I would say to look at more than just the compact versions so you have a good comparison to a larger pistol.

holler. Yo, the Big Hawg has been giving me a hardon lately. So I'll check out the full XD and the big hawg as well. I like it.

Need more recommendations imo.

Check out the Steyr M-A1 series, Sig PRO series, and Walther P99. All very good modern pistols.

I bought Revolver.. its one of my favorites

god this is so phucked.

Went to the Little Rock gun show yesterday. Bought a CZ 82. There was an extremely large crowd there. By far the biggest I have ever seen there. It was so crowded you could barely walk around. The poor economy hasn't hurt gun sales. Everyone needs to go to at least one gun show. You get to see a very weird slice of America. I saw everything from skinheads to gang bang looking types, all walking around buying guns; mostly pistols. Kind of scary if you think about it.

Mateba autorevolver -- marketed as a gun with the reliability of a revolver and the speed of a semi-auto. I don't know if it's actually a good gun but it looks incredibly badass. Available in .357, .44, and .454, and a variety of barrel lengths.

Kind of reminds me of Deckard's gun in Blade Runner.

So, my second hijack of this thread, if you guys don't mind:

I'm highly considering getting an assault rifle before my handgun, because I'm starting to worry that they're going to be outlawed again.

I'd always planned to get an AR-15, but am now considering the AK due to it being basically half the price. Do you guys have any comments on whats what and the like, regarding assault rifles? I don't want it for hunting, if that makes any difference.

Interesting thread!

I know nothing about guns. I have never even held a gun. However I am thinking about getting one for home protection. Given the social breakdowns that I foresee coming as the US economy gets worse, I think I need to prepare and protect my home and family.

So my question is, what should be my 1st steps as a complete gun novice? Are there schools that sell guns and also train on how to use/clean them etc.? Good books to read for an overview about guns, calibers of ammunition, etc.?

I am looking for a small gun to keep in a nightstand for home defense. As a novice I'd like something that has a good combination of accuracy and ease of use. I'd like it to be easy to fire and not too much kick so my wife could also use it if needed. Don't really care what it looks like, as long as it will stop an intruder in my home.

Any advice for a complete gun newbie would be appreciated!

Read stuff by Massad Ayoob. He writes a lot on home defense and analyzes police and home shoot-outs/incidents for how things went wrong and what the better alternatives might have been. He has a book or two on Amazon.

He also writes in a few of the gun magazines here and there. He used to have a column in one of them. You couldn't go far wrong by subscribing to a magazine for a year or so as supplemental material, too. This kind of knowledge builds up really well through long exposure, I've found. Be prepared to see a fair share of right-wing paranoids, so give magazines a good scan to see if they're going overboard on the preaching or sticking to just the facts, ma'am.

for an assault rifle i suggest getting a ruger mini 14 can be had in bigger caliber than
.223 if you want but ammo isnt so cheap and easy to get.
it was exempt from the last ban as ruger is an american company with lots of juice and the gun is called the ranch rifle and doesnt look too imposing. that may be the case again. if you want scary looks get another gun or modify this one. easy to do. it is probably the most dependable and needs less maintenance than most of the others.

I have one of these and it is a fantastic little Semi Auto rifle! Got it for about $200 from a guy who needed the money and it was like new!!! Stainless/Synthetic stock version. Really fun to shoot!!!!