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Skill Set: The Best Gun
This installment is by Wire Editor Rich Grassi. In it, we find "The Best Gun/Ammo" for our needs. This piece is written along the lines of part of a chapter in Grassi's book, Police Firearms Instruction: Problems and Practices, available at Amazon and other fine book sellers.
By Rich Grassi
In my book, I discussed the best police gun, caliber and ammo for purposes of general issue or for individual purchase. The wire has a more diverse audience, but the same basis for selection remains.
First, what fits? The same gun that would be a good fit to a linebacker for Da Bears is unlikely to be best for a jockey - and vice versa. I've actually found people carrying guns too small for their hands. It took forever to get a first shot from the holster if your finger can't run the trigger.
For concealed carry, many practitioners carry anything that is very small that you have to fill out an ATF Form 4473 to get. I'm beginning to think they'd carry a rubber band and paper clips if it was approved for the license. In fact, we have to analyze why we got the license to start with: if you thought the day would come you'd have to defend your life with the gun you carry every day, I think the size of the gun would increase.
Manipulation of the pistol - making it work - is a function of your practice with it. As the gun gets smaller, ammo costs often increase (have you priced .380 and .32 Auto lately?). The controls are very close together - even if the only two real operating controls are trigger and magazine release button - which can cause problems. Some people can take one of the modern mouseguns and release the magazine just by pressing the trigger - the index finger goes through enough to touch the button. Some small guns are just unpleasant to shoot.
Larger guns are less convenient, often heavier, harder to hide and only sometimes more powerful. I remember the double-stack "high capacity" .380 Auto Beretta made for a time as an example.
GLOCK 26 9mm
The Glock 26 sub-compact ("Mini-Glock") in 9mm is smallish and blocky, but it can be easily hidden and it shoots quite a bit like its larger versions the 19 and the 17. Along those lines, the Smith & Wesson M&P9c is also a small yet powerful pistol that's very easy to shoot well.
You can train with either of these guns. Not many calibers have ammo as "reasonably priced" or plentiful as 9mm Parabellum. With premium expanding ammo from any of the U.S. ammo companies, 9mm is a good defense load. The ammunition doesn't weigh a ton, so there's no excuse not to carry a spare magazine. You'll need that, particularly if you have a bad stoppage . . . or if you run short on ammunition. It can happen.
S&W M&P9 Compact
If your preference is revolvers, this is a good time to be around. Lightweight, compact revolvers are out there. I've been working quite a bit with the Ruger LCR since the first of the year. It's a .38 Special rated for +P. My constant carry gun for about the past couple of years has been the S&W M&P340. While chambered for .357 Magnum, the only magnum rounds it fired was for testing that went into the magazine article. I carry it with .38 Special +P, usually Cor-Bon 110 grain DPX and more recently with Speer's Short Barrel 135 grain Gold Dot. I've been waiting on Winchester's new Supreme Elite Bonded PDX1 130 grain to try out.
It's easy to find the right gun for you. Try it on the range. If you buy at a facility where there's a range, see if you can try before you buy.