A perfect example!

Ok, here's exactly what I'm talking about, here's the reason that you need to at least own a firearm and know how to use it.

A friend of mine was accosted, at home, in front of his son, by some looney with a knife. Now, I'll admit her did know said looney, but this guy was off his rocker and brandished a knife...in front of my friend's son, at their front door.

Ok, a few things could have happened here.

1. Looney stabs/slashes friend... bad.
2. Looney doesn't and cops are called (what actually happened)
3. Looney attempts to stab/slash friend and friend defends himself with a firearm.

Best choice? Option 2, without a doubt. I want to carry, just in case, but as I've said, I want the bullets to rust of old age before I ever have to use them. I've said that before and I'm still saying it... I never want to have to draw my weapon. I would rather boogie out of the situation.

However, let's say that looney is seriously not well, I mean he's snapped all but for sure. He's gone bye-bye to reality. It isn't too hard to imagine, I mean he was brandishing a knife at some other dude while at the front door of other dude's house.

Ok, well... guess who could have gone home in a bag that day? If you said Looney, you're half right. Either my friend or Looney could have died that day. If looney was determined he could have easily killed my friend. However...had friend carried a gun on him... you get the point.

A salient point to this story is that in my state, you don't have the duty to retreat in your own home. If a guy is at your door or in your house and you feel you are in imminent danger, then you are within your right to defend yourself. Also, considering his kid was right there with him... You get the picture.

So, my friend and his wife have decided that they want to purchase a firearm. I think that's a good idea, obviously. They want me to help them pick it out, and train with it... I'm flattered and as qualified as anyone, I guess, to give them the basics.

At any rate, this is the kind of stuff that you don't expect to have happen. However, you never know when it will.

And now, we wait...

The hardest part about getting your CCW isn't picking the right firearm or holster or even taking the class. It is, in fact, the waiting.

I turned my form in Monday morning, I got fingerprinted, poked, prodded, inspected, injected, etc. And now... I wait.

I can wait 3 weeks, I can wait 3 months, there's no telling how long it will take. The maximum is 90 days, however, it appears to be running about a month based on my friend who just recently got his experienced.

Anyway... the waiting is the difficult part, but worth it in the end.

Revolver Ammo

I was reviewing some of my older posts and I realized that I had completely skipped over the revolver calibers in my description of what I think and what are popularly considered self-defense calibers.

Again, I'm a little biased here as I've decided to carry a revolver. Some people would say that I'm under-gunned and will be a dead man should I have to engage multiple attackers. Well...to that I say with confidence, "bite me".

6 shots, well placed, with a good carry caliber will handle 3 men. 6 shoots, not as well placed, with a good carry caliber will handle 2 men. So, unless I'm taking on an entire Mexican cartel, I should be in good shape. But I digress...

Revolvers have less choices in caliber than semi-automatics do, tis true.

.38 Special:
This is the tried and true revolver load. It's cheap to shoot and packs a good punch. If a manufacturer makes a revolver, they make one in .38, just a fact of life. The police and military carried .38s for about 3,245 years and it worked like a champ. It's simple, effective, light recoil, all in all, a good round.

The only downside is if you have an ultralight/airweight revolver, then it will buck and bark like mad and it is exactly NO fun to shoot. Just keep that in mind.

.327 Federal
I have no had the chance to personally try out this caliber, however, everything I've read says that it gives you .38+p power with 30% less recoil. To me that spells winner!

.32 H&R
A nice easy round. Not the easiest to find, but it packs a pretty good wallop and doesn't kick hardly at all. If you are recoil adverse, then this might be a good place to start looking.

.44 Special
A big, but slow, round. Not bad to shoot at all. When you get this size, however, you are really making for a bulky cylinder in your revolver. However, if you can comfortably carry it, go for it. I've shot this through a single action cowboy gun before and it's a honey. It is pricey though. The upside is that it will chamber in a revolver made for .44 Magnum... speaking of which;

.44 Magnum
Big, bad, Buick stopping power. Not too bad to shoot if you have the right pistol for it. I wouldn't suggest a 3 inch barrel for this one as it's just too hard to control and you're going to think someone took a hammer to your hand. Although the .44 Magnum will get the job done; be prepared to shell out BUCKS for this ammo.

...last but not least...

.357 Magnum
I've mentioned this one before. It will do the job. It has the answers to all of life's burning questions. This is the round that looks at Dirty Harry and calls him "punk". The only thing on two legs that this won't stop would be Chuck Norris. It is considered by most to be the ultimate, gold standard, one stop shot round.
A study found that this caliber has up 95% one shot stop capability with incapacitation in as little as 5 seconds.
Easy to find, not too bad on recoil and fairly cheap for a good solid round.

This is my personal choice, in case you were wondering.

My personal philosophy on choosing a weapon

I've gone around the bend on this a couple of time, if not more, on this blog when speaking about which weapon a person should get.

I've reviewed different types of weapons, different calibers, different holsters, etc etc, I've even changed my mind a couple of times on what I'm willing and will probably end up carrying.

However, I'm not sure that I've ever really stated what I would suggest to someone were they to ask me what I thought.

I have had a couple of people ask me before what I thought and my answer has been fairly unwavering. Get something that you are comfortable with. Test out as many as you can and find one that feels comfortable in your hand, that doesn't blast so hard it startles you and something that you feel you will carry with you a good portion of the time.

I know some people who say "get this gun and then get used to it". I do NOT subscribe to this idea. I'm not going to "get used to something", thank you. I'm going to get something that is immediately comfortable to me. I don't want to have to work at something to make sure I conform to it.

When you buy a car, do you say "well, this one has all the features, but I just don't like the seats or where the controls are, but I'll get it anyway and get used to it"? Nope, you don't. Why should it be any different for a firearm?

So, I'd say test out revolvers and semi-autos and find one that feels right to you.
Maybe you don't like the complexity of a semi, that's fine, get a wheel gun. You don't like a .45 or a 9mm, get a .380 or a .32.

I've found my gun of choice. It's a revolver, a .357 GP-100. As I said in my review, we were meant to be together. It was instinctive and comfortable. I can shoot the heck out of this thing too, so all in all, it's the one for me.

And believe me, I've tried a boat load of different guns out there. I've tried every popular caliber except for .32 and .25 (hard to find rentals in that caliber) and I've tried almost all of the top tier and 2nd tier manufacturers. I've tried Smith, Springfield, Taurus, Ruger, Bersa, Glock, you name it.

So, to sum up, get what is comfortable and what will lend itself to consistent carry and consistent practice.

My two cents.

So...what could happen

...if you were to draw your weapon at the wrong moment, or with the wrong intent?

Its a big question and something that your average CCW class may not cover. I don't believe it was covered in mine, but that was about a year ago, so there's that.

Anyway, the term "assault" is making a threat towards someone which causes them to fear for their lives or safety and they person making the threat is capable of carrying out the threat. This is NOT a legal definition, but a layman's term.

So, if you're hanging out with your friends and say "Dude, don't make me hurt you" in jest, then it isn't assault, because there was no fear, etc.

However, some guy in an alley states that he's going to cut you open, that might.

So, how does this come in to play with our topic, I'll tell you.

If you are over-zealous and pull your weapon on someone and they are afraid for their lives, if you are not in the right to draw that weapon you are now guilty of assault. It could be considered "aggrivated assault" since there was a deadly weapon involved.

Again, I'm not a lawyer or the police, but I do want to warn people about being a cowboy out there and just willy-nilly pulling their gun.

Heck, there was some dumb-ass in Texas (I think) that was fiddling with his gun at the check out at Wal-Mart. He took it out, dropped the mag (and I mean it hit the floor) and while he tried to replace it in the gun, the gun went off and the round hit the ceiling. He was arrested for reckless discharge of a firearm and something else, which I don't recall.

This goes back to one of the first posts I made, become familiar with your firearm and wear the novelty off of it. This guy, apparently, hadn't done that yet and he wanted to fiddle with it. Well, he's now going to jail and will lose his CCW permit for life. Not to mention the fact that he makes the rest of us look really, really bad in his states of dumb-ass-ness.

So to sum up...keep your damn weapon in its holster until such time as you are:
A. Training
B. Cleaning
C. Storing (if you have children)
D. Actively and rightfully engaged in defending your life.

If you aren't doing any of the above mentioned activities that thing NEVER leaves your holster. And by NEVER... I mean NEVER. You strap that puppy on in the morning and you don't fidget with it. You don't show it off to people, in public. You act as if you are just a normal person doing their normal things, because you are. You just happen to be a normal person with a normal firearm under their normal clothes doing their normal things.

Think, people. It will save you a lot of grief later on.

For my money...

Hey there guys...

I've spoken about the cost of your firearm from time to time here, but there's something that has my attention now and I felt compelled to talk about it.

Smith and Wesson revolvers. I will be the first to admit that they are fantastic quality and will last a lifetime, without exaggeration.

However, they are expensive. Now, I don't mean a hundred bucks over the competition, I mean double and sometimes triple the cost of the next best competitor.
Are they worth the extra cash? In my humble opinion, not even close.

They are fine machines, they are quality built and stand the test of time, but I can get 3 Ruger SP-101 for the price of 1 Smith. You heard that correctly, a 3 to 1 ratio. And Ruger is no slouch, they are solid machines and are just as good and just as reliable as any Smith out there.

That is just my two cents, of course, but I thought it necessary to mention it as I was poking around on the internet last night checking out comparable models to my new and utterly awesome GP-100. When I saw that a regular old .357 was upwards of $1000 when a new in the box GP-100 was about $450, well... I was less than thrilled.

However, if you are a die hard S&W fan, go for it. It is, after all, your money.

Safety...

I don't think that I've covered this as a singular post yet, and for that I do apologize. My assumption being that anyone who reads this, all two of you, would be fairly well versed in the basic rules of handling a fire arm. However, it is possible that someone could just pop in and read this and I would have done a disservice to them had I not mentioned the following:

1. Treat EVERY gun as if it were loaded.
2. Keep your finger out of the trigger guard until you are ready to shoot.
3. Do not point the gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
4. Be aware of the target and what's behind it.

To elaborate on these, I may tell you how I do things. This is just my way of not dying in a self actuated firearm accident, your mileage may vary.

1. I check, double check and then check again every gun I pick up. That means the ones I own; the ones I look at in stores, the ones I use when I'm at the range with a friend. I don't care if the man behind the counter checks the gun and hands it to me with the action open or the cylinder hanging loose, I'm checking it again. My good friend could hand me a gun that he just checked, and I'll check it. I have guns at home that I don't even own ammo for and I check them when I pick them up. I'm a fanatic, but... I'm alive.

2. Your finger should never, ever, be in the trigger guard until you are about to actually fire the weapon. When you draw, when you hold a weapon your index finger (aka "Booger hook") should be indexed along the slide/barrel of the firearm. There is a saying "Keep your booger hook off the bang button". It keeps people alive.

3. Kids and adults have and will continue to accidentally shoot someone else simply because they pointed a gun, in jest, at someone else. Remember, guns are designed with one purpose only, to kill things. While the gun itself is not going to just go off and shoot someone, if you treat it like a toy, someone will eventually get hurt or get dead.

4. This is extremely important in an actual defensive scenario. If you're in a crowd and there's a bad guy and you shoot him (in a justified shooting) and the bullet goes through him and hits someone else...guess who's going to jail for that. Correct, you are. This is also important if you are shooting out of doors. Bullets fly for a long distance and still maintain a lot of their kinetic energy...

Again...be careful. Guns are safe and fun if you aren't an idiot. You can't hurt someone with a bullet fired from a gun unless you have broken one of these rules.

So, don't break the rules.

I'm changing my mind...maybe, again.

Previously, I had stated that I was either going to go with the Glock 19, 26, or the Ruger SR9C for defensive carry. However, the more I work this over in my mind, the more I'm leaning towards tossing all of that away from a simple .357 revolver.

I should back up a little bit. As you know I just tested (and now own) a 4 inch GP100 in .357/.38. As soon as we met it was love at first shot.

I don't care what other gun you would offer me, I'm going to find a way to make this puppy work for my carry piece. I just will.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love the aforementioned pistols, they are great! However, I do like the ease and simplicity of a good revolver.

There are a million advantages to having a semi-auto on or about your person. There are also many more important disadvantages in my opinion.

You get more ammo capacity with a semi-auto, it is easier to reload, more often than not a longer sight radius, you usually get a slightly or extremely slimmer frame too.

All that being said... in this particular case, it's what you don't get that is more important. I don't get jams, double feeds, magazine malfunctions (oh, you didn't know, yeah a mag can go bad on you in a heart beat), stovepipes, etc etc etc.

Most people will tell you that newer firearms, semi-autos, don't do that very often. And while I agree, I want "Never" instead of "Not very often".

So, I'm going with a revolver... yeah.

Across state lines

Hey, something I think I need to mention here. If you are in a state which has CCW reciprocity with other states, that does NOT mean that your current state's laws are applicable in the other states. It means that you can carry concealed in the other state so long as you observe their laws.

Keep that in mind, it could be very, very important.

The Magic training distance

There is a distance inside of which you will have no choice but to defend yourself. There is also a distance outside of which you can haul some serious boogie and get the hell out of the engagement.

To me, and this is my opinion only, it is not legal advise, etc... is about 5 yards.
That's right, 5 yards, 15 feet.

Some guys will train out to 25 yards and be impressed when they can keyhole a bulls eye over and over. And I will admit, it is impressive, but useless in a defensive engagement. Why do you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked.

The guys who are shooting out to the distance are taking their time, controlling their breathing, squeezing the trigger, etc etc. They aren't drawing their weapon, sighting, and shooting. They aren't practicing for an engagement.

I won't take away from their ability because I sure can't do it... but I can make smiley faces on targets at 5 yards just as quick as I can pull the trigger.

There was a point when I could draw, acquire, and pop off a round, and hit a Starbucks doubleshot can, at 5-7 yards, in about 1-1.5 seconds. Record breaking? Nope. Not too shabby? Yup. However, that was practice for if I needed it. I'm not that good anymore, but I can still draw and get on target pretty well and hit, pretty much, what I'm aiming at.

The point is this, if your target is further away than say 5 yards, then you can run away. If he's 7 yards away, you can get a good head start. If he's further than that, in my humble non-legally binding and in no way a reflection of the laws of your jurisdiction, then its murder, plain and simple.

So when you practice (and practice you SHALL) practice at a reasonable distance. 25 yards is a good challenge and its fun to do (I shot at 25 yards this weekend for a couple of cylinders worth) but I can't think of an situation where you'd need to pop off a 25 yard shot in self-defence.

Train at 3-5-7 yards. Go one handed, strong and weak side, two handed strong and weak side. Get to where you can hit center mass, more or less. It doesn't have to be one hole accuracy. Heck, it could be 6 shots in something the size of a paper plate at 3 yards. It doesn't matter, just so long as you're hitting the target and actually practicing for the distances in which you may, hopefully never, have to engage.

Remember... if you have to sight in, you're too far away...RUN!!!

GP-100 Ruger

Sweet Monkey spunk on crutches! This is the finest firearm I have ever, and I mean ever, picked up and put rounds down range with.

But, before I get a little too far in to the superlatives, let me tell you something about it. It is a 6 shot revolver, 4 inch barrel, chambered in .357/.38. It has a rubber grip with a wooden inlay in to it.

As I have said on countless posts I'm a big dude, there isn't much I can't carry on me without printing...this one just might be too close to the edge to allow me to carry it, which would be sad. That is not, however, meant to be construed as I'm giving up in trying to find a way to carry it. Oh, sweet momma... I'm in very strong lust with this firearm.

Now... on to the actual review of the firearm.

Well, let's just start off with the fact that this thing is a slab of metal. Unloaded it weighs 34 ounces, so two pounds. Add in 6 shots of your favorite .38 or .357 in it and the weigh goes over 2 and a half solid pounds. To some people that would be excessive and I would tend to agree with them. For me, however, it isn't that much weight. To me it just feels solid and I think that's important.

The practical upside of the heft is that it manages recoil very, very well. I had no fatigue at all when I took it out to the range. There was no uncomfortable blast, no muzzle jump, nothing but smooth sailing, really. I was, admittedly, shooting the .38 special loads, but I can't imagine that a .357 would be that much worse. It'll still be manageable with those as well.

The barrel is 4 inches long, which makes it a little unwieldy so far as the draw is concerned and I fully admit that. Again, this is not a small person gun. You'll need to have long arms and a fairly long torso to have the room needed to clear the weapon. Although, I practiced with it and it worked fine for me.

It is a double action/single action revolver, so you can with stage the hammer and pull the trigger or just pull the trigger, either way. The trigger itself is smooth and easily actuated. I use my wife for the real test of a trigger, if she can pull it, then it is good to go. She could and it is.

The sights on this thing do not disappoint. They are easy to see and easy enough to pick up. The front sight is black, so its hard to focus on in low light.

However, the greatest thing...is the intuitive nature of how it shoots. It is, basically, point and click. I brought in the Target to about 10-15 feet, somewhere in there, and went to town. With a good (read correct) grip on the revolver you can literally, with no exaggeration, point and pull the trigger and hit what you are aiming at without having to close one eye and look down the sights. I put rounds right there I wanted them, using double action, and there wasn't one miss.

And I don't mean I was looking at the front sight, etc, I mean I was looking at the "8" on the target and I would hit within 1/2inch of the 8, if not completely remove the 8 from the paper. I would get 1 inch (or smaller) groups at 5 yards. I actually put 3 shots in the same blessed hole going double action with this puppy.

It will do its job, there is not doubt about it.

Ok, final thoughts: It is a great gun, it will hit what you point it at and it can carry the dirty-bad-nasty .357 or the cheaper and easier .38 special. The grip feels good in the hand and really softens recoil. The only down side is the weight and barrel length. However, if you are of the right size, there's no reason this wouldn't be a good carry or "truck gun".

I'm a fan.

Revolvers

Love em. Can't get enough of them.

I think that they are the most perfect handgun out there, to be honest.
There are some I'm not crazy about, sure.

The airweight series from Smith and Wesson I can most certainly do without. They are too light to make shooting them any fun at all. Also, you can't stay on target with one and they are just a pain to be accurate with.

That being said, they are effective, easily concealed and easy to find ammo for.

And speaking of ammo, there is no semi-automatic firearm on the market which fires the venerable and for all intents and purposes the mack-daddy .357 Magnum.

No matter what your problem is, the .357 has the answer. You got one guy on drugs, problem solved. You have two guys with knives, no problems. As long as you can hit your target you would be hard pressed to find a more effective anti-personnel device.

Admittedly carrying a revolver, well anything other than a stubby, is not the easiest thing in the world, however. And every thing is a trade off. You only have 6 rounds, it is a little heavy, etc. But for ease of use, reliability and the oh so spankalicious .357... revolvers should definitely be on your list of guns to test out and perhaps carry with you.

The "Back-up" gun

I have spoken mainly about the primary weapon here. The one that you carry, day in and day out, with you. What I have not talked about, much, is the back-up weapon.

Personally, I don't see much value in a back-up. That's just my opinion. I can understand that value that some people place on one, but value is relative.

My problem with a back up is this: If I'm in a fight and my primary fails or is taken from me, well, I'm dead. That's just the way it is. I wouldn't be able to get to my secondary fast enough to prevent very much badness from happening.

So, should you carry a back up? Yeah, sure, go right ahead. There are many options that lend themselves to easy carry. The Ruger LCP, Kel-Tec P38t, so on and so forth.

However, I would say the same thing I do for a primary. Train with it, learn its functions, what ammo runs well through it, what doesn't, be comfortable with it. All of the same rules apply to a back up gun as a primary.

For me, however, my "back-up" weapon, is my wife. Oh yeah, she'll be packing just like I will. She won't be the first to draw, I will, she won't be the first to fire, I will. However, if bad juju happens, the last thing they bad guy will see is my wife...then she will make it rain.

Oh yeah, it's like that.

Kids and guns

Folks, let me just say this one time and one time only...
Kids are smarter than you think they are.

If you have a gun for personal protection and there is a child living in your house you can not, in no uncertain terms, prevent that child from accessing a locked gun.

Oh yeah, you heard that right. They can and will find your firearm. They will be able to unlock the storage box and get to playing. As you can imagine "kids, playing, and guns" should not be in the same sentence unless the phrase "parental supervision" is in there as well.

So, here's what you do: Teach your children about firearms, their uses, the power that they can unleash and the whole 9 yards.

I've mentioned before that one needs to wear the novelty off of a firearm so it isn't a toy any longer, the same holds true for children.

Teach your child about how your firearm functions, how it works, and what it does.

By "what it does" I mean what that little bullet can do to someething so they know, without equivocation, that it will destroy whatever it hits.

Take them shooting, let them hold the gun whenever they want. Do not demonize it, do not make it forbidden. That's the fastest way to end up with a tragedy on your hands.

Just my two cents.

Ending the fight

I've talked a little bit about when to engage an assailant, but since when you can and can't or should and shouldn't are left up to both your current jurisdiction and municipality and whether you should or shouldn't is strictly up to you... I'm going to say this very, very simply.

If you do have to engage a target...shoot to end it. There's no other way to say it.

You don't got for the leg, you don't fire a "warning shot", you don't do anything other than shoot to hit center mass or the head and end the fight, period.

If you don't think you can do that because of lack of skill, then train, alot.

If you don't think you can do that because of lack of fortitude, don't carry.
There's nothing wrong with not being able to take someone's life, even in anger, nothing at all. But, you don't want to have a gun with you and not actually be able to use it effectively. It could be taken from you and turned against you.

You may or may not be able to "scare" an attacker by brandishing a weapon, it might not work, so don't draw and think this will stop the aggressor. It might not.

There's an old saying that a Samurai's sword had to taste blood before it could be placed back in the scabbard. The same should be true of your firearm. Never, ever, ever draw your weapon unless you are 100% sure that the time, situation, etc has degraded to the point that your life or another innocent's life is in danger.

But if you do draw, be the fastest, be the first on target and put the bad guy down.

Ruger LCR

The Ruger LCR is the newest Lightweight Compact Revolver (...LCR, get it?) is on the market and let me just say a couple of things about it.

The first thing I want to say is that I'm a rationalizer and an analyst by nature. I don't take anything at face value, I read, study, compile informaiton, compare, contrast, look under microscopes, etc. However, the first time I got a grip on this little gem, I was sold, no fuss, no muss, no nothing. It's that good.

This is a 5 shot, polymer, revolver which is capable of accepting +p loadings, which bumps up the muzzle energy by 20%, give or take.

It comes with a very comfortable Hogue grip and can also come with a Crimson Trace lazer grip.

I've held and dry fired and live fired several revolvers and this has, hands down, the smoothest, lightest trigger pull of any revolver ever, period. My wife tried it and was SUPER impressed. She's broker her fingers several times playing field hockey as a kid and has trouble with a heavy pull, but this one was like "buttah" when she tried it out.

As with any snubby, the bark from at .38 could provide some uncomfortable recoil, but the new grips will mitigate that to a decent degree.

I am seriously considering getting one of these for a truck gun and so my wife has something to carry as well. It is awesomeness...hands down.