Tag: recoil

The Best Guns and Ammo for Self-Defense

It’s important to understand the relationship between the personal defense weapon you’re planning on purchasing and the kind of ammunition it uses. This article is about the best guns and ammo for self defense. At at least some general guidelines.

One of the things that often comes up is “stopping power”. What is generally meant by this is the power of the cartridge. Generally speaking larger cartridges and mean bigger bullets (there are exceptions).

However, stopping power shouldn’t be your only consideration when looking for a self defense instrument.

What about recoil, speed, draw time?

These are all important considerations that can either make a concealed carry defense weapon a liability or a huge life-saving asset.

Today we’re going to take a look at some of my personal recommended bullets/guns. I’d advise anyone who is serious about understanding how their gun works to read more about the differences between bullet types.

Fast Effective Fire at Medium Range – Glock 17

You can’t beat a Glock.

When it comes to self defense, draw time and concealability are two important factors. A Glock 17 offers an extremely lightweight design.

While the 9mm bullets aren’t incredibly powerful they offer lowered recoil which allows you to get off multiple shoots without losing accuracy.

I find this to be an incredibly important factor in my concealed carry choice of weapon. If you watch any security footage of a self defense firefight you will notice that you rarely have time to aim with a larger caliber bullet, what matters is speed and first shooter advantage.

The Glock magazine is expanded holding 17 rounds. Cartridge are 116-149 grains which can be upgraded to hollow point for maximum damage upon impact. If you spend your time and read about where to buy ammo you can get bulk prices on 9mm ammo.

Ruger GP 100

Known as a pocket rocket, the Ruger GP 100 is a member of the infamous Magnum family. You won’t get as many shots off with this gun but it packs some serious power.

One of the things that I always mention to new shooters is that the Ruger GP 100, despite its concealability and size is still quite a heavy pistol. One the plus side the heavy frame will stop recoil while on the flip side you won’t be pulling it out as fast.

Cartridge size is like a .357 Magnum with 200 grain bullets and a 6 round capacity. The Ruger 100 also works on an extremely simple mechanism and doesn’t get jammed very easily. Great to clean as well.

Best Personal Defense Shotgun – Mossberg 500

The Mossberg is one of the best priced and most reliable shotguns out there. First off I’d like to mention this is an automatic shotgun not a traditional pump action. This means that the empty shell is automatically throw out of the chamber and autoloaded via the kinetic energy of the gun. With a traditional shotgun you’re the one doing the pumping.

The Mossberg is good in rain, fog and even snow. It’s built for tactical use and made to design the rigors of everyday wear and tear.

For bullets, I would suggest using a slug or buckshot. I’m not a fan of birdshot for self defense. If you’re hunting ducks than sure, however, if someone is breaking into your home while your family is asleep you better believe I’m using a 12-gauge slug.

1911 Colt .45 ACP

Created by Browning over a decade ago when he invented the 1911, the 230-grain bullet is a great choice for personal defense. Considering that you get about eight rounds and less recoil for that caliber, a good shooter should be able to stop an assailant pretty easily.

I’m a big supporter of the 1911 for a couple of reasons. First, is functionality. The 1911 has been used for almost 90 years while sticking true to its original design and manufacturing.

Nothing special or fancy means not much can get caught or malfunction. Second, it’s cheap. 1911 ammo and guns are available almost anywhere and can be purchased for less than $200 at most gun shows.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to personal defense firearms the most important cardinal rule of all is that you MUST be comfortable with whatever weapon you plan on using. I can’t stress this enough.

This means you need to hit the range with your weapon and use it on a regular basis so when push comes to shove you know exactly how to use it.

Safe shooting everyone.

June 27, 2017
Surgical Speed Shooting

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Surgical Speed Shooting helps you learn the secrets of shooting a handgun quickly and accurately under the extreme stress of a gunfight.

These cutting-edge techniques for managing recoil in rapid fire, high-speed trigger control and more are used by today’s hostage rescue teams and competitive grandmasters.

Andy Stanford is a well known firearm instructor, and the shooter on the cover is the famous/infamous James Yeager.

I actually come from a town near where Yeager came from and took my very first handgun permit from him before the goatee and tattoos.

All that aside, this book is about how to shoot fast and accurately – and that is something I can get behind no matter who is the person teaching.

May 14, 2015
How to Troubleshoot Firearm Stoppage Using SAMM

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When I am on the range with new shooters and they have a malfunction they tend to blame the gun. I understand totally, you pay a lot for a firearm, and want to depend on it to function 100% of the time. Especially if you plan on using to defend your life.

If it keeps malfunctioning, you start to wonder if you bought a lemon.

However, it is been my experience that mechanical problems are not the leading reason most semi-automatic handguns malfunction.

There is an acronym that goes over the reasons for handgun malfunction, and it just happens to be in order or likely hood – so when you are on the range and “gun don’t work” try this first That acronym is SAMM.

The list below will show you how to begin firearm stoppage troubleshooting using SAMM.

Shooter

Semi-automatic handguns are amazing things; they are designed to contain and channel explosions, push projectiles at hundreds of feet per second, extract and eject spent casings, push fresh rounds from magazines and then chamber them in the handgun. All this has to be done with a single input of energy and timed and balanced so that everything is done.

The shooter is a variable in the design. If the shooter does not provide a steady platform for the gun to recoil against, then the laws of physics make the whole gun want to recoil equally instead of just the slide. If the slide is not able to move farther and faster than the frame of the handgun you will get failures to extract, failures to eject, double feeds, and failures to load.

In my experience with new shooters, the greatest single cause of handgun malfunctions is the shooter not holding the handgun properly.

Ammo

Ammunition malfunctions are another cause of firearms failing to function as designed. I have no issue with reloads, and done properly by a skilled individual hand loaded ammunition can function much better than factory ammunition. However, there are a lot of variables in ammunition manufacture, and reloads tend to have a greater than normal incidence of misfires, hang fires, and squib loads. Some guns (like my Walther P22) are very finicky about the ammunition it will digest, and ammunition that does not have a lot of pressure will cause the gun to double feed or fail to extract.

Remember, that with a semi-automatic, the round is part of the firearm operation, and it moves inside the firearm. If the nose of the bullet does not smoothly engage the feeding ramp then the firearm will not load smoothly. There is a reason for the recommendation that you practice with the same type of ammunition you choose to carry for defensive use.

If you have malfunction after malfunction, especially with chambering, you may want to switch ammunition brands or styles.

Maintenance

Most, if not all, ranges offer rental guns, and most of those ranges do not spend a lot of effort in ensuring that their rental guns are cleaned properly.

One range I use rents an old red label Sturm, Ruger & Co .22 pistol. I doubt that gun has been cleaned since Mr. Sturm passed in 1951. These guns are popular handguns, and known for their great design, but that particular firearm will not shoot more than 2 rounds before it has a jam. It is simply too dirty. I have thought about cleaning it myself, but I have a side bet to see if it will ever get so dirty it won’t except a magazine….

Glock’s torture test is legendary, but as their armorer course instructor said, it’s a test – not a daily routine.

Just because you CAN drop you loaded gun in the mud, let it sit for a month then fire it without cleaning doesn’t mean you SHOULD. Clean your firearm, lube it according to the manufacturer specifications, hold it properly, and feed it what it likes to eat and your gun will work 99.9% of the time

Mechanical

There is a reason Mechanical is last. Stock guns maintained properly very rarely break on the range. It does happen, and I have had front sights work themselves loose after thousands of practice draws, but it is not routine enough that it is front of my mind when diagnosing why a new shooter is having malfunctions on the range.

Typically, even most mechanical malfunctions I have seen come from shooters using aftermarket parts on their guns. If the designer wanted a titanium firing pin for a lighter quicker primer strike, why did they not put a titanium pin in the gun? It seems to me, that in today’s litigious world, especially with the competition between gun manufacturers, if a part made the gun better, faster, or stronger, the manufacturer would sell it – either in the gun or as an option.

This is just my two cents, it doesn’t butter my biscuit either way – if your gun is stock, or you hung everything but Christmas Lights on it. I am just trying to pass on what I have seen, and what I have learned through the years.

Understanding the USE of Handguns for Self-Defense

February 14, 2013