I’ll give him the J frame Smith and the modern M&P. I’ll grant the 870 is a pretty decent shotgun for home defense, as are most shotguns. But the Taurus Judge? Really? I’m also not to hot on using N-frame S&W for self-defense unless what you’re defending yourself against is an angry bear. Nonetheless, it’s good to see something like this being discussed somewhere other than blogs and forums.
9 thoughts on “Townhall’s Five Great Self-Defense Guns”
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Yes, it is nice to see these increasingly frequent discussions in the general audience sites and publications. The choices are not at all bad ones, given that the 29/629 is not the only N frame Smith. I often carry a nickel 4″ 57 concealed, and find it little more of a burden than an M&P.
The hole in the end of the 57’s barrel is impressive enough that the trigger has not so far been required. Which is a good thing, since I am not fond of either explaining myself to silly people, or filling out paperwork.
Stranger
I’m a huge J-Frame Fan and so is my wife, but REALLY, unless you LIKE revolvers an airweight J-frame (especially for women with their smaller hands and lower upper body strength) is a good way to make sure they never go back to the range.
He also seems to be big on .40 S&W, as well as the .44 Mag which suggests that he reads a bit more gun rags than forensics reports.
A bit macho and ignorant for my tastes, but that’s what you can expect when something goes mainstream.
I wish he had put this line at the top so I didn’t waste the time reading the rest: “Generally, all you have to do is rack the pump once and the intruder leaves the premises. “
This is some kind of joke, right? Someone compiled all the gun-mag tropes. Is it a shotgun, is it a pistol, no it’s the Judge! Wooooo! Then “knockdown power” (meaningless term) and a bunch of other questionable ballistics statements…topped off with the magical bad guy repelling powers of a shotgun being pumped.
Any list that has The Judge but not the 1911 must be considered parody or folly.
Hey, don’t be pickin’ on the ol’ Taurus Judge… the good ol’ boys ’round here tell me one shot can blow a 350 small block clean out of a 1978 Camaro, cause a bad guy to fly backwards doing three complete backflips in mid-air, or kill a deer – on the run – at 200 yards…
Dann in Ohio
Well, if I were grading Prof. Adam’s paper, he’d get a 40.
1. 10 out of 20. Mike Adams, Jeff Cooper, and I all agree on the usefulness of the stainless J-frame. Colonel Cooper was known to carry a Model 60 when wearing business suits. I favor the 638. However, the 640 in .357 magnum is simply over powered in its size and weight class.
2. 10 out of 20. .40 S&W is a reasonable choice, but I had too many friends get shot (and some die) from negligent discharges from Glock or similar pistols. I prefer a design that requires two items to be manipulated in order to fire. The HK P7 squeeze-cocker and the manual safety on the M1911 are examples of what I mean. My present choice is the HK USP40 Compact.
3. 5 of 20. Some gun is better than none, but The Judge …
4. 0 out of 20. Have enough gun. If thing have deteriorated to the point that your normal carry gun isn’t sufficient, you want to pull a rifle or shotgun out of the trunk.
5. 15 out of 20. The Remington 870 is a fine gun, but not the only one to consider. The Marines like their Benellis, the Army is doing OK with their Mossbergs, and I prefer my Ithica 37.
That’s my advice. Remember, free advice is worth what you paid for it.
I stopped paying attention at:
“The rifling on the barrel really allows the 410 pattern to open up nicely within the span of just a few feet”
Rifling makes shot patterns “open up”…..ok then.
@Cargosquid: It does actually. Shooting shot in rifled bores tends to lead to a rapidly expanding doughnut shaped pattern.