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If you’re new to shooting or self defense in general, purchasing your first weapon for

defensive use can be intimidating. Store shelves are lined with row upon row of

similar looking black or silver handguns and it’s tough to tell them apart – or pick

which one’s best, without some help – which we are here to give you.

Most Americans are somewhat familiar with firearms as the rate of firearms

ownership in America is one of the highest per capita on Earth, but having said that,

your average American is much more familiar with sporting firearms. These are guns

like duck hunting shotguns, scoped deer rifles, all manner of .22 varmint guns, and

things like that. In a pinch, any of these weapons can be used as a home defense

weapon, but they don’t really make a good choice. For home defense, you need a

dedicated tool, a weapon that does just that one job and nothing else. Keep in mind

that multitasking is great when it applies to computers or cell phones, but it doesn’t

work in the real of home defense weapons. You really do want a “jack of ONE trade”

to do that job.

Overwhelmingly, we recommend a pistol to new firearms buyers as their first home

defense weapon to purchase, and their go-to weapon to deal with home threats

thereafter. If you were hoping for another conclusion to this article, we’re sorry to

disappoint, but here is why a pistol beats almost anything else hands down for home

defense:

 

 

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Pistols are compact and can be used to clear even the smallest of apartments of

any threats.

If you are so inclined, you can wear your holstered pistol around your house all

day long – a rifle slung over your shoulder is a bit much, even by our standards.

Pistols are less intimidating for new shooters to learn due to their compact size

and intuitive ergonomics. While new shooters often have superior accuracy

with rifles as opposed to pistols, the differences at the ten yard or less

distances seen within a home are negligible.

The cost of a home defense pistol is a little less than the initial cost of a rifle,

and about the same as a shotgun, yet pistol ammo is still cheaper than either to

repeatedly practice with.

Pistols can be loaded with hollow point ammunition, which is the best ammo

for stopping an attacker. Hollow point ammunition expands to many times its

size when it strikes a target, causing a massive wound channel and internal

trauma, and at the same time, this expansion means that the bullet will not over

penetrate past the attacker like rifle and shotgun rounds will.

Pistols can easily be kept in compact biometric style safes close at hand,

meaning that they are far more likely to be where you are – when you need them –

than any long gun. As a rule, most people automatically store long guns in safes.

We’re not saying that pistols are the only weapon for home defense, nor are we

saying that they are superior to rifles or shotguns in some home defense

applications. What we are saying is that they should be your first purchase for home

defense, especially if you know nothing or very little about firearms.

 

   

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SEMIAUTOMATIC VERSUS REVOLVER

Pistols are broken down into two subgroups – semiautomatics and revolvers. The

semiautomatic pistol uses a magazine located within the grip of the gun. This

magazine feeds cartridges into the chamber as the trigger is pulled – all the shooter

needs to do is keep pulling the trigger until the pistol goes empty, and then reload

another magazine. A revolver uses a rotating cylinder to store cartridges, usually

between 6 to 8 depending on the model of revolver and caliber. Here are the pros

and cons of each:

Semi auto pistols:

Pro:

Detachable magazines mean ultra fast reloads. Most pistols have magazine

capacities that are 10 at a minimum, and can be as high as 20 rounds depending on

the model of pistol. That equals lots of firepower.

The calibers most semi autos use are also in use by the military and law

enforcement, meaning there is always a good pool of ammo out there to draw from.

The police and military have overwhelmingly selected semi auto pistols as

their go-to side arms.

 

 

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Con:

Semi auto pistols are initially more complicated to shoot than revolvers, and

have more buttons, knobs, and levers than any revolver.

Semi auto pistols quite simply have more moving parts.

Revolvers:

Pro:

Revolvers are stupid simple to use and don’t even have a safety. Anyone can be

taught to use a revolver in five minutes or less.

Revolvers often have longer barrels than semi autos, which usually makes them

feel more accurate to the new shooter.

Revolvers are available in some powerful magnum loads, like .357 Magnum and

.44 Magnum.

Con:

Revolvers hold fewer cartridges than even the most compact semi autos.

Reloading a revolver can be accomplished quickly in practiced hands, but at the

end of the day, the average revolver shooter will never be able to reload as fast as

the average semi auto shooter.

Few revolvers have accessory rails to fit things light lights or lasers – in fact, only

one revolver that we know of comes with a rail.

 

   

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While it remains an individual choice, we really can’t recommend that your first

pistol for home defense be a revolver. There are two reasons why we can’t in good

conscience tell you to buy a revolver; 1) ammunition capacity, and 2) reloading

speed. This isn’t the time to engage in one of those theoretical discussions on shot

placement, either. We know that just one well placed shot is enough to bring down

an attacker, but we also know that it is extremely difficult to make that perfectly

placed shot even if you’re well trained during a high stress situation. Also, there is

nothing to say that there will only be a single attacker. For that reason, we

recommend you purchase a semiautomatic pistol as your first home defense

weapon. Even if you had one fifteen round magazine in the pistol, and two more

fifteen rounders in your pocket, you’d still be bringing 45 rounds to the fight. At

best, with a revolver, you’d have eight rounds (six on most wheel guns!), and then

two more eight round speed loaders for a total of 24 rounds. Plus, you’d be hard

pressed to use those speed loaders as fast as the average person could do a

magazine change. We feel that the extra twenty rounds you’d get in this scenario is a

deal killer for the revolver.

This isn’t to say you can’t own a revolver – just don’t lean on it as a self defense

weapon for home use at first.

THE PERFECT SEMIAUTOMATIC PISTOL

All pistols are compromises, and each shooter will take differently to each

model of pistol. Many times, we buy pistols simply because of the way they

look, and there is nothing wrong with that if they meet all of our other

 

 

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requirements. So what features should you look for in a home defense pistol? Here is

what we recommend:

Full size pistol:

Your first home defense pistol should be a full sized pistol. This gets you a pistol with

a double stacked magazine well for maximum ammunition capacity as well as a long

enough barrel for accuracy. We don’t like compact pistols for home defense because

they reduce the ammo capacity and have shorter barrels, which more or less take you

back into revolver territory.

Common calibers:

Common with what, you may ask…what we mean here is common military and law

enforcement calibers. We want you to have a pistol that takes ammunition that you’d

find within any policeman’s or soldier’s pistol. Why? There are a number of reasons

for this, but our main one is supply. First of all, military and law enforcement calibers

are widespread and common. You can find them in most stores, and after the

apocalypse, they will be the most common calibers out there, and in great supply. So

what are these “common calibers”? Essentially, there are three of them – 9mm, also

known as 9mm Luger or 9mm Parabellum (they are the same), .45ACP also known as

.45 Automatic Colt Pistol, and .40 S&W or .40 Smith and Wesson. These are far and

away the most popular pistol calibers in America, and they can be had in all sorts of

loads and configurations.

 

   

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Tier 1 Brand: Just so that you won’t have to worry about reliability issues and to

ensure you buy a pistol that will go bang when your life depends on it, we suggest

purchasing a pistol from what we call a Tier 1 vendor. These are such premiere

brands as Springfield, Colt, Smith and Wesson, Beretta, Glock, Sig Sauer. You will

generally pay a little bit more for these brands, but it’s for good reason. Consider the

$50 you might save when purchasing a lesser pistol at 3am one night after you hear

glass breaking. Your home defense pistol is not a place to save money.

WHAT ELSE DO I NEED BESIDES THE PISTOL?

We recommend that every pistol you purchase should have a matching holster.

Getting into holsters is beyond the scope of this article, but suffice to say that you

need to have a holster for the following two reasons:

If you have to bug out or go on the move, you’ll want a secure place to store

the pistol. No, your waistband or pocket doesn’t count.

You may elect to carry the pistol around the house to get used to having one

handy and to learn its weight and feel. This is a good thing – don’t fear it – it’s a tool

that could save your life. The correct place to carry it is within a holster.

We also recommend a weapon mounted light, and we’ll be providing a future

buyer’s guide on that very topic so you can make the right choice. A biometric safe

 

 

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or something to store the pistol in should also be on your list, as well as a good

cleaning kit.

Without further ado, these are the pistols we recommend that you look at, in no

particular order, as all of them are fine weapons:

Beretta 92FS

Type: Semiautomatic Pistol

Barrel length: 4.9”

Weight: 33.3 oz unloaded

Magazine capacity: 15 rounds

Caliber: 9mm

Street price: ~ $550

What we think: What can we say about this classic gun from the world’s oldest

firearms manufacturer other than it is the superlative semiautomatic pistol and a

great buy? The 92FS is used as the US Army and Marine Corps standard sidearm,

designated as the M9 and has served America in a combat role for over 30 years. The

pistol is very intuitive to use and is easy for a novice to learn. It’s accurate and

reliable to boot. Recent offerings from other manufacturers have made the 92FS

 

   

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seem a little long in the tooth, so Beretta has responded by adding a little

refinement in the form of an accessory rail and higher

capacity magazine – from 15 rounds to 17 rounds – in a newly redesigned model

called the 92A1. The 92A1 is competitively priced with the 92FS and is basically the

same gun with a few tweaks. Berettas have an amazing aftermarket, and one can

purchase beautiful 20 round Mec Gar magazines that fit flush with the magazine

well, giving the 92 an amazing amount of onboard ammo.

Springfield XD-40 Tactical

Type: Semiautomatic Pistol

Barrel length: 5”

Weight: 32oz unloaded

Magazine capacity: 12

rounds

Caliber: .40S&W

Street price: ~ $575

What we think: Dubbed the “American Glock” by many, even though Springfield

actually manufactures these fine pistols in Croatia, the Springfield Armory XD-40

Tactical is the longer barreled version of the Xd-40. It’s a great gun, and has an

excellent heft in the hand and is deadly accurate. While the magazine capacity is

 

 

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less than impressive at 12 rounds, we feel this pistol is still good enough to make the

cut. The XD-40 Tactical has no external safety, and relies on a combination grip and

trigger safety that is totally intuitive and reliable.

Sig Sauer P226

Type: Semiautomatic Pistol

Barrel length: 4.4”

Weight: 34oz unloaded

Magazine capacity: 12 rounds

Caliber: .40S&W

Street price: ~ $750

What we think: The Sig Sauer P226 was the weapon that lost to the Beretta 92FS

when the military was looking to replace the venerable 1911, but that doesn’t mean

it isn’t still a fine weapon. It’s in service today as the standard side arm of countless

federal agencies as well as the US Navy Seals. The Sig is chunky and feels

unbreakable in the hand, and it’s heavier than its competition but feels like a tank –

in a good way. Quite simply, the Sig P226 is a German over-engineered pistol that

will never let you down.

 

   

13  

Glock 19

Type: Semiautomatic Pistol

Barrel length: 4.02”

Weight: 20.99oz unloaded

Magazine capacity: 15

rounds

Caliber: 9mm

Street price: ~ $650

What we think: Gaston Glock’s Austrian masterpiece lives on, decades after he

designed it and with constant freshening and updating by the manufacturer. The

Glock is a simple and light weapon that has an aftermarket of accessories that is

quite simply jaw dropping. Magazines of 15, 17, and 33 rounds are available for this

pistol, and it’s used by so many police departments globally that the list would be

longer than this buyer’s guide.

SOME THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

Keep in mind that all of the pistols we chose can also be had in different calibers,

and usually only the model number changes. The features are more or less the same.

 

 

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For example, if you like the Beretta but want it in .40S&W, then you’d go for the Model 96.

Similarly, a Glock 22 is a .40 S&W version of the Glock 19 we showed you. Caliber isn’t as

important as buying the right pistol.

Also, you’ll notice a lack of 1911 style pistols in our list. That’s because while we adore the

1911 pistol designed by John Moses Browning over a century ago, and while we know that

it is currently produced in some form or another by close to 40

manufacturers, we feel it’s a little too complicated for a new shooter, and also, in it’s

normal (non double stack) configuration, it is ammo capacity limited.

Finally, go to a gun store, preferably one with a range, and try each of these pistols

out before you buy. They all shot the same projectiles, but they each have differing

characteristics and provide the shooter with a different shooting experience.

Handguns need to be sized to fit your hand and comfort level, so choose the one that

fits you the best – do not buy one sight unseen unless you’ve handled it first. Take

the time to get the proper firearms training as well, since your life literally depends

on it.