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Choosing a handgun for self defense is not as easy as it may seem. You must first realize there are many choices and you need to find the handgun that is right for you. Do you want something that looks nice or intimidating when not in use? Do you want something that you can practice with on the weekends without getting bruises on your hand? Or do you just want something to stick under your bed and shoot at somebody if they break in your house?

First you need to decide on the caliber you want. A .22 caliber pistol is easier to fire but does not have the knockdown power of a .50 caliber. There are several sizes in between and you need to decide which is best for you. The best way to do this is to get out and fire different size pistols and see which works best for you. People that fire handguns for recreation may want to have a .22 because of the short recoil. A short recoil makes it easier to get back on target faster. It also helps by reducing the pain associated with repetitive firing. Additionally, many people factor in the knockdown power of different sized guns. Understandably many people are not very good shots with a lot of adrenaline flowing, which is the scenario while firing a gun at someone who just broke into your home. Chances are you will only hit someone once or twice while yanking on the trigger. If you hit someone once in the leg with a .22 you may have an angry intruder glaring at you while you have an empty gun. If you hit that same intruder in the leg with a .50 you will probably have an individual with a mangled leg writhing in pain on your floor. Most people go for something in the middle such as a .40 or .357 caliber.

Your next decision should be if you want a revolver or a semiautomatic or clip fed handgun. There are more differences than meets the eye to these two types. First of all a semiautomatic pistol can hold as many rounds, or bullets, the clip can hold commonly ten or twelve. Police are authorized to carry fifteen rounds in a clip. A revolver can only carry as many as the specific gun was designed to carry in its revolving chamber. In addition it is much easier to become quickly able to reload a semiautomatic handgun than a revolver but there are many people that have become quite adept at quickly reloading a revolver. Another big difference is a revolver may be more intimidating and frightening than a semiautomatic. Due to the open design between the hammer and primer there is a much louder and visible spark when a revolver is

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