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 (Probably the most highly tested pistol, but if you’ve heard negative things online, check out ‘The Truth About the Sig P320.’
- Springfield Echelon
- Ruger RXM
- Smith & Wesson M&P 9 2.0 (C.O.R.E.)
- Glock 17 / 19 / 45 (M.O.S.). But Glock has discontinued these models for their new Version 6, which is California friendly.
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
Depending on your hand size and strength, some people often need a gun that’s easier to rack. The goal is to have a gun that you love to shoot, so you love to practice, and you get proficient. Then if trouble happens, your gun-handling will be second nature.
Here are my top 3 choices when helping someone who finds it hard to rack a pistol, and wants something that’s easier to rack.
Years ago, men would tell women to get a snub-nose revolver. The thinking was that guns are hard, women won’t learn, so give them an “easy” revolver.
But truthfully, revolvers 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, and the ammo is expensive so it harder to practice with them. So I don’t typically recommend a revolver as someone’s main self-defense option.
And there’s no reason women (or anyone) can’t run a standard, striker-fired pistol. I always recommend in-person classes, because they will make it safe and fun.
If you can, find a range where you can shoot these 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 fired, thumb-safety guns? Shouldn’t I get one of these? Absolutely –– but not at first. Think of this classic guns as fun, like a cool old motorcycle. You’ve got to have some, but they don’t work well as a daily driver.
If you’re only going to have one or two guns, first make sure they’re a good “daily driver,” like a striker-fired 9mm. They’re simple and easy, like a Toyota with an automatic transmission. Same trigger pull each time (not like a double-action/single-action pistol). You need a couple sizes too, FAT and THIN – as I talk about above.
After that, you may want more options for fun. To compare guns to vehicles, I personally had a motorcycle when I was young and learned to drive on that. Then at 14 I worked construction for my dad and learned to drive a forklift. By the time I was 16 and getting my license, I had years driving a clutch. 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 dozen or so. 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 motorcycle – you shouldn’t think about it at all. But 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 1911s. Look at the bigger brands like Sig Sauer, Springfield, Ruger, Smith and Wesson, or really – like a motorcycle – whatever catches your eye.