My advice is the Ruger PT24/7 .45 ACP. AWESOME gun with great features. You can get these for under $400.

 

For CHL...consider what you are carrying this for...protection...your life ect....so, kinda like a helmet, sure an HJC would be fine....but an Arai is so much better....I mean it's just your head right? OK, maybe thats a super bad analogy and not to get pissin about helmets again or off topic, but you get my point. Look at 400 give or take for a good handgun. Depends on what YOU are comfortable with, what fits your hand well and that you shoot well, thats 99.9% of it. The rest like aestetics and so on are a personal choice. Hard to go wrong with a glock, they can be had for a bit aboveyour price range. Like anything else, you'll have folks on here and elsewhere screaming that so and so pistol is best and so on. The glocks and XD's are great pistols, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anything wrong with them for your purpose. I personally carry a full-size 1911 for everyday, a bobbed and ported .357 snubby for riding (fits well in my gear) and a Glock 23 when duck hunting or fishing (water/rust mud tolerant) and a 357mag GP100 when hiking, open carry on the hip, concealment isn't an issue at these times. So...to maybe put some light on your question....do you need to spend $$$$ on a pistol? Well, kinda like gear, buy whatever youd trust your life to. Look at aimsurplus.com they have a good selection of police trade ins and others at a very, very reasonable price. Also, what often isn't thought of, is a decent holster. Theres a huge difference in a cheap nylon holster from the local shop and a milt sparts or the like. A good holster will make carry barely noticable, comfy, and offer good concealment and presentation for draw, whereas a bad one can grind into you, shift, be a burden and hang-up on you. Figure 75 or so, give or take, on a decent rig. Don't mean to be picky or anything, but if your carrying this for protection, you owe yourself every advantage possible for comming out on top should you need it, and all the little details can make a difference in the end.

 

If possible, go to a range that rents pistols and try a few out. If you find one that you like, start looking for the best deal. Auctionarms.com and gunbroker.com are great places that I have bought several firearms through. Or, if you have buddies that carry and/or shoot, ask them to take you out. 1911forum.com is a great forum, thousands of years of experience from those guys, very good bunch of guys. Tons of info, and not all on 1911's, but everything from mild to wild and everything inbetween. Go there and do a search on whatever interests you and you'll find days of reading, pics, reports and so on to help you in your research.

 

there is a gunshow every first weekend of the month, but they just sold the convention center, so they dont have any info posted about where or when it will be again.

i do want to buy the gun to carry, but i am big on the range. i think its dumb when people carry guns and they have never even shot them. right now i only have a marlin .22 lr, but i will take that to the range and put out 700 rounds easy...so i was thinking about ammunition prices, when we shot my brothers i got the picture about .40 cal shells.

how is the maintenance on the glocks and springfield?

 

Maintenance isn't bad on any firearm. Solvent, quality rod and brush, an old toothbrush, and your choice of quality gun oil and your set. I change out the spring in my 1911's every 8-9K which is about every month and a half or so. Changed one spring in a G17 once, but it was a rare failure, and that was after a round count of 30K or so. But at 20$ a spring, not bad. Unless your pouring thousands of rounds through your pistol, this won't be an issue for you. Just clean the bore, swab it good, light coat of oil, feild strip it and clean it. Maybe do a detail strip once a year or so, unless you drop it in a mud puddle or something. Ive got pistols with over 80-90K through them and this has worked for me, take it for what it's worth. Price of ammo might be an issue, depends on how much you shoot. 9X19 is dirt cheap to shoot, .45ACP isn't that cheap, but tolerable. Figure 13$ per 100 of 9x19and 20$ per 100 of 45acp, and thats the winchester white box value pack at wal-mart. Theres reloading, but thats a whole different topic.

 

Shocktroop is great resource! Guns & Ridin'? Short answ.; Hell No ! Military history helps if you killed something. Glock pioneered porceline parts so handguns would be stealthy v. metal detection. Good for getting into clubs with. Reliability is commensurate with use. Like a bike or helmet you get what you pay for. Comfy grip is critical. 9mm. kicks less than .45 cal. If you brandish a chrome .45 auto (Bogarts pistol) you probably won't have to fire it. If you brandish A 9mm, and I'm on my moto, in leathers, you may not frighten me. Depends heavily upon what you hope to achieve with the lead you throw. Even a light set up (Glock 9mm w/no extra mag in low-profile holster/fanny pack) is a hevy thing on a bike. In a collision,or fire,there is a likelihood of a misfire. If a Law Enforcement Officer (L.E.O.)sees it, your day is going to get very interesting. Gun shows are great places to look and listen, but not to buy. Gun clubs, or ranges are best for purchases. Find one that has a sales counter, a gunsmith, a rangemaster, and a bunch of L.E.O's and keep buggin shoktroop for more. Take martial arts. Peace, Gray.

"All men may have been created equal, but Colonel Colt made them equal."
-anon.

 

Shocktroop has some very extensive knowledge. Either that or I'm a dumb ***! I can't really comment on prices since Canadian prices are very different from US. But I agree with Shocktroop, you have to know what you feel comfortable with. That's more important than the price. You can get a great deal on a gun but if you're not comfortable with it, especially if you are going to conceal it, then it's useless. I have quite large hands so I never felt comfortable with a small pistol. I originally had a Glock 17 chambered in 9mm and a Ruger P91 in .40 S&W. Both were outstanding guns, the maintenance was easy and they were very reliable. I now have a Ruger P90 chambered in .45 and Sig P226 in .357 and those are even better. A lot more expensive but definitely a vast improvement. I originally wanted a Desert Eagle in .44 Magnum but they cost far too much and the ammunition is expensive as well. I recommend trying different pistols at the range and seeing which ones suit you most before deciding whether it's in your budget or not. Good luck and have fun!

 

Wait and save some $ and buy a Glock. It will last you forever. I've gone through several hand guns and Glocks shoot straight
out of the box. I personally like the subcompacts.

 

ommm.....
why hasnt anyone said a makarov yet??
they are around $200 and are some of the best carry guns made...
bad thing, they are ex-cold war russian, so if you hate the former ussr, dont buy one..lol...

 

You could get a block, I mean glock. Or you could just carry a hunk of 2x4 if you like the glock feel.