Ultimate Fighting Handgun

[Bill Stryker]

Four inch M19 is good. Mine is a 4 incher. I carried it in a previous liife as well when the threat level was very high all the time. I drew it several times but never had to fire it.  It was ready to go and a comfort. I slept with it under my pillow or what ever.
I also drew the 1911 once and was planning on firing if things got worse even though the pistol was full of rice paddy gunk. But, as usual my light weapons infantry sergeant was there with his M2 doing good work. I was busy on the radio and really did not need to shoot. That time.

[2HOW]

Yet another Glock vs. 1911 thread. 

I would carry either into a fight , for me the 1911 fits better, Glock is a winner also.

[PegLeg45]

I would carry either into a fight , for me the 1911 fits better, Glock is a winner also.

BINGO... ...
I own and shoot both....and both are good guns and when used properly, serve their intended purposes well.
The 1911 Commander just feels better in my hand, but the Glock 27 ain't bad either.
I trust them both, or I would not own them.
 

[Ksail101]

Hey 2How I didnt mean for this thread to become a Glock Vs. 1911. I wanted to know what the ultimate handgun to have when all goes to hell. I added my 2 cents for the reasons I stated. But I wanted to see what other guns people would chose.

I was hoping the topic would turn into what makes a certain gun better for fighting.

I wanted to hear thoughts on light rails being a must or a waste. Weight, Caliber, fix-ability (if that is a word), and ultimate reliability.

Maybe the reason why these kinds of topics turn into 1911 vs Glock is that those two firearms are the best there is for fighting. One isnt so much better that the other. But one will have to end up being the choice for you and I guess I wanted to know why, and what makes a true fighting pistol.

I also want to add that with a fighting pistol, no matter what it is, the pistol is your back up. You should wage the war with your long gun of choice and when you are in the situation where you cant reload or your handgun is your only option to survive you use it. I wanted to know what handgun you would depend on and strap to your leg\belt before you walked into that fight.

A fighting pistol, as we all know, is not the same as your handgun that you take to the range on a saturday to burn up some rounds with the buddies. It is the handgun that you would take to the range to work on your tactics. Of course that involves just shooting it and having fun to get used to it. But over all you wouldnt use it as your play gun. Your fighting gun is going to be set up much different than your fun gun. On your fun gun you may be able to get away with not having the front strap checkered, or having some sort of a grip on it. You may be able to get away with a front sight that is just back post. But on your fighting gun, you are going to want to enhance all of these things to give you a better chance in the fight.

By all means I am not saying that the gun you take to the range and have fun with, cant or wont save your life, any gun is better that no gun, but if you know that you may be called upon to defend yourself or others wouldnt you want to have every advantage possible? So what gun is that. And what reasons makes it your choice.

So I guess I pretty much knew the answer Glock or a 1911. But is there one 1911, springfield, wilson, or even a colt better than the other. But I guess that comes down to preference. But should brand loyalty or reputation determine what you choose? Me personally I dont think I have a brand loyalty. I think I know that my next handgun is going to be a Sig 220 or FNP 45, because those guns, within those brands, I know to work. I am not so much choosing them cause the company. I will find out which one feels better to me and which one has more functionality. I would like a .45 acp handgun I can carry and know will work. If I try an HK 45 while I looking for a handgun I like it better than those two well then I will go with it. But since I have shot the sig and the FN handguns before I know I already like them. I see people wont buy a Kimber cause of all the things people have wrote about them lately, and the troubles the company has seemed to have. But I believe that in their line of 1911's there are some true fighting pistols. that I would depend on. I do actually. My Desert Warrior has been great. I have a couple thousand rounds through it and feel comfortable with the setup I have. And no matter what I can modify. It is a great platform to work off of.

 All of these, the Sig, FN, Kimber will have to be ran through their paces before I will strap them on my waist and walk out the door. But weather it is EAA or FN if the gun is good I will use it.

So sorry that this turned into a 1911 vs glock. We have seen that a million times and will continue to till the end of time. All I know is out of all the guns I have used the Glock 21, rightnow, I would want in a fight. This may change as my experience with handguns and my love for fighting handguns continue.
 

[ericire12]

Lets put it to a vote:

http://www.downrange.tv/forum/index.php?topic=3164.0

[Sponsor]

[Ocin]

Being fairly inexperienced and with limited experience and knowledge, i would look at a 1911 first.

After all, something that old, staying around that long, can't just be bad...

[2HOW]

ksail, im trying yto type i broke mt arm today, goingv to hospital in am . i think you are as right as any one, the glogk i excellent, did i say i carried 1 for 17 years?   but it just didnt fit . what i am saying is glock 1911- sig taurus all good ..........but if you cant hit a target it dosent matter, then you think about serviveability. serviceability.  i would take a sig or glock into battle any day as well as a 1911 those are my picks .   take care.    jan

[Sgt Z Squad]

A 3.5 inch rocket would be my first choice, but since I can't have that, I will choose my avatar. 

[Gossamer]

S&W Model 15/67 w4" barrel. But if I had to pick an auto it would be a 1911. I would use my Kimber Warrior .45ACP.

[SigShooter]

In the interests of full disclosure, I have only shot the Glock 26, but have handled a variety of 1911s, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt.

I know eventually I will get a 1911. Probably a Dan Wesson or a S&W, and then maybe a Les Baer. But the 1911 has two features, which for me, are not desireable. The first is the grip safety. You have to grab the gun under stress and depress the grip safety correctly every single time, or it won't shoot. There's a manual safety too, which IMHO makes the grip safety unnecessary. The other feature I don't like is the more complex way that it disassembles for field stripping. I know I've been too accustomed to the Sig field stripping system, but I do think that not being able to disassemble a gun without tools is not as ideal as a tooless disassembly.

The 1911 does have the easy to find magazines from a variety of makers and very easy to find holsters, so it's foolish  for me to dismiss the 1911 for the two qualms I have with it. I love the trigger, as it has a short reset.

Glocks, on the other hand, are basically idiot proof. Field stripping is easier than the 1911, though not like the Sigs in terms of removing the slide assembly. You have a ton of holster choices like the 1911, and the trigger is easy to learn. It's also safe as long as you don't touch it until you're ready to shoot. Pricing is better with the Glock than with a good 1911, but what a good 1911 should cost is debatable.

To contribute my part in avoiding the infamous Glock v. 1911 tread, I must mention that the Sig P220 with DAK trigger is the best blend between a Glock and 1911 in my opinion. It will give you a consistant trigger like both the 1911 and Glock, but it has no manually safeties to fiddle with. It field strips very easily, which is a feature I really like. It has a single stack magazine like the 1911, which I like, and holsters are easy to find. It's as accurate or more accurate as a 1911 or Glock, which is always helpful.

In summary, if you don't know which is better for you personally, I would suggest splitting the difference and getting a Sig P220 with the DAK trigger. I know I'm going too. Have a nice day.