Gun Owning Smokers

[CptnBlues63]

A salty old gunny once told me, "Never get into a gun fight with anything that doesn't say .45." I thought it was good advice.
Doc

My favorite handgun by far is the 1911 .45 acp. I only own one at the moment but I plan on owning more.

Doc...I've found that the .357 sig recoil to be a bit snappier vs. the .45 but not something I can't handle. As far as ballistics, both are great rounds but I believe the the .357 sig round has more penetrating power...esp. through light metal.

I plan to get a SW M&P .45 so I guess I'll be able to give you a more personal review side by side.

My good friend and hunting partner has a nice S&W double action .38/.357 I've found the recoil on it to be no worse than my .45 even with maxed out magnum rounds. It does have more pentrating power than my .45 At least, it leaves dents in his iron dinger targets whereas mine won't dent it. Mind you, I'm buying/using reloads with lead semi wadcutter bullets. Still, the .357 would penetrate better. Whether it's a .45 acp or a .357 magnum, if it his something, it's going down. You can't say the same about a .38 or 9mm

I've always maintained accuracy is more important that power. I don't care if you're using a Wildey .475 magnum or a .44 magnum AutoMag, if you can't hit what you're aiming at, you might as well be throwing the gun. I hunt a lot and without bragging I can honestly say I'm a damn fine shot with a rifle. I took my first elk with a 500 yard double lung shot. I'm a decent shot with a handgun too and can hit an 8" dinger target 7 out of 8 shots consistenly at 50 yards. I rarely miss at 25. I try to get out as often as possible to the range because practice makes perfect and I find it's a great stress relief. For just plain "fun to use" and accurate though, I do love my rugger .22's The Mark III hunter is a dream and I can rapid fire 10 in about 2 seconds and get 10 for 10 on an 8" dinger pretty much every time. If you flat out enjoy shooting, you should try one sometime, I'd wager you would really like it.

I've heard repeatedly, "I'd much rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6". Perhaps we should ask Mr. Zimmerman if he supports that mantra.

I carried one around for more than 30 years - damn near everywhere I went. And quite frankly - it was much more trouble than it ever got me out of....

I also believe it's better to be judged by 12.

When you say "it was more trouble than it ever got me out of" what exactly are you referring to..........if you don't mind me asking?

[ggiese]

I also believe it's better to be judged by 12.

When you say "it was more trouble than it ever got me out of" what exactly are you referring to..........if you don't mind me asking?

I really do not want to turn third into a heated discussion about concealed carry, but you've asked about my personal experiences.

until you're in a position to be judged by 12 - that seems like a very reasonable theory. Once you're in the process of being judged by 12, life goes to hell. And - usually you have a heck of a lot of media attention which just further amplifies the hell... right, wrong or draw - every situation I've seen where someone defends themselves with a concealed carry suffers some sort of fall out. Some worse than others. I think of the Sanford, FL situation is one of the defining cases of a a persons "need" to carry a weapon and that situation going awry... Did Trayvon Martin deserve to die? And does George Zimmerman deserve the treatment he's receiving now. Don't answer please - just think about the impact in both those young persons lives due to that confrontation when only one of the two was carrying a firearm.

I'm not quite sure how it is elsewhere, but where I live there are not many folks that carry concealed weapons.. Time and time again I had to justify for others my carrying a gun. Sometimes that experience was not very pleasant despite the fact I was a LEO. There were times I had to surrender or store my weapon when I was with family a long way from home - worry it was not going to be stolen - or give up attending some public event because I was armed.

I never tried to "sneak" my weapon anywhere and always declared if necessary. Countless times the hassle of that act alone would test my will to "sneak" the gun into events. The folks that saw my gun and called police to "check" me out. Challenges from folks who did not like the fact I was carrying a gun. I haven't carried concealed since I retired despite the fact I am lawfully able to.

We were not permitted to carry a weapon off-duty if we were drinking or in a liquor establishment by departmental policy. I believe there's a doggone good reason for that and I worked hard to comply with that policy. But think about that for a moment. Imagine you're out with friends at some event (e.g. Playing a friendly baseball game) and they spontaneously want to go out for drinks afterwards...

During the 30+ years I carried concealed I NEVER was in a situation to have to use it. Then again - I worked hard to avoid situations where I would need to use it. My thought was - if I'm truly doing my job, I'm not trying to create a situation. I can only think about a handful of total times when I was off duty and in neighborhoods where it was a good idea for me to be armed. And - those situations were related to my secondary employment (crash reconstruction consulting).

Bottom line - I guess I really never thought it was "cool" to carry a gun. I did so because it was a necessaey part of my job. Towards the end of my careers I rarely carried a weapon except while on-duty - it just did not feel to me like it was necessary...

[ggiese]

Btw - please don't read my viewpoint wrong. I enjoy shooting firearms. I was a competitive shooter for a time. I constantly practiced and trained. I was completely serious about my responsibility of being the best I could be with the weapon i was carrying so that if I did need to use it, I was prepared.

But - further - I also was heavily involved in self defense classes. I trained to be in a position to NOT have to use the gun if there was an opportunity to avoid it. And - I even focused a large portion of that self defense training on dealing with edged weapons or blunt instruments (e.g. Baseball bates, batons, etc) so if I was attacked I would not automatically need to go to a gun to neutralize the threat.

Fwiw - from my viewpoint If you're serious about defending yourself with a gun - you REALLY need to be able to defend yourself without one. And - if you're going to carry it you have a responsibility to ensure you are very well trained.

[CptnBlues63]

Btw - please don't read my viewpoint wrong. I enjoy shooting firearms. I was a competitive shooter for a time. I constantly practiced and trained. I was completely serious about my responsibility of being the best I could be with the weapon i was carrying so that if I did need to use it, I was prepared.

But - further - I also was heavily involved in self defense classes. I trained to be in a position to NOT have to use the gun if there was an opportunity to avoid it. And - I even focused a large portion of that self defense training on dealing with edged weapons or blunt instruments (e.g. Baseball bates, batons, etc) so if I was attacked I would not automatically need to go to a gun to neutralize the threat.

Fwiw - from my viewpoint If you're serious about defending yourself with a gun - you REALLY need to be able to defend yourself without one. And - if you're going to carry it you have a responsibility to ensure you are very well trained.

Excellent posts George and thank you very much for resonding! I understand now quite clearly what you meant about the hassles involved in CC.

To be honest, I'd never given it more than a passing thought because it is pretty much impossible here in Canada. Also, I'm smart enough to know that it can lead to all kinds of problems and I've had enough of those in my life without gun related problems on top of the rest. After reading your responses, I'm pretty glad it isn't a possibilty for me. So far, I've managed to take care of myself without needing a gun and I'd much prefer to keep it that way.

I'll stick to shooting hanguns for fun and stress relief at the range and hunting in the fall.

[Devil Doc]

Trigger happy gun owners make me laugh. You all know the type. The ones that fantasize about it. The ones that could't hit the broad side of a barn under stress. Believe me, your trouble has just begun when you shoot someone, whether it's justified or not. You're better off investing in a good pair of sneakers.

Doc

[ggiese]

Trigger happy gun owners make me laugh. You all know the type. The ones that fantasize about it. The ones that could't hit the broad side of a barn under stress. Believe me, your trouble has just begun when you shoot someone, whether it's justified or not. You're better off investing in a good pair of sneakers.

Doc

If you've not had someone say to you, "Go ahead - do us both a favor and pull the trigger..." as you're pointing your cannon at their face - you ain't never lived.

[AMGfan]

Trigger happy gun owners make me laugh. You all know the type. The ones that fantasize about it. The ones that could't hit the broad side of a barn under stress. Believe me, your trouble has just begun when you shoot someone, whether it's justified or not. You're better off investing in a good pair of sneakers.

Doc

+1...AVOID, DIFFUSE, or RUN...Shoot if you have gone through all those options. As you said, shooting someone will make your life a living hell if justified or not (even worse)...

I like to shoot gun for sport and for self defense...99% of the time lethal or injurious force is not the right option.

[ashauler]

+1...AVOID, DIFFUSE, or RUN...Shoot if you have gone through all those options. As you said, shooting someone will make your life a living hell if justified or not (even worse)...

I like to shoot gun for sport and for self defense...99% of the time lethal or injurious force is not the right option.

Um, Huh? I don't think I'd enjoy actually having to discharge my firearm in self-defense.

[Tdre977]

99% of the time lethal or injurious force is not the right option.

As someone who carries a firearm 100% of the time, this sums it up for me, while I wouldnt enjoy it, it wouldnt make me lose sleep at the same time.