1911 keep it simple

Originally Posted by Richard

If you were to choose one handgun to serve your range and home defense needs what would you opt for?

What is your ideal range and home defense handgun?

Well, there are a thousand different answers to this question, and all of them are right. What is your situation?

Some people say that you should pick the largest caliber that you can shoot comfortably with ease and deliver precise follow up shots with. Ayoob says to pick the largest caliber that the smallest/weakest person in the house is comfortable with.

If you can fire .45 ACP well, but your wife, or child can only seem to use the 9mm proficiently…then you should get the 9mm.

So what exactly is your situation? Do you live alone?

If so, then go by the cost of ammo, and your likeliness to practice with it. I went with 9mm because it is painfully cheap compared to .45 ACP and 357 Sig. I have never looked at pricing on 10mm, but I bet it is higher than .40 S&W.

If you live with others, make sure that they can also fire the gun properly incase they are called upon to do so.

Wha? No P99?

Better get on this Ship

I know we are talking about autos here, but if I could only have one for home/range it would be a .357 revolver. Probably a 4" and probably a Ruger.

Glock 17!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I am not going to worry about the wife and kids as they got their own guns plus they can shoot anything I got anyway. There are three different ones that I like the best.
.357 revolver
.44spl revolver
.45 ACP.
I practice at the range with all three fairly often and they all are good at the range. I feel I could protect my family with anyone of them. Well I guess I'll have to take the .45ACP if I am allowed only one. It starts off with 5 more shots than the others and is faster to reload with my old wore out hands. I use 10rd mags and I carry it in condition 1.

Hey Baldy what happened to your 40 ?? Did you get rid of it already ?? Better get a 9 to go with the black gun you are looking for..

The Sig 226 is just great. I'd go with that.

The Hi-Power is a fantastic gun, but I'd want to add an extended safety for defense.

I do like the Para guns if you want to go with the .45. Their LDA models are really cool too, but if you are not going to carry there isn't much advantage.

I'm not sure why you are considering 10MM, but not .40 S&W, but depending on your home situation 10MM could have over penetration issues and the ammo is pricey for the range.

Originally Posted by bompa

Hey Baldy what happened to your 40 ?? Did you get rid of it already ?? Better get a 9 to go with the black gun you are looking for..

I still got it Bompa. We put it in a special place every night where if anyone of us need it we can get it. I also use for a car gun sometimes when we go to Orlando.

Baldy I figgured that you wouldn't let it go just had to pull your chain a bit..Can't see the 40 myself but that is just me I guess..Been shooting the 9 since the middle 60's before they became the in thing..Used the same cast bullets that I made for the 38-357..Those heavy bullets didn't work so great then..

I wouldn't suggest a 10 mm for home defense. The round is simply too powerful with the attendant problems of 1) the bullet exiting the body of the intruder and injuring someone else or going thru 4 or 5 walls and injuring someone else and 2)very snappy recoil and excessive noise. In my view, the 10 mm should be reserved for macho displays at the range or defense against large animals like bears.

If I could have only one....I love my 1911's and they are 110% reliable under normal conditions...however, I'd pick my HK P2000 LEM 40S&W.
Reason:
Same Trigger pull every time
no safety to mess with
easy to conceal
has a light rail
is as accurate as my 1911's
hard to beat HK's reliability no matter what the conditions are
easy to maintain
12 +1 rounds capacity