The Best Handgun Caliber - A Real World Study

MJMGator

Slightly amused
Lifetime Member
I prefer to knife my victims...plus it saves a sh*tload on ammunition. Have you seen the price of quality ammo these days?!
 

Gator By Marriage

A convert to Gatorism
Lifetime Member
And most federal agents certainly have never seen someone shot, hell most have never actually used their handcuffs.
This is probably true if taken as a whole. When looking it individual agencies, it's a different story. The FBI (crim side, not FCI side), DEA, ATF, USSS, USMS, and HSI agents I have met (and I have met a lot) have all put their cuffs on criminals - I deliberately used the plural form of the word. Once you get into some of the smaller agencies and OIGs, not so much. As for seeing someone shot, the number drops quite a bit, but once again, higher among the agencies who actually work the street (DEA, ATF, & some FBI and USMS, in particular).

As for which caliber is best, my answer to anyone would simply be very familiar with the weapon, practice regularly, and make sure to have high capacity mags. As a friend of mine used to say, "I don't shoot well, but I shoot a lot."
 

Concrete Helmet

Hook, Line, and Sinker
Lifetime Member
I'm beginning to favor one of these....may not be a true "handgun" but in short barrel configuration with the 30 round drum it has some advantages...
 

Swamp Donkey

7-14 vs P5 Fire Stricklin First
Lifetime Member
The price is no lightweight either...$3,000 stripped....cool for zombies and watermelons though if you could borrow one.
The next drum magazine I encounter that feeds well enough for me to trust my life on it will be the first.

Before any of you smarty pants say RPD, that really isn't a drum. It's a belt that happens to live in a drum shape.

If I had to be shot at and it had to be a rifle, I'd want someone shooting at me with one of those cheap ass drums they sell for ARs and AKs. Jam city.

It looks like an AK. I have shot some of the old Russian AK based shotguns and they were neat. I'd probably stick with a 10 round mag though.

There are still a few options for much less than $3k and you don't really want that drum, do you?

https://www.atlanticfirearms.com/taxons/ak-47-shotguns


Hey.... wait . You can even have a drum for screwing around.

ks12t-14-of-14-jpg.jpg
 
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Concrete Helmet

Hook, Line, and Sinker
Lifetime Member
It would be cool to mess around with some of the AK style shotguns but I've heard they can be quite finicky(I've never shot one). The Fostech in the video does have a gas adjust valve depending on the load the user is running which is supposed to cut down on fails...
Still though if there ever was the bad kind of thud in the night, and I hope I never have to deal with it, I'd probably be in better shape with my pump shotgun since I've shot one probably 3X more than any other firearms combined.
 

Swamp Donkey

7-14 vs P5 Fire Stricklin First
Lifetime Member
Familiarity is a good thing.

Do some training under pressure though. Make sure you can run it under stress. Youd be surprised how much less reliable that pump can become, short stroking, getting the shell stuck under the elevator but not latched in the tube etc.
 

AlexDaGator

The Hammer of Thor
Lifetime Member
I think they banned the import of the Saigas (the Russian AK based shotguns) but the Chinese version called the Lynx is being imported by SDS. Very similar to the Saiga. I've seen them on sale for $399 with a 5 round magazine. They are gas adjustable as well. I'm not suggesting you trust your life to a Chinese shotgun but for that price, why not have some fun with it?

Alex.
 

Swamp Donkey

7-14 vs P5 Fire Stricklin First
Lifetime Member
It would be cool to mess around with some of the AK style shotguns but I've heard they can be quite finicky(I've never shot one). The Fostech in the video does have a gas adjust valve....
Just glancing at that Fostech, it looks like an AK action to me.

There were AK variants with adjustable gas, Valmet for sure.

Any gas adjust shotgun is going to be tuned to a certain load. Big pulse differences between heavy magnum buckshot and lightweight 2 3/4 trap loads.

Recoil operated like Benelli (and Beretta clones), old Browning A5, even that Mossberg I linked, are likely going to be more reliable though they will kick the shoulder much harder.

Mossberg is actually a Benelli clone made in Turkey. Beretta sells old tooling to then often.

Im a fan of classic Browning A5 btw. Many US snake eaters appropriated those thru various sources for Vietnam.

Im also a fan of using things that cops and .mil have tested and found to be reliable.
 
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Concrete Helmet

Hook, Line, and Sinker
Lifetime Member
Youd be surprised how much less reliable that pump can become, short stroking, getting the shell stuck under the elevator but not latched in the tube etc.
I dry practice stance/shoulder and cheek weld much more than I actually get to shoot. However I've learned the importance of correctly using the recoil to run the pump and keep follow up shots from rising(not as easy as it sounds at first)...the range is the best/only way to learn that...A solid shoulder and firm racking motion are a must.....Funny thing is I've lost all fascination with the pistol grip type shotguns since and the few times I fired one just doesn't feel natural to me.
 

Gator By Marriage

A convert to Gatorism
Lifetime Member
Im also a fan of using things that cops and .mil have tested and found to be reliable.
Lots of LE agencies use the Remington 870. Very easy weapon to get proficient with and phenomenally reliable - I am sure they have their issues, but I personally never saw a problem with one that was not user error. Unlike the shotguns described in some previous posts, however, much smaller capacity. Saw some smaller folks occasionally have difficulty with the recoil if they were not careful.
 

Detroitgator

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
I dry practice stance/shoulder and cheek weld much more than I actually get to shoot. However I've learned the importance of correctly using the recoil to run the pump and keep follow up shots from rising(not as easy as it sounds at first)...the range is the best/only way to learn that...A solid shoulder and firm racking motion are a must.....Funny thing is I've lost all fascination with the pistol grip type shotguns since and the few times I fired one just doesn't feel natural to me.
Good man on the dry firing... if you ain't doin' that, you ain't training.
 

Swamp Donkey

7-14 vs P5 Fire Stricklin First
Lifetime Member
Lots of LE agencies use the Remington 870. Very easy weapon to get proficient with and phenomenally reliable - I am sure they have their issues, but I personally never saw a problem with one that was not user error.
Sure. Mossberg, Remington, Winchester, Savage. All good.

And yes, the malfs are usually user induced, but what I'm saying is that despite the reputation for reliability, many shooters, even very experienced ones, do cause malfs under stress.

As for recoil, low recoil shells fix that, for the most part. That being said, many semiauto shotguns don't handle low recoil shells.

Hence, why I recommended he look at that 20g Mossberg SA20. All the 20g shells are "light recoil" (relatively speaking).
 

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