Handgun owners
 

I'm looking to pick up a handgun in Costa Rica to keep in the house and start going to the range a bit with (a friend of mine there is a police officer that keeps begging me to come). I've fired handguns a few times over the years but never been serious about the sport.

I'm down to between these two guns:

Glock19 9mm (new)
Desert Eagle 9mm (used, belongs to a police officer)

Anybody familiar with these two guns? Suggestions?

Get a 357 magnum..chicks dig that shit

glocks are nice and light, most of the cops around here carry the 9mm as their service revolver. dont know much about the desert eagle.

yah, number 1 thing when choosing a handgun is how cool you will look with it.. if it was about that, everyone would be carrying pink guns along with their chihuahuas in handheld purses :2 cents:

The glock is easy to handle and fire, very light, easy recoil.

The desert eagle is just plain fun to shoot. Heavy recoil, little bulky to handle.

If the main purpose of the firearm is for home protection/ security I would go with the glock.

If the main purpose of the firearm is to have fun shooting, stress relief at the range, I would go with the desert eagle.

If I wanted a gun to be cool and badass I'd get a DE .50AE hand cannon.

I've fired a 357 magnum before. It's not difficult, but it's not something you want to fire all day at the range either.

Either is fine really, any of the mainstream "brand name" 9mm autos are good pistols. Beretta, Walther, SiG, Glock, Desert Eagle, etc.

I have a Walther P99 9mm, just for light range fun and home protection, and I haven't had a jam or failure to feed in the last 5,000 rounds. And I barely clean it either, lol.

I was being sarcastic..I'm Canadian remember? We are a peaceful bunch..atleast 90% of us

yah i know, i'm just playin :)

we have sharpened hockey sticks, and rubber dingies as the canadian navy :1orglaugh

My house in Costa Rica, much like every house, is surrounded by a razor wire fence, has bars on the windows and doors, and I have three Rottweilers running around.

Would I use a handgun to defend my house? Sure. Is it very likely to ever come up? No, not really. My house is in a good neighborhood. So it's mostly going to be a range thing.

Anyone have any experience with an Springfield XD-40 ? Can you tell me about it at all? Gun shop is trying to sell my buddy this gun constantly, saying it's much better than the Glock.

Not "much better", shop owner just has more profit margin on it.

It's a good gun for your purposes though, and cheap, but some complain that it catches the webbing on their hand between the thumb and first finger when firing it. Nicks it, or rubs it the wrong way and irritates it.

Some of them also have a compensator built into the front of the barrel, up top, that redirects energy from the recoil upwards to minimize barrel flip. The problem is that the smoke from the shot blasts through those holes also, obscurring vision.

If it's a range, shoot it first WC. Shoot them all if possible, one will defnitely leap out at you as your "favorite" believe me.

The glock is a marvelous handgun, very easy to shoot with light recoil and very accurate, easy for a beginner to master. Its favored by police, nato, special forces, etc for its reliability and accuracy. I have the 23 (.40) packs a bit more punch than the 9mm with the same size and weight.

Downside is no safety, its dangerous if you keep a round in the chamber obviously and dozens of US police officers have shot themselves in the hip with it.

I wouldn't keep a round in the chamber. At home I wouldn't even keep a clip in it. Thanks for the info!

You might want to consider a higher caliber than 9mm.

Um... if your house is in a good neighborhood, why do you have bars on the windows, razor wire, and 3 rottys?

Is that the latest fashion or something? :1orglaugh

I own a cheap Taurus 9mm and an S&W 357mag revolver 2.5" snub and the magnum is so much more of a gun its not even comparable to a 9mm. The taurus is fun, never jammed 18k rounds but nothing beats the magnum. :2 cents:

A gun in your home makes it three times more likely that you or someone you care about will be murdered by a family member or intimate partner.

The Self-Defense Myth:

In 1997, for every time that a civilian used a handgun to kill in self-defense, 43 people lost their lives in handgun homicides. (FBI Supplementary Homicide Report data, 1997)

Every house, shack, apartment and dumpster in Costa Rica pretty much has bars and big gates. More security = less crime.

The Dogs are primarily pets. They're friendly and probably wouldn't attack anyone.

You should get the desert eagle.

If my imaginery family murders me while I'm alone in my house I'll be quite surprised.

I would get a Colt, but if you are going with those two the Glock is a much better made weapon.

glock 23

Yeah that is technically true but sadly any idiot can buy a handgun in the U.S. The statistic is misleading because there is a ZERO PERCENT chance of my handguns being used for anything other than target or self-defense, and thats the statistic I am mainly worried about.

Exactly.

I want a hang gun, mostly to shoot at the range. If somebody climbs my fence, pries off the bars and then breaks a window, I won't even hesitate a second in shooting them. Other than that it's for sport. I won't be getting drunk and going shooting and I won't be walking around "packing heat".

Be careful though, one of the dogs just may turn on you and pull the gun.

I've thought about that, and while it's a concern, I don't think they'd be able to load it alone. :)

There's 3 of them. You'd be surprised what a pack of dogs can do!

yeah I'm gonna go put a beating on them now, just so they know what's up and who's the boss. The third one has been turning the tide in those battles a bit though. When she's full grown I might need to hit the gym or something.

Be a man dont carry a gun.

I am a man, I can't be anything else.
The only way to transport a gun is by carrying it.
You'd look silly at the range, throwing bullets.

LOL:)

GO with the Desert Eagle.

A 9mm revolver? What's the model on that?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what I'm going to do. As far as I understand it, this one was made in Israel, before they stopped manufacturing them there. If this is in fact true, I won't be passing up this gun.

I'm not 100% certain, but I _think_ by "service revolver" he just means a Police Officer's on duty side arm and not necessarily an actual revolver.