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Advice:
We have been asked to comment on "most ideal" concealed carry guns and self defense guns.
It is important to know that the most ideal carry gun is not always the most ideal self defense gun.
This is why you may hear experts tell you to "fight your way to your shotgun, then use that." I agree. Unfortunately, you don't often have more time than "just those first few seconds" to respond, when your training with the gun you carry gun is put on the front line.
Whatever gun you choose to carry, practice good form & shoot it often, carry with purchased (not hand-loaded) self defense rounds, be on increased alert status at all times when you are carrying. Be on even higher alert when you are not carrying.
Be very sure that, if you are not carrying at the moment a situation occurs, you will feel intense sorrow and desperation that you cannot respond with your favorite Carry Gun.
Be equally sure that weapons of some kind are all around you, all the time, within reach, or in the bad guy's hand. (any object can be a weapon, so not just "guns") Adapt and overcome. Take them and use them. Yes, that means the bad guy just brought you a gun. Take it, use it.
Getting shot is rarely fatal. Always keep moving, always keep fighting.
Many attacks happen in the home. Practice your carry techniques at home, from bedroom to bathroom, from kitchen to garage, from house to garbage cans or back yard and back. Remind yourself that: someone IS BEING ATTACKED, RIGHT NOW.
There are some great options available for your "carry" gun. Having said that, I do have some favorites that are not only considered "best choices", but are also among the lowest cost to acquire.
After 20+ years of teaching and over 30 years of intense testing of firearms, I have seen guns perform well and others that didn't, regardless of why.
I advise you to carry a "striker fired" type, double action gun that allows you to carry "one in the chamber" (in states that allow "one in the chamber"), and you can fire even if you have only one hand available to grasp the gun. You do not have time to "run the slide" to chamber a round in the single actions like the 1911's. ( I like the 1911's as much as I like the old flintlock rifles. Each one was at the leading edge of technology in its day. But, I do not want you going into a self defense situation with it. If its what you have, understand it and be functional with it).
Ammo: I advise you to have a mix of expanding defense loads alternating with penetrating loads (often practice ammo will work for that) as you have no idea what the bad guy is wearing or how thick his clothing is. Never carry hand-loaded/Reloads for your self protection. Only use ammo you purchased, keep the box product sleeve for your file in case you do use that ammo for self defense, your legal defense team will need it.
Center Fire Pistols:
I prefer all Smith and Wesson M&P products, any caliber. Accuracy, low felt recoil, friendly trigger, good fit. I prefer the 40 S&W, as I believe that round "does more work" for you, while you can convert that gun to a 9mm or to .357 Sig. 3 calibers achievable in one gun. You cannot convert the 9mm. You can convert the .357 Sig to 40 or 9mm. You can convert the 40 to .357 Sig or 9mm. Ask me about this first.
The M&P's have lower felt recoil and muzzle rise than the Springfield, Beretta, Glock, H&K, Sig Sauer & Walther, while having the superior accuracy of the Sig Sauer. S&W uses Sig Sauer style rifling in the barrels. When I say accuracy in the M&P, I mean amazing things have happened with this gun.
I do not like Smith & Wesson semi autos in any other configuration.
I love Smith & Wesson revolvers. Any of them.
Sig Sauer: Sig sets the standard for center fire pistol accuracy, all calibers. Smith borrowed their cut rifling style for S&W M&P accuracy. Sig guns fit some folks very well. Sig has higher felt recoil and muzzle rise than the M&P.
Sig now has a very nice "striker fired" pistol with good triggers. Almost as good as the M&P, Still has a higher axis of the bore, (sets barrel up high in relationship to the frame of the hand, hence, higher muzzle rise during each shot as compared to the M&P)
Walther pistols irritate me. The magazine release buttons aren't where my fingers want them to be in a fast paced environment and the actions have jammed when a little dirt builds up and varieties of ammo is used.
FN Pistols have an over sized magazine release button that someone (well, Me) bumps and releases the magazine when I LEAST want to have that magazine come out of the gun. I see many people do that.
Springfields: very accurate in .45 acp , either in the XD or XDm, but, I do not like the accuracy in the 40. I also don't like the feel, the slide, or the higher muzzle rise and felt recoil.
Six Guns: LOVE THEM....but I want high capacity effective guns. I prefer the Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt, .44 Mag, .357 Mag, Ruger Blackhawks, (with the safer feature of the transfer bar under the hammer), as they are very strong, accurate, fun, reliable. These may be best used for rural environments due to serious potential for over penetration in urban environments, as these are usually chambered in high velocity, heavy loads.
Any six guns stronger than the Ruger Red Hawk? Non come to mind, but some of the larger Smith and Wesson frames are equal.
Any cowboy western style sixgun stronger than Ruger Vaquero? (which have versions within the Vaquero lines now, but are better than many other "cowboy action pistols), Yes, Possibly the Freedom Arms pistols. I was impressed by them.
My favorites are listed for my own reasons. You may have great experiences with other models that you shoot very, very well.
Rim Fire Pistols:
Ruger sets the standard for reliability. Ruger SR22's have been very reliable in my classes. The Mark l, ll & lll pistols are "single action".
I prefer "double action" type features that allow you to train with the .22 like you would use your self defense gun.
I also like the S&W M&P 22, which uses features of reliability that made the Ruger great. It is most similar the the full size M&P 40/9 that we train most with.
Walther and Sig Sauer rim fire pistols irritate me. Jamming, misfeeds, extraction issues....
Air Pistols/rifles:
In this time of shortage in .22 ammo, (we are very suspicious, as it interferes with new shooter training, possibly intended to break the training cycle of new shooters, discouraging new gun owners), We now advise people to invest in CO2 air pistols.
The quality is very high, efficiency of air canister use is superior to "years gone by", and the cost lower than .22, and the skills you get while practicing form, stance and muscle memory for trigger control and breathing is unparalleled when using air pistols or air rifles.
Rifles:
In terms of Self Defense, rifles that can deliver multiple high volume fire are essential, whether its the Ruger 10/22, carbines that accept standard hi-cap pistol magazines, or AR-15's and AK-47's.
You must consider the need versus the potential for "over-penetration". Be very aware that as you increase bullet weight and velocity, you increase the ability for that projectile to penetrate more.
I prefer the Ruger 10/22 and the AK-47 actions for reliability and functionality.
For higher caliber/pressure loads, I prefer .308 caliber, in SAIGA actions, or in the G-3 sporter, HK91/CETME type actions. I have achieved "same hole accuracy" at 100 yds with these guns using surplus ammo. Very good guns, simple, accurate. I can now say I've discovered the AR10 308's are more reliable than the AR15's in 556/.223 (unless they are "piston" guns) I've seen many AR15's jam, I've heard of that platform jamming in battle. (I've spoken to the soldiers whose guns jammed in battle)
Bolt action rifles: I like the old Mosin-Nagant 91/30's, Ruger American's, Mossbergs, Howa's, and most any other .308 or 30.06 bolt action rifle, any make, except some of the cheap Remingtons.
Shotguns:
Basic Reliable pump shotguns are the way to go if you have only one choice. 12 gauge or 20 gauge.
Side eject action is important in any shotgun, as that allows you to load into the side and keep firing even if you have emptied the gun's magazine.
Semi-autos work, but may jam.
In semi-auto, I prefer the SAIGA 12 or the Catamount FURY 12 (the Chinese version of the SAIGA 12).
Ammo: I like heavy bird loads and defense loads for Urban situations, no heavier than #4 Buck if you can help it, to reduce the chance of over penetration.
STANCE:
This is essential.
You MUST practice a stance that allows you a FIGHTING CHANCE.
Than means, you must practice a FIGHTING STANCE.
An accentuated Weaver Stance allows movement and still allows you to twist your trunk and present your bullet proof vest toward the threat (if you have a vest).
The Isosceles stance is uniquely designed to get you killed. In the Isosceles stance, you have minimal ability to address a threat while shooting, you have minimal ability to address a threat that is coming at you fast, and you have a tense upper body (shallow breathing) with weakening body structural support for your stance in maintaining "on point" orientation returning fire, as your adrenaline builds up and your strength is sapped.
If you are able to breath deeper and feel more relaxed, then you exhale the adrenaline and adrenaline by-products in your system, you don't get shaky from adrenaline, then the ADRENALINE BECOMES AN ASSET the way it was meant to be, rather than a liability. You have improved peripheral vision, increased sense of awareness, better reaction time and increased strength.
With a good fighting stance, you can adapt, move, advance, withdraw, spin, block, shoot, breath, exhale a percentage of adrenaline, use bone structure for support rather than sapped muscles, and best of all, WIN.
You will gain CONFIDENCE THROUGH COMPETENCE.
Talk to me more about this.
SIGHTING:
DO YOU SUFFER UNDER THE FALSE BELIEF THAT YOU WILL HAVE TIME TO USE YOUR SIGHTS IN A FIGHT?
HAVE YOU BEEN BADLY TRAINED, BELIEVING YOU SHOULD "SHOOT FOR THE CENTER OF MASS"?
Shooting "center of mass" works (barely) at the shooting range when officers are trying to get great scores. This training has you shooting at a bulk mass image, your brain squeezes the trigger on THE EDGEs of that bulk image in front of you. You MUST pick a SPOT that you focus on as you squeeze your trigger.
Your brain works a certain way in a fight, no matter how you train, if its not the way your brain works, then something else happens.
1) your brain skips the "safety" you may have to release on the gun and your brain gets you onto the trigger, squeezing, jerking, even if the gun is disabled with a "safety' that only needs you to release it to fire. No matter how many years you practiced, competed, trained, etc.
In a fight, It will happen. Period. Good men have died because they carried a gun that had a "safety" on it.
2) Your brain sees the bulk image of "objects" in a fast paced emergency environment.
a) Without explaining why, you are instantly in an "instinct shooting" event in a fight.
b) In Instinct shooting, your brain squeezes the trigger on EDGES of whatever object you see
c) If you train to shoot "center of mass" in a fight, you will "see" an "object" of the "mass" in front of
you that is trying to kill you. YOU WILL HIT THE EDGES OF THE BAD GUYES SHIRT OR COAT.
(proof of this is given every day, when officers who get high scores on the range barely wound
bad guys in a desperate fight)
d) Bad guys just point their gun at what they see, or focus on, which is the button, badge, white "V"
of the "T" shirt over the officers vest hitting the edge of it,
(AND AN OFFICER OFTEN GOES TO THE MORGUE
e) To be effective, you must shoot while focusing on a SPOT on the bad guy, a button, logo, letter,
eye-brow, etc. You will hit the edge of whatever you focus on. Period.
3) Train to shoot while looking over the top of the gun, lined up with the target, using a good sideways FIGHTING stance, both eyes open.
Get with me on this too.
Handicaps:
I have taught people that are speech and hearing impaired, have one hand, one had no hands, one had no legs.
Anyone is capable of learning techniques of self defense.
Fitness:
Do some form of fitness related activity, anything, EVERYDAY. You MUST get stronger. You can always increase strength and flexibility from where you are today. Your body is uniquely designed to improve when exercised then rested. Your muscles ache for activity and respond by increasing in strength.
Especially hand grip exercises...but do NOT overdo anything. In fact, its best to do only "one set" of repetitions for the day, than to overdo anything. Optimal levels of exercise change as you improve.
Always, Always, Always, rest a minimum of 4 days before doing the same thing again, so do something different each day. Lower Back exercises are different and you needs 7 days rest for that muscle grouping.
For heavier or High Rep workouts, wait for two hours after eating to do that exercise. 'Body Hydrolics" improve if you aren't digesting food.
High repetitions, low weight, is ok, but not too often. Heavy weight, (relative to your ability) is ok, but not too often.
Stronger muscles help in everything. Especially in Self Defense. Stronger muscles help with balance and form.
Financial Self Defense:
Life itself is about "Risk Management"
Just like physical self defense, you will be glad you protected yourself financially.
Various forms of insurance do that. Membership in the NRA and Self Defense Legal Associations are also very helpful.
Life Flight and Ambulance membership could save your life and save you from huge bills if an emergency arises.
Financial products vary.
At this time in the markets, it is absolutely essential that you review your savings and investments and reconsider your plan if you are in: Mutual Funds, Variable Annuities, Single Stocks, Municipal Funds.
The stock market is inexplicably over priced, the DOW has risen to levels that defy standard accounting valuations.
Financial Advisors continue to "think inside the box" in a financial environment that is being affected by "other than market forces," by forces "outside the norm."
Formerly, I used to advise people to utilize the same financial vehicles that current advisors still encourage you to place your money in.
Now, I am doing everything I can to get people to reconsider, to look at tangible assets, agricultural land, Fixed Index products for those funds that have to keep deferred tax status, etc.
I would appreciate the chance to visit with you more on this, as it is something I am passionate about as well.
Please send me an email with any questions you might have.
Thank you,
Terry Silsby
Terry@preparedfirearms.com
Silsbysolutions@gmail.com
Text me at 208-353-8324
Practiced Skilled Prepared