i will be finishing up with the academy here in a couple months and i was just woundering if anyone could give me some good advice on what would be a good choice for a back up weapon?

I carry a Kel Tec 380. It is small, fits in any pocket and is 100% reliable. The cost is cheap and it shoots great for a pocket gun.

..For a BUG, you need to carry the same caliber as your duty weapon that rides in your holster. Why you may ask?? What if you run out of ammo in your primary and need to strip the rounds out of the magazine of your BUG to continue the fight.. or just pull out your BUG and go at hoping for the best. Most departments that carry Glock style pistols issue them out in the Full or Mid size.. Thus it makes sense to go with a subcompact model  in the same caliber.

Someone above mentioned a .25 caliber... I'm not knocking that round at all; but the fact that my great uncle was shot in in the back of head right behind the left ear with a .25 caliber pistol from just a few feet away, and then turned around beat the guy nearly to death with a pool cue ( bar fight, typical Mississippi folks ) shows alot about to me about the round... then again adrenaline does alot of things.

You'll have two basic choices.....a small framed semi-auto (Glock 27, Glock 36, Sig P239, etc.), or a snub nose revolver (S&W or Colt Detective Special).  If you chose a revolver, the .38 Spl. +P are a good round because they are much easier to control in a revolver than the .357.  I prefer the S&W 642 with the shrouded hammer because it is very concealable.  There are many good reasons for each choice so you just need to find what meets your needs.  Also don't forget the importance of a good blade in your back-up arsenal. 

I think a Glock 23 or 27 would be a good choice if you carried a Glock 22 or 35 as primary weapon.

Another good choice for a BUG is the Taurus PT 140 or 145 10 rounds in either .40 or .45 3.3 inch barrel a little over 6 inches long and 5 inches high. The Taurus also runs about $325. CATM 2005 is right that your BUG should be the same caliber as your duty weapon.  BrooklynSergeant your right about the only thing a .25 is good for. The first attempted suicide I investigated was a dependant wife who found out her husband had korean girl friend and shot her self. It was a contact shot to the chest. the only thing it did was leave a nasty welt and bruise on her breast. I found the bullet on floor.

Genaro says ...

i will be finishing up with the academy here in a couple months and i was just woundering if anyone could give me some good advice on what would be a good choice for a back up weapon?

Even though you have been a PL member for over 3 years, you have not posted an introduction in the introduction forum, also you claim to be an officer in your profile but have not obtained verified statis on PL. If you graduated from the academy 2 yrs ago you should have LE statis by now.   I never answer questions like this in an open forum, anyone can see the responses and who made them even w/o being a member, so any dirtbag witha computer can read this thread.  Nuff said - other posters here can take this as a warning as well, do you potentially want the whole world to know what you carry as a backup?

I carry the Rugar LCP .380. Great back up gun. Stick it right in your pocket. Even have an extra mag with it.

Sig recently came out with the p290 in 9mm.

I havent had a chance to get my hands on one yet.

I love the Ruger LCP. That is a weapon that you literally can carry wearing just about anything.

earln7 says ...

 The phrase Saturday night special is pejorative slang used in the United States and Canada for any inexpensive handgun. Saturday night specials have been defined as compact, inexpensive handguns with low perceived quality; however, there is no official definition of "Saturday night special" under federal law, though some states define "Saturday Night Special" or "Junk Guns" by means of composition or materials strength.[1] Low cost and high availability make them attractive to low-income buyers despite their shortcomings.

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Earl Nunes

What does this copy & paste have to do with the topic????