Post whatever

Never had a handgun with an 8" barrel

I did, briefly. I used to own an eight inch Colt Python. It had been for many years sitting on the shelf of a small gun shop I worked in. It was a "new gun," in that it was shipped to the store from the distributor, and sat on the shelf in the glass case for years, getting little interest from customers. Eventually, the owner of the store made me an offer I couldn't refuse on it, basically just wanting to get rid of it. This was back in the 1990s, before their prices went through the roof. I think I paid like $500.00 for it. I sold it on gunsamerica a few years later.

Why are they so popular TRH, tv shows, movies? I've never seen one in person

I wouldn't mind having one of these Stacatto 2011, in the competition model. It's kind of a new age 1911, 9mm. A modern take on the 1911 with all the bells and whistles.

https://staccato2011.com/handguns/staccato-xl/

If it were me I'd go with a glock 34 MOS.

But I'm a glock guy, I'd want to stay with something familiar

Mossberg 12 gauge pump/semiauto. No it's not a pistol but if trouble comes calling I'll take 00 versus any 9 everyday of the week and twice on Saturday.

Are they popular? That one was sitting in the gun store display case for years, brand new. They practically gave it to me just to get rid of it. I hardly got back what I paid when I sold it online.

Both solid choices.

Have shot 8" Smiths and Colts and Ruger (9.5")
Good range toys. Kill critters.

Would not go over 6" for a HD rig.

For years a 4 or 6" 629 was on my nightstand.
Colt 1911 did the longest stink (briefly a P 35).

Now my nightstand rig is an HK P30L

Yup. GREAT choice.

Springfield Ronin.

... and Eight-Thousand rounds of ammo.




GR

I'm happy with a Glock 17 for the handgun side of the equation.

For the $$$ this isn't a bad gun either; I don't own one but know a couple of guys that do & shoot local matches with them & they've been very happy. Pretty hard to find.

The entire RIA 1911 based series is really good, especially at their price points.

RIA Ultra Match

MM

My nightstand gun is a full size Beretta APX in flat dark earth. I have 17 & 21 round magazines for it. Is it the "ultimate", I don't really know, it's a very subjective thing. In my opinion, any full size 9mm pistol will work about as well as any other be it a polymer striker fired pistol or a metal frame traditional double action.. I don't think that there is much difference between any of the polymer striker fired pistols on the market today, get what ever feels good to you, Glock 17, S&W M&P, Sig 320 etc. or a 92F, P226 or CZ75, they will all do the job. If you want a red dot, light or suppressor attached go ahead, I don't think that they are an absolute necessity but they are useful and if you want it go ahead and get what ever accessories you want. If you have $4,000 to spend, I would recommend you get the full size pistol that feels good to you and spend the rest on practice ammunition and training.

CZ 75 Checkmate or SIG P226 Legion

Glock 17/34, M&P9, Sig P226 or P320, CZ75/P09, all good choices. Opinions differ, but I have a light on all of my home/duty guns.

In my opinion. The nightstand gun should be simple and reliable. Bells and whistles are not only unnecessary, they are detrimental to the purpose. My nightstand gun is my EDC…Sig 365. I could just as well replace it with any of my full-sized, striker-fired or double action pistols. I would prefer not to use a single-action auto pistol for that purpose because, getting up in the middle of the night, I want to only have to pull a trigger. With a single action you have to either deal with a safety or cock the hammer. Middle of the night panic situation, I want things as simple as possible. There’s no shot in my house that requires the finesse of a tuned, single-action trigger, nothing to be gained by refinement.

G17 for me. 17+1 in it, reloads are 33 rounds. Light. Night sights.

Spent the rest on classes and ammo.

Like all "ultimate" threads, everybody is just going to talk about what they have (even though it isn't their "ultimate" choice). Really--if somebody handed you $4000 to get whatever you wanted, what would it be?

I previously agreed with the recommendation for a Staccato as the "ultimate" nightstand/range gun, but my wife says we don't need one. My second place 9mm choice is a Sig P320 AXG. I think it checks all the boxes (17+1, nights, light, no safety, reliable, and accurate). I honestly can't think of another pistol I'd rather use (other than the Staccato).

I bought the Sig a few months ago. I shot it this morning just to get a few more rounds through it. At 46 oz. all up, it's heavy, but I didn't get it for AWIB carry.

What's in my nightstand is a loaded Glock 19 with a light attached and a 33 round backup mag laying beside it.

OP said MUST be 9mm. And 8 inch barrel. I would say that is extremely rare, if at all.

No, the OP stated that an 8" bbl would be fine.
As would a steel frame.

I took those to be LIMITS not demands.

Did you miss reading in school?

Glock 19 with a Trijicon RMR06, and Trijicon night sights. The group in the picture was fired by my youngest daughter. She shoots a lot with her Sig, but this was her first time with a Glock, and with a red dot sight.

Mine is a Glock 32 in 357 Sig caliber with a laser / light combo mounted on it. There’s a 870 Rem 12 ga with a 18” barrel setting in the corner behind it.

Sig P226 tacops, 21 rounds all up, comes with four 20 round mags, load to or buy Underwood 90gr Lehigh xtreme defense, i shoot same but in 357 Sig, i load 90gr xtreme defense near1700 fps over Longshot powder, bud brought out both hard and soft armor as well as iirc 1.5 or 2 inch laminated bullet resistant glass, my load with the Lehigh ate it all, no recoil.

PSA has all kinda kool stuff


https://palmettostatearmory.com/guns/handguns/pistols.html

I was saying for the premise of this conversation there's no need for the choice to be either lightweight, or a short barreled pistol, such as the majority of poly firearms marketed today for concealed carry. An 8" barrel such as the old Wildey was just an example of the extreme end of the spectrum, it's not a suggestion or requirement. Most guns that fit the category are probably around 5" and what you'll see in a USPSA production match. I added the $4000 budget to eliminate some of the Open guns that are just silly expensive. I'm not necessarily looking for advice on my own purchase, I've shot competitions for decades and I know what I like, I just thought this would be an interesting topic as I see little market focus on big 9mm's. On that note, I am surprised no one has mentioned an old metal S&W's, 5900 I think was the model #.

For a nightstand and range pistol - SIG P210 Target

Yes Sir they do, rummaging through the safe a minute ago and there lay that Delta Point Pro sight with cross slot mount i've had lying around here for over a year, said if i put the battery in this thing and it comes on, i'll have to buy another AR to put it on, SHEET, it lit up LOL, went to PSA and bought a spare 7 twist mid length 5.56 AR with mbus flip ups for 599 bucks, free shipping, that's okay, just loaded 400 64gr Nosler bondeds and 300 62gr Bearclaws, none of it will spoil!

Goes bang every time. nothing to manipulate, No Jams, stove pipes..........


Good .357 revolver will do it all every day,, every time...............



Lefty

Lone wolf used to have some 9 inch barrels for Glock. Hack off an inch.

Reading is for chumps!

I give up

Two very different handguns I to have in reach of the bed, or in the range bag - a S&W 629 .44 mag in 6.5”, and CZ 75 SP 01 in 9mm. The latter for its high capacity, light rail, accuracy, and NOT shooting through walls, doors, etc. And the former, for its accuracy, power and ability TO shoot through walls, doors, etc. Albeit far fewer rounds in the gun.

Both are exceptional at the range, and both serve a purpose on the nightstand. And they’re about as different as two handguns could be, besides both being heavy and not suited well to CC.

Everybody always talks about the potential dangers of over-penetration in home defense guns. And I understand that. Particularly if one is living in an urban multi-unit dwelling of modern construction and paper mache walls. Or even single unit dwellings packed azz to nutzz. I get it. BUT, what about if you DO have a gingerbread man pinned down next to your refrigerator, or behind your huge leather couch, or ducking behind your island kitchen range? Fugg that, I want to shoot through it.

Thanks for stopping by, MostlyFreeClassifiedsGuru.

The answer is 870, the answer was always 870.

I keep an Ithaca Model 37 M&P pump shotgun (long time favorite of the LAPD) loaded, too. Nothing wrong with the 870 either, though.


As seen in L.A. Confidential:

Similar….Glock 23 with an LA police gear brand light. And a VP40 12 gauge. 5 round mag.

The 8 3/8" barrel M27 was the dumbest 357mag I ever owned.

Finally, it is impossible to discuss "generic gun" w/o mentioning Ruger. If one wants all around I would pick G20 with "hunter barrel" which if I recall correctly is 6 inches long. One advantage of G40 is ability to have MOS which is nice option in this caliber (10x25).

SP101 357

Herter's .401 Power Mag

Best chambering ever.

I actually seen one at an auction this summer. I didn’t stick around to watch it sell.

I actually have a pair of them. Never tried shooting through an engine block, yet. But George said it would.

WTF?
Ruger?
Then what?

I used to have one of those from a State Trooper auction, pull the trigger and pump away. What a pain to disassemble.

Bought mine in the 1980s. Other than removing the barrel, I've never had need to disassemble it.

11 round 870 pump 12 in the back too, little green fiber glowing bead looking back at me, if you guys load for a 12 gauge, 12 [36 cal] 000 buckshot pellets will sit in four nice rows of three in the clear 2-3/4" Fiocchi hulls, i cast em at 22 BHN alloy, harder than a whores heart, that's a hell of a payload on the 2-3/4" hull.

My first shotgun was a 16 gauge model 37. As a 12 or 13 year old, I took that sucker apart right down to springs and pins, just to see how it worked. I was greatly impressed by the elegance of design, the way so much happened in such a small volume. Load and eject through the same port…what a great shotgun.

It is slightly modified copy of Remington 17. It is hard to believe, but people pay more for Remington 870 then an Ithaca Model 37/87. There are many ignorant people out there that can not tell high quality and value when they see it.

Italians make very nice 2&1/4" SG shot shells with six pellets per cartridge. The overall length varies depending on shell crimp type (star crimp shells are little shorter). These offer good blend of stopping power and low recoil offering better followup shots. Do not buy stupid shorter shells because they will not cycle from magazine in repeating shotguns.

Those LAPD guns from late 60s with standard length magazine tube were really nice handling guns about 6,5lb for 12ga 18,5 inch barrel. Original pad was vented type about 1/2" thick, Jostam brand I think.