Best Pistol of WWII?

[Chris_Werner]

I love the 1911. Have owned several of them. My latest is a Kimber, and it is one of the most accurate pistols I've owned, right out of the box.
The .45 Long Colt is also a great cartridge as far as manstopping. I have a couple of N frame Smiths that are very accurate in that caliber, along with a first generation SAA..
You can keep your 9mms as far as I'm concerned. Too many horror stories about it's lack of stopping power. I own a WWI issue PO-8, but it's a plinker. My 9 year old son loves to shoot it. A lot of the local PDs were carrying Berettas, and then got rid of them after the post combat reports came in about the 9s. Most Departments around here carry SIG or Glock 45s.
For home defense though, you can't beat a 12 gauge with 4-Buck!

[gew98]

I love the 1911. Have owned several of them. My latest is a Kimber, and it is one of the most accurate pistols I've owned, right out of the box.
The .45 Long Colt is also a great cartridge as far as manstopping. I have a couple of N frame Smiths that are very accurate in that caliber, along with a first generation SAA..
You can keep your 9mms as far as I'm concerned. Too many horror stories about it's lack of stopping power. I own a WWI issue PO-8, but it's a plinker. My 9 year old son loves to shoot it. A lot of the local PDs were carrying Berettas, and then got rid of them after the post combat reports came in about the 9s. Most Departments around here carry SIG or Glock 45s.
For home defense though, you can't beat a 12 gauge with 4-Buck!

CW ; Alot of the problems with police stopping power with 9x19 was the bull**** subsonic 147 grian bullet loading they adopted for law enforcement use to curtail over penetration and lessen potential high velocity richochets.So all the trouble many went to with the 9mm was wasted effort by castrating the ammo.When I lived in New Jersey the state Police went tot he HK P7 squeeze cocker nightmare.Then to cap off that lackluster pistol they used a particular type of Remington loaded 9mm hollowpoint which DIOD not expand. I used to cull the ranges at fort Dix where they shot for brass and found wads of new state polizei 9mm Remington ammo in the grass as well as brass. I also recovered buckets of expedned 9mm Rem HP's that when they hit borads simply had their hollow nose plugged up with no discernable damage to bullet.Nor did the bullets recovered from sand/gravel have any major whacks like I tended to find shooting hot loaded ball bullets.
I have to agree on the # 4 buck - it's the **** in my 10Ga double and my old pet JC Higgins model 20 with comp & choke simply throws # 4 buck like a solid rock out to 30 yards ...lethal baby...lethal !.
Hard to be the 45ACP round for accuracy and knockdown.never had a vet tell me they needed a second shot when they used them in war.

[Chris_Werner]

I agree. They had the same problem with those anemic first generation 40 cal. rounds. I had a USP in 40, and "upgraded" to my Kimber. I've always been partial to the 1911 design, although I still am nervous carrying in condition 1, although it's safe to do so.
Unless you practice regularly, a shotgun is still the best choice for home defense. I know some folks who load with 9 shot, the theory being lethality at that range, and less chance of overpenetration.

[Harold Brouphy]

Harold Brouphy

If you go by appearance only, it would be hard to beat a Political Leader PPK
Harold

[William J]

This whole discussion is a farce!

How could we have a contest without that most beautiful and man stopping of all the pistols....the Japanese T-94! And to think it was omitted from consideration!!! Oops, time for my medication....

William

(Actually I love the luger, but have more P-38's than anything else.....)

[Garn]

P38. I vote this way because I like the way it shoots, it carrys more rounds than most other pistols, it holds up well in combat, and it's a double action.

Rob

[Garron]

voted for the colt m1911 seeing as the TT wasnt there

i would say the Tokarev TT, didnt have a safety catch but 8 rounds of good penatrative ammo, easy to maintain, based on the colt m1911

[wschmidt]

P38 - The 9mm is an excellent cal. and ally to the functioning mechanism, becomes the P38 an excellent military pistol.

[panzerlord1]

I picked the Hi Power u cant beat it. Thats why the SS and Paras used it.
I have two German Hi Powers in my collection and i would choose it above every other handgun!!

[Bob Hritz]

The pipsqueak 9mm? There are so many documented cases of multiple (ultimately) fatal hits that took too long to finish an aggressor. Give me the 1911 and 1911a1 any day. I have never heard of someone who took a hit with the old .45 cal, in the torso, who kept up the fight.

I carried a .45 for 28 years, much to the chagrin of the new 9mm crowd. I always knew that the .45 would do the job, on the first hit, not the 4th, 5th, or 10th. I recall the Illinois State Trooper who hit his opponent 8 times in the torso. The 8 times shot opponent, disarmed the Trooper and beat him to death with his own empty 9mm before he died, himself.

The 9mm just isn't a manstopper.

Bob hritz

[Ken S]

lets face it in combat, if a man with a pistol regaurdless of the caliber faces a man with a rifle, the odds are way against the man with a pistol. but if I had a handgun as a secondary weapon I think I would go with the browning Hi Power

[Sergey]

I like the Tokarev TT pistol, but I don't see it in the list.

[Garn]

What about the C96 Schnellfeuer? You can fit it with a stock and it shoots 900rpm! And the other guy thinks you 'just' have a pistol.

-Rob

[P08]

The 1911, TT33, P38 etc. are all great pistols. However if I personally had to depend on a carry pistol in WWII I'd pick a P38. It's very simple, easy to operate and it's a DOUBLE ACTION. I feel much better with a double action than a "cocked and locked" single action. But of course it always comes down to personal taste.

Also ammo availability is also something to consider. Unless you were a US soldier the .45 wasn't plenty. Also 7.62x25 was scarce except if you were on the eastern front or a russian soldier. My guess is that 9mm was by far more plenty than the others.

[Hambone]

M1911A1 no question. Then the Browning HP, then perhaps the P.38. Lots o' little springs in the P.38 and relatively weak little breakage prone parts. Pop the topcover on one and check under the hood. Awesome design ahead of its time but superceded by improved versions and other pistols. By contrast the BHP is still in use by SAS and certain militaries, and certainly the M1911A1 and its clones are the choice of pros who must use handguns to quickly and reliably incapacitate criminals, terrorists, and other such goblins. One need only look to what is favored and in use today to ascertain what is "best".