Posted on 03/17/2006 3:02:58 PM PST by diverteach
The really fun part is when you go into another gun shop and tell them that you work for a dealer. They let you play with everything. :)
Not an expert, but ...
Look if you are afraid of a gun jamming - then have TWO guns! Geeze - you figure if your life depends on it...
Actually, although I do love my 10mm Glock, I will confess that my nighttime self-defense gun is a heavy-duty (Astra 960) .38 revolver. ($100) It is in perfect mechanical shape, and is a very good and accurate shooter. I keep it very clean, check it periodically for rust, etc. and keep a full speedloader and a box of bullets next to it. No grit under the extractor or timing problems with that gun!
If I need it, I am pretty confident it will go bang.
That's my ugly work gun. The other XX guns I have are for fun!
So I don't seem to be contradicted here by what you do. You evidently have other guns, probably automatics among them, but to face sudden attack, you choose a revolver, even a perhaps marginally powerful one. It's probably a 4" though, so you are getting good performance from the load. Ugly is in the eye of the beholder, and I think a failures to stop is about as ugly a situation as I can imagine being in.
If one can't or won't carry two, then the choice becomes somewhat worth considering, which is all I am saying. Also, the scarcity of people handgun hunting dangerous game speaks to the somewhat superior reliability of good revolvers. Real quick and easy to check "how loaded" they are too, especially for novices. Personally, I often carry one of each when circumstances indicate the possibility of colorful times ahead!
Sounds pretty good, from what those fellas wrote.
May it serve you well, and may you never have to test it against mortal threat.
I have come to the conclusion that +P may not even be advisable in a .38. I base this upon Dr. Fackler's data, my own use, and the reports which I have been given from the field in actual handgun use against attackers. The problem is that our presently popular bullets are much too light for the velocity, which causes sudden expansion, which causes less penetration, which prevents the projectile from reaching vital structures. Nasty. Fackler advises "heavy for caliber bullets, travelling at moderate speed." He also states that "temporary wound channels" count for almost nothing, and "hydrostatic shock" only becomes significant at rifle velocities.
So, if we could have a 180gr. or heavier wide flat point lead, at around 950fps, great. The 200gr. standard police bullet of days yore failed because of its point, not weight. They tried it because the extra weight DID help penetration. It created a miniscule permanent cavity, and penetrated too deeply. If they cut the tips off flat, it would still be in speedloaders, keeping the .38 revolver in police use, perhaps, so I am not particularly against the cartridge, just the load. Some retired policemen of my acquaintence reported that they reversed the issued bullets, and reassembled the rounds...and they worked very, very well!
One finds one's own way.
Sounds like a .357 there Muttly.
Yep. Guess so.
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