Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Basic Handgun Battery, your thoughts?

What do you think is the basic handgun battery for urban and rural. The "urban" category is for someone who lives in the concrete jungle, isn't a hunter, and is really only arming for fun and self defense. The "rural" category is for someone who shoots for fun, defense, and possibly some handgun hunting, or perhaps some dangerous game backup.

Example:

URBAN

Glock 19
Tactical Solutions TSG-22 Conversion Unit
Glock 42

To me, that rounds out the basic "needs" of a handgun owner in an urban environment. Niow if a guy just didn't like Glock's, then he could substitute the S&W, XD, CZ, etc. My choices are more about size than model.


RURAL

Glock 19
Tactical Solutions TSG-22 Conversion Unit
S&W 6" 629
G42, Ruger LCP II, or S&W J frame


"One gun Rural solution"
Lightweight Commander
.22LR Conversion Unit
.460 Rowland Conversion

Either the S&W E-Series Scandium Commander for a .45/.460, or the Colt LW Commander for a 9mm/.460 (I would add a .38 Super barrel personally).

Urban, a Glock 23 with conversions in 357, 9mm and 22lr.

Rural, a good 357 or 44 revolver or a 10mm Glock with conversions.

9mm of your choice. Not too big or heavy.
Need a bigger gun for 4-legged vermin, go .44 magnum revolver.
Last ten years taught me that you can live without .22. That sounded un-American, but the truth hurts.

For defensive carry, all you need are two:

1) Glock 17
2) Glock 43

For hunting or bear defense, you can throw in a Glock 20 for a three gun battery.

For "here"........... Sig320.

Done.

If I *really* felt the need, throw a MG or a 10mm (Sig220) into the mix.

I've never lived anywhere I consider "urban" and hope not to. Suburban, maybe. When I was living in a small metro area of about 250,000 people my carry gun of choice was a 2-1/4" barreled Ruger SP101. It remains a good choice though I traded it for a S&W M60 3" with adjustable sights. For a second, I think I'd stay with .357 but make it a 6" barreled GP100 or 6" barreled S&W 686 "plus".

For rural, I'd go with an accurate .22, a long barreled .357, and a 4" barreled .44 magnum. I've had better accuracy with rimfire semi-autos than revolvers. Probably a Ruger Mk II or Mk III though I suppose I could somehow "get by" with a S&W 41. For a .357, I'm sort of pissed that S&W dropped the 8-3/8" length from the 686 lineup. I guess any good 6" barreled .357 will do. For the .44, my personal choice is a short Super Blackhawk but if I were recommending to someone else, I'd go with a more traditional (for carry) S&W 629 or Ruger Redhawk..

If I looked at where I was living and decided my revolver, backed up by a 12 gauge, wasn't good enough, I'd MOVE.

Tom

Ruger LCR .357 for carry
Sig Sauer .45acp for house
Ruger Super Blackhawk .44mag for woods

For me it goes:
1911 5" in .45 ACP or 10mm
Shield in 9mm or .45 ACP
LCP in .380
Ruger MK series in .22

If I were a big handgun hunter I would throw in a 629 in .44 Mag.

I could do it all with any number of full sized service autos or revolvers, but the small shield and LCP sure make it easier to carry in 95-105 degree humid days.

45LC - Hunting
9mm - Self-Defense
380 - CCW
22LR - SHT-FUN

After the last 22lr shortage, I wouldn't recommend a 22lr pistol to someone just looking to have a "basic" handgun battery. Better to buy a good 9mm, a spare of the same perhaps in a smaller version, and then lay in a good supply of ammunition, primers, powder and brass. Also magazines and spare parts. Take the money saved on the 22lr pistol and buy a high quality air pistol for no-recoil practice.

It depends on how deeply concealed you need your piece to be. My Sig P938 is pretty good for any urban type duty, whatever that is. I've got a lot of guns that will do for rural duty but the Smith Governor is about the best. I would like to add my Ruger Standard for a .22.

I'm pretty rural and far from a handgun expert but I'm pretty comfortable with a Mil Spec 1911 45 APC in the night stand ....
an older 4" Model 10 38 Special for plinking, practice, and general carry......
and a couple of rimfires......1946 K 22 for nostalgia and fun and a fixed sight Single Six for dispatch on my trap line.
Truth is I could get by with only one rimfire but I love em both so I justify their usefulness.

I carry a Glock 43, I have a Glock 22 with weapons light for around the house and I've been toting my Glock 20 to the woods. Sometimes I sub out the 20 for a 5.5" Redhawk.


I need a Glock 19 I think.

I'm rural, and carry all the time. If I have my pants on, there is either a Taurus 380 in my pocket or a 22 revolver on my belt. I've used the 22 to shoot squirrels, possums, groundhogs, and coons. Sometimes, in lieu of the 380, I may pack a 38 snubby. There is a 44 Special revolver in easy reach from my bed, in case something goes bump in the middle of the night. If I leave the place, I usually have the 380 on me, and a Glock 19 in the vehicle, or on occasion a Sig 40 caliber. In my view, a handgun is purely a defensive weapon. If I get serious about having to shoot something, I'll use either a rifle or shotgun, depending on the situation. Now, having said all that, if I found myself in a situation where the threat level was greater than normal, I'd modify my selection of what I carried on me. For example, recently someone that the police had been chasing, abandoned their stolen vehicle near me, and I found their footprints in a muddy field on my farm. For the next few days, I carried the Glock and an extra clip, just in case. There was also an AR close by as well, just in case.

those are certainly not my choices, but to each his own.

The .460 Rowland on a LW commander frame is not a good match. A 5" barreled slide with a forged steel frame is a better match if your going to shoot a lot. Even with all the tricks added. E-Series Sc----- maybe a little.

Het Edwards, can you post a pic of you knife/blade collection sometime. Mighty fine.

Thanks Viking. I don't have a pic of all the knives-edged weapons together. I will certainly do so if I ever get one. I like them, but I've never thought of myself as a collector.

The Estwing chopper is one of a number of Estwing products I own because I am a sucker for them due to their fine hammers and the fact that they are still made here. The bottom knife is a knock off of a Cold Steel Trailmaster and is one of my favorite knives...perhaps my favorite big knife because it's just so handy. TRH gave me that knife.

Ah the Estwing, I took my thumb nail off with a waffle headed framer once. 😡😰😁

A K-frame .357 Mag.