Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Looking for home defense pistol, Glock???

Outcast, you are hitting on some of the basics of security. When I was doing executive protection there were 4 pillars of security that we worked towards in every situation.

Deter
Detect
Delay
Respond

In that order.

A dog can be an integral part of all four of those. You deter by having a big dog in your yard. Or having security lights on a motion sensor, keeping irregular hours (or having inside lights on a timer). You detect by having a dog bark, having a motion sensor set off an alarm or security lighting etc. You delay by having rose bushes under your windows, or excellent locks on all the doors and windows. You respond by sending your dog out to use the bad guy as a chew toy, or arming yourself, calling the police, or moving to a safe room. But you�re most certainly on the right track.

I agree about dogs. Since I was six, I have never lived in a home that did not contain at least one dog that would scare a burglar (German Shepherds, Dobermans, Pitbulls). In all that time, houses to the right and houses to the left have been victims of burglary, most with expensive alarm systems but no scary looking dogs, while no house I've ever lived in has been. That's not likely a coincidence.

When career burglars are surveyed in prison about which breeds would be most likely to cause them to choose a different house, the two top breeds were 1) Pitbulls, and 2) Doberman Pinschers, not giant breeds. German Shepherds and Rotties made up third and fourth.

Currently, I have a Pitbull. The vast majority of burglars are black (just a statistical fact, not at all meaning to suggest that it's somehow racially determined), and I've noticed that black folks tend, of all breeds (for whatever reason), to be by far most afraid of Pitbulls. Terrified is not an exaggeration. I figure, therefore, that's a good choice considering the demographic stats on burglars, if you want to keep your stuff unstolen by burglars.

We are all gun guys here and the first thought is,"What kinda gun." But there's more to think about than that. Human trash seems to have a real dislike for big dogs with big teeth. Advantage one. Plus I never saw a dog that couldn't hear better than me. Advantage two. When I can go to sleep, I sleep like the dead. It's comforting to know there's 70lbs of fuzzy at the foot of my bed that will let me and everyone else know she's upset.

O

No it's not.

With the revolver, you can start with soft (and cheaper) loads for familiarization and practice and the gun will function. You can even easily build loads for indoor practice (plastic or wax rounds) and the gun will function. Not so with the Glock or any centerfire auto that is set up to function with full-power loads. And I routinely suggest a .22lr understudy for a revolver when people can afford it.

I usually start out new shooters on a .22lr revolver and move up to .38spl these days - but there was a time here (before I had a .22 handgun) when starting meant soft-loaded wadcutters in a .357 magnum revolver. You just can't do that reliably with an auto unless it's set up for it - then you have to change the set up to use full-power ammo for defense, if you care about the gun anyway.

I don't care for Glocks personally, that's right - but they are functional and reliable guns. My preference in pistols runs to 1911 style guns. Unlike others here, I don't believe it is impossible or even unlikely that a new shooter can be started successfully on a semi-auto (because I've done that too, with good results). For those who want to do so with a 1911, I suggest either a similar functioning .22lr understudy or a .22lr conversion kit.

Nothing condescending about it. Just being practical.

Other than shooting .22s, 9mm rounds @ $20 per hundred is inexpesive ammo.
The guy is buying a weapon. He did not say that he reloaded. Even if he did reload, he would not see a substancial cost savings in loading reduced power revolver rounds when compaired to factory loaded 9mm.
In addition, a 9mm is not hard to master. A local shooting range uses a Glock 19 to teach first time shooters. He starts off with one bullet in the mag and then progresses. Laddies are not all unintelligent beings that require more supervison than males to safely handle a weapon. Even a first time shooter can safely handle an auto with only one bullet in the mag. One bullet in the mag makes it a single shot for crying out loud! In fact, my wife has better eye hand cordination than I do. In just a few range sessions, she was shooting safely, confidently, and accurately, building from one then two then three, then eventually a fully loaded magazine.
In my 1911, I reload lead that shoots to as close as possibe to POA as my self defense ammo. Why would I practice differently with any other caliber or type of weapon.
If one is practicing for self defence, pratice for self defence. If one is merely plinking--plink away.
Mussel memory takes over in any critical situation. Unless you plan to shoot 22 in a self defense situation--practice with something that more resembles self defense ammo. Don't worry, unlike your suggestion concering full power loads in you 357, your 9mm glock can take day in and day out shooting full power ammo for a loooong time.

GB

Do you really expect us to believe that??

For the untrained forget the Glock go with the Ruger Judge for home defense. It's simple and you can run either 410 shotgun shells and/or 45 Long Colt through it. A 410 Shell with four or five Buckshot pellets in it gives you higher percentage of doing some damage than a single piece of lead.

GeorgiaBoy - that "whifff" you heard was my point doing a low flight right over your head. Maybe your ego wouldn't let you grasp it.

I never said that I expect the OP to be a reloader. Soft-ball loads are available everywhere (normally) at a lower price than standard loads, and the plastic bullet practice loads can be loaded literally by hand with no equipment. But nevermind that...

You claimed that suggesting for someone (a new shooter) to buy 22 conversion kit for their Glock to use for practice is "condescending crap". I say it is not, and offer that I suggest almost the same thing for a revolver.

Nothing breeds familiarity like lots of shooting, and at $20 a hundred (your figure) even cheap 9mm is more than five times the expense of bulk .22lr. I have seen plenty of new shooters (none that I trained) that showed evidence of serious flinching that they never could get around because they started on a full-power centerfire - 9mm included - that would have benefited greatly if they had been started on .22lr and trained with it until they were comfortable and then moved up.

Once past that step, nothing beats training with the ammo you will carry - although I would argue that few of us can afford to do that to the extent that many of us do with .22lr. I do both, and that's what I think is best. Shooting a lot is always a good thing. I can shoot a lot more by using .22lr for the bulk of it. If you want to limit yourself to what you can afford with centerfire, so be it.

But suggesting a .22lr conversion is not condescending crap.

Amazing how you Glock guys come unglued when someone suggests that there is a better way than simply buying a G-whatever and commencing to shoot. With or without training, the Glock is not the "be-all" or "end-all". It's a tool with advantages and limitations, and that's all.

I'm sure it was just a simple mistake, but for the sake of the reader who might not know - the "Judge" is made by Taurus.

OBTW - I forgot to address that. GB - you insinuated that we are all thinking about accommodating female shooters with the 22 or a revolver. That is far from accurate. I've seen more male shooters with bad gun-handling habits and flinches due to lack of or improper training than females - and by a wide margin, percentage-wise. These same guys would benefit greatly (if you could get them to admit a problem) from some training and extended sessions with a .22lr. If it's me doing the training (and I don't intend to train anyone in anything more advanced) they are going to be shooting a lot of .22lr, because it's cheaper and easier for them and/or me. I won't move them into anything with more power until they master the .22 - I don't care what sex they are. If they insist on skipping past that step, they're on their own.

FreeMe,

To reinforce your point even further, the next best thing to scads of cheap .22 practice ammo is even cheaper yet - dry firing.

Yep. We all could probably benefit from dry-firing more than we are likely to do. It just gets boring after a while, y'know.

When I train someone new, dry-fire comes before rimfire, and rimfire comes before centerfire. But you knew that.

I agree again, Dang, you're just no fun.

Men with bad gun handling habits usually get there by thinking the Y chromosome automatically grants them talent with a firearm. They don't listen, and they mimic what they see on TV - style over substance.

Yeah, I know what you mean, JOG - but I was mostly thinking of poor trigger control, grip, etc. The TV stuff is really easy to spot - and we see plenty of it, eh?

Yep. Might even be more important.

Another mark against the Glock (just to twist yer nips). It's more of a bother to reset the trigger for dry-firing with a Glock than with a 1911 or similar or with a revolver.

Not enough to make a difference. Just a quick pull back on the slide, and you're good to go.

For general home defense, across the board there is nothing more reliable than a wheelgun.

They alway go bang when you pull the trigger and the combination of heftier weight and moderate calibers makes them easy to learn and actually use

For a battle gun, the Glock is superior to the 1911, sorry 1911 fans.

I love the 1911, but it's kinda specialized, yes on average a good one is probably twice as accurate as your std Glock but cosidering that we arent talking punching paper the difference is meaningless.

My most recent 1911 acquisition is a Kimber TLE and I love it, had to do a little trigger work but overall a very satifying highly accurate gun.

Just because the PDs have switched over to semi autos doesnt mean that equates to the best solution for home defense pistol.

I personally dont care that some call the Glock tactical tupperware or whatever, they simply work.

I have a Glock .40 model 22 that I used to use in action pistol competiton that has at least 25k through it. All I had to replace was the recoil rod assy because I broke it when I tried to field strip it too hurridly, that was MY fault not the fault of the gun.

Glocks point naturally, fit a lot of people's hand [with or without a Hogue grip] and have a soft recoil signature because of the plastic handle.

RatherBHuntin,

So, how are you enjoying your Glock?

It was, I was even looking at the Taurus Web page as I typed it.