If you’re picking a new handgun, it can be daunting because there’s so many options. For many people, they are looking for one pistol right now – perhaps their first or second. Hopefully this video and information will make it much easier to choose what’s best for you.
For women or older people that need an easy-to-rack pistol, go further below to the second video for specific options.
Self-Defense Pistols
Typically people are picking a pistol for self defense. So these recommendations are to help especially with that use. There’s a ton of sizes, but I break all the sizes into two categories – FAT and THIN.
Fat guns are easier to shoot and hold more rounds, so they’re perfect for home defense, fun at the range, or taking a class. Thin guns will be harder to shoot, but are thin so they’re easier to hide – perfect for carry because it’s likely to be on you.
It’s easier to shoot a bigger gun (assuming these are all 9mm), than a smaller gun, but it’s easier to hide a smaller gun on you. So my first question is, “Is this mostly for home defense or mostly for carry?” I emphasize mostly because people will often say, “Yeah, both.” Remember that whatever gun you choose, it’ll be easy for one area and harder for the other. So what’s it mostly for?
If you’re trying to split the difference because it’ll be your only gun for a while, perhaps think about carrying it and get the biggest THIN gun you can with the most capacity.
Finally, keep in mind that you’ll eventually have both sizes. So if you get a THIN gun now, your next gun will most likely be a FAT gun, and vise versa.
Ideal Self-Defense Gun Checklist
Second, stay with these suggestions if possible:
- Name Brand (Sig Sauer, Springfield Armory, Smith & Wesson, Glock.)
- 9mm
- Striker fire (no external thumb safeties or hammers. These are inside the gun.)
- Optics cut (can always add a red dot later.)
- As big as you can go for the category. (If you’re in the carry/thin category, a grip that is longer where you can get your pinky on the gun is easier to shoot than a tiny gun where you have a dangling pinky, for instance.)
Top FAT Guns – Ideal for Home Defense
- Sig Sauer P320
- Springfield Echelon
- Ruger RXM
- Smith & Wesson M&P 9 2.0 (C.O.R.E.)
- Glock 17 / 19 / 45 (M.O.S.)
Top THIN Guns – Ideal for Carry
- Sig Sauer P365 X series, particularly the X-Macro Comp
- Springfield Hellcat / Hellcat Pro Comp
- Smith & Wesson Shield Plus 9mm (Comes in a Comp version)
- Glock 43X M.O.S.
- Canik Mete Prime
Easy-to-Rack Guns
Women’s hands are smaller, older people have less muscle in the hand – there are good reasons to find a gun that is easier to rack. Here are my top 3 choices when helping someone who finds it hard to rack a pistol.
Usually people buy a revolver snub-nose. But they are harder to shoot, harder to load on the move, harder to pull the trigger, and they’re bulky so they’re harder to carry or hide on you.
Instead, find a range where you can shoot these three guns and check them out for yourself. Then take a day or weekend class so you learn to run it easily.
- Smith & Wesson EZ 380 (Performance Center Version with ported barrel)
- Smith & Wesson Equalizer (Add a red dot to make it easier to rack and easier to aim)
- Sig Sauer P322 (Add a red dot to make it easier to rack and easier to aim)
Classic or Fun Guns?
What about 1911s, P226s and other hammer/thumb-safety guns? Shouldn’t I get one of these?
Well I categorize guns into groups to help people decide what to get. In terms of cars, the first group is your “daily driver.” For that you really need something simple and easy, like a Toyota. Automatic transmission, easy to use. Same trigger pull each time (not like a double-action/single-action pistol).
I personally had a motorcycle when I was young and learned to drive that. Then at 14 I worked construction for my dad and learned to drive a forklift. By the time I was 16, a clutch was no big deal. But if I were to get someone their one and only car and teach them to drive, it wouldn’t be a clutch. It’d be an automatic transmission to make it easy.
Guns are similar. It’s good to have a reliable car that’s easy, like a Toyota. But it’s also fun to have a chopper motorcycle. Motorcycles are a blast to ride but they’re not great in snow or rain. They have their place – they’re the “weekend driver” for fun long rides through canyons.
Similarly, it’s fun to have some classic or hammer guns to pull out on the range on the weekend. They are a blast. Nothing beats a motorcycle ride through a curvy canyon, and no pistol has a better trigger than a 1911. And like motorcycles, each 1911 is different so you should own a few. But they’re not great as your first or only gun. They’re big to carry, they’re a heavy, but most importantly, they don’t hold a lot of rounds for their size (7 or 9 rounds compared to 15 or 17 in a similar size striker gun).
It’s also hard to attach red-dots (aside from some new models), and you have to run the safety constantly because the safety tells you the condition of the gun. It’s like running a clutch perfunctorily on a chopper. Some people don’t want to learn how to do that correctly.
So start with a striker fired pistol. After you have that category filled (perhaps both FAT and THIN), then for sure get some fun classic guns. My favorites are for sure the 1911s. Look at the bigger brands like Sig Sauer, Springfield, Ruger, Smith and Wesson, or really – like a motorcycle – whatever catches your eye.