I would like to practice with handguns but for what handgun to choose is it all down to personal preference? I have several semi-automatic pistols and I have a Smith and Wesson 686 pro series, I like shooting revolvers more than semi-automatic but I’m fine with both. In almost every video I see someone is shooting a semi-automatic. Should I go with what fits me best?

That's totally your call. I carry both pistols and revolvers. IMO if you are going to carry to protect life or property daily, it doesn't make a [censored] as long as you can be quick enough, pull and consistently put one or more rounds in the center of your target. One well placed round can stop a threat, but being able to put a few more into the target area is a plus. Semi or revolver. I would rather carry a 22 pistol that I can shoot accurately vs a 44 mag that I can't hit with.

There are more experienced hand gun shooters on here that can probably give you better advice. I learned from a long line of old school LEO's.

Alright, thank you for the help.

JET1902, There is a world champion on this forum regularly, screen name is WILSON COMBAT.

Seems to me that a person should pratice on the platform that needs the most improvement. My favorite gun to shoot is my old .357 revolver, but I most certainly need improvement with my compact 9's!

What skinnerback says, X 5. A handgun that you can't shoot well is nothing more than an expensive metal rock, regardless of caliber. For my personal defense weapon selection, I perform the "Four Fives" to see which one I can actually put the most rounds on target on a consistent basis. 5 rounds in 5 seconds at 5 yards into a 5 inch circle. Then, just about the time you've found the piece that you can do this with, start going through the same exercise with your off hand, working on the assumption that, just possibly, your dominate hand gets taken out of the fight.

Thank you, I’ll give it a try.

148 gr wadcutters are cheap to practice with, but you still need to work with your defense loads once in awhile. Big difference between a 125 gr semi jacketed hollow point in .357 and the wadcutters including point of impact.

Try them all and go with the one you feel the most comfortable with and shoot the best. Based on what I've learned from over 30 years of top level competition shooting, attending training classes from some of the top trainers in the world and doing a lot of firearms training myself, here are the basics:

Align the sights
Aim the sights where you want to hit
Don't disturb this when you pull the trigger

Since anyone can learn to aim a handgun properly in 5 minutes by reading a book or watching a video, shooting a handgun well comes down to GOOD TRIGGER CONTROL!!! If you disturb the sight alignment when you pull the trigger the shot will not go where you want it to. The problem is, learning good trigger control is the hardest of the skills necessary to be a good handgun shot.

The tighter you grip the gun the more poor trigger control you can get by with. Grip the gun as high as possible and "firm" front to back with your firing hand and as tight as you possibly can side to side with your support hand. The more "meat" of your hand you can get in contact with the grip of the gun the better. Don't put your support hand under the butt of the gun like a tea cup or around your wrist unless you want to look like the most clueless person on the range.

Try to learn to "call your shot" by seeing where the sights are at the moment the gun fires as it lifts in recoil. Top shooters actually do this BEFORE the shot fires and they can tell you exactly where the shot went without looking at the target.

Lean into the gun when you shoot with the leg of your support hand side forward and most of your weight on the ball of that foot. This lets your body weight help you counteract recoil. Other than that stance doesn't matter much.

This may sound like a oversimplification, but being a good handgun shot simply boils down to these simple basics......

Remember with the current ammo shortages, you can make up a "one box" drill. Using 1, 50 rnd box of shell's, make it last and still get decent trigger time focusing on getting better, not just putting your target at 7 yards and blasting away with no plan.

I agree with Wilson Combat. Been shooting for decades and used to do so in the army. The thing that I find most people do wrong, that I teach, is to not control their breathing and they don't do a good job of consistently engaging their trigger the same way each time.
1- Breathing control is NOT taking a big breath and holding it. It is training yourself to simply stop breathing in the millisecond before you pull the trigger. Make it a habit.
2- Trigger control: Place the pad of your index finger, in the middle, on the trigger. Pull straight back on the trigger -not- push or pull it (to either side). Pull the trigger with a smooth, steady action every time when the sights are engaged where you want them.
I really think this sounds kind of boring to some folks but when I watch folks practice these are almost always the two things that need to be addressed.

I agree with this, but would add one thing...practice with all of them. Carry the one you shoot best, but continue to practice with all of them. I have SA revolvers, DA revolvers, 1911 style pistols and striker fired pistols. I practice with them all. Put any gun in front of me, and I could pick it up and defend myself with it relatively well.

Funny you should mention that one. In one of my first pistol matches ever I had to shoot one handed support hand. I had shot support hand/eye in rifle competitions many times, but never with a pistol. I felt extremely awkward and I was like Ricky Bobby, I didn't know what to do with my hands. I ended wrapping my strong hand around my weak hand wrist without even thinking about it. Looked like an idiot and it didn't help at all probably made my shots worse. I was shooting a single stack 1911, lets just say I went through all 7 of my mags I still didn't hit all the targets. Competition is a good learning experience.

OP if you have any close to you, I'd suggest maybe doing some USPSA production division. Just go into it knowing it is for training and you're not really there to compete, because those shooters are very fast and very accurate. I've gotten my butt handed to me everytime I go.

I am constantly amazed at the number of people I talk to that (claim to) have been shooting for years, if not decades and don't know what the Cooper grip is. LEOs and military are the two classes of shooters that most people idolize as 'expert' shooters. Oddly, very few know this grip. But, you ask ANY competition hand gunner and they'll say "Duh! Doesn't everyone?" Sadly, no.