Posted on 01/10/2011 10:38:50 AM PST by Qwackertoo
In light of the incident in FL, woman whacked shooter with her purse, and now in AZ and the woman grabbed the second clip before he could re-load . . . I'm a lady and carry a .380 Ruger LCP. I'm thinking it wouldn't do much good in these situations AND I'm thinking I could easily get myself shot IF the police or others thought I was the SHOOTER and not someone trying to help.
Scary days we live in. Play dead OR try to take the shooter out? Get a bigger gun? I also own a Colt .357 but too big to carry much less conceal.
I think both of those two older ladies were quite brave in the face of grave danger in both of these shootings.
oops I just switched them and can’t edit.
OK. Whatever you do, don't sell it. Somehow you managed to get your hands on the only one ever made
I disagree profoundly. I sometimes carry a Ruger LCP and practice with it regularly. I use 5" pie plates at 7-10 yards (not feet). I have no problem hitting them.
I suggest practicing in this way:
The three most important words are accuracy, accuracy and accuracy.
Forget all the talk about +P loads and 125 grain versus 110 grain and all of that crap that the smoke-sniffers love so much. (Love ya, guys!) It’s fun to discuss but none if it matters when the volume gets turned up to LOUD.
Should the time come (heaven forbid) when you must draw and fire then the key becomes how precisely you can place that slug. One round, of any caliber or weight, placed accurately, WILL decide the argument.
Go to the range regularly and become intimate with your new friend. Shoot and shoot and shoot some more. Then go back in a week and do it again.
Accuracy. Never leave home without it.
I didn’t realize how hard ammo was to get with the .380. I finally was able to buy another 400 rounds about a month ago, so now need to start practicing more with it after being laid up injured for about 4 months.
I had been thinking about getting a .38 but don’t know whether to get hammer or hammerless. The one you have pictured, how can it be double action without a hammer? Be gentle in your reply, remember I’m fairly new to various guns. :)
Back before kids, I was a member of a shooting club/range in Ft. Worth but at that time only practiced with my .357 and my little Browning .22 pistol. So I’ve been out of the shooting for about 16 years now as my oldest just turned 17 last week.
My conclusion about caliber, muzzle velocity, &c &c &c?:
Get hits. Get lots of hits. Center mass, double tap, assess, one to the head.
The rounds you train with, the rounds you can hit with, THAT'S what you carry.
Four hits with a .22 beat four misses with a .44.
IMO.
Get hits.
Get lots of hits.
I just had the occasion to shoot what the guys called my "Europellet gun" (Glock 17) with two guys shooting .45ACP compact pistols in a tactical exercise under stress.
I got lots of hits. Lots more hits than the .45ACP guys.
In a gunfight, hits are the thing. If two hits don't work, get more.
Hell, the first hit is usually what counts which is why being comfortable and well practiced with your weapon is more important than the caliber used. If someone breaks into your home, even if the first hit doesn’t stop the perp, unless he is tweaked out on meth or something like that, it will make him think twice about getting hit a second time.
The hammer is internal. Single action means you cock the hammer manually and then press the trigger. Double action means you start with the hammer down and pull the trigger all the way to cock the hammer and shoot. Double action has a long, hard trigger pull. It is very difficult to accidentally pull the trigger. With single action, the trigger pull is *very* short and much easier to be accidental.
For novices, double action means they are very unlikely to have an accidental discharge and the prosecutor would have an extremely hard time claiming you had a hair trigger.
I like having both wheel guns and semi-autos, and I think you are wise to consider diversifying.
I also think it is wise of you to consider "What would I do?" in a situation such as the Arizona tragedy. Be prepared, but hope you never have to turn preparation into action.
Thank you for the information. I think I would feel more comfortable with the double action.
I think I need to sign up for one of these tactical classes just for the training and confidence factor. IF, forbid I ever come in contact with some crazed killer, that would at least help with the panic, adrenalin (sp?) and total chaos, that I could at least defend myself and my kids and perhaps others. That would be more than I would get shooting by myself at the range and well worth the money and time to me.
Most states require much more than mine does to get the permit, which wasn’t much, which is good for the right to carry but maybe not so much for the confidence factor in a crisis.
Thank you for your information.
My state requires 8 hours of BS.
The legal part, like don’t shoot a guy after he is down or running away, could be covered in 2 hours.
This is the NRA course, by the way.
But there is no discussion of the real world.
In your case, I doubt that you will ever be in the Tuscon type confrontation. It is possible, as I expect terrorists to use the same tactics, but it is much more probable that it will be a one on one thing in a dark shopping center parking lot.
Not discussed at all in my state.
For instance, you come out of a restaurant at 10:00 PM and are walking across a dark parking area to your car.
Two spooky looking dudes are between your and your car. They are walking towards you looking intently at you...doesn’t look good.
They are 50 ft. away and at the rate of closure, your pace and theirs, you are going to meet in only 25 ft. so you have only a second or two to make a decision.
What will you do?.
Think hard about it because this is by far the most likely scenario.
“I had been thinking about getting a .38 but don’t know whether to get hammer or hammerless.”
IMO hammerless revolvers are a huge mistake. The ONLY potential advantage to them is they are snagless, however I have never had that problem even drawing from a pants pocket. They have a HUGE disadvantage, the loss of single action capability. Despite what you may hear, there are many scenarios (active shooters included) where the improved accuracy of shooting single action will be a big advantage. Not all encounters are at arms length or require an instantaneous draw and shoot. I strongly recommend against buying a crippled revolver with only DA capability. If you worry about snagging, put your thumb on or under the hammer as you draw and it will be impossible to snag.
“Two spooky looking dudes are between your and your car. They are walking towards you looking intently at you...doesn’t look good. They are 50 ft. away and at the rate of closure, your pace and theirs, you are going to meet in only 25 ft. so you have only a second or two to make a decision. What will you do?.”
I have had this happen while carrying. My response was to pretend to have forgotten something in the store and then hurry back to retrieve it. When the spookies left I walked to my car (hand on gun in pocket).
I have thought of making a 90 degree right turn, thus putting my weapon on my protected side, away from them, and then watching to see if they altered course to intercept me.
The down side of that is if they do, then eventually you have to make the second decision, which could lead to a violent confrontation.
If they really are out to get you, it is more than likely that they will jump you from behind if you turn your back on them. That would depend a lot on how far you are from the store.
Only a few feet with good lighting, they probably would drop out.
Long ways away like some of the big malls or Walmart parking lots and they probably would jump you from behind.
Where returning is not a good option, I would make the 90 degree turn, put my hand on my pistol. If they continued an aggressive intercept, draw and hold it beside my leg out of their sight but at the ready. That eliminates the likely hood of being accused of pointing if they mean no harm.
But the real test comes when they get close enough that you have to tell them to back off.
And hope they are not deaf.
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