selecting a defensive handgun with "safety" and "reliability" in mind

[billtool]

for ccw I recommend a striker fired pistol with no manual safety. Walther, Glock, S&W, Sig, S.A. and CZ are all good contenders. My favorites being the Glock and Walther. 9mm is always a great choice but .45Auto isn't bad. Stick to those brands, stop reading articles and go finger **** some toys. If it's not comfortable you won't carry it. I'll leave you with a quote from my buddy Karl, "Walther... the gun thats hugs you back!"

Unless the Walther is a CCP - then it hugs you back and burns the crap out of your hand after 100 rounds as a result of it's venting hot gas onto the frame. Danged if it isn't accurate as heck and soft shooting though - I'll give it that.

 

[no2gates]

Unless the Walther is a CCP - then it hugs you back and burns the crap out of your hand after 100 rounds as a result of it's venting hot gas onto the frame. Danged if it isn't accurate as heck and soft shooting though - I'll give it that.

Yeah, I've got one too. Nice shooting, pain in the ass to takedown, and gets damn hot after a few magazines through it.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Never had any issues with my PPQ getting hot.
Pretty weird.....

 

[no2gates]

Never had any issues with my PPQ getting hot.
Pretty weird.....

The PPQ doesn't have the weird soft-coil crap does it?

 

[HKaltwasser]

Unless the Walther is a CCP - then it hugs you back and burns the crap out of your hand after 100 rounds as a result of it's venting hot gas onto the frame. Danged if it isn't accurate as heck and soft shooting though - I'll give it that.

Ah, so it did take this trait from the P7. I wondered if it had the heating problem too since it operates with a very similar piston system.

No doubt the P7 is a easy safe in to action gun.

 

[zackmars]

Never had any issues with my PPQ getting hot.
Pretty weird.....

Ppq is standard Browning tilt barrel, the ccp is gas delayed

 

[Ioannes]

My wife has a P365 that's never gone off without her pulling the trigger. Light or not, if you keep your booger hook off the bang switch, it won't go bang. Quality kydex holster like Garrett Industries that covers the trigger and you're good to go.

The bg not knowing how to work a safety is an interesting point, though.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[ZX9RCAM]

The PPQ doesn't have the weird soft-coil crap does it?

I have no idea what you are talking about.
So I guess not.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Ppq is standard Browning tilt barrel, the ccp is gas delayed

Thanks.
Never fired a CCP.

 

[billtool]

Yeah, I've got one too. Nice shooting, pain in the ass to takedown, and gets damn hot after a few magazines through it.

Didn't bother to mention the takedown. I felt like Houdini breaking out of handcuffs...only failing.

 

[d_holliday]

P365 inanimate with a very light trigger that perhaps some may pocket carry without a holster? It was the p320 that is claimed to go off while holstered. I have a full size P320 that has gone back to Sig for the "recall" but I would not carry that as a defensive weapon. It is a range gun. Shoots good but I don't trust it to carry.

What the man in the video is worried about is a finger "accidentally" contacting the trigger as the gun is drawn from a holster, pocket, purse, handbag or waistpack thus possibly causing the gun to "accidentally" go off while drawing. There is also the possibility of "accidentally" contacting the trigger while the gun is being holstered or being handled while a round is chambered. When people, even experienced and well-trained firearms handlers, are in a hurry or under stress, they can get careless. It's a human reality. "Accidental" handgun discharges are common even in police departments. I, like the old man in the video, feel a gun with a relatively light trigger and short pull should have a thumb safety for prudence. A double-action revolver with rested hammer can get away with no thumb safety due to its inherent long and heavy trigger.

 

[TheDan]

People will accidentally take a thumb safety off too early, too.

 

[Glenn B]

I have heard it shouted and I've heard it preached, "There is no firearms safety like safe gun handling habits."

This gentleman, GunBlue490, on YouTube has a whole video series on firearms:



He seems old, wise and sensible.

This latest video on (why not buy a Glock?) Well, Herr Gaston Glock, forgot to put a stupid safety on the thing even! Mr. 490 claims that the thumb safety has saved the lives of many a policeman who carried an auto on duty such as the venerable old Colt 45 Govt. Model. The Glock has a so-called safe action but there is nothing in the world from stopping a human finger from pulling that trigger back to fire at will or unintentionally. That plastic flipper built into the trigger won't stop that. The striker-fired Glock has a very spongy but short trigger and not much pull in weight. The double-action revolver has much more trigger weight and a much longer pull length and that is the virtue of it's built-in safety while the hammer is resting.

I have been contemplating getting a new M&P 9 Shield EZ from Smith & Wesson in 9mm. I have two choices from Springfield, MA in this model....thumb safety or no thumb safety. I was thinking along the lines of no thumb safety for speed and ease but firearms safety might be seriously compromised still. The man in the video claims that with proper training, a thumb safety can be taken off in no time at all while drawing. I will have to do more research and see how easy Smith thumb safeties are to take off in a hurry. I never had any problems with the thumb safety operation on any of the 3 Colt Govt. Model 45's I've owned in the past. Now, I want a sensible rather-compact conceal-carry gun. Some thumb safeties can be stubby and hard to get a thumb hold on in a flash.

One other caveat I'm lately discovering about the Smith Shield: that "catch/slide release" on the port side of the slide is not actually made to be operated by a human firing-hand thumb as with a Glock or with a 45. Releasing the locked-back slide is a two-handed operation... with slide in locked position, pull the slide all the way back with the non-firing hand and let it pop into battery to fire the next loaded magazine. You should hear the catch click to be release when the slide goes all the way back.

What are your thoughts on selecting a concealed-carry handgun with regard to safety, reliability and your personal ability to effectively and safely operate the firearm in an emergency situation? Are there situations where having to use the other hand to release the slide might be a handicap? In most defensive situations by American citizens, rarely do more than three shots have to be firered. The Shield EZ holds 8 rounds in the magazine so it's very rare that that slide might have to be released with the non-firing hand in the heat of battle because the second mag had to be loaded. Ideally this gun would be carried in a holster or waistpack locked-and-cocked, full mag loaded in gun and with one already in the chamber: IOW, Condition One...flip down the thumb safety to go to Condition Zero.

You certainly know how to at least try to get folks over to your point of view with your leading voluminous post. The thing is, in your first paragraph, bashing Glocks, you get it absolutely wrong about the Glock trigger pull if only because you can order a trigger for it that is just like a revolver on permanent double action only, it's called the NY trigger. Try one sometime.

Then again, your brain and bodily control of at least one body part, your booger picker, are the best - the absolute best - things toward firearms safety.

 

[Hoji]

People will accidentally take a thumb safety off too early, too.

Whew. I thought I was going to go all the way through without someone posting this video. Thank you for saving me the YouTube search.

 

[zackmars]

You certainly know how to at least try to get folks over to your point of view with your leading voluminous post. The thing is, in your first paragraph, bashing Glocks, you get it absolutely wrong about the Glock trigger pull if only because you can order a trigger for it that is just like a revolver on permanent double action only, it's called the NY trigger. Try one sometime.

Then again, your brain and bodily control of at least one body part, your booger picker, are the best - the absolute best - things toward firearms safety.

The other part about glock he gets wrong is the entire purpose of the "safe action trigger". It is nothing more than a passive safety, like a transfer bar on a revolver so you can hammer down on a live round, or an OOB safety

 

[TX OMFS]

People will accidentally take a thumb safety off too early, too.

Yep. It was a nice theory until Tex proved it wrong.

 

[zackmars]

Holster choice is also very important, solid retention, covers the trigger, sides that maintian their shape, and a locking mechanism that doesnt require you to use your trigger finger

 

[Frank59]

Apparently there are reports of holstered Sig p320 discharging and an upcoming lawsuit. Paul Harrell is recommending that the Sig p365 should be purchased with the optional safety because of the light trigger pull. The finger off of the trigger may not be as safe as everyone thinks.

The trigger weight on my P365 is 5.1....A little bit higher than the others i carry

 

[satx78247]

I have heard it shouted and I've heard it preached, "There is no firearms safety like safe gun handling habits."

This gentleman, GunBlue490, on YouTube has a whole video series on firearms:



He seems old, wise and sensible.

This latest video on (why not buy a Glock?) Well, Herr Gaston Glock, forgot to put a stupid safety on the thing even! Mr. 490 claims that the thumb safety has saved the lives of many a policeman who carried an auto on duty such as the venerable old Colt 45 Govt. Model. The Glock has a so-called safe action but there is nothing in the world from stopping a human finger from pulling that trigger back to fire at will or unintentionally. That plastic flipper built into the trigger won't stop that. The striker-fired Glock has a very spongy but short trigger and not much pull in weight. The double-action revolver has much more trigger weight and a much longer pull length and that is the virtue of it's built-in safety while the hammer is resting.

I have been contemplating getting a new M&P 9 Shield EZ from Smith & Wesson in 9mm. I have two choices from Springfield, MA in this model....thumb safety or no thumb safety. I was thinking along the lines of no thumb safety for speed and ease but firearms safety might be seriously compromised still. The man in the video claims that with proper training, a thumb safety can be taken off in no time at all while drawing. I will have to do more research and see how easy Smith thumb safeties are to take off in a hurry. I never had any problems with the thumb safety operation on any of the 3 Colt Govt. Model 45's I've owned in the past. Now, I want a sensible rather-compact conceal-carry gun. Some thumb safeties can be stubby and hard to get a thumb hold on in a flash.

One other caveat I'm lately discovering about the Smith Shield: that "catch/slide release" on the port side of the slide is not actually made to be operated by a human firing-hand thumb as with a Glock or with a 45. Releasing the locked-back slide is a two-handed operation... with slide in locked position, pull the slide all the way back with the non-firing hand and let it pop into battery to fire the next loaded magazine. You should hear the catch click to be release when the slide goes all the way back.

What are your thoughts on selecting a concealed-carry handgun with regard to safety, reliability and your personal ability to effectively and safely operate the firearm in an emergency situation? Are there situations where having to use the other hand to release the slide might be a handicap? In most defensive situations by American citizens, rarely do more than three shots have to be firered. The Shield EZ holds 8 rounds in the magazine so it's very rare that that slide might have to be released with the non-firing hand in the heat of battle because the second mag had to be loaded. Ideally this gun would be carried in a holster or waistpack locked-and-cocked, full mag loaded in gun and with one already in the chamber: IOW, Condition One...flip down the thumb safety to go to Condition Zero.

d_holliday,

Personally, IF you are looking for a "safe to carry" concealable defensive handgun, it is difficult to beat a S&W K-frame revolver in.38SPL or .357 MAG, especially for a "newbie" to EDC.
OR
Most any of the quality made SA/DA 9mm handguns, that has an EXTERNAL/MANUAL SAFETY.
(While not quite as ""idiot proof" as a DA revolver, I believe that SA/DA pistols like my EDC, a ZIGANA K in 9x19mm is CLOSE, as those pistols have a LONG revolver-like DA trigger squeeze, if the safety lever is in the OFF position BUT can also be carried cocked & locked like a Colt's GM.)

just my OPINION, satx

 

[Lonesome Dove]

A revolver.