Only 4 handguns...

Eternal unfair dilemmas

This is the kind of question that haunts people like me.

Hypothetically,if you can only have four handguns for life, what would they be?

And keep in mind that I wrote a while back, that the likelihood of you ever being in a gunfight are very close to nil, and less than 1/10th of a percent if you are a cop in New York with a 40 year career.

So, this is mostly about your preferences. And I can’t really whittle it down, in my mind, so, dear reader, engage!

If I was blue-skying the concept, I would start with calibers, but even there I go way overboard, because my ideal list would be:

.454 Casull

.45 Long Colt

.45 ACP

.357 Magnum

.32 ACP (or 7.65mm)

.22 LR

You will note an absence of the 9mm calibre, because, meh. I don’t like them. I have my reasons, but in essence it boils down to the fact that I don’t really believe in pray and spray, and I also don’t trust the 9mm or .38 special round. It has, in my opinion, the worst combination of heavy enough recoil to make a difference to return to aim and crappy one shot stop ballistics, that I trust the .32 ACP more if for no reason that I seem to be more accurate with my little PPK than with most modern 9mm handguns.

Now, having said that, I need to be clear that the .32 ACP slot is already taken. Exactly for the reason I said above, plus… it’s James Bond’s gun.

So we are down to three slots. Because how can you not have this one?

And going by the calibers… well… I DO like the .454 Casull, but… they don’t make the Alaskan with a decent 4” barrel, and sadly, I think the chances of me being hijacked by aliens to a planet where T-Rexes still roam the Earth are slim, so I let it go… fly free oh mythical .454.

Now, in a similar classic vein, I need to also keep the original straight back Colt 1911 on the list, because… well… Magnum PI had one, and so did Sgt. York, and… COME ON! It’s a Colt 1911.

And notice I mean the original 1911 shape (top image), not the A1 (bottom image), even if some think the A1 looks better.

So we are down to only these caliber left:

.45 Long Colt

.357 Magnum

.22 LR

Because we are basically saying black powder handguns don’t count, so the .36 and .44 of the 1851 Colt navy and the .44 of the 2nd Colt Dragoon are our compensatory handguns.

That’s the Colt Dragoon (2nd type) at the top and the 1851 Navy at the bottom. The one in the middle is the Colt Army.

But this does mean we either remain content with only the blackpowder version, or we leave behind the 1851 Colt Navy Richardson Conversion to a cartridge firing handgun. And that one comes in .45 Long Colt from Uberti. And the .45 Long Colt can also work in some lever action old style Yellow-boy Cowboy rifles.

However… notice how the conversion spoils the lines. It’s like adding a catalytic converter to a Phantom.

Therefore, we have to resign ourselves to abandoning the .45 Long Colt calibre as well as the Richardson conversion. And if we absolutely must shoot someone with the 1851 Colt Navy… well, it will just have to either be premeditated murder, or you know they are coming for you in advance, since you don’t leave black powder guns loaded as the powder is corrosive. Might as well go for the fancy blackpowder version then.

So this leaves only the .357 Magnum, and the .22 LR

Great!

We have whittled the calibres down to just tow, which works! Right? Right guys?

Well, no. Of course not, because do you have any idea how many .357 magnums there are and how many .22 LR pistols there are?

How can someone pick between them?

This is why I have no hair left on my head.

I mean… which .357 Magnums do I like? Pretty much all of them with a 4” barrel or more.

And .22LR? Kinda the same.

I like the Mateba but it’s apparently fragile, which is no good. I had a Ruger GP 101 when working in close protection that never let me down, but Ruger also makes a 7 shot version, but only in stainless steel I think. So you see the dilemma.

And the .22LR is ideal for gentle plinking at the range, but again, which one? Beretta made various very nice looking target models.

So there you have it readers? Suggest your favourite .22 and .357 magnums with reasons please.