Defensive Firearms Priorities: How To Choose a Personal Defense Handgun

One of the things I do most frequently as a defensive firearms instructor is give advice on which gun a person should choose to own for personal or home defense. Over the years, I have even made video clips and written several essays and articles on that topic. Appropriately, my opinion on which types of guns people should choose and how they should go about choosing them has evolved over the years. It recently occurred to me that my own opinions on this topic have developed significantly over the past couple of years since the last article I published on the issue. So much so, in fact, that it’s time for another article!

I have been in the industry long enough now that people sometimes try to use me to refute me. It can be awkward to have to point out just how wrong I now believe I was about something in the past, but it needs to happen from time to time to maintain integrity. Over the years, I have met many instructors who hid behind a shallow interpretation of “integrity” which dictated to them that they never admit they were wrong. This type of instructor, luckily, is a dying breed. The man who would tell you that what he learned or did 20 years ago was exactly what you should do today and that no one, himself included, has evolved the art or science of defensive shooting has a hard time being taken seriously in the modern age of information sharing.

Over the past few years, it has been gratifying to see so many instructors, including some who have been teaching professionally in the private sector for two or three decades, acknowledging significant evolution in their thoughts … for example, embracing modern 9mm and striker-fired guns after a long-time devotion to the 1911 and/or the “bigger is always better” theory of defensive ballistics. When I am confronted with something I said often enough, I realize that I need to update the official version of what I am saying.

So, if you’ve been following my work since the 1990s, you can consider this an(other) update. If this is the first time you are reading my opinion on which guns you should own for personal defense, take it for what it’s worth. It is an opinion based on a lifetime of study of defensive shooting, over a decade of full-time teaching, thousands of students, hundreds of classes, and thousands of hours of my own personal time as a student. Either way, you can expect more evolution in the future.

Reliability

I put MSFs above revolvers as better choices for most people because of their simple designs and means of operation (pull the trigger and they go “bang,” don’t pull the trigger and they don’t); consistent, moderate trigger pulls; higher capacity; and the ease with which they can be reloaded. DARs, while incredibly reliable and convenient to carry (in small-frame “snub nosed” models), do have a significantly heavy and long trigger pull and very low capacity. These two factors combine to make carrying them a significant compromise. One key factor to accepting those detriments to the DAR is the ultimate reliability of the system, and since reliability is our most important factor, one can certainly understand the decision.

Shootability

The next most important factor we need to look at is shootability. As defensive firearms ownership grows (returns?) in our society, look for this word to make some magazine’s list of new words added to the English language. Shootability is the measure of a firearm’s ability to be used across all plausible circumstances one could be faced with. In regard to a defensive firearm, the most important aspect of shootability is the fit of the gun to your hand. If the gun does not fit your hand well, it is going to be difficult to use. The less optimal the fit of the gun, the less likely you will be able to use the gun intuitively, without great concentration. In some cases, fit can be so bad that it keeps the gun from being usable in any practical sense.

The first thing you want to look for is the ability to get the center of the back of the gun’s grip aligned with your wrist in the web between your thumb and forefinger, when the gun is extended in your line of sight and your finger is comfortably on the trigger. While in this position, be sure there is no gap above the web of your hand and the bottom of the beavertail (area above the back of the grip, meant to touch your hand to help with consistency and managing recoil). It is also vital that the knuckle at the base of your thumb be beside the gun, not under it. If you are holding the gun and find that the top of the grip area is above your knuckle, you need to move your thumb around toward the weak side of the gun. While in this position, your index finger should contact the trigger with its last pad.

After ensuring you can get the minimum aspects of a good grip on a firearm, next look to see that you can manipulate any levers or buttons beside the trigger without shifting your grip. Optimally, the only other button you’ll need to use will be the magazine release. Decockers and manual safeties decrease the practical reliability of the gun and/or the shootability of the gun by making them more complicated than they need to be. Most people benefit from an oversized or extended magazine release in order to be able to eject the magazine as efficiently as possible. It is not vital that you can eject the magazine with no shifting of the hand, but you should look for a gun that requires as little movement of the hand as possible.

One factor many overlook before shooting their firearm is the amount of surface area available for both your strong and weak hands on the gun. The more surface area, the more friction. The more friction, the easier it will be to manage recoil and fire follow-up shots. Also, the more contact you have with the gun, the more consistency you will be able to maintain.

Carryability

Carryability is another word that should become part of your lexicon if you are going to carry your gun for defensive use. How easy is it for you to carry a given firearm comfortably, in a concealed manner, given your normal style of dress? Once seen as a very superficial concern, the reality is that most people will not dress around their gun. Choosing a gun that is a size and shape — and has appropriate holster options — that allow for comfortable carry is very important. Going armed in public is a significant choice. Making that choice as low impact as possible on the rest of your life makes it easier to follow through and actually have the gun on you when you need it.

Size is the most important factor when it comes to carryability. Many find that width is more important than length, while others focus on the contours of the gun as being the highest priority. Some guns, especially new ones, might be perfect for you in many respects, but the holster options currently on the market fail to meet your needs.

Balancing Power, Recoil and Capacity

I firmly believe that 9mm is the best choice for a personal-defense caliber. This belief comes from an understanding of the need to balance three things in order to have the highest potential for putting the number of rounds necessary to stop a threat into the threat in as short a time as possible. You cannot count on stopping a threat with a single shot, regardless of the caliber. So worrying about maximizing potential damage from a single bullet is a waste of time. I believe that the empirical and testing data show us that 9mm is the weakest widely available caliber loaded with modern hollow-point ammunition that will consistently create an acceptable amount of damage to your attacker under the most plausible set of circumstances. The reason that it is important to be interested in the weakest caliber that meets the standard is because the weakest round will give the least recoil and therefore offer the fastest opportunity for an accurate follow-up shot.

This concept is counter to the clichéd concept of choosing the largest caliber that you can “shoot well.” I actually used to subscribe to that idea, but the problem is that “shoot well” is only relevant to objective measures on a range. In the real world, you always want to shoot as quickly as possible under the given need for precision, and you can always fire multiple shots faster with a weaker round, so choosing the weakest round that meets the minimum standard is the best way to approach caliber selection.

Also, the smaller the round, the higher the capacity in any given size gun, affording more opportunities to put rounds into any given threat or multiple threats without reloading. A failure to look at all three factors — power, recoil and capacity — can easily result in chasing extremes and hypothetical arguments about what firearm would be best if you only needed one hit on target or if you had to engage 10 attackers. You must make your choices taking all factors into consideration and looking at the most likely defensive shooting circumstances. You are most likely to need to deliver a rapid string of rounds into your threat. You want those rounds to be capable of 12 to 15 inches of penetration in ballistic gelatin (a standardized testing medium) after penetrating through light and/or heavy clothing.

Accuracy

Much space is given in articles about defensive firearms regarding “accuracy” or their capability, often specific to certain ammunition, for precision. In this day and age, given the most likely circumstances for defensive shooting, this is usually over-thought. Any firearm that meets your requirements in the other areas discussed in this article is likely to be far more capable of precision than you will be capable of during an actual fight, Your most likely target is a human chest within 21 feet. If you come across a gun that is not capable of that level of precision with appropriate defensive ammo and yet meets the other requirements set out herein, please let me know. I have not encountered such a gun.

Aesthetics, Availability and Budget

Some guns will not be available in certain areas due to legal restrictions. Most notably, Massachusetts is a state that restricts the availability of firearms beyond the national standard. Other restrictions on availability may be caused by store selection or a manufacturer’s inability to keep up with demand. Budget is always a concern, but the good news is that the best guns available today for personal defense are very reasonably priced and priced below the average cost in most gun shops.

For a “new in box” personal defense handgun that meets the requirements I’ve set, you should not be spending more than $600. In fact, $500 is a very fair price for a new or almost new defensive gun. There is no reason to consider spending more. Keep in mind that you will need to purchase spare magazines, a good holster (or two), both defensive and practice ammunition, and possibly invest in professional training to go along with your purchase. You should still be able to purchase everything you need for under $1,000:

• Defensive Firearm: $500 – $600
• Holster: $50 – $75
• Spare Magazines: $50
• Defensive Ammo: $75 – $100 (reliability testing and two to three magazines for carry)
• Practice Ammo: $100 (minimum!)
• Training: Varies (books and DVDs, CCW permit, defensive training)

Aesthetics do play a role. As I have said in the past, if you like your gun, you are more likely to carry and practice with it. But I caution you strongly to make this the very last factor you use to determine which gun you will count on to save yours (or your family’s) life in a worst-case scenario.

Specific Recommendations

• My company currently recommends the following firearms, in 9mm, as the first places to look when choosing a defensive handgun. In alphabetical order, they are:


• * Caracal — C & F models without the “quick sight” option.
• * Glock Models 26, 19 or 17. If you choose a 4th Gen, ensure you have the currently recommended springs. This specific model was plagued with problems when first released.
• * Smith & Wesson M&P — models without a manual safety or magazine disconnect.
• * Springfield XD. This model is suggested with one caveat: the grip safety presents a failure point that is most significant when clearing complex malfunctions or shooting in unorthodox positions. But it is recommended particularly because of its better fit for many shooters with small hands.
• All of the above MSFs have been observed to be reliable under a variety of circumstances with a variety of shooters.


• Handguns that get Honorable Mentions as defensive choices:


• * Snub Nosed Double Action Revolvers, such as the S&W 642, for the reasons spelled out above.
• * Walther PPS. This slim MSF is currently going through an extended reliability test and has performed very well to date.
• * Ruger LCP. This reliable gun is an extreme compromise to carryability, is chambered in the less-than-optimal .380 ACP round, and has relatively low shootability. But it has proven reliable and is extremely convenient to carry because of its small size.

Conclusion

Any defensive firearm is a compromise of reliability, carryability, capacity, shootability, fit, comfort and several other factors. No single firearm is likely to max out in every category for any given person. Choose your compromises carefully and keep in mind the order of priority suggested here when you make your next defensive firearm purchase.