We Get Letters

"Are the Glock baby pistols effective enough stock from the boxes...even better than a .45 ACP type in the 1911 guns...whats the most affective caliber for self protection?

There's no yes or no answer. Personal preference is AS important as anything since it isn't doing you any good in the sock drawer because you won't take it with you often enough to make a difference.

Years ago I dropped 1911's of various makes and models and switched to GLOCK. Besides combat accuracy and amazing out of the box reliability, each and every one of Gaston's baby's can be after-marketed to hell and back, and usually for relative chump change.

For a semi-automatic, concealed carry pistol I've found nothing to beat the GLOCK 27, and have fiddled with a few to make them even better. I had a smith install a 4.5" barrel in one of the G-27's and was getting 1100+ fps with Double Tap 200 grainers, and over 1150 from their 180's. 10 rounds of potent ammunition, and if the situation warrants it, a 17 round G-22 mag alongside as a spare. Nowadays EVERYBODY is making after-market parts and accessories, but I'm hooked on the polygonal barrels and that means some minor smithing to squeeze a G-22 tube into a G-27. I can still use the same holsters, as an extra inch up front isn't going to mess with much of anything, while keeping a low profile and thats the name of the game in the Sunshine State, brother. Yes, there isn't all that much of a difference in toting along a G-23, but there's enough to make it a bother at times and I hate squirming and patting and playing "Gun? What gun, I'm checking my colostomy bag" so the 23 stays home most days.

Even in late December it can hit the middle 80's and there's not much place to hide an effective caliber'd sidearm. Once light jacket weather kicks in, thats a horse of a different color. Then for everyday use I switch to a GP-100 with a 3" barrel and don't look back. If deep into gator-country then its a .44 magnum or even bigger, and stop listening to those who declare the larger handgun calibers to be "too much gun" for self defense.

Bullshit. Everyone and their brother agrees that the 30-06 and .308's are magnificent manstoppers, and the Clint Smiths of the world are forever weeping about how puny handguns are but strap on one with the terminal ballistics of an 06 and they scream FOUL!

Can't have it both ways. 2000-3000 ft. lbs of kinetic energy either IS, or IS NOT a mankiller, regardless of the platform. We all know that it is, and that means everything from .41 magnum to .454 Casull, to S&W's .500 Magnums are just fine for personal defense as long as you can handle the kick.

If you CAN stand the recoil, then there's no such an animal as TOO MUCH HANDGUN. I have never, ever, heard of a man exiting a gun fight and proclaiming that he had too much gun. Follow-up shots are another matter and I won't get into it now, but just remember that the FIRST shot is the most important one and you can shoot the first shot from ANY handgun pretty much as fast as from any OTHER handgun.

Back to basics. Because there really isn't anything BUT taking the basics and working on them until the manual of arms becomes second nature.

Practice with the gun you will use. This is the ultimate of basic. The "trainer" who brags about his collection of 10 mm firebreathers but tosses a snubbie into his pocket for concealed carry shouldn't be fooling anyone. If it isn't with you then it isn't jack. No one cares how many tricked out 1911's you have in the safe, particularly not the goblin asking for a low interest loan in that dark alley.

If you are being honest with yourself and the only sidearm you can and/or will carry is a .25 ACP then forget the empty rhetoric to the contrary. It's your gun, your life and there ain't no such an animal as too big or too small. Thats one of the great things about civilian life. You're not issued a weapon and asked to get good at it or die trying. But you better BE good with a mousegun and practice shooting to slide lock and thats a fact so don't try squirming your way out of reality. Only works in the movies.

Bullet tech has come a long way. Different powders, used in sufficiently stout weapons, are generating terrific velocities. A 4/10ths of an inch bullet in the barrel that turns into a full inch in the belly was unheard of back when Col. Cooper was bragging on his .45's. And no, the smaller .45's are defeating the purpose because you must then go down in bullet weight to assure expansion and whats the sense of packing fat on a diet. Speed from the tube is still lower than a modern .40 so you're not even getting an edge that way, but as I've often stressed, use what suits YOU the best.