I have been a handgunner now for 30 years this October. A self-defense handgun has to have stopping power, ease of handling and be simple to use effectively in high stress situations. There are concerns for over-penetration if we are talking about self-defense in town. This is less of an issue in the field where dangerous animals might have to be defended against. The size of the gun is an issue as well because not everyone has large hands and if the gun is going to be consealed, size matters.

*Ammo

The format of a 200 grain bullet traveling at 800 to 900 fps (feet per second) and a bore of at least .401 is best. This works well on thugs and black bear. This gives us 40 s&w, 45 acp, 45 colt, 44 special and 45 gap as choices of caliber as each of these floats around the above specifications.

*Type of handgun

To meet the simple and robust qualities, I prefer a revolver. Most have no safeties or switches to throw in order to fire, you just point and pull the trigger. They are easier to see if they are loaded or not, unlike autos that can have their magazine removed and still have a round in the chamber.

Revolvers are good handguns to learn on as they do not jump around in your hand when they fire like autos do and there is no magazine trying to fit into the grip you are holding, so smaller hands have better control.

*Size of handgun

N frame and L frame weapons are on the large side and j frame weapons are on the small side. Too large and the weapon is heavy and bulky, too small and the weapon gets hard to control. In my experience, most folks do better with k frames. K frames seem to get the grip size and overall size just right as far as concealable and control are concerned.

It is also useful that k frame revolvers are among the most common. The only price to pay is in order to chamber a k frame revolver in a large caliber, the cylinder can only hold 5 shots.

Top grade manufacturers are: Smith and Wesson, Ruger, Colt and Dan Wesson. Good companies with less attention to finish but are completely serviceable are: Rossi, Taurus, and Charter Arms. For self-defense, finish isn't important and we are going to carry this thing around and beat it up with practice, so I would buy from the second group.

When you look over these issues, you will discover why I have bought no less that three Charter Arms Bull dogs in 44 special (pugs). I have trained several women to shoot handguns and this is how (through ex-wives) that I have had all three walk away.

I have yet to meet a woman who could not handle a bull dog and 44 caliber (.429 actually) certainly qualifies as a large bore. 44 special ammo is available and has many loadings, due to the fact that 44 magnum owners can shoot the lighter 44 special rounds in their 44 magnum handguns.

So the popularity of the 44 magnum rubs off on the 44 special making it a round that will be with us for a long time. (44 magnum rounds are too long to fit into the 44 special so there is no way to fire a 44 magnum round in your bull dog)

For the money and strong moderate energy, the .429 bore, the grip and overall size with the resulting controlability, makes the Charter Arms Bull Dog the best choice for self-defense in my opinion.

Learn more about this author, Jim Kerrigan.
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