OT What's your favorite Handgun?

M

munk

Joined
Mar 22, 2002
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We all know a great sidearm compliments a favorite khuk. The two go together, at least they do if your back is healthy enough to carry both.

What is your favorite handgun?

I'm a tad confused myself- I don't have one. I guess there's a core group of 4 or 5 I like the best. Of those, three get carry nods in the wilderness.
4" Model 58 Smith
4" Model 57 Smith
4 5/8" Ruger BlkHwk 45 Colt with custom grip frame

There's just something about a great sidearm and a great khuk carried together.

I feel for you in Ca. Ten years ago when I'd hike San Gorgonio and the White Water region of Southern Ca, I'd get fearful stares just carrying a 7.5" Ruger Bisley 41 Blackhawk. I can just imagine how bad it is now. People get real quiet when they pass you on the trail.

I can just imagine carrying a 18" WWll khuk and a sidearm in Calif today. Probably think you're one of Manson's gang- the one that got away.

Years ago when I worked in the gun shop a couple came in wanting a gun. They'd brought their family on camping trips to the Mojave every year since the kids were able to walk. The last time some punks in a truck had fired over their campsite. They left in their own truck, scared to death, not knowing if the punks would give chase. The man knew the days of being unarmed were over.
That's the real California.
I don't remember what he got- maybe a Ruger mini 14.


munk
 
Take it all around, I'd pick the Kahr K40. Tied for 2nd place: Ruger P345 and the Makarov. Is open carry legal in CA? The political climate there (or rather, what I've heard about it) had led me to think not. Here in VA people can carry openly, not too many actually do but no-one looks at them funny either.
 
My Colt Anaconda .44 magnum, 4" barrel, stainless steel. Has a super trigger, more accurate than I can shoot it. Load down for plinking, medium for defense and up for hunting. Ammo is expensive though and its too heavy to carry a lot. But then again, I don't really carry it.

I always liked my Ruger Mark II, with a bull barrel, although it had a terrible trigger, but then somebody stole it.
 
Old Slab-Sides: 6" Clark 1911.

Not just Calif. Backpacking in PA in October with a GB Small Forest Axe strapped to my pack:

[fearful tone from man in 40's as family huddles behind him] "Mister, is that a Viking Battleaxe?" No, sir, just an ax to cut away some blow-downs across the trail."

AND, I was at the rear of a column of fifty Scouts and adults. Maybe the very few knives in sight in the group had him spooked already by the time I showed up with my "Viking Axe." :rolleyes:
 
Hey Munk I'll play along. :)

Street carry, Les Baer 1911 custom.

Woods walking, depends where and weather. I always have a S&W 317. It is a .22 titanium airwieght. In addition to a .22, I have and carry one of 9 of my 44's, all different in configuration and bbl lengths. I reload and use Garret loads. I'm set with snake shot to 310 grn hard cast for grizzly bears, and everything in between. :p
 
Hard to narrow it to one. It's like asking, "who is your favorite child?"

1911A1, Colt SAA 1873, Glocks and Seecamp LWS 32.
 
Right now this CZ52. I can shoot it better than most of my others, the recoil is low, and it has this cool softball size fireball when you shoot it. ;)

I got a Ruger Mark 1 on layaway and it may be my fave when I get it.

I love my old 1911 but the sights are shallow and the trigger hard so it's not as gratifying to shoot.

Also like my Makarov, but it doesn't shoot as good as the 52 and it's got a little more jump to it and it's smaller so 3 or 4 clips and my hand is kind of raw.

My old Webley .450 is good too, and shoots great despite the 2" barrel but at $36 for a box of shells I don't shoot it much.
 
I'll agree with Sams: Les Baer Custom--most comfortable easy to shoot gun I own and really accurate!!
 
hollowdweller said:
Webley .450
Click to expand...

.450 or .455? If the latter, unsized cast lead .45's work pretty well. Hollow base wadcutters loaded backward make nice holes. If you don't load, you probably know someone who could make some up for you at a lot less than $35.00/50.
 
Quick answer: Sig-Sauer P229 in .40 S&W, with .357 SIG spare barrel.

12+1, .357 mag ballistics w/.357 SIG. Same mag fires both rounds flawlessly.

I hit well with this pistol (everybody does), it's compact, and mine has never jammed, ever.


Ad Astra


Just don't ask what's my favorite food... :D

I'd like to see a "Blondes, Brunettes, & Redheads: Which is Best?" thread... :eek:
 
This is an easy one for me to answer, because I already made the choice. I used to have numerous handguns, revolvers and semi-autos, in just about every caliber. Then circumstances arose in which I got rid of them all.

When it came time to re-arm, finances were tight. I chose what to get based on what I actually used when I had many guns. These are the handguns I got.

S&W 340PD, lasergrips
Ruger Mark II, target grips, 6 7/8" bull barrel, stainless (KMK678GC)
 
Oooh...I'll play along too. My favorite is a semi-custom 1911A1. It fits my hands really well. A comfortable natural fit. The darn thing is too heavy to carry though. Even with a high quality Galco belt and holster, it tugs down at my jeans.

If daily carry were a question, something lighter like my Glock 19. Durable, light, reliable, but just doesn't fit my hands like the 1911A1. It is just hard to love a Glock from an aesthetics perspective. But, pretty is as pretty does.

Jeff
 
Thomas Linton said:
.450 or .455? If the latter, unsized cast lead .45's work pretty well. Hollow base wadcutters loaded backward make nice holes. If you don't load, you probably know someone who could make some up for you at a lot less than $35.00/50.
Click to expand...

.450. It's the .455 short kind of. It is a cool gun. Never seen another like it. It is a Webley Military and Police, from back when UK police carried guns. The only other one I have ever seen is when I was a kid American Rifleman had an article: Guns of Sherlock Holmes and they had a pic of one in there.
 
The only pistol I have right now is my Sig P220, so I guess that is what it will be.
 
It is legal to carry a loaded weapon in Ca when on National forest lands, BLM lands, and Wilderness lands, except where prohibited by various codes.

Not that many people know that- even the Forest rangers used to give me a load of crap about it- Until I called their boss. He was a right guy who knew the law. They'll try and tell you no on a Wilderness area but that's hooey.

For the poster who complained the 1911 is too heavy and drags your pants down- you are using a seperate belt for the firearm, aren't you? This will solve your problem. A handgun deserves it's own belt.

To Sams- I used to hunt Rattlesnakes. The only good thing about snake shot would be if you were caught in the thick chapperal (sic) and one was beneath your feet, and the branches made it hard to skip away. I say this because in almost all other cases, if you're close enough to need to defend yourself from a snake, you're already bit, and if your far enough away not to get bit, you can take your time with regular bullets and send him to snake heaven.

I also load for various calibres.

I'm amazed, well, not really surprised, how many take the 1911. I have a Springfield that's been ramped and ported.

I have a Ruger Super Redhawk 44 that I take sometimes. It has a 6.6" barrel- I chopped it.

Dang, Sams, 9 44's? You own a 45 Colt by any chance?

I also have a 32/20 single shot, a 30/30 single shot, a 32 mag Smith, 38 Smith, 10 mil Colt, Colt Challenger 22 (cheap woodsman) 41 Bisely Ruger, 41 Redhawk Ruger, and I have the feeling I may have left one out.


munk
 
I like Howard's having picked the essentials after loosing his first collection. It's interesting to see what folks do under those circumstances.


munk
 
Hard to have just one favorite.

3" Model 65 .357 is a great choice for many things- versatile, easy to conceal, fairly lightweight.

I have a Para-Ord creation in 9mm/9x23mm that I can shoot both fast and accurately in 9x19. Haven't had a chance to shoot any 9x23 (Winchester) yet.

A 4" Model 25-5 (.45 Colt) or Model 57 (.41) is a thing of wonder and beauty, the katana of the pistol world. Sure, other things exist that may be "better" for certain tasks, but these pistols are sweetly balanced, beautiful, and powerful.

Less "soul", but overall, do-the-most-things-with-reliability-and-easy-ammo-access, Glock 23 (.40) or 19 (9x19mm).

John
 
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