Often times I hear people say that you should select a gun that “feels the best to you. Go to the range and shoot a bunch of guns and buy the one you like.” This is lousy advice, and often results in new shooters making poor purchases. Again equipment should be selected based on the criteria for YOUR mission (private citizen, concealed carry, LE duty, military, etc) and then evaluated based on your tactics and skills. If you have no tactics and skills then you have no reference point to make an informed decision. If your tactics and skills suck, then your equipment selection will likely suck.

Body shape and size are  factors for weapon selection. The biggest variation is hand size. For smaller handed shooters, single stack magazine feed handguns can be an advantage. Realistically, however, most anyone can learn to shoot any gun well. Don’t get caught up in the subjective feel of the gun.

One of the most important criteria for selecting a firearm for self defense is reliability. The gun needs to go bang every time. For defensive purposes, guns should only be considered if the platform has seen years of use and millions of rounds down range. I have no interest in being a guinea pig. The latest gun design might be cool to own, but it has no business out on the street until someone else has verified it with a very large sample and lots of rounds. This generally restricts our selection to guns that have been issued to large government organizations.

Additionally, firearms that deviate from their original manufacture design should be avoided. The biggest problem area is when manufacturers change the cartridge without redesigning the entire platform. For example, Glock originally designed the small frame size only for 9mm. With American law enforcement moving to .40 S&W as a duty round, Glock introduced the smaller frame size in .40 S&W. The result is a high pressure cartridge being fired out of a gun designed for the lower pressure 9mm. Additionally, to accommodate the larger cartridge, the slide, barrel, and chamber mass was reduced. The result is a less reliable weapon system, more parts breakage, and a shorter life cycle.

There are very few handgun weapon systems originally designed around something other than 9mm or .45 ACP cartridges. And even fewer that have seen extended use by large organizations.

Some of the platforms to consider (all in 9mm) are: Glock 17, Glock 19, Glock 34, Beretta 92FS, Sig 226, Sig228, Sig229, Browning Hi-Power, most of the H&K handguns, and the S&W M&P9

There are probably more, and I am sure I left your favorite gun off the above list. However, in our cumulative experience seeing hundreds of guns every year with hundreds of thousands of rounds down range every year, these are the guns we see with the least problems.

Along with reliability, the ability to deliver fast accurate hits to your target is crucial to surviving a violent confrontation. With experienced skilled shooters and novice shooters alike, we see students shoot faster and more accurate with 9mm than any other defensive cartridge. It is quite common for a student to come to class with a .40 caliber Glock, during the course they borrow a Glock 19 and quickly learn the error in their ways. The .40 caliber Glock gets sold shortly thereafter and replaced with a Glock 19.

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