And then came Glock, and manufacturer fortunes changed again. Glock took Smith & Wesson’s new .40-caliber round and ran with it, leaving Smith in the dust for quite a few years, as departments turned in their DA/SA pistols wholesale for the new Glock.
Smith tried to counter the success with a Glock-like variant known as the Sigma. Patterned after the Glock design to the point that Glock sued Smith (unsuccessfully), the Sigma is basically a good pistol, and inexpensive compared to the Glock, but it isn’t the equal, due mostly to the Smith & Wesson version of a “Safe-Action” trigger system that produces a substandard trigger pull. Adoption of Sigmas was spotty, at best.
Don’t confuse the Sigma with the M&P pistol. They are different guns, though they look somewhat similar on the exterior and both have a good ergonomic feel. I would rate the Sigma pistol as a good value for civilian home-defense in normal times, but that is about it.
Finally, Smith came out with the M&P autoloaders, a much more advanced and capable pistol than the Sigma in terms of trigger pull, adaptability (it was one of the first to use an adjustable grip system), and quality. It was adopted by the Columbus PD to replace their aging and now out-of-production 4506s. From having worked with CPD in various capacities over the years, I can tell you two reasons that force went with the M&P over the Glock. The first was a deep-seated and long-term relationship with Smith & Wesson, and the second is the fact that the M&P can be field stripped without having to pull the trigger, a requirement with the Glock system.
The M&P, in my book, had one other factor in its favor over the Glock, and that is generally better ergonomics, even beyond the adaptability of the grip size to the individual user. It just feels better in the hand than the Glock, and I say that viewed against the adjustable-grip Generation 4 Glocks.
There were a couple minor glitches with the M&P that would have been hard to discover without many agencies putting it into service, just as there are with any new gun. The M&P, like the Glock, is available in three sizes in each caliber. There is also an optional and additional manual safety available on certain models, unlike the Glock. If I was looking to purchase a survival pistol and was trying to decide between the two, I would base my decision upon which felt better in my hand or which was cheaper, depending on which factor was more personally important to you.
The last potential choice in survival autoloading pistols for me would be any model made by SIG Sauer. Let me say that SIG builds excellent handguns based on its original DA/SA designs from the 1970s. There are a large number of variants, including frames available in steel, aluminum, or polymer, and operating systems that begin with the original DA/SA models and add single-action, double-action, or DAK (Double Action Kellerman, named after its inventor), advanced trigger systems.
As mentioned, the SIG in the form of the 9mm 229, has had some limited military adoption and has graced the duty holsters of a few, but not many, police officers. There has been only one reason for this lack of enthusiasm by law enforcement for this brand, and that is cost. SIGs can run $200 or more per duty gun when compared to Glocks, M&Ps, or Berettas, and that’s a deal breaker, especially when you’re talking about a firearm that offers no technical advantage over others against which it is compared. While most of the DA/SAs that SIG has offered use the decock-only system (no safety—again, see this chapter’s sidebar), that doesn’t explain the lack of popularity, especially considering that SIG Sauers really are excellent guns. That leaves cost, and that differential used to be even higher when all of SIG Sauer guns were made in Germany. If you have a SIG pistol in a common caliber (at one time SIGs were available in .38 Super, and were used by the Secret Service), or you want to buy one because you like it, then it works for me. But don’t feel like that is your must-have gun just because of a recommendation by a gun counter sales clerk.
Revolvers—Second but Sound Choices
Yes, I realize that I missed at least two other major auto-loading gun manufacturers, and that I skipped the 1911 pistols all together, but trust me readers, and take it from someone who, as a cop, has been surrounded by large, angry crowds on at least three occasions during his career: there just aren’t enough bullets available in most 1911s to fend off a crowd for very long. I would rather be causing a number of “Gee, maybe I shouldn’t have started bothering this particular group of people” injuries than fewer but more serious wounds. This statement may seem a bit odd, as it precedes a discussion of a limited capacity defensive weapon, the revolver.
While the capacity of the revolver is limited to a maximum of eight in production revolvers of .38 Special/.357 Magnum caliber or larger, the average revolver is going to have a capacity of six rounds (five for the smallest frame snubnose revolvers). Despite the low supply of rounds aboard, the revolver has a couple important things going for it.
First, the design is very reliable as long as it is kept reasonably clean. Second, it is not dependent on magazines to keep it operational, so there are none to drop out or leave behind. Third, it is probably the fastest handgun into action compared to any other type. No safety is involved, and once the weapon is loaded, it’s ready to rock. Action type should be double-action (not the Old West-style single-action revolver), with a chambering of .357 Magnum caliber as the most versatile of choices, since a revolver chambered for .357 can also chamber the shorter .38 Special or even the rarer .38 Long Colt and .38 Short Colt rounds.
The .357 and .38 are probably the most widely distributed pistol ammunition of any type, and if your long gun happens to be an 1894C Marlin or something similar, your ammo load is simplified. In fact, it would be good to have a .357 revolver on hand, just so you have something that could shoot this readily available ammo.
What make and model? There is no more solid or reliable .357 Magnum revolver than the Ruger GP100 series. While I still bear some unresolved anger at Ruger for ever having gotten rid of its smaller frame Security and Speed Six series (which were the very best of the type), in favor of the GP100, I am over it enough to recommend the GP100 as my top choice. The smaller S&W K-frame-sized Security Six (adjustable sight) and Speed Six (fixed sight) found their way into many police holsters in the 1980s. If you have one, hang onto it, for it, too, shares the same level of indestructibility as the GP100s. I have never seen or heard of one going out of time as I’ve seen with Colt’s and Smith & Wesson revolvers, although I am sure there are one or two.
The other factor that makes these Ruger revolvers my survival choice is that they can be field stripped darn near like a semi-auto pistol for maintenance. Springs and other parts can be changed by the average person, even by me, and I’m often a menace with tools in my hands. I even changed out the standard spring set in the Security Six for a Wolff set for a smoother trigger pull without messing anything up. While Smith & Wesson revolvers may seem a bit more refined, in part because the company still produces a large line (the majority in the snubby J-frame size), I would go with the GP100, and even though Smith has some seven- and eight-shot models in its larger L-frame series. The field strip benefit of the Rugers is just too crucially important for long-term operation, particularly if your gun would get dropped in mud or some other unfriendly substance. I won’t likely gear up with one because I still have the classic Model 67 Combat Masterpiece in .38 Special I carried on duty at the start of my law enforcement career. If you are in a similar situation, you can do the same, but if you don’t have a .38 or, better yet, a .357, try to add a four-inch Ruger GP100 to your survival collection and stock up on .38 Special ammo. If you run across .357 ammo, that’s fine, but it’s a lot harder to shoot, even in a handgun this large. Get speedloaders for it, practice loading with them, and get a comfortable belt-mounted holster for it. DA/SA or One Action Only?