Do you have a few handgun's that covers most of your needs

[cmdc]

When I started buying firearms many years ago, a wise man at at a gun shop said to me, “son, if you know how many guns you have, you don’t have enough.” I took him seriously...

[FotoTomas]

As I get older and reevaluate my needs and wants I find the adage "less is more" to be appealing. With an eye as to where they will go when I pass not having so many is a good thing. Another point is relocation. Living in Florida weather has a way of interfering with daily routine and having to relocate might be in order.

I still compete casually in local IDPA, ICORE and USPSA matches. I also carry daily as a retired cop. I love to practice and still have a good supply of ammo but the .22 has become my stress reliever.

I have settled on the number 6. A .22 Smith and Wesson revolver and .22 Glock pistol. A pair of .357 magnum revolvers both a "J" frame and a "K" frame by Smith and Wesson. A pair of semi auto pistols both a SIG and Glock.

Everything I might want to do at this point in my life will easily be covered in those 6.

[stephen426]

I think the 5th Gen Glock 19 fits the bill nicely for just about everything. This includes concealed carry and home defense. With some upgraded sights and trigger, it could even pass for a decent range gun. The same can be said for Glock competitors including Sig P320, S&W M&P, and Walther PPQ.

I can't conceal a large gun easily so I carry a Springfield Armory Hellcat, which could easily be used for home defense. It isn't a great range gun due to the shorter sight radius, but the red dot version might be decent.

[Ed4032]

Can you define “few” for me please.

[tomrkba]

Yeah...oh...yeah...

S&W 629 customized by the late Denny Riechards. It really does everything with a mix of 44 Special and 44 Magnum ammunition. I enjoy carrying it in a Milt Sparks Versa Max 2.

But, since I really like 45 ACP, the obligatory 1911 works well for me. I have a Tenicor Certum that works AIWB or strongside.

I've been carrying a Dan Wesson Valor Commander AIWB in a Tenicor Velo4. It's extremely comfortable, secure with their steel clips, and a quick draw.

[BigMikey76]

EDC - Taurus 692 3"
Nightstand - Smith SD9
Center console of my car - Bersa Thunder CC
Dress clothes pocket gun - Kahr CT 380
Wife's home defense - Taurus G2C

There are others, but they don't really have designated responsibilities.

[pete2]

My 6" S&W 19 and my 642 cover my needs but the other 30 or so are my wants.

[Forte S+W]

I think folks are thinking too narrowly when it comes to the difference between wants and needs.

I mean, arguably all anyone "needs" is a .22 Rifle because that alone could easily serve adequately as a general all-purpose firearm. However, it's far from optimal, so some would argue that more is needed because they consider nothing less than optimal to be adequate.

The point is, "needs" are largely subjective/individual in nature. For example, some folks cannot see clearly without the aid of prescription lenses, others cannot walk with the aid of a cane, or hear clearly without a hearing aid. However, it's easy for a man with 20/20 vision, a perfectly healthy pair of legs, and average hearing could easily dismiss all of those things as unnecessary. Firearms are largely the same, not everyone can shoot the same firearms with equal accuracy, for example.

Lastly, if you consider the bare necessities for survival, then attempted to live under those minimalistic conditions, you would quickly realize just how terribly uncomfortable it is to do so, and depending on the individual's tolerance towards discomfort, may quickly find it to be so far below their standards that it isn't acceptable.

[Kevin Rohrer]

Do you have a few handgun's that covers most of your needs

Yes

[darkgael]

As many as I need. Not as many as I want.

[GarandTd]

No. What's "need" have anything to do with it? Have you been talking to my wife?

[jr24]

Not a big compeitior, don't hunt with pistols so my needs are CCW/SD related so a basic Glock 19 can and does fit all my pistol "needs".

Of course I have a lot of wants.

[chaim]

I could probably make due with one, and definitely two handguns to address all of my "needs." Like most here though, I choose not to.

Hunting: I don't hunt
Competition: I don't participate in any

That leaves, range/plinking, home defense, carry (only occasionally since I live in MD, a couple times a month when in VA, DE, or WV and carry on my non-resident UT permit), and camping/woods gun.

If I was to narrow it to one or two guns I'd narrow caliber first to 9mm and/or .38spl/.357mag. Both are relatively inexpensive for range/plinking (though with .38spl, long gone are the days of nearly 9mm cheap practice ammo, heck, 9mm isn't cheap like it used to be either, but with reloading .38spl is easy to reload and inexpensive). Both are versatile and can be quite mild for extended practice or teaching new shooters, and both have great self-defense loadings, plus the .357mag options that go to heavy duty woods guns loads as well. As for woods/camping loads, 9mm should do it most of the time. I live in the mid-Atlantic and do most of my camping here. Most bears are man-sized (a 300LB black bear would be big around here) and a 9mm (especially with some of the heavy woods loads by some of the specialty ammo makers) should do it, usually bear spray is better than a gun for bear defense anyway, and most black bears are shy and avoid people, but there are always exceptions so a nice .357mag might be nice to have.

Short answer:
I have a few options I may look to:
For 90% of my use (range/plinking, home defense, CCW): CZ PCR/P01 (I have both). If I would ever limit myself to only one, it would likely be one of these.
For when I need smaller: SIG P290RS. After the current gun availability craziness has run its course I may replace it with a higher capacity and lighter P365 or and/or a much lighter Kahr PM9 (though I'd possibly keep the P290 as well, though I'd likely never carry the P290 anymore and it would no longer cover a "need")
For when I want/need a .357mag: Colt King Cobra (new 3" model)

With those three, I really have all my "needs" covered, and most of the time I could skip the Colt and see the vast majority of my "needs" covered with just the first two (or skip the CZ and go with the second two). Still, it is nice to have other niche uses covered as well with guns that more specifically fill certain roles.

[darkgael]

Need.....a very dangerous word in the wrong hands.

[tlm225]

My needs are covered by:

Defense: S&W Shield, Glock 48

Outdoors carry/woods bumming: S&W model 15, S&W 642 (no bears to worry about)

My wants are a different matter.