OK, first off, ETRON lives in the PRK where, to my knowledge, you can no longer buy a Sig due to the lack of an external safety. Secondly, he wants a Glock only, which most will agree is a good choice. I also would not go with a 1911 style gun for home defense due to the limited mag capacity. In the PRK you only get 10 rounds anyway.
First, choose caliber. 9mm is too small. Do you have a wife of g/f who might also need to use this weapon? If so, then i would go with 40 cal. Based upon your requirements, then i would go with the G22. (i have a G23 for my smaller hands, but that's your choice)
If its for you only then 10mm or 45 cal is the way to go. then get the G20 or the full size 45 model (forgot the m/n).
The next most important thing is night sights. The standard Glock sights are awful. Get some Trijicons or Mep's.
Finally we come to the C model. I say yes, but others will disagree. They usually talk about muzzle flash, but ask them if they have ever actually used a Glock C model and they will say no. I am for it for the less muzzle flip, especially true with the 40 and 10mm. besides, u can always put a standard barrell in the C-model.

The Glock is a great all around choice. Hope this helps!

Get a Glock .45. I have a 36. It's small and compact, but the recoil isn' bad. My younger sister is 115 lbs. and she doesn't mind the recoil either.[pistol]

Best for home defense--a revolver, 357 mag. 4" barrel. Then practice!!!

If you insist on Glock.....

Any of those calibers will work witht he proper loads. 9 mm is a great round as long as one uses 147 grain bullets. It provides just as good penetration as the best 165 grain .40 cal loads. Get what you feel comfortable with. However, since there is a 10 round limit, a .45 will be the best option. It is not the best in terms of penetration, but the .45 provides the biggest slug of all. With 230 grain Golden Sabres or Gold Dots, its almost subsonic velocity will penetrate well into flesh, but it will stay there and cause massive internal bleeding, etc. This is why some SWAT teams and spec ops are switching back to the good old .45 ACP round. It will stay in the fucko without exiting and injuring an innocent bystander behind the fucko.

However, get what you feel comfortable with. If you feel like you can control 9mm or .40 cal better out of a Glock 17,19 or 22,23, do so. My personal choice would still be the .45 in the Glock 21.

themao [chainsawkill]

No, that would be the SIG/Neuhausen, actually I can think of several other autoloaders that I would rank higher (the good ol' 1911 is on that list.)


True, but others found the Beretta to be too weak (see my earlier post about Swedish trials where the slide came off when using the m/39B ammo.)

[b]If I'm not mistaken, the slide failures were limited to the first batch of U.S. made 92F 9MM's.
These guns were U.S. manufactured with poor metallurgy, and were made in Maryland.
NONE of the original Italian made 92F guns were reported to have metallurgy or design problems...
The U.S. metallurgy problem was resolved and that is where the 92FS came from...
The .40 cal/Model 96 came long after these problems, and as I understand, has never experienced a slide failure as a result of poor design...

Of course any idiot can blow up any gun if he uses over-powered ammo...[/b]  

BTW...

[b]I ran into a guy at my range on Saturday, and he was shooting his Beretta 92FS...
After he noticed my holstered 96FS, we BS'd a little & he told me he had over 8000 rounds through his 9MM, and has NEVER had a single failure of ANY kind...
So he claimed...I don't know him that well...[/b]

2 more cents ... got an old 1911, got REAL familiar w. the old 1911, got a brand new
HK P7M8 and never looked back.(course I paid
$550 NIB in '86) Bought a Glock 26 2 years ago and that is the most value I can think of now.
You need to know, while I think SIGs are built like Rolex, they don't "fit" this LHer.
Whatever you've tried AND feel comfy with AND can shoot...IN YOUR SCENARIO...buy and practice with. Hope you never need to, though. Good Luck

dragracerart and I agree on the Beretta "feel".
I looked for quite a while, and EVERY time I picked up the Beretta, it felt "right".
My pair of .40's both wear the Hogue rubber fingergroove grips and feel even more right.
The .40 has been tested by the Border Patrol for penetration against auto sheetmetal and windshield glass and was continually superior to the 9mm and .45ACP. It's true.
The .40 was designed to be a "compromise" round for platform size and power levels and capacity and bullet weight.  That's what is so good about the .40 caliber S&W.  It WORKS.
Try the seductive grip shape on the Beretta and then go feel the other guns and how they meet your hand.
I found the Smiths and Rugers to be "top heavy".
 The Sigs felt "square".
The GLOCKs felt "pointy".
1911's felt "long and skinny".
The Taurus' felt real close to the Berettas, but not as refined.
The Berettas felt like they belonged in my hand.  And now they do. The Beretta is a great pistol.  Period.

Quite possible, but as I recall the slide failure was not limited to P+ ammo on those.


I believe that the 92s that were in the trial were of Italian manufacture (why buy from the US when Italy's closer?)


They sure can. On a connecting note; the US army was looking into buying the Swedish m/39B 9mm round, as they consider it to be an AP round (it's a P+ round with a steel core bullet originally deisnged for use in the "Swedisk K" (kpist m/45) SMG.) However, the politicians said no, as they feared that this would "just add to the amount of cop-killer ammo on the streets."

Etron:
If you look at the need, detached from all
considerations of which weapon is currently
fashionable, you may find that the previous
posters that recommended a revolver as best
for home defense were giving very good advice.

I have most of the weapons previously described,
and enjoy them all.  But for HD, and personal
carry, it is always a revolver.

DanM

One thing to think about with the glocks is the aftermarket.  If you have a 40 SW you can buy a barrel to convert to 9 mm or 357 Sig.  This is also true with the 357, but you can't go to 40 if you start with the 9.  The 40 gives a few more options if you want to tinker.

If this is strictly for HOME Defense. Your BEST option is to have a SHOTGUN (and early warning/deterrent system: 2 dogs) barring that your next best option is a REVOLVER.

Ruger RedHawk in 44 Magnum or 480 Ruger. OR farm out a Ruger to John Linebaugh and have him convert it to 475 or 500 Linebaugh (plenty of stopping power) OR..you can use the old standby: 45 Colt. The factory rounds are ballistically equivalent to 45 ACP.
HOWEVER if you handload and own a RUGER you can load them to exceed the performance of a 44 Magnum and because of the larger case capacity, the pressure is 5000 psi lower than an equivalently loaded 44 Magnum.

Why Revolver ? Less likely to jam, simple to use (no safety to fumble with) when you are half asleep and disoriented at 3 am.

(also revolver rounds tend to be more powerful than rounds for semi-autos).

My conspiracy theory:

The 10 round magazine limit was secretly lobbied for by the gun industry, that way, they've been able to sell all the owners of the "wondernines" new .40's and .45's... Just wait until the 10 round limit is sunsetted...

More 9mms! ;-)

My 2 cents. Trama surgeons can't tell the difference between 9mm and .45 round wounds. They are both anemic compared to rifle calibers... So why do shooters get their panties all twisted over this topic?

If you sleep better with a large caliber, or feel better, go for it. The key is to keep shooting until the threat is gone. 2,3,4,10 whatever numer of rounds it takes, keep firing...

I find I shoot my Glock19 (9mm) pretty damn fast, not any faster than my 1911, but I vastly prefer carrying a glock vs. a 1911 due to weight, and the fact I have 33 rounds of 115 +p+ corbon available in 2/3's the weight of a 1911 w/ 15 rounds...

I feel pretty comfortable that 33 A hits will be enough stopping power for a mall ninja assult on my domicile... Your milage may vary.

The whole caliber debate is silly, and yet another tool designed to sell more guns... Which is OK, but whatever you go with, practice, and get good hits, that's all that really matters. The rest is BS.

Did I mention you can get 1000 rounds of Wolf for ~ 80 dollars at the local PDX gunshow? Lots of practice, and I now have money left over for the FAS 3 tatical course at Seattle Firearms Academy w/Marty Hayes, an excellent instructor in the NW.

I'd suggest getting training no matter what your decision.

regards,
Francis

Glock 22, .40 caliber

Glock 22, .40 caliber

I have to disagree with Sitting Bulls statement about the 9mm being to small. With a good home defense round like Golden Sabers, Gold Dots, and Hydra Shoks the 9mm is more than enough to do the job. There are studies that show that first round incapacitating power of calibers like the 9mm, 40cal, and 45 all have about the same percentage of first round incapacitating power. People who say that a 9mm is just going to piss someone off are mistaken. If you can hit your target with a 9mm better than larger calibers don't feel unprotected. Some of the people that have been hit with numerous 9mm rounds and lived were usually hit with hardball rounds. And I can tell you that they were probably in no condition of shooting back after even a couple of hits of 115gr fmj. Only advantage of fmj is that it will usually create two holes. More people have probably been killed with the 9mm round over all other pistol calibers combined. I'm not saying that the 9mm is better than any other caliber, just that is a good caliber.

No Slack!

I am of the opinion that if a Sig or a 1911 have too many levers and things going on then PLEASE do not have a gun for home defense.
If you do, you must practice with it so that it becomes automatic. Whatever it takes to get it into action must be second nature to you. I practice everyday with the mechanics of my gun so that I know I can perform without much thought about the weapon.
When you go into an action your adrenaline levels are so high that concentration begins to deminish and everything becomes a little more difficult to deal with.

I agree that a shotgun would be best, then a revolver in .357 magnum. Best advice is to buy whats comfortable!!!!!!!

Personnaly I use a Sig P228 (9mm).  The only lever it has is the decoker, and if this is to difficult for anyone to master then they are better off using 911 for home defence!!

Also, the largest room in my house is 30.  At that short distance I can put two rounds in a burgulars head within 1 second.  I doubt he would know that it was only a lowly 9mm round that hit him!!

About compensated pistols, the muzzle flash from the top of the slide could easily blind you for several seconds.  Hence you wouldn't be able to shoot an accurate second shot if needed.

sgtar15