This was about '03 or so..... I was a 14 year old firing it.

 

get yourself a Smith & Wesson M&P. Very accurate and durable and comes stock with night sights.

 

Who care what anyone else suggests, we all have different wants/needs from our guns, not to mention some fit better than others depending on the size of your hand.

The best thing to do is hit up your local gun range and rent some or all of their guns in the caliber you're looking for and see what fits you best, what feels best to you when you shoot it, learn as much about the gun as you can and then go from there.

 

Geeze what a great idea! You have any idea how many handguns there are out there? See my thought was to get some opinons of what people had and what they thought and then start with what people suggested and avoid the ones many peopel say stay away from. Quite a concept, eh?

 

Yeah, but it never hurts to hear others' experiences either. Sure there are a lot of different guns that could work for him, but its nice to hear from others as far as quality/experiences go (just like when buying a car).

I do think whoever said to carry a semi, and a backup revolver was dead on for a job like that. A new, quality revolver will always go bang with no extra fuss or things to get jammed up. However, 5-6 shots just isn't enough IMO- which is a lot of reason why LE got away from them. Not to mention, you can get loads in semi-auto guns that rival just about any of those revolver loads almost up to a .44 magnum.

With that said, I wouldn't go with any kind of crazy revolver for backup- I'd stick with just a little, simple 5 shot .38 light weight with a 2" barrel or so- you want something that is so light and compact that you don't even think twice about putting it on.

Personally my full carry setup is a Glock 20- 10mm w/ a spare 15 round magazine- and a S&W J frame airweight .38 special.

 

No, never been in a gun shop/range before But it's obvious you haven't cause if you have then you'd know that they don't have for rent all of the guns they carry for sale. Last range I went to had maybe 4-6 guns in each caliber available for rent.

See, my thought was that the things that dictate how well you can handle/shoot a particular gun can't be determined by someone else's experience with said gun. I'm looking at it as being the same as asking for opinions on what speakers are the best. The first thing you need to do is figure out what you need from your gun...it going bang is obvious, but do you need it to be ambidextrous? Dual action trigger? Trigger safety? Grip safety? Can you comfortably hold/shoot a gun w/double stack mag? Do you need a compact or full size? So if someone with a large hand had an experience with a compact gun, they'd be of the opinion that it's uncomfortable to hold/shoot, etc. and would suggest you stay away from said gun when that gun could fit your hand perfectly.

Kind of hard to suggest a gun to you when we know nothing about what features you want/need, all we know is the calibers you're considering and that you want a semi-auto. Maybe giving more details on what your needs are might help get more suggestions, quite the concept huh? But nothing will replace you getting your hands on one and shooting it to see how it feels and how it's laid out, how you handle it, what you like and don't like about it, seeing how easy/hard it is to break down, etc. Another wonderful concept huh?

 

No need to get all worked up guys.

I think its a great idea to hear others' opinions first, to see what brands seem popular- and to have some suggestions in mind to try when you go to the range. Wouldn't be a bad idea to get an idea of some brands/models you want from the suggestions of others, go to the store and hold them (you'll know pretty quickly if it fits your hand or not)- and then once you've narrowed it down to a couple of brands that you really like, then try and narrow down the caliber- and try firing them (or something similar).

I've always kinda thought that as long as its a quality gun, and it fits your hand, that it doesn't matter a ton how the gun shoots- that with enough practice you can get good with it.

I also think there wouldn't be a whole lot he could tell us he needs- other than possibly ammo capacity (I imagine full size, if you're gonna carry a semi over a revolver for your job, you may as well use all the ammo capacity you can) and what caliber he wants (not that that really matters much either as long as he's not getting a .22, lol); a lot of those other features you listed are mostly just going to come with what gun he finds that he likes the feel of.

 

Maybe I misunderstood, I thought he was asking for what gun suggestions, not what brand is popular.

There's alot he could tell us, is he left handed, right handed, does he need to be able to have the control be ambidextrous or on a particular side, full size or compact, accessory rail, etc. Lots of info could determine what guns could be suggested to him. But if it's brands he's after, they're all going to have their share of issues but as long as he sticks with a major, well known brand name then he'll be alright.

Smith & Wesson
Sig
Beretta
Springfield
Glock
Kimber
H&K
Wilson
Ruger
STI
CZ

to name a few

My, myself personally, have an affinity to the S&W M&P line, specifically the 45 cal. That thing is a treat! And being that I have a slight case of arthritis in my shooting hand, I found this gun to have very little recoil in comparison to many other 45's I shot and I can comfortably put 200+ rounds through it at the range any given day. It's also very customizeable and comes in full and compact sizes.