Pistols

Pistols are back up weapons for most but if you are faced with people seeking to do you harm a pistol is still better then nothing. I see a lot of people get these semi automatic "pistols of doom" and I don't get it. In a survival situation I am a fan of the revolver. Sure you will have a lower number of rounds but they do not jam and if a revolver has a misfire just squeeze the trigger the next chamber will probably work. As for the cartridge I am a ardent fan of .38/.357 due to its price, weight and availability. You can get a inexpensive .38 for as little as $100 for a RG 38/40 and as much as $1200 for a S&W .357 Magnum. I own Charter, RG and EAA and have never had any issue with any of them and they all cost less than the S&W.

Here are a few .38/.357 manufacturers, if I left some out let me know.
EAA (importer)
Charter
Ruger
Taurus
S&W
RG
Rossi