Reliable Pistol for self defence and concealed carry

[vasanthm]

Hi,
I'm from Mysore and have been lurking on this forum for many years. I just got issued a license for a pistol for self-defence, will be issued with a book next week and have been given time till Jun-2024 to procure a weapon. I regularly carry cash from different business locations to the Bank and also between locations late at night. My family lives in a farm, so will want to keep it for home defence as well.

I don't want to buy 2nd hand imported pistols as I lack the experience and not sure what to look for. I'm looking for a new pistol. Price is not much of a criterion. But reliability, maintenance and easy concealed carry is required. What are the weapons you would suggest.

Thanks in advance

[eljefe]

This

https://blog.cheaperthandirt.com/327-fe ... -favorite/

[vasanthm]

currently I'm thinking of MSD Champion and Atal 0.32ACP based on my research on this froum

[timmy]

Consider vineet's post here:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=29073&p=276785#p276785

He has a post in review of the Malhotra Champion and another member bought one recently and has offered his comments on it.

If, as you say, cost isn't a consideration, you might think about what these members have to say.

[vasanthm]

I'm now confused between Atal .32 and MSD Champion.. the specs of Atal, weight, caliber seems right but I'm worried about quality, reliability etc where as MSD seems to have good feedback from ppl but .45 seems a bit of an overkill and a little heavy for everyday carry. What would the experienced folks here suggest..

[drshamsherrana]

you can try the new webley .32 pistol webley fox

[to_saptarshi]

If its solely for self defense , just curious , why not revolvers but specifically pistol ? Any specific reason or its purely personal choice and aesthetics ?

[vasanthm]

Revolvers seem bulky and also safety features seem better with pistols, I might be wrong though?

[timmy]

Revolvers are bulky. The Webley/IOF revolvers cannot have a cartridge chambered under the hammer, making them a 5-shot weapon in reality. (6 can be loaded, but it isn't safe at all -- very dangerous! This has been discussed here. If it is dropped on the hammer, it is likely to fire. More modern revolvers don't suffer from this problem.)

If the Malhotra copies the 1911 safety, it can safely be carried in Condition 1: cocked and locked. As for the IOF, as it's a copy of the Colt Pocket Pistol, if it has the Pocket Pistol safety, it isn't safe to be carried with a round in the chamber. You must rack the slide to chamber a round before the pistol can be brought into action.

As for the new 32 Auto pistols, it is anyone's guess as to whether they are safe or not, because the technical information provided for these new weapons seems to always be on the level of "our gun goes bang" or some such prattle. You are on your own with these guns, I'm afraid. If you get one, maybe you can tell us -- the manufacturers seem to want to keep their products' internal mechanisms a big secret.

[to_saptarshi]

All modern revolvers are extremely safe to carry with all six round in chambered. ( Not considering IOF and Webley here ) When it comes to Self Defense in Indian Scenario, I rather look for reliability and wants to be 100% sure that my gun goes bang right out of the pocket when I pull the trigger , and in case of revolver that chance is 99.9% confirm, considering most people in India have limited ammo quota and probably not having access to fresh ammo or they keep recycling old one with fresh one , I am not absolutely confident that , the pistol will not encountered a stove pipe jam after the first shot is being fired, also not many double action pistol (Make in india venture ) are time tasted to carry a live round in chamber safely. Another challenge is the technicality involves a lot on spring design and its tension retaining over period of times, that includes your recoil spring and magazine spring tension. If you keep your magazine loaded fully over a period of times it will impact your spring tension unless you unload it back every time you are done for the day, not sure how many of daily conceal carry users will do that rigorously , In practical self defense in India one or two shot is enough in 99% situation and less likely you need to fire more than that , but its extremely crucial that those one or two shots fired without any hassle and in the shortest possible time. Lastly its up to you how fast you can draw , point and fire ( Up in Air or to the attacker) , so my humble suggestion consider all aspect and your need and life style before you decide , specially if its soley for SD and not for match and you are going to daily carry it . Just my two cents

[timmy]

Brothers, I have to admit that reading this thread makes me somewhat frustrated. I have taken much time posting ansers and observations to the questions surrounding safe carry of pistols and revolvers, and yet the same questions and same misunderstandings still arise. It seems as if it is not a common practice to search the past posts and see what facts and data has been presented. This is discouraging.

So, to begin:

The basic design of the IOF/Webley revolver is unsafe to carry with a round under the hammer. Its design is ancient and the problem corrected in 1905 by Colt souble action revolvers and after WW2 by Smith and Wesson:

viewtopic.php?style=3&t=27595&start=15#p264682

Next link: responding to the same question of safety of IOF revolvers, here is a description of how the Colt double action revolver safety works:

viewtopic.php?t=22888#p224456

Next link: In a description of the Armscor revolver, here is how the Ruger-style transfer bar safety works (Ruger really copied this from an Iver Johnson design from before 1900):

viewtopic.php?t=22888#p224456

Now, regarding semiauto pistols, namely the 1911 (of which the Malhotra is a copy) and the Colt 1903/1908 Pocket Pistol (of which the Ashani is a copy) here is a description of these two styles of safeties. The bottom line is, the 1911 style is safe to carry with a round in the chamber and the Pocket Pistol is not:

viewtopic.php?t=22009#p215015

Why, you may ask, have I taken the trouble of researching and gathering photos for these descriptions and posting boring and long articles?

You have three choices here:

1. You can study the way guns work and decide for yourself from the understanding you have gained, whether a gun or a method of carry is safe or not.

2. You can take someone else's word for it. Whether you recognize it or not, your life and the lives of those around you depend on the person or persons you are trusting, and all must bear the effects of your decisions.

3. You don't have to bother to care, and let what happens, happen.

I've tried my best to provide good information, recognizing that whether or not someone receives it is their decision, not mine.

Now, about pistol magazines and springs:

I had this discussion with a member who used to post here, xl_target. (You can search for it if you wish.) xl_target is a professional in metallurgy, and he suggested that it is best to leave the magazine loaded or unloaded, and that the weakening of the spring happened when the spring was excercised, not by leaving it compressed or uncompressed.

I didn't accept xl_target's points at the time. Intuitively, it seemed that leaving the spring compressed would weaken it, and so I dutifully empied my magazines at the end of every day.

This debate continues, but upon reflection I think I was wrong and xl_target was right. Now, I leave magazines loaded. Here are two articles by reputable groups who should know that discuss this subject, if anyone cares to read and learn from them:

https://www.shootingillustrated.com/con ... es-loaded/

https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/maga ... o-cycling/

As I said before, there's the data and the pictures, and any interested parties can decide for themselves.