Which handgun do you recommend for EDC?

8-BALL said:
Any suggestions for the Western Cape where you can go learn / test?
Click to expand...
Try City Guns, they have an indoor range, or Keith at False Bay Firearm Training Academy.
If they cannot help they might know where you can go.
 
UrBaN963 said:
I went to the range at Tactical HQ.

Tactical HQ

Large indoor shooting range, with a variety of unique and exotic guns for hire. A fully stocked gun store with a large selection of firearms, from bolt action hunting rifles to tactical AR-15, self defence hand guns, competition hand guns, clay shooting shotguns, tactical shotguns and more.
tacticalhq.co.za tacticalhq.co.za

They will let you shoot any of a number of guns there, including pistols, assault rifles (AKs and AR-15s) as well as a Barrett even. Think it was R350 range fee, then just buy a box of bullets and you're good to go. They have instructors as well to keep everyone safe.
Click to expand...
Semi auto rifles. They do not have assault rifles. Very, very, very few select fire rifles are in private hands (legally) in South Africa.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Yeah I know, do we have any trainers in Gauteng with dynamic outdoor courses? Everyone agrees that indoor shooting ranges are bad, but it's all I've seen casually.
Click to expand...

The West Rand Safari Outdoor club I joined had a shoot a couple of weeks back were we did a "kill house" section, moving from room to room shooting targets which was epic, first time I've done something like that. Ranges are good at figuring the gun out and getting somewhat comfortable with it and shouldn't be looked down upon.
 
HasThisNameBeenTaken? said:
The West Rand Safari Outdoor club I joined had a shoot a couple of weeks back were we did a "kill house" section, moving from room to room shooting targets which was epic, first time I've done something like that. Ranges are good at figuring the gun out and getting somewhat comfortable with it and shouldn't be looked down upon.
Click to expand...
Yeah no, don't get me wrong, I'm going to be spending as much time as possible at ranges. I just know where I want to go after that already
 
AntennaMan said:
No the perp won't. Life is not a Hollywood movie and handgun calibers suck at stopping anything.

9mmP is the best compromise between affordability, availability, capacity and recoil.
Click to expand...

An Alternate Look at Handgun Stopping Power | Buckeye Firearms Association

by Greg Ellifritz I've been interested in firearm stopping power for a very long time. I remember reading Handguns magazine back in the late 1980s when Evan Marshall was writing articles about his stopping power studies. When Marshall's first book came out in 1992, I ordered it immediately...
www.buckeyefirearms.org www.buckeyefirearms.org
 
HasThisNameBeenTaken? said:
The West Rand Safari Outdoor club I joined had a shoot a couple of weeks back were we did a "kill house" section, moving from room to room shooting targets which was epic, first time I've done something like that. Ranges are good at figuring the gun out and getting somewhat comfortable with it and shouldn't be looked down upon.
Click to expand...
From doing a lot of martial arts training over the years, and shooting is no different IMO, the more you work on the basics, the better all the "sexy" stuff gets.

So my philosophy is to spend the bulk of my time learning and reinforcing how to reliably hit what ever I shoot at, in a consistent repeatable way. Because in real life, if you can't hit what you aim at, all the other stuff is just a waste of time IMO.

And while I'm not bad at the moment, I feel I still have a long way to go. And you only get better by lots of concentrating on the basics. So that means lots of dry firing and then a fair amount of basic range time.

Although I do enjoy taking part in sport shooting competitions as well, but things happen too fast then to actually know for sure how or why things went good or bad, at least for me, at this stage. And I think it's easy to start picking up bad habits, especially if you try go too fast. What I do know is the more basic practice I do, the better I shoot in competitions. So at this point, I use the competitions more as a training aid, to measure how well my basic training is going, as well as learn some dynamic gun handling - rather than actually competing. But that will probably change with time.
 
George Netherby said:
Exactly, Tight groupings count.
Click to expand...
Honestly what my early experiences have shown me is that before you even care about tight groupings, it's more important to focus on controlling adrenalin. When your hands are shaking and your entire body is buzzing, weird things happen.
 
HunterNW said:
Folks, carry what you want. Caliber really isn't all that important.
Click to expand...

Agree and disagree. I agree that the whole calibre vs stopping power thing is pretty silly - where you hit the perp is much more important than what you hit him with. But knowing that I'm not the best shot there is, in a stress situation I'm not sure that e.g. 8 rounds will be enough. You need to take your own inaccuracy into account and get something that carry enough rounds in the mag, and that is fast to reload. I love the 1911s, and they conceal surprisingly well, but having only 7-9 rounds in the mag feels a bit risky.

Foxhound5366 said:
Honestly what my early experiences have shown me is that before you even care about tight groupings, it's more important to focus on controlling adrenalin. When your hands are shaking and your entire body is buzzing, weird things happen.
Click to expand...

Exactly - I remember a paintball game we played when we were still in school. A friend and I met each other face to face coming around the two sides of a 90 deg corner. We shot at each other until both paintball guns failed - neither scored a hit.
 
My 1 cent

Go shoot a few different hand guns. Many gun shops have rentals you can test to see what you like. So sort out the personal choice.

Ask yourself a few questions

What you going to use this for ? EDC ? Then consider size and weight.
Can you get affordable parts for the FA at most gun shops.
Is it reliable?
Caliber should be something available. like 9mm
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Honestly what my early experiences have shown me is that before you even care about tight groupings, it's more important to focus on controlling adrenalin. When your hands are shaking and your entire body is buzzing, weird things happen.
Click to expand...
Yep. Standing still and relaxed, shooting at a paper target that doesn't shoot back is a very far cry from a combat situation.

Never been in a dodgy situation, but I've done some sport shooting (IDPA). Even that little bit of time pressure, combined with people watching you and the range officer breathing in your neck while you try to remember the course of fire adds a lot to the challenge.

You get tunnel vision very quickly, and afterwards can't even remember what you did.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X