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What pistol would you grab for shtf

15K views 155 replies 113 participants last post by  Haldor 
#1 ·
For those who have multiple pistols, which one is your go to all out pistol to get it done. I believe in one gun and committed to practice with that gun being a Glock 23 Gen 3. What say you.
 
#99 ·
If I have five minutes to get ready, it's the 17 and multiple mags. I have for it. If I have no time, it's the 19 and the one extra mag. I always have near.
 
#100 ·
None, I would not chose any sidearm .. at all. Plus, define TSHTF.

Economic collapse?
A comet hitting something plunging us in the post-dinosaur era?
An epidemic?
WWIII?

Regardless. It would be a toss-up between a 5.56mm carbine and a 12 gauge semi-auto. Either one has tons of advantages over a sidearm.

Let's see, 5.56mm carbine has the range that you can could engage outside of sidearm distances, huge advantage right there. 200m is pretty simple. Reloads are quick and 556 is the most common rifle ammo.

5.56mm goes through Class IIIa. No common pistol calibers do. Not nine, not 10mm, not 22LR. So, if you get assaulted by thugs in vests, you need 556mm.

Drug dealers wear vests, this has been common knowledge since the 1980's.

Now the 12 gauge semiauto -- multiple projectiles. If you have to engage multiple moving attackers at CQB ranges, I cannot think of anything better. You are far more likely to hit something with 9 or 12 pellets. It's like a sidearm with a magazine of 32ACP rounds that gets empied with every shot.

Some of these guys have videos, they empty their 9-shot Remington versa Maxes very quickly and reload quickly. 9 pellets times 10 equals 10 pellets or 11 if ghost loaded.

Shotgun has more advantages, OP said TSHTF, well, you can switch to a hunting type ammo - birdshot and if you need to penetrate, slugs. These hardened slugs will go through a car front to back and stop an engine if hit. They also have the range that exceeds common sidearm range like 75meters, put a RDS on a shotty and again, you can easily engage outside of sidearm range.

I wouldn't want to hunt rabbits with a 10mm. I have plenty of #4 however, and #6. Lack of food and water is the primary concern. There might be a lot of game since nobody knows how to hunt anymore around major metro areas.

Ammo is everywhere. Even in TSHTF conditions, should be able to find something to feed it. I wouldn't want to stand in front of a birdshot. At very close range, even #4 birdshot is more dangerous than a 9mm, it creates one huge hole and yes it does penetrate several doors. TheBoxofTruth ran an article about birdshot, it's eye opening.

Walmarts are flooded with buckshot and slugs. But buckshot with FliteControl is best. Unlike stupid walmart special junk, it hangs together until about 40 meters, easily. I've even made hits with at 100m, admittedly, most pellets don't make it there.

I might carry some stupid BS backup sidearm for TSHTF like oh shyte my primary is down, gotta get the backup out type situation. These small Glocks are cute, in niner of 380 and very light and make perfect backups.
 
#104 ·
My Sig 226. It is already packed, in a biometric locked, EMP-shielded, wheeled Go Box, with .357sig barrel mounted, .40 barrel, 9mm conversion barrel, and .22 conversion kit, stored, along with (5) loaded .357/.40 and (5) .22 mags, and (250) rounds of FMJ, (100) frangible, and (100) rounds of Gold Dots, in .357sig, 9mm, & .40S&W, and (1000) rounds of .22 high velocity HP's, and (100) .22 segmented subsonic rounds. I recently added a Henry .22LR survival pack rifle to my Go boxes too.

The box also includes (2) back packs with a combat medic kit, with extra bandages, burn packs, and quick clot, (100) protein bars, a Ketadyn water filter, (100) IOSAT pills, (100) each of silver dimes, quarters, and halves, and $500 in US & Canadian currency (all in a padded /muffled lock box), local, county, state, & region topo maps, a ham/shortwave transceiver, lithium batteries, solar charger, led lights, toiletries and paper, meds for us, a multivariety pack of seeds, foods and herbs, knives, plates, cooking pot, and eating utensils, and firestarter devices.

I also have (2) identical additional boxes, each with a like configured Gen 3, G22, stashed elsewhere, one within a days walk, the other within a gas tank's range. I hope I will never need any of them, but if I do, they are there, as insurance. I check and repack them every (6) months.
You sir, are a good Boy Scout, be prepared is our motto.
 
#102 ·
Something to think about your SHTF gun/guns,
remember you don't really know what will/can
happen in a SHTF, or how long it will
last. I believe we just dodged a long and
very bad SHTF situation with the last election.

How available is the ammo,
will it work for 100+ yards,
how much power will it have
over 100 or even 200 yards,
does it have the accuracy to
take advantage of its high
power,
how hard is it to load for if
it turns out to be a long SHTF.

If you have a gun that shoots many different
kinds of ammo that should help.

Maybe you know enough about reloading that
you can take ammo for different guns and use
the components to work in your gun/guns.

As a gunsmith I have set up many handguns for
a QD scope mount, now there are many guns that
come from the factory ready for scopes and can
be taken off and put back on easy.

Also for me, it's still very hard to get local 22lr ammo in any
large amount, same for 9mm, think how hard it
would be in a real long SHTF.

I have many guns that shoot many different rounds,
also with some basic tools I can use the components from
rifle and pistol ammo to adapt to my needs.

All SHTFs don't require you to leave home.
 
#107 ·
Actually I do hold a pistol almost sideways when I shoot weak hand only; it brings the sights more in line with my master eye. It looks like you are fairly new to GlockTalk. Hang around a bit; you might learn a few things.

I've also helped out teaching SWAT teams. Notice the guy behind the shield.

View attachment 317438


wp
Thanks. Im ambidextrous so I shoot or throw knives right and left handed basically the same way. Yes longtime shooter but new to technology like forums.
 
#110 ·
I am surprised no 22LR entries. It has always been a popular choice in the TSHTF mythology.

Reason being perhaps you can carry half a gazillion rounds with you that weight as much as 100 308 rounds. Not that it's as good as any choices listed here but in a TSHTF situation, it's a powerful deterrent. I wouldn't want to get a 22 slug implanted and die 2 weeks later from it.
 
#111 ·
I am surprised no 22LR entries. It has always been a popular choice in the TSHTF mythology.

Reason being perhaps you can carry half a gazillion rounds with you that weight as much as 100 308 rounds. Not that it's as good as any choices listed here but in a TSHTF situation, it's a powerful deterrent. I wouldn't want to get a 22 slug implanted and die 2 weeks later from it.
You wouldn't, you would have died shortly after you shot the guy with the 22. ;)
 
#116 ·
I'm fortunate enough to live where people bug out to. The 357mag is very popular in this part of the country, and for good reasons.

For those who have witnessed what the 357mag (or 44mag) can do, no explanation is necessary. :)

Yep, and I can take 9mm, 357sig, 40 s&w and many other kinds
of ammo that I find
and make the components of them work great in my 357 mag.

Some just takes removing the power, primer and bullet and
putting them in the 357 case.
 
#117 ·
None, I would not chose any sidearm .. at all. Plus, define TSHTF.

Economic collapse?
A comet hitting something plunging us in the post-dinosaur era?
An epidemic?
WWIII?

Regardless. It would be a toss-up between a 5.56mm carbine and a 12 gauge semi-auto. Either one has tons of advantages over a sidearm.

Let's see, 5.56mm carbine has the range that you can could engage outside of sidearm distances, huge advantage right there. 200m is pretty simple. Reloads are quick and 556 is the most common rifle ammo.

5.56mm goes through Class IIIa. No common pistol calibers do. Not nine, not 10mm, not 22LR. So, if you get assaulted by thugs in vests, you need 556mm.

Drug dealers wear vests, this has been common knowledge since the 1980's.

Now the 12 gauge semiauto -- multiple projectiles. If you have to engage multiple moving attackers at CQB ranges, I cannot think of anything better. You are far more likely to hit something with 9 or 12 pellets. It's like a sidearm with a magazine of 32ACP rounds that gets empied with every shot.

Some of these guys have videos, they empty their 9-shot Remington versa Maxes very quickly and reload quickly. 9 pellets times 10 equals 10 pellets or 11 if ghost loaded.

Shotgun has more advantages, OP said TSHTF, well, you can switch to a hunting type ammo - birdshot and if you need to penetrate, slugs. These hardened slugs will go through a car front to back and stop an engine if hit. They also have the range that exceeds common sidearm range like 75meters, put a RDS on a shotty and again, you can easily engage outside of sidearm range.

I wouldn't want to hunt rabbits with a 10mm. I have plenty of #4 however, and #6. Lack of food and water is the primary concern. There might be a lot of game since nobody knows how to hunt anymore around major metro areas.

Ammo is everywhere. Even in TSHTF conditions, should be able to find something to feed it. I wouldn't want to stand in front of a birdshot. At very close range, even #4 birdshot is more dangerous than a 9mm, it creates one huge hole and yes it does penetrate several doors. TheBoxofTruth ran an article about birdshot, it's eye opening.

Walmarts are flooded with buckshot and slugs. But buckshot with FliteControl is best. Unlike stupid walmart special junk, it hangs together until about 40 meters, easily. I've even made hits with at 100m, admittedly, most pellets don't make it there.

I might carry some stupid BS backup sidearm for TSHTF like oh shyte my primary is down, gotta get the backup out type situation. These small Glocks are cute, in niner of 380 and very light and make perfect backups.
Well, the OP said handgun, so that's what I selected. I totally agree a long arm is much better in almost all situations. If I had to choose I would say a Black Rifle in 5.56MM or an extended tube 12 Gauge.
 
#120 ·
It's funny how even 1 malfunction will stick in my brain and it's like I will always hold that malfunction again that gun even if I know it was from bad ammunition or a limp wrist or something like that.

That being said I'd grab something that I have 100% confidence in and that has never had a malfunction in thousands of rounds and ever. I can't say that about one of my favorite guns which is a G19. just last week I handed it to a brand new shooter who has never shot before and he limp wristed it. It was 100% my fault for not explaining how to hold it but still for some reason I expect more out of it.

So anyway, I do have a lot of gun that have never malfunctioned ever, knock on wood. I'd grab any of those. I have a G26, a Sig P228, a G19 (another one than mentioned above), and an XD9.

This may sound cliché since my screen name is XDRoX, but there is just something about my 1st gen XD that I trust really like. It feels solid, way more so than a Glock. The finish is top shelf 2nd to maybe only the Glock. Are XD's tennifer as well? It may be. I fell like the finish is better than the 4gen Glocks.

That XD is just a gun I trust and know I can shoot well enough. So that's my pick.
 
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