A handgun for home defence and target purposes?

Go to an indoor range and rent guns that you think you might be interested in. That will very much help you to decide what you like and what you don't in addition to plenty of practice. Don't plan on making a decision your first day to the range.

I would recommend a Glock 19 in 9mm or a Glock 21 in .45 ACP.

I mention these two for 2 primary reasons.

#1. Glock is an extremely reliable and very respectable gun @ an excellant price value.

#2. It costs to feed any handgun. Both 9mm and .45ACP are readily available for the most part and is some of the cheapest ammo to purchase.

I sold off a particular gun back in the day simply because I found myself not wanting to shoot it due to the higher cost of the ammunition that it required.

Roach
 
I live in suffolk co. lived in flushing for 45 yrs. know restrictions imposed first your wife wont be able to legally handle or shoot your hand gun no permit get caught loose yours.do you live in house or appt.
I strongly advise you to join S.A.F.E. they hold annual right to carry conferance in suffolk co members from 5 borughs[www.nysafe.org] N.Y. State Rifle&Pistol Assoc. [www.nysrpa.org
Welcome to the world of shooting in N.Y. metro area
 
If you’re thinking 38 then you may as well go for the .357. The .357 will also chamber 38sp and you still have the option for a more powerful round should you ever decide you want it. Also for home defense where the wife may be called upon to use the gun a revolver is probably the best choice. The limit of my experience with revolvers is with Ruger Redhawks and my current S&W Mod 66 which is an absolute tack driver. Of the two the S&W is by far the smoothest shooting and most accurate.
 
So much to take in

I thank all of you who responded and first i orignally asked about 38 special cause my grandfather is retired P.o and has a 38 snub nose i think.Actually i grew up with rifles my whole life.Never handguns,but they fasinate me thats why i went with my permit now.I have no objection to buying 2 guns maybe a semi auto and revolver just wanted to know the common ones.I like the sight grip idea cause if i need i can probably scare off an intruder with the sight of a lazer,i think.Holy crap i did not know there was so much involved in handguns.Further more i never knew a 357 would shoot 38.To be honest i kinda like the look of a 357 but never shot one. So i am taking the advice of one of you and going to the range and renting some gunsfirst. Also i live in a Co-op so all i have is one cinderblock wall on my left and a 2 x 6 plaster wall on my right.I really cant be dirty harry in my small 1000 sqft co-op.How about safes. i think i will be making a new thread about safes.
On a last note:
My first reason for getting my permit was to give myself the right to blow a hole in someone's chest who enters my home unwanted and not go to jail for it.
 
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Very savvy of you to decide to shoot a few different guns before you buy.

To start a new thread, go back to the beginning, where you see the red balls on the screen that are labeled Forum, Library, FAQ, etc. Click on Forums. Then scroll down the list of forums to see which one looks like the place you should ask your new question or make your new comment. Then click on that Forum. When the Forum comes up on your screen, there will be a box called Thread. Click on that and then type in your question.
 
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