Which caliber should I go for?

[shadowring]

Hi fellas, its been awhile since i last logged on, been busy. Anyway, here's a hypothetical question for future reference regarding what type of caliber i should go for in terms of legality, availability, and stopping power (effectiveness as a self def. weapon)?? How difficult would it be to get .357 SIG ammos in India? which .38 are PB and which of the variants are NPB?
I have been looking at mostly .32 ACP, .357 SIG, .38 (not sure of the specifics).
My options in .32ACP are CZ 82 & 83, Browning BDA 320 Browning Pro Pistol (.32 ACP although its quite rare),
Beretta Model 81 & 82.
.357 Mag is slightly limited at Beretta 8000 Cougar pistol.
.357 SIG offers the widest choices with Glock 31 and 32 as my first preferences, HK USP (compact)
HK P2000, SIG SAUER SP 2022, P250, P239,P229, P226
.38 not sure which ones are PB and which are NPB.
I am not a big fan of the sub-compact category of handguns, I prefer regular or compact. The reason why I have chosen these are due to relative wider availability as contrast to high end hand guns.
Your advices or suggestions would be highly appreciated. Thanks.

[TwoRivers]

Beretta Cougar in .357 Mag??? No way, Jose. That's a revolver cartridge, with only one or two specialty semi-auto pistols made for it.

[shadowring]

oops, my bad, its suppose to be Beretta 8000 Cougar and in .357 SIG not Mag.
check the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_8000.
thanks for the spot.

[shooterz]

Since you mentioned it, I would go for the Glock. Granted, I am biased towards Glock, I own 4 of them. I have owned the Glock 32; my brother in law liked it, so I sold it to him for a good price. Since I don't think you can carry concealed in India, I would go with the full size model 31. You have a slightly longer sight radius with which you can take advantage of the long range possibilities of the 357 Sig round. Bullet drop is not much of an issue out to 50 yards or even farther if you can shoot well. Reliability with the bottle nose round is great, with the Glock it is phenomenal. Good luck my friend. Troy

[goodboy_mentor]

Anyway, here's a hypothetical question for future reference regarding what type of caliber i should go for in terms of legality, availability, and stopping power

1) Legality: every gun or caliber is legal if you have license for the same.
2) Availablity: Depends on many factors. Usually you are able to get .22, .32 S&W Long, .32 ACP, 7.62×25mm Tokarev etc.
3) Stopping power: .357 magnum but the gun and its cartridges will be costly. .7.62×25 mm Tokarev has enough penetrating power. If you hit the skull or the heart it will do the job very well.

How difficult would it be to get .357 SIG ammos in India?

Very difficult.

which .38 are PB and which of the variants are NPB?

A thumb rule, any caliber that is not PB is NPB. You may refer this for details http://indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2780

[dr.jayakumar]

friend if you are in india,your licence will say whether you are allowed to own a pb/npb.
mostly it should be a npb bore.
please go through http://indiansforguns.com/viewforum.php?f=12&start=100 these threads.it will give you an idea. most guns you are talking about is not available in india.
regards

[shadowring]

"Since I don't think you can carry concealed in India"
Shooterz I don't understand what you mean by this? are compacts and sub-compacts not allowed in India?
Four Glocks wow! even just one Glock would be nice... I love the fact that they are so easy to fieldstrip and the over all finish is just great. I have come across a sub-compact glock 26 in 9mm but it feels really uncomfortable if you have big hands, plus its unlikely the MHA will ever issue a license for it. What I really need is the glock 31 or 32, personally I prefer the full size 31, but then again most of you (gb-mentor thanks) agree it would be nigh impossible to get ammo for it. So that leaves CZ 82 or 83 in the .32 ACP. CZ 75 B compact in 9mm is a great pistol to handle but once again its PB So I Finally bought the brand new Beretta .32 Tomcat for 7.5 L (dealer was a friend) but I am not pleased with the dimunitive size. I guess beggars can't be choosers. Thanks to all of you for you valuable advices and links (thanks doc) and please let me know if you come across a better alternative.

[dr.jayakumar]

beretta tomcat,
is too small.try walther,cz27,mauser,beretta 1934,llama,star..these could be available.keep in touch with few arms dealers.you will find one.for time being something is better than nothing.
regards

[shooterz]

Hello Shadowring,

I'm sorry, but I don't know what the gun laws in India are. So I can't tell you if concealed carry is legal or not. Dr Jayakumar can speak to the laws much better than I. I agree with you about the Glock 26, I don't care for the grip on the sub-compact Glocks. I prefer the full size grip feel best too. Yes Glock is very easy to field strip, you just need to make sure the gun is unloaded first; that sounds like a stupid comment, until you realize how many idiots don't practice safe gun handling. The 3 guns you speak of, CZ 82, 83 or 75b, are all great guns, and you cant go wrong with them. I have owned the CZ 82 in the past, and never had any issues with it, accuracy was ok; I had the 9mm Makarov caliber, I have never had great accuracy out of that particular round past 15 m. I will post pictures of the Glocks when I get a chance. Good luck to you. Troy

[MoA]

Depends on your ammo quota. Lets say you manage to get an ammo quota of 5000 at any time. I would reccomend a .50 AE. If your ammo quota is 10 rounds, then a .32 ACP would be your safest bet.

[carbine]

don't buy any 7.62x25 pistol .goverment is going to banned all chinese 7.62x25 pistol.and ther will be no import of 7.62x25 ammo.my uncle working as IPS officer in central home ministry told me that chaidambaram is in favor to banned 7.62x25 pistol and ammo.within 1-2 year it will be officially banned by goverment

[goodboy_mentor]

Banning 7.62x25 pistol and ammunition, for what reason?

[MoA]

Banning 7.62x25 pistol and ammunition, for what reason?

Since when does GOI need a reason for anything? They can do what they want on a whim, because the majority of people in India dont care about anything.

[dr.jayakumar]

Banning 7.62x25 pistol and ammunition, for what reason?

Since when does GOI need a reason for anything? They can do what they want on a whim, because the majority of people in India dont care about anything.

i agree.was about write the same.
law makers are per....ts they like to make us look small.if a crime takes place and .22 pistol is used by the criminal they will ban.22 instead of nabbing the illegal gun supplier and the criminal.
this is how our beloved govt is functioning.grrrrrrrr........can't do anything about it.
regards

[thebrowningeffect]

with Doctor Saheb.