacturers. One Manufacture that caught my eye was the Springfield XD..any knowledge on that particular line>?

Hi ya Para, I own a XD .45ACP. Absolutely love the pistol! Cant say enough good about it. I bought it for CCW, carry it all the time in a crossbreed supertuck holster. If you have any questions on XD's heres a good site to check out.... XDtalk.com I'm a frequent on there, tons of good info ) A couple things on my XD, it has a thumb safety and a grip safety, which is the main reason I bought one. Only got about 500 rounds through mine so far, not one jam or issue, it eats everything I throw at it lol, not very cheap to shoot alot, but I shoot as much as I can afford ) Any questions, just give me a holler )

Hi ya Para, I own a XD .45ACP. Absolutely love the pistol! Cant say
enough good about it. I bought it for CCW, carry it all the time in a
crossbreed supertuck holster. If you have any questions on XD's heres a
good site to check out.... XDtalk.com I'm a frequent on there, tons of
good info ) A couple things on my XD, it has a thumb safety and a grip
safety, which is the main reason I bought one. Only got about 500
rounds through mine so far, not one jam or issue, it eats everything I
throw at it lol, not very cheap to shoot alot, but I shoot as much as I
can afford ) Any questions, just give me a holler )

sweet man...Iam deff liking what i have been reading so far..How much did you pay for yours?

I gave $520 for it in Nov 08. I was going to get a Glock, one of the best pistols ever built ) but after doing all my reasearch, decided on the XD and never looked back )

Was going to mention, I got the 5"barrel Tacticle model, with the 13 round clips, it is just freaking awsome!!

Kool I was looking at the XDm .40 Service model or the XD .45 Service

I carried a Glock .40 when I was a deputy. I liked it a lot. More stopping power than a 9mm....although the ammo is more expensive. Glock is mostly the weapon of choice in law enforcement. They're as idiot proof as they come and I have nothing but good to say about them. Awesome firearm and any jams are usually ammo or operator error. I didn't like the 9 cause it tends to not pop as much and I tend to limp wrist it a bit too much...just an fyi. A go-jillion cops can't be wrong, most of the law enforcement agencies in US use Glocks...Also there's no de-cocking and all that crap. Outstanding sidearm IMHO....that's why we own 3 of them.

I posted a huge long response paranoia, it is gone, I hope you got to read it before it vanished, it tooke me like 45 minutes to type up lol..

Alright couple of things Paranoia.

1) Many agencies at least
here in Oregon provide the duty handgun or give you some cash towards
one but you have to buy a particular type. You may not have a choice in
caliber, or make and model. This is a good idea in general as it allows
you and random backup buddy to do things like swap mags when the SHTF,
or be 100% proficient with the other officers firearm. Standardization
in this area is a Good thing.
2) Opinions about calibers is a never
ending debate. I am 9mm shooter, I choose this caliber because ammo is
cheap, readily available, and for real work I shoot a bullet that makes
quarter size holes in my target, and fully loaded I have 20 rounds. My
.45acp friends are like you don't need 20 rounds if you hit what you
aim at (under fire great shooters still miss a lot). There is an
incredible amount of science in this area, and it is a moving target,
what you know today is out of date in 6 months. I was just talking to
someone that's job was to rescue ambushed special forces guys in iraq,
and he was raving about the 10mm as it punch's type 2 body armour and
occasionally type 2+. The FBI has switched to 10mm for this reason.
(btw type 1 body armour is what police wear ). I would consider
40S&W and maybe 10mm seriously, and 9mm and 45 secondarily
3)Gun
brands, there is a reason all the cops use glocks, I can summarize it
like this. It is always loaded and chambered, the only wait the round
discharges is by pulling the trigger, period, assuming your gun isn't
internally damaged in some bizar fashion. Glocks are not pretty but
they work. buying a salon gun like a sig is not a good way to go, when
you get involved and you discover the cock and lock methods to get a
gun like a sig or 1911safely chambered you will wish you had a glock. I
say this as a guy whose main rifle is a Sig 5.56, it is a beautiful
weapon, shoots like a dream.. I got nothing against Sigs, but for the
job you.

I can go on and on and on this would be easier in chat,
and compared to the guys I know I am no expert, but I can certainly
help point you in the right direction.

you mean this post....

i then replied with

Thanks for the info...i was going back and forth between the .40 and
the .45....Reading alot on the diffs between the manufacturers. One
Manufacture that caught my eye was the Springfield XD..any knowledge on
that particular line>?

Paranoia wrote:

Alright couple of things Paranoia.

1) Many agencies at least
here in Oregon provide the duty handgun or give you some cash towards
one but you have to buy a particular type. You may not have a choice in
caliber, or make and model. This is a good idea in general as it allows
you and random backup buddy to do things like swap mags when the SHTF,
or be 100% proficient with the other officers firearm. Standardization
in this area is a Good thing.
2) Opinions about calibers is a never
ending debate. I am 9mm shooter, I choose this caliber because ammo is
cheap, readily available, and for real work I shoot a bullet that makes
quarter size holes in my target, and fully loaded I have 20 rounds. My
.45acp friends are like you don't need 20 rounds if you hit what you
aim at (under fire great shooters still miss a lot). There is an
incredible amount of science in this area, and it is a moving target,
what you know today is out of date in 6 months. I was just talking to
someone that's job was to rescue ambushed special forces guys in iraq,
and he was raving about the 10mm as it punch's type 2 body armour and
occasionally type 2+. The FBI has switched to 10mm for this reason.
(btw type 1 body armour is what police wear ). I would consider
40S&W and maybe 10mm seriously, and 9mm and 45 secondarily
3)Gun
brands, there is a reason all the cops use glocks, I can summarize it
like this. It is always loaded and chambered, the only wait the round
discharges is by pulling the trigger, period, assuming your gun isn't
internally damaged in some bizar fashion. Glocks are not pretty but
they work. buying a salon gun like a sig is not a good way to go, when
you get involved and you discover the cock and lock methods to get a
gun like a sig or 1911safely chambered you will wish you had a glock. I
say this as a guy whose main rifle is a Sig 5.56, it is a beautiful
weapon, shoots like a dream.. I got nothing against Sigs, but for the
job you.

I can go on and on and on this would be easier in chat,
and compared to the guys I know I am no expert, but I can certainly
help point you in the right direction.

you mean this post....

i then replied with

Thanks for the info...i was going back and forth between the .40 and
the .45....Reading alot on the diffs between the manufacturers. One
Manufacture that caught my eye was the Springfield XD..any knowledge on
that particular line>?

Very true info there, except I disagree with the 9mm statement. Like I said earlier, I carry an XD.45acp tactical model, holds 13+1 in chamber ,loaded with Hornady FMJHP. When the SHTF I want to give myself the best chance of survival, point being, BIG caliber=BIG hole and or damage To each their own, I've shot 9mm and others, 9mm doesn't have the knockdown power that I like. You really need to find a range and go shoot all of them and make an informed choice. .45 may not fit your liking, mayby a .40 will who knows, The biggest thing is to make sure whichever pistol you pick, that you are comfortable with it, it needs to be a part of you. Sounds like your doing your research, so your heading in the right direction

No I had a post in response to all the XD stuff as well, basically

Glock > XD not for emotional reason, but as a point of fact, it was long and drawn out, explaining a lot more stuff. Bottom line is don't cheap out 50-100$ (which is the price difference here in OR) on a tool that your life could depend on, on a daily basis.

The other thing I did was show Zotar what a clip was, in hopes that he no longer uses that word in reference to a magazine.. I had an awsome link.. Ulfaro saw the video, So I know it used to be here.

anyhow my conclusion, was you need to go to a gun range and shoot all the guns in question, (many ranges will let you shoot their guns for 5$ a gun or whatever the nominal fee is) with someone that knows a lot about guns, to help you choose the right tool. Do not buy your first and only hand gun that you are counting on defending your life with on internet spec.. It turns out that Zotar just gave you the same advice.

It was a good post, I blame brak!

PS: Zotar, there is no end to the debate on calibers, because you need to factor in the human factor at the time you are pulling the trigger. I actively shoot on as regular a basis as possible in high stress situations to try to ensure my bullet hits what I am aiming at. I suggest you go do some serious reading on hollow points, what causes them to function what causes them to fail (the fail list is much much longer then the function list), and then go read about a round called an EFMJ, or Expanding Full Metal Jacket, in your bullet size the consistantly functioning round will make a hole in the target larger then a quater, and smaller then a half dollar.. Federal makes the ones I have in my gun, and I would love to get into wound tract discussions with you about your round vs mine but bottom line is I am shootting the larger hole in the target on a consistant basis, assuming real world function numbers on hollow points vs EFMJ.. Go buy some EFMJ, and I will bow to your superior hole size!

PPS EFMJ may not be legal in your state, local restrictions may apply.

no debate here Attius, I was just trying to pass along some observations, just trying to post a lot of good info to help a brother out ) and as far as my refference to a clip, well i'm guilty, old habits die hard lol, I'll always callem clips