Best pistol caliber???

[GARANDNUT]

In autos .45acp in revolver 357.

[Pogo]

Originally Posted by 5knives

... two of my nephews declare them their favorite CC weapon. (After they punched out the silly assed lawyer mandated safety and filled the hole with a rivet) With a Tokarev, the half-cock IS the safety and it's designed to carry chamber empty hammer down, or chamber loaded, on half cock.

If you look at mine, I removed the silly additional safety. Then I tapped the hole and made a headless slotted screw to fill the hole (on both sides). I then used red thread lock on the screw and screwed it in.

[flutedchamber]

The absolute best would be 50 Browning. However you may have a bit of difficulty concealing the pistol.

[FalconUruguay]

I Too Will Give Props To The Tokarev...Very Easy To Conceal With The "Thin" Grips.

Plenty Of Punch, Will Get The Job Done!

[ColdSteel762]

Only issue I could mention about the tok round is that if the target IS NOT wearing body armor,then you have to deal with overpenetration.........

"Is specialty round,for specialty purpose,comrade......."

Still my favorite handgun round,just because of how nifty it is.

I actually would carry a Cz82,in 9x18 makarov-good concealment,high capacity,and a few other traits as well that endear it to me,that is,if I didnt give all my guns away for those nifty $100 gift cards to buy everyone I know presents this past holiday season.......

[2rogers]

. your getting great advise from compotent & knowlageable freinds,i prefer different products for the time & place, but i'm a little smaller, i think you have bigger choices. go to the gun store and fondle some various products to see what you really like, remember that high capacity large bore autos weigh a lot more loaded than empty.stainelss guns require much less maintainance, and we all need more practice. good luck and let us know how you doo! 3

[Rew]

I'm a bit smaller too, at least around here. I'm 5'9" and 200 lbs. From my arm pit's to my hips is just about a straight line. The author Robert Adams said that build would make me a good ax man, don't know about that but I was pretty good with a sledge in dad's junkyard. I know, that's a bit fat. But I carry a full size Witness 10mm. I had a leather blazer tailored just for that. Looks good with a turtle neck, at list I think so. I have a compact Witness in 10mm too, but it's not quite as dependable. The Witness fits my hand's well also. It's heavy however. But I can work with that.

[ColdSteel762]

Well,to revise my statement about the tokarev round overpenetrating,which it will if you use ball and arent shooting at armor,you can find some specialty loads like the ones from Reeds that use projectiles like the XTP from Hornady,which are modern JHP and will expand from the .30 cal starting diameter to somewhere between .40 or .50 and wont penetrate past 14 inches.You can be darn sure that it'll reach around the 'minimum 12 inches' with these loads and expand as well,given the velocity of this round.
http://www.reedsammo.com/

You can also get some JHP loads from wolf,50 round box for about $20.Theyre decent for the price.You can check out some gelatin tests of these JHP loads for tok here-

http:/www.brassfetcher.com/762x25mmJHPs.html

The tokarev truly is a very versatile round.I wish CZ would make a new pistol that chambers it.

As discussed,standard tok lead core ball is actually much more useful than just plinking/target stuff,and being that you can also get some decent defensive loads in the caliber that can make a TT33 or CZ52 not only a great collectors piece,but a great purchase for anyone interested in a highly versatile,unique and/or budget defense pistol.As far as budget is concerned,dont confuse ruggedness and cost effective, 'no frills' manufacture with poor quality.These pistols,while being military surplus and needing to be well looked over before purchase,are top notch.
Both of these pistols are not quite pretty,or perfectly ergonomic for that matter-in fact I would state that the handling and looks of both of them are quite bizarre.But for $200?
Can't be beat.

I call the CZ52 the 'combloc desert eagle'.

Are there better choices for a defensive pistol?Sure,whatever you like best is better for you,and to that matter,I think the choice is a very personal issue.If the shoe fits,wear it kinda thing.

[SIXPACK]

Originally Posted by GARANDNUT

In autos .45acp in revolver 357.

Works for me too!

[AKWARRIOR]

Rely on my 5-shot 357mag snubby with a couple of speed loaders for concealed.45acp for the rest.

[tusk]

well it looks like i'll have to agree with the rest,when i carry a revolver,its a snubby .357,but nine times out ten if i carry a auto,its a gi .45,i just bought a kahr cw .40,that will be my main carry till i save the money for a officer framed,commander barrelled kimber

[Moon]

Hey fellers. Saw this and thought I would add my 1.5 cents. I agree with most of what's being said here. But it appears that the original poster is a larger fellow, so I would recommend a 10mm for him. Glock makes one, which I have. Awesome cartridge, but it's still a shitty handgun design as far as I'm concerned.

I had a CZ-52 a while back, and I've got to say.... what a shitty firearm. Loved the cartridge on that model too ! But back to the original conversation, I would recommend either .45acp or 10mm. If you're wanting a revolver, you should stick with anything with the word "magnum" on it. Yes, even .22 magnum.

[Rick-a-Roo]

Bearing in mind that the original poster was looking for the ideal CCW round.

Considering that the kind of conflict likely to be experienced will be something of a 20-foot experience or maybe less, I think that .357 Mag or larger is definitely over-kill, considering the high risk of through & through and the accompanying risk of "co-lateral damage" (i.e. whacking someone other than the guy you are defending yourself against). Same for 9mm and above, with the possible exception of the slowcoach .45 ACP.

Just a thought.

[10 Bears]

Center mass or multiple rounds in the guts, and I don't worry about collateral damage.
ONLY the damage to the target subject.

[5knives]

Originally Posted by 10 Bears

Center mass or multiple rounds in the guts, and I don't worry about collateral damage.
ONLY the damage to the target subject.

Yup!

In the concern department I'm 99.99% concerned with adequate penetration and prompt stopping and .01% with 'shoot through'.

.45acp was designed to shoot people with, doesn't have a lot left after passing through a carcass.

Neither does .44 spcl, .38 spcl, .45 Colt or .357 for that matter!

The big fat slow bullet is on purpose. John M Browning originally designed the 1911 for a 185 gr, bullet at a about 950 fps, Army told him no, they wanted to duplicate 45 Colt as close as possible.

At least that's my understanding of it, though I know a lot of gun writers seem to worry about 'over penetration' as well as some people who do know what they're talking about and seem to consider it an issue.

Regarding the 'over penetration" issue, I fall back on one thing, I usually ask people to point to one or more documented cases of it happening.

I tend to see the discussion as one more example of the current bizarre American tendency to fiddle with the fine tuning when they should be changing channels. Fact I think I'll start a thread on that very topic.

As always JMHO. Others MMV.

Regards,