Does anybody else actually sort of prefer larger handguns?

[rockquarry]

You can get into handguns that are so large and heavy, you might as well get a light rifle. The rifle isn't as awkward and it's not much heavier than a huge and cumbersome handgun. It's also easier to shoot well in comparison with the handgun and at much longer distances.

 

[extex]

I do. Started shooting IHMSA in the 80s with long barrel revolvers, etc. Lately though, trending toward shorter 4" pistols, DA revolvers.

 

[Rich Richardson]

At my home in Phoenix I carry a Sig 229 in .40 cal. At my home in the mountains in Colorado I carry a 629 5” full underlug. Different guns for different animals.

 

[Imissedagain]

The little 460 is about the same length as our 629/4" but weighs about a pound more empty.
Makes a 44 Mag old school.

Nice to load the Officer with Penn's PC coated at 230gr.
Also load them in the 460 but at higher velocities.

My Swamp gun, for decades, is a Ruger Sec6 snub
with 158gr JSP and Hogue Monos.
The Officer or the M59 when out of he neighborhood.
LCP with 115gr/120gr bullets, in the hood.

Leupold just sent me a new scope to replace the old 2.5-8x32mm.
Thumbs up to them.
Hopefully some range time soon.

Revere in Pompano is under ownership they upgraded the place.
Will stop by after talking with them recently.
Gun World and Markham Park are go to ranges as well.
Markham has an archery range as well.
Nickel plated brass is occasionally scrounged on the LE side.

 

[CH4]

It's not the size that matter it's what you do with it.

You speak with authority.

 

[balin]

My preference for shooting at the range is full size steel guns. The small light weight ones are taken for necessity as they are the ones that I carry. I carried more full size guns early on. My Kahr PM9 gets most of my carry time. As it has for probably 15 years.

 

[robvious]

big guns for range time...
lil ones for warm weather pocket carry... everything in-between for everything in-between..

 

[Miracle Man]

My preference for shooting at the range is full size steel guns. The small light weight ones are taken for necessity as they are the ones that I carry. I carried more full size guns early on. My Kahr PM9 gets most of my carry time. As it has for probably 15 years.

That's the thing with me!

Just as one small example. I have a S&W model 19-3 with a 4" barrel and a S&W 586-3 with a 6" barrel, 357 magnums. I much prefer shooting the 586 with full power magnums. It's what a few ounces heavier? But it seems like a pound in the less recoil muzzle blast arena.

 

[Trooper224]

I've always carried full sized service weapons. I have large hands and small guns just don't work for me. If I'm not carrying a full size 1911 then it's a 4506. Throughout my LE career I typically strapped on 40 pounds of gear when I went to work. Even now, working as a CSO in the federal court system, I still lug around body armor, gun, mags, cuffs, radio etc. So, a pistol and two spare mags don't register as an inconvenience on my own time.

I'm not down on small guns, I think some of them are dandy. They just don't work for me.

For range time, of course the larger guns are more shootable, that's just physics in motion.

 

[coltle6920]

I'll shoot anything. The only issue I have is that as guns get smaller the sights seem to be an afterthought by the gunmakers.

 

[DR505]

I usually carry a 1911, Combat Commander, Hi-Power, or an N-Frame. Not a fan of anything much smaller.

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Having a choice (or choices?) can make quite a bit of difference...?

For carry I can graduate (perambulate?) from a Kahr CW380 (smallest by far), S&W 442 (easiest), to another Kahr (PM40: the "smallest with the mostest"), Charter Arms Bulldog On Duty in 44 Special (newest and not a lot bigger than the 442, actually) to a M&P 40 Compact set up for 357 SIG if I thought things might just REALLY get hairy!

And I try to avoid those potential situations like the plague!

Of course their full-sized cousins are more fun (and fulfilling?) to shoot at the range, but I typically take the carry-sized ones along because regular practice with what you intend to carry is, IMHO, mandatory.

And this goes for the carry ammo as well.

Cheers!

 

[LimaCharlie]

My carry guns are five-inch 1911s or four-inch revolvers.

 

[LVSteve]

First time out shooting, my wife was pleasantly surprised to find that large pistols like the Star Model B kill the recoil of 9mm very well. Oddly, she disliked the recoil impulse of the Star BM intensely, but had no trouble with the lighter 4.25" M&P9. Recoil is very much in the hands of the beholder.

 

[Rustyt1953]

First time shooting my wife...

Ceramic plates and duct tape?

 

[LVSteve]

Ceramic plates and duct tape?

Proof reading and punctuation matter.

 

[reddog81]

When taking a new shooter out I always make a point to bring a variety of guns along to show the difference between shooting a pocket pistol and a full size gun.

Sure the cute little pink pocket pistol looks like a darling to shoot but the full size gun with decent sights and a good trigger is actually easier to hit what you're aiming at and get off follow up shots.

 

[glenwolde]

Yes. I seem to shoot 6" N frames the best, and my favorite autos are 5" 1911's. My .22's are pretty huge too.

 

[pharmer]

I've been carrying a P 07 for almost 2 years. I'd could do something smaller but if'n I can keep my fat *** under 175# I can sit and breathe. Joe

 

[44wheelman]

……more absorbed recoil, longer sight radius, better fit in the hand

Yes, I too find larger guns more pleasant to shoot recreationally.

My Golden Bison Bull makes 45-70 trapdoor loads shoot softer than .38s.