Old Dog

I carry a gun daily and have had most of the popular ones. The P232 will give you slide bite as there is very little headspace between the web of your hand and the slide. Plus the slide is very hard to rack. The PPK is not noted for its reliability and is too heavy and large for pocket carry. The LCP is small and a gun you forget your are carrying but not friendly to those with large hands. Plus it barely qualifies as having sights. The Bersa is a good gun for the money. Big sellers around here but not a pocket gun. Ruger has come out with a new LC380 which gives you the larger grip of an LC9 with a .380 caliber. Too big for pocket carry and has a very long trigger that does not break until it is almost touching the rear of the trigger guard. A little practice will take care of that but not my cup of tea. My only .380 carry gun and the envy of all .380 lovers around here, is my Sig P238. I carried it today when I went for a haircut. Carried well in my pocket but also works well in a belt holster. Get yourself an extended 7 round mag and you can get a full three fingered grip on it. Combined with very useable night sights that enable you to make good hits at 15 yards and acceptable to 25 yards, it is the best of breed in my opinion. One word of advice. Get a gun for now and not for what you think you might do. Most never move from the place they were born in or find work despite what they think. Life is funny like that. I spent 58 years of my life moving between NYC and NJ because that is where my family and work was. Only now have I been able to move to Florida. More free advice for what it is worth is that if you can shoot a .380 you can shoot a 9mm. It is all a function of weight and size of the gun and the weight and load of the ammo. My HK P2000SK shoots softer than my LCP did.

Over the last few years of carrying a gun for the first time my idea of a reliable semi auto has changed. For range use a jam or two per range session were no big deal. Now that I carry a gun I cannot trust a gun that jams even once every 100 rounds without an obvious reason that can be fixed like just using different ammo. I therefore would like to hear the opinions of forum members as to what they consider reliable in a semi auto gun used for defensive purposes. Hard core defensive gun people tend to be much less tolerant of a gun's faults than the casual shooter so this should be interesting. For me, I do not carry a semi auto that has failed with my carry ammo after 100 rounds. Once it jams I lose confidence in the gun will trade it in. Maybe that is why half of my guns are revolvers. I will also get rid of the gun if it does is too fussy with practice ammo. It does not inspire confidence to practice with your defensive gun while it is jamming on every box of ammo. Let's hear what you consider reliable.

NIce gun. Often see them on the shelves of the local gun stores here and have been tempted but my experience with small 1911 type 9mm guns is about the same as yours. The difference is that I carry guns so I need them to be 100% before I carry them. As to whether the results of your range visit were good or bad depends on your intended use of the gun and your tolerance for jamming. That is a good topic for a new thread which I think I will start right now. In talking to many gun owners I have found all sorts of tolerance levels of jamming ranging from those who will only accept 100% reliabilit to those that have no problem with several jams per 50 rounds.

I am one of those who fled NJ. I am making 20% less money in Florida but have more disposable income. No State or City taxes and I have a home on more land than in NJ for less than half the price. Food, clothes and many other things are cheaper here. In general, my lifestyle is much better as is my health. Next week it will hit the high 80's and I have yet to wear a coat or jacket. I have no kids and a job that I can do from anywhere there is an internet connection. When I retire we will decide if we want to move again. I personally prefer to live in the middle of nowhere but my wife wants civilization. If she goes before me I can see myself moving to a prefab house in the woods or desert with a large amateur radio antenna and my own shooting range.

Hey, I used to live in Marlton. Best place I lived in NJ and I have lived in 5 different towns there. You hit the nail on the head. To me, if I leave a gun at home I may feel the same as if I forgot to take my cell phone or driver's license. Something I would like to have on me for an emergency but something whose absence will not make me uncomfortable. Those that have been carrying since they were 21 feel a whole lot differently. I tend to get into arguments with guys who calls us northerners stupid for living in a place where we cannot arm ourselves at all times. I always ask them who is the braver man, the guy who faces danger unarmed or the one that needs to carry 2 or 3 guns to feel safe just to pick up a bottle of milk from the local supermarket? Heck, they carry guns here to get the mail from the mailboxes in front of their homes, when working in their gardens, and even when showering. When a gun is the solution, it seems that no problem is too small. I have been banned from local forums for defending those of us who do not base our major life decissions on whether we can carry a gun or not and remind people that the odds of them ever needing a gun are tiny and actually having to fire it even smaller. I will call out someone who rides a motorcycle without a helmet because it is too hot here but tries to tell me that he carries two guns, not to be macho or out of fear, but because he believes in defending against risks, no matter how small. Even better when they do not own a fire extinguisher or highly rated for safety car.

I have to agree with you on this. Having moved to Florida it is a whole different ball game. People here are very pro gun or at least not anti gun. Money does no good if you do not have the voters. No politician is going to be afraid of the NRA when the majority of people are anti gun. At least here they can sway enough people to form a majority. I do not see that happening in CA, NY, MA and NJ. In general I find it a little odd living among young men who grew up with very little gun restrictions and carrying a concealed gun since they were 21. Hard to explain but many consider not having a gun on them as being vulnerable. Some of the panicked posts when they have visit NJ/NY unarmed are humorous at times. It basically is that guns are ingrained into the culture here and it is not in NJ.

I am an HK fan. I have held but not shot the P30. I carry a P2000SK with a LEM trigger. I will tell you upfront that all my handguns have hammers. I am old fashioned when it comes to that. I also like SA or DA triggers, not in combination though. I like the LEM trigger, long but light takeup and then a point of resistance and bang. I just relax my finger and it naturally goes to the reset point although I do not favor using a trigger reset for self defensive purposes, especially if, like me, you carry different guns with different trigger resets points and DA revolvers which do not have trigger resets. Personally I only have handguns with hammers and they are either SA or DAO. I tried about 12 striker fired guns and never took to them. When I bought my last HK I was tempted by the P30 greatly but I needed a sub compact carry gun that held more rounds than the 5 pocket guns I own so I went with the P2000SK. The only Walther PPK I ever owned was a PPK as a young man who loved James Bond novels and subsequent movies. They are not very popular around here so I have no first hand experience with them. I do know that this year Walther ended their relationship wtih S&W and are coming out with a few new models that may be worth a look. However my favorite semi autos are HK's as they shoot soft and are not as heavy as Sigs. I also like the LEM trigger over the DAK.

I do not think anyone is missing the point. It is more a matter of a realistic assesment of the actual odds of them even needing a gun, much less more than one and having the caliber matter. We prepare for the possible that is most likely and not the unlikely simply because it is possible. As far as being prepared for the worse goes, I have yet to meet anyone who prepares for the worse for all risks and dangers in their life that are much more likely and common. Preparing for the worse only seems to apply when guns are the answer. We all weigh the odds and make compromises for all the much more likely risks we face daily. If anyone lives their life preparing for the worse I would expect that person to have a bunker in their back yard, drive a bullet proof car, wear a helmet and goggles at all times, live next to a firehouse, take every preventive medical test in existence, etc.. No one does that and yet I have friends who ride motorcycles without helmets because they are uncomfortable in the Florida heat, tell me that they have their big or multiple guns because they prepare for the worse. Some say it while smoking cigarettes and have no fire extinguishers at home. I think people prepare for the worse when it comes to things they are most afraid of. Some do not like it when I say "afraid" but who prepares for things that they do not fear happenin to them?

I have 5 belts and they are all gun belts. I prefer the Wilderness Tactical instructor type (I like the frequent flyer one with polymer double loops instead of the typical instructor buckle to hook a line to) as you can get them in 3 different stiffness levels and you are not limited to the holes in the belt for adjustment. I can easily adjust my belt just right. I do not cheap out on my holsters either. All are handmade to order.

I never liked Bud's. Lousy customer service. Ordered a gun from them once, waited the two weeks and then called and got what sounded like some outsourced customer service person who had very limited tracking information. Could not tell me even if the gun was on its way to their shipping warehouse or even picked from the origination warehouse. So I waited a few days more and still no word. I then proposed that I buy a much more expensive gun instead that they could ship quicker and was told that I would still have to pay a $50 restocking fee. I told them that they were ridiculous because they could not even tell me if it was pulled from stock in the first place. The CS person hid behind their company policy and I told them where to go and paid the $50 just to be rid of them and bought the gun elsewhere and had it in my hands 3 days later. First off I am in the distribution and transportation business and do not know anyone who ships goods from one warehouse to another where it is then shipped unless it was to assemble a large order. Never for individual items. That would add a lot of extra shipping costs. What I think is happening is that they keep limited stock of the more popular guns and all those other warehouses that they claim are theirs are simply gun distributors that they buy from so when you order they then order from the distributor who sends them the gun for them to ship. That way they get to charge your credit card right away, which they did to me, and have use of your money for a few weeks. it may not sound like much but multiply that by thousands and it is significant. Having run a few ecommerce businesses I have a pet peeve with companies who show things in stock that are not actually in their own warehouse ready to ship.

Just to let you know that twice I have ordered ammo from Target Sports that they show in stock and when I checked today I found out that IN STOCK does not really mean they have it in stock. Seems that if they are expecting ammo in a month or so, they will show it as in stock. They are upfront in letting customers know it will take 20 days or so to process the order and another few weeks to ship but they were showing that they were processing orders well past the date of mine and when I called I found out that they did not process mine. The reason given was that they were having a hard time getting the ammo. So in short, they are taking orders for ammo they do not have in stock and posting the reason for the delays as high volume when in fact, it is because they are having a hard time getting the ammo. I told them that it was deceptive to advertise items as "in stock" when it was not in stock and further to blame processing and shipping time for tghe dealy when the real reason was that they needed the time to try to get the ammo from the manufacturers. Just a heads up. Others are still shipping next or even same day or maybe with a few day's delay. I never liked Sportsman's Guide, who owns Target Sports or vice versa, ever since they refused to ship NJ Legal 12 round mags to me when I lived in NJ. This was their official written reply. Keep in mind they showed this as in Stock for many days and would not have emailed me if I did not call them. I could have just waited for the almost two month time frame they gave me and then find out it was not available. Luckily I found the ammo in stock elsewhere and it is shipping tomorrow. Unfortunately we were unable to process your order from TargetSportsUSA.com with order number XXXXXX. The products you have ordered appear to be out of stock, thus not available for sale. You have been placed on a waiting list and when the product becomes available you will be given the opportunity to purchase the product, at the original purchase price, before it is available to any new customers. Please note, your Credit Card was never charged since your order was not processed. When an order is placed a pending charge is placed on the card for the amount of the order. This pending charge is the Bank Authorizing the sale and is removed from your account within 48 hours after placing the order. As per your policy, we do not charge any amount until the order has been processed and shipped. We apologize for the inconvenience and if you have any further questions please feel free to contact our customer service at the number provided below.

I used to carry a 23 muself but too thick and heavy for me. I bought a Shield and I think it is the best of the small nine's. Only reason I sold it is that it did not fit in my pocket and if I carry on my belt I might as well carry more rounds. The Shield is hard to get right now. I got one of the first made and foolishly sold it for a Kahr CM9.

You are right about that. I am still dealing with fungal infections and other skin ailments due to the constant humid weather. Just a holster against me all day is enough to cause problems. I pocket carry most times and belt carry when warranted and for only a few hours at a time. I also have many off carry bags, pouches and packs if needed and being retired, I can wear anything and not look out of place.

4 years ago I decided that NJ was not the place for me and decided to sell the house and move to Florida, a more gun friendly place where both my wife and I had family close by. I was stressed out from the daily work commute and ever increasing traffic. My prime hobby is shooting and with restrictions on mags and guns and talk about limiting sales to one gun per month, I knew it was time to move so we put our house up for sale. It took me 7 months to sell my house and I used that time to learn about carry guns and holsters. I had carried a snub nose Colt Detective Special and Walther PPK when I was 21, 41 years ago living in Texas for two years. I learned then that carrying a gun sounds like fun but was uncomfortable and most of us only carried when we felt the need. It was still a time that men settled their differences with fists and only punks used a gun so things were different. Anway I found myself totally unprepared for the task ahead of me. I had no idea of current gun models other than duty sized and competition types. Not familar with carry holsters. Long story short is that I started with choosing the one perfect carry gun/holster combo that I could also use for home defense each night only to wake up and change my mind almost every day for 7 months straight. Then I realized that one gun was not ideal for both task so I decided to buy two guns. Then I read about the hot and humid summers in Florida and the issue of heavy/light and single/double stack came up. I found that there were sub compact and compact guns and the category they fit into seemed to be more according to how the manufacturer classified them rather their size and weight. The Sig P239, a compact gun, is 29 oz.. I spent 7 months changing my mind as to what model or how many guns to get and ended up having the following waiting for me when I arrived in Florida and got my Drivers's license. I figured that I would try them all and get rid of those that I did not like. I had sold off 28 guns before the move so I had plenty of gun money to spend to replace them. Glock 26 Sig P239 .40 cal Glock 19 LCP S&W 642 Kahr PM9 Sig P229 NAA .22lr mini revolver Sig P220 3 years later and the only gun of the original group that I still own is the NAA .22lr. All the rest were sold or traded for being too thick, too heavy, too small to properly shoot well, heavy DA triggers, etc.. This is what I have now for carry and home defense. It give me a nice selection of pocket guns in both semi auto or revolver depending on how bad my arthritis is that day as some days I cannot rack a slide. I got single and double stacks to use depending on where I was going that day, time of year, type of clothes, and the perceived threat level. I also got some .22's to practice with. The Pug is one of those guns that gives you no reason not to carry it even when carrying another gun. FNX-9 HK P2000SK Sig P939 Sig P238 Ruger Wiley Clapp GP100 .357 mag. Ruger .357 LCR Ruger .22 mag. LCR S&W 617 10 shot .22lr for practice and the wife to use NAA .22 magnum Pug The biggest mistake new ccw holder make here are buying too big a gun. They underestimate how uncomfortable it is to carry all day long. All of my gun owning friends talk about their Glocks and Sigs but never seem to carry them when we get together. When pressed, they claim that they only carry them when they THINK they need to. If I thought I needed to I would take a rifle. The real reason is that it is uncomfortable. I can grab a 14 oz. pocket gunn or even my 6 oz. Pug and always have a gun on me. As far as pocket guns go here is my experience. The only civilian shooting I saw was a big fat gun shot in the belly with a single 22 lr from a Saturday Night Special. He immediately went to this knees and did not move. He died the next day. Twice I was in a gun situation. Once was an attack by 3 men in a deserted parking lot and in the other, a local store robbery attempt. In both cases when they saw my gun they ran away which jives with the NRA study and others that show that 98% of gun encounters end with the mere presence of your gun. Most forget that there is also a pyschological component that MOST people experience when being shot. An animal may run but I have seen humans fall to the ground crying when shot in the toe. So in choosing your carry gun take that into account. I thought that I needed a Glock 17, Sig P220 or 226 to be safe but they go left at home as they were very uncomfortable to carry and if my life is so dangerous that I have to be uncomfortable every day, it is time to move to someplace safer. Assume you are being transferred by your job to a gun friendly State where you can carry concealed and you need to order you guns now due to low supply and uncertainty of when any more can be obtained. Choose one or more guns and give your reasons. I only ask one thing. Ask yourself how many people do you personally know who had to fire a gun as a civilian and then ask yourself if that answer warrants lugging around a 41 oz. 1911 daily.

As an ex OBRPC Steel shooter now living in Florida I just want to let people know how lucky they are to have such a good club that sponsors all these great events and attracts some top talent at times. When I moved to Florida I thought that I would be swamped with so many competitions that I would have to pick and choose. After all this is the Gunshine State. However I learned that there is a big difference in liking guns and doing anything with them other than carry or use them for home defense. First off, the gun clubs/ranges in reasonable travel distance do not have rifle or shotgun ranges. Attempts to open up a new indoor and outdoor shooting range were voted down. Seems that the citizens of Florida are in favor of guns, just not the shooting them in their neighborhoods. Most of the local competitions are IDPA due to the number of people who carry guns, untrained I may add. Most of the competitions around here were done at local farms who were trying to earn some extra money by lending their unused fields to various goups of shooters. I shot in the senior division and took first place. However, I was the only senior shooting. At OBRPC I shot with David Olhasso and JJ Racuza and it made me a better shooter. David especially took time to show me what I was doing wrong and I improved due to his advice. It is pretty loose in the competitions here. For steel, no special equipment is needed other than somethng to hold two mags and a holster that covers the trigger guard. They are not part of any national organzations so they make up their own rules and they make it so that no one has to buy any special gear to compete which is good and bad. Good in that it is not expensive but bad in that it does not attract the serious shooters. At the few sanctioned IDPA matches you mush have sanctioned equipment though. I should mention that I do not live near any of the major Florida cities and things are probably different there but then again, Old Bridge is not a major city either and look what they offer. I really miss OBRPC, although I had quit it a few years before I moved for several reasons including medical and work issues. I can join a club an hour away that only offers an outdoor pistol range. Not fun in the Florida sun. I miss shooting the wide variety of competitions that OBRPC offered. I miss the shotgun matches and all the various and inventive steel competitions. I miss watching national champions shooting. I miss talking about guns with others who are into them. I am constantly running into gun owners who do not shoot or even know too much about the guns they own. If only OBRPC would open up near me. That would be heaven.

Local range by me is breaking up Federal Bulk ammo and selling them in bags of 100 for $8. I was posting on gun forums that we would be seeing an AWB bill introduced and I was pooh poohed. Ya heard me, pooh poohed. However I am the guy with 1000 rounds of each caliber I shoot with another 500 already ordered from a place that had it in stock but will not ship for a few weeks due to volume. Pooh on the naysayers who said I was nuts and now will pay me double for my ammo but they are not going to get any. The nicest I am is selling a box of .380 to my cousin for what I paid for it two months ago. . Unfortunately he is only used to buying WWB at Wal-Mart and ordered 500 rounds of .22lr online and did not read or know what he was getting and ended up with 500 rounds of snake shot. Now he is stuck with it and no snakes around here.

LEM is great. Smooth DA trigger pull that feels very light. No hitches in it. Just one smooth pull and bang. The SIG P226 SRT is also nice. All you have to do is let up on the trigger a fraction of an inch after your shot and it resets. I could make that gun sound like a machine pistol. I also like the DAK trigger but I was raised on DA triggers and prefer them. Even Glock triggers seem like hair triggers to me.

I bought 36 guns in the last 3 years. Is that too much? Of course I do not keep them all as I trade and sell some off to buy new ones. However I am still paying off guns I no longer own and the value of my guns is not even close to what I owe. It is a sickness. I keep telling my wife that the next gun is my last and have been doing that for 5 years. I just bought 5 guns this month alone and told here that finished my collection and today I got an email telling me that one of the guns I was on a waiting list for has arrived and there are only 6 so first come, first serve. What do I do now?

I made the switch to telecommuting 3 years ago and had to take the pay cut to cover the cost of local IT consultants because I could no longer do the installs and repairs of the network hardware. I originally wanted to move to Las Vegas but once you get away from the Strip it is very brown and there are some bad areas. When you travel you go through desert to get to the next city unlike what we have in NJ or here where we seemlessly go from town to town. Arizona was on my list also as I am no fan of humidity but I have a cousin living 1 mile from me and my wife's sister and two nieces 40 minutes away. When we saw the place we live in we fell in love and bought the house sight unseen. Everyone waves hello and in 3 years I have yet to see any trash on the road or sidewalk. It is maintained year round with every store and bulding themed with false facades just like you would find in Disney World. They change the flowers every few weeks so it is just beautiful to drive around and very safe too. Out of all the 13 places we have lived, we like this the best. We see plants and trees that we never had anywhere else. Even the birds are all different and exotic looking. We are surrounded by farms and horse ranches with no big city nearby. I have not been on an elevator or escalator in 3 years. Regardless of any new gun laws, make the move. Many of us go back up to NJ to visit the family during holidays but usually find that they want to come down here since we are only an hour or so from all them major theme parks.

Central Florida. Did not want to be near the water for two reasons. Hurricanes and frustration from seeing young women in bikinis all the time. I have met more people from NJ here than I did living in NJ. Almost every day I see a NJ license plate. I live in a place called The Villages. If you are retiring do yourself a favor and go to http://thevillages.com A 55+ community that spans 3 counties and has its own zip code. Over 80,000 residents. It was themed by the same people who themed Universal Studios. It is often referred to as Disney World for adults. Also called the bubble because we have our own newspaper and radio station that tends to devote more time and space to local news and filter out a lot of the bad stuff that only has voyeristic value. We have over 140 restaurants, 29 golf courses, twice that many pools, recreations centers, fishing and over 2000 activities of which about half are active on any given day. They are all free and included in our $140 a month amenities fee. All places are accessable by golf cart and we have special golf cart lanes. Free music and dancing every night in the town squares. Happy hour is almost every hour. In 3 years I have not had to leave the community. DMV, voter registration and everything else you can think of are all within our boundaries. The only time I had to go outside the bubble was to buy a new car. Costs for everything is low. For $100 I can walk out of a high end department store with several bags filled with shirts and pants. Here is a picture of just one of the many lakes a few minutes away by golf cart: The place is not your typical retirement community. It is for active adults. Golf, tennis, pickleball, billiards, motorcycle clubs, bike clubs, etc. No little old people sitting around. These people are retired or semi retired and busy all day long. They put me to shame. Houses go from $138,000 to $1.5 million. Something for everyone and no class distinctions. Mostly blue collar and middle management white republicans. Just the way it is although I have seen no signs of prejudice here as the few minorities are warmly welcomed as are gays and lesbians who have their own clubs. Most here are too old to care anymore.

As a 62 year old lifetime shooter a few years from retirement I decided that since guns were my main hobby, running away from trouble was getting harder and seniors are easier targets for criminals, that I should move from NJ sooner than later. I took a substantial cut in pay to relocate to Florida but the low cost of housing and property taxes combined with low cost of living and no State or City income tax, left me with more disposable income than I had in NJ with a much higher salary. Florida is the Gunshine State unfazed by the negative publicity from the Zimmerman case. Our Stand Your Ground Law remains unchanged and in fact the only new gun law provides for no legal action for brief or accidental exposure of a concealed gun. Now I am surrounded by gun stores and low cost shooting ranges. I shoot every week at an indoor range just 20 minutes away. There are 6 guns stores within a half hour drive and many more within an hour. The local gun club dues are $150 a year with no upfront new member fee or requirement to give them any hours of your time for labor. With the great weather I shoot all year round. No mag capacity or gun purchase restrictions. No registration of any kind. I carry a gun daily and feel much safer for it with an ever increasing crazy world. Sure I live far from my family but it is a short and inexpensive plane ride to Newark Airport. Cost of living offsets lower salary and the weather is great. I have never been the guy who complains about their situation. I always do something about it even if means moving or quiting a job. I understand that most are not like me though.

Aim high right. Seriously, this is the most common problem. It usually occurs because your trigger finger is pushing the gun to the left rather than pulling the trigger straight back. I combat this several ways. One way is to use the first distal joint of my trigger finger instead of the first pad. That is how I shoot heavy trigger revolvers so it is natural for me. Another way is to use your left hand to put pressure against the gun so that it cannot move to the left. Your left thumb can do that depending on which type gun is used. Some use their left hand finger on the front of the trigger guard and you will notice that some guns have flat fronts for that purpose. Finally, if you consistently shoot low left to the same spot all the time, adjust your sights so that you shoot to point of aim. May not be better than practicing good trigger control but it works. Also experiment on where on the trigger you place your finger. When I instruct people I have them experiment in trigger finger placement to find the sweet spot and that is what you should do. However, I deal with senior citizens now who may only shoot once every year or every few years and cannot seem to learn trigger control in the one session they are willing to attend, even if free. That is when I adjust their sights so that their shots go to POA. recoil.

Having lived through the last AWB, I saw this coming and in fact posted my opinion on another gun forum and was ridiculed as it never happening. Whether an AWB happens or not the demand for bought firearms and ammo exceeds supply and the prices have skyrocketed and will not come down until demand does. Prior to AWB talk by Obama, I ordered 1000 rounds each of the 4 calibers I shoot and bought 3 .22 lr and 1 .22 magnum handguns. Sold one of the .22lr for a price I could not refuse and am considering selling another tomorrow as there is great demand in my area by retirees for .22 carry guns. With what I already had and another 1000 rounds received plus 500 more ordered in stock but delayed in shipping, I will be good for the rest of the year. Luckily I have more revolvers than semi autos as .38 spl ammo is not difficult to find although what is out there now is dirty stuff selling for what the premium brands used to sell for but unlike a semi, any revolver ammo will work so I buy it as I find it.

43 Years shooting revolvers here. Mostly Colts and S&W with one Dan Wesson with interchangeable barrels for different lengths and one Taurus. As one poster said, my best .22lr is a S&W 617. My Ruger LCR .22lr locks up with any hot .22lr loads like CCI Mini Mags. However the Ruger LCR in .22 mag and .357 mag works just fine and has a better trigger out of the box than a regular S&W snub nose. Over the last few years I have owned a lot of S&W revolvers all the way from a 11 oz. .357 mag. to a .327 mag to a 7 shot 686 and the 617 as well as many others. Just last year I decided to try a Ruger for the first time when they came out with the LCR .38 +P. At first it looked odd but it functioned perfectly, had better grips than any stock S&W and its cam operated trigger was better than any of my stock snub noses in my collection. Emboldened by that I then purchased a GP100 in .357. Built like a tank and the trigger was not bad at all. A little odd looking also but a very good gun. From there I saw a special edition Wiley Clapp GP100 with a 3" barrel, melt job, champhered chambers and a taped cylinder so that holstering is easier. Fiber optic front and Noval all black rear sights. $65 trigger job which was already worked on for this edition made the trigger the smoothest that I own. Then I started buying the SA guns and now I have 3 LCR's with the .22 mag being the newest. So after so many revolvers over so many years I have come to the conclusion that it depends. It depends on the model and the use. Rugers are cheaper, built like tanks to last and in general handle the most powerful loads. For instance, my Ruger Alaskan .44 mag could handle hotter loads than the S&W 629. There are some very nice performance center S&W guns that I would like to own. However, in general, for home defense and range shooting you cannot go wrong with a Ruger. They are even simplier to take apart and do your own trigger job on as well as change springs. The pricing on S&W is getting ridiculous. I think I paid close to $800 for my 617 .22lr. That is a lot for a .22. You can get tha SA 10 shot Ruger gun for a few hundred less and it is a fine shooter. If you have the money and like the looks of a S&W, then go for it as they are all fine guns. However if you plan on shooting hot loads, go with the Ruger. As, I said, it depends. Here is my Wiley Clapp gun:

I have owned both, 3 times each, and if you are not going to carry it I would recommend the 17. Holds more rounds and longer everything. Good for HD, range and even competition. The 19 is just a scaled down 17 so why get it? I carried the 19 for a while but it was too heavy and thick for comfortable carry so I sold it, then bought another, sold it and bought another and sold it again. I wanted to love it but I just could not and ended up with an HK P2000SK which is midway between the 26 and 19 in size and takes a 10 round mag or the 13 rounder with an X-Grip. I used my 17's for range, competition and home defense. Put a light on it and a Burris red dot very easily. If I had to choose a gun to take into combat it would be the Glock 17. I like 9mm and I like a full sized gun when I do not have to worry about concealing it. Edit: I forgot you live in NJ and have magazine restrictions. However, if you can get pinned magazines then I would still go with the 17. Just buy enough magazines now so that if they limit you to 10, you will have enough. I have bought enough hi caps to last me the rest of my life I would not be worrying about NJ's 15 round limit. I would worry about a federal 10 round limit instead. I have a feeling that Congress will compromise on just a magazine capacity ban as a better argument can be made for banning them rather than what the weapon looks like and in effect, limiting the magazines to 10 rounds also limits the rifles capabilities. Plus it will not have the same economic impact as banning a lot of popular rifles would.