Various handgun "niches"....

J

jaughtman

New member
To justify all my handguns (hey, you only need ONE for protection - right? That is what the wife says) I have various "niches" for them - right now that consists of bedside-gun, woods-gun, concealed-carry gun, target gun, small game gun, and target/range gun, and yes - even "wifes gun"....what all categories do you guys suscribe to your handguns to justify them in our minds? Haha. Yeah, just bored on a Saturday and starting topics again....

J
 
These are my catagories:

Carry gun
Home Defense gun
Guns that I think Obama (or Clinton or Bush I) & Friends will ban
High-quality guns, more for fondling than for shooting
Low quality guns - "gifts" or leftovers from days gone by
Guns for hunting
Machinegun
 
Gun I want
Gun i want
Hey this looks cool
Gun I want
Gun I want
...Oh i dont have one of these...
Another want

you see where its going:cool:
 
Well, to begin, I do not believe that only one sidearm is required for defense. Far, far too frequently posters to TFL Forums seek universal solutions, failing to recognize that each "mission" has distinct elements that likely mandate a different firearm to defend ones self and ones family optimally.

For example, when I am going out to dinner (and will be home early) in a "nice" neighborhood, concealment is especially important and I usually carry either my Ruger SP-101 or my Kahr K-4044. However, on the rare occasion when I have to go into a not-so-nice area late at night, I will normally carry a Kimber or Springfield 1911-A1, a Ruger GP-100, or a Smith N Frame (often a 610-3 in 10mm, a 627 Special Edition in .357 magnum, or a 625-9 in .45 Colt). When, on a long Interstate drive, capacity may be paramount, I am likely to carry a Sig P-226/.40 S&W, a CZ-75B/9x19mm, or a Glock 23/.40 S&W. For home defense, I usually have my Smith 27-2 (loaded with Buffalo Bore .38 Special +P LSWCHPs) and my Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun (loaded with 2.75 inch 00 buckshot). At the range, I love to shoot my S&W K-38/Model 14 Target Masterpiece (normally with 158 grain .38 Specials).

NONE of these alternatives is selected without considerable thought concerning the more likely threats and missions: in the dinner scenario, I want to be concealed; in the urban environment, fire-power is my principal concern; on the long, nightime drive, capacity is critical; and for home defense, accuracy and immediate stopping power is key.

A claw hammer, a ball-peen hammer, a roofing hammer, and a carpeting hammer are all fine tools -- but they are certainly not optimized for the same jobs.

I believe we would all do well to specifically state the intended mission(s) before we engage in "what's the best firearm" discussions.
 
There are more niches than I have guns to fill, that's for sure. But I'm afraid I have to fall into the "one gun for everything" department. So, although I actually do have more than one handgun, they are all just about the same size. I don't have any that are real big or heavy or real small and light. This didn't happen because I sat down and thought long and hard about it. It just evolved like that. In other words, it was based on my own personal needs and experiences, not someone else's.

I tend to say that it is better if all of your guns worked the same way but I really don't think most people would have a problem handling guns that worked entirely differently from one another. It just isn't that difficult, once you become moderately familiar with them.

I do have a list of other guns for other niches but I doubt I'll ever get around to obtaining any of them now.
 
I have more than I need but not as many as I want. :p No wife and the cat doesn't give me a hard time when I bring another gun home .... long as it isn't another cat. There are a few classic handguns that I do not have that I want to add. Once I do that maybe I'll be satisfied ? Never have been but you never know. :)
 
Mine is:

home defense/night stand pistol
IWB carry
pocket carry
duty pistol
camping/hiking revolver
plinker/range toy

My soon-to-be wife is:
night stand
carry
duty
plinker/range toy
 
Niches? we don'tg need no stinking niches!

For me, the only niches are make, model, caliber, and barrel length!:D

Ok, sons of niches would be scoped, adjustable, fixed sight.
 
Here's my list. My collection doesn't always fulfill all of these at once, though; depends on what I'm into at the time.

  • practice/home defense
  • plinking/small game hunting
  • CCW
  • big woods revolver

Hypothetically, including my wife would add another CCW to that. She's happy borrowing what I've got, otherwise.
 
I have purchased handguns for these reasons:

EDC (every day carry)
My G29. Wear it all day long and shoot at least 50 rounds through it on every trip to the range, just to stay nice and familiar with it.

less expensive carry to be locked in the car when I'm not allowed to bring it wherever I'm going
No, really -- for places like sporting events or school functions where it's not legal to carry, I still want the carry gun along... but it would break my heart if some schmuck stole my G29. So my Ruger P95 is perfect for this role.

pure paper punching joy
I've got a number of these... just a joy to shoot slow fire and try to make the smallest sized group I can manage.

pure "bottle filled with water" shooting joy
I love to shoot at things that actually take & show damage. Only ever do this at my private outdoor range (at a buddy's place) but have a blast doing this. Great thing is that any handgun works here!

hunting handgun, even though I've been hunting like 4 times in my entire life
Picked up a .44 Mag barrel for my Contender to address this. It's a MF'er in recoil, though, so I hardly ever shoot it. :(

home defense
In this role, I like my S&W 1006 for a number of reasons.

gotta have something to handload for, since I have these dies and brass here...
Yep -- that was the express purpose for buying my .30 Carb Ruger Blackhawk and it has become one of my most enjoyable handguns. I had the dies, three boxes of bullets and a small supply of brass that I hadn't used in 15 years, so I needed a firearm to make use of those tools & components. So I bought the Blackhawk and it's been pure joy to shoot and serves no real purpose. It makes a horrendous noise, concussion and fireball but without a lot of recoil. The bullets don't cost much. The thing is supremely accurate, though the long 7.5" tube is a bit unwieldy. This revolver is even at home at 100 yards and I can't do much with most of my other handguns at 100 yards. (outside of the Contender, that is!)

Probably some reasons I forgot!
 
After niches are filled then you will shift to categories...

I don't have a K frame with a 4" barrel...

Always thought a large frame snubby would be neat...

etc.
 
Various handgun "niches"

The term niche implies a collector.

I'm not a collector, really. More of an accumulator. ;)
 
I'm about to buy a set of .40 dies but I don't have a pistol in that caliber. Looks like I'm gonna need a new gun. :D

--Wag--
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top