Handguns

[CCoburn]

Handguns


I've owned a variety of these over the past couple decades from .22s to .44s. The .22s might be fun for some target practicing at the range, a gravel pit, or anytime you're out driving and fairly certain you've landed yourself in the middle of nowhere, and I've only done the latter once or twice ensuring that I have a decent backstop. It's a fairly brief event and after a few rounds it's like "Okay, I think we should hop in the car now and get the hell out of here.".

I had a Ruger 9mm for a while, but didn't really care for it because at any distance more than a few yards the groups start to spread out considerably, and I later concluded that was due to the short barrel length which for me would put that firearm or any other like it in a category of strictly self-defense. The Taurus Judge was the same, but that particular firearm would take .45 Colt or .410 shotgun shells so the barrel wasn't rifled which isn't much good for accuracy at a distance either.

These days I'm at the extremes with a S & W .22 and a Ruger .44 Super Blackhawk Hunter. You can probably get away with using the .22 without a headset but with the .44 the headset absolutely needs to go anywhere the gun goes. I accidently fired a .44 at the range one day without a headset, and I'm pretty certain I won't be making that mistake again, but on the other hand, I let a marine fire off a few rounds with a S & W 629 Classic I had(Dirty Harry gun), and he declined the headset saying that "his ears were trained". Whatever that means - crazy.

I'd like to ditch the .44 though and go back to a .357. I keep the .44 in the car with me for self-defense, but I do think it's a bit much. I did go to a local gunshop looking for a trade but most of what they had looked pretty used so I opted out. Some of these used handguns not only just look used but have probably had the piss fired out of them, so it's not a bad idea to check the cylinder(if there is one) for excessive play. If you try and wiggle it and it moves then "move" on to something else. I'm not exactly sure what the allowable play should be in a measurement, but if I had to guess then maybe a millimeter or less.

[theshadowknows]

Under Conspiracies. Wrong category.

I'll change the category to "Main Forums". You were correct. :)

[CCoburn]

I'll change the category to "Main Forums". You were correct. :)

I just "jumped the gun" on that one(pun intended). A little too eager to get started with my morning yerba mate shot and a brief essay. Whipped it out and then came the deja vu tainted epiphany that this post ain't right for this parent category.

Good resolve though I guess. I just edited and saved the original.

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The Taurus Judge was the same, but that particular firearm would take .45 Colt or .410 shotgun shells so the barrel wasn't rifled which isn't much good for accuracy at a distance either.

Correction:

I had one of these back around 2002 and I do recall some commotion about the rifling of the barrel, but it wasn't that the barrel wasn't rifled; it was the fact that we were shooting shotgun shells through a barrel that was rifled for a .45. That's what I think that was all about.

Apparently a non-rifled barrel would have made that particular firearm illegal.

[Notably0ffbeat]

I just "jumped the gun" on that one(pun intended). A little too eager to get started with my morning yerba mate shot and a brief essay. Whipped it out and then came the deja vu tainted epiphany that this post ain't right for this parent category.

Good resolve though I guess. I just edited and saved the original.

---

Correction:

I had one of these back around 2002 and I do recall some commotion about the rifling of the barrel, but it wasn't that the barrel wasn't rifled; it was the fact that we were shooting shotgun shells through a barrel that was rifled for a .45. That's what I think that was all about

Apparently a non-rifled barrel would have made that particular firearm illegal.

Definitely rifled, without riffling it's no longer a hand gun but a shotgun. And has to follow minimum length regulations for a shotgun.

[Tecate]

I have handgun envy, neither here in Canada or there in Mexico can I have one without some major hoops to jump through.

I’ve had the good fortune to fire a few Sig Sauers? And a 1911, and a 50 cal Israeli handgun at a range. But that’s it.

The Sig fit like a glove and was amazing. I didn’t even have to think about aiming. It just hit what I pointed it at. The side discharge was cool, but the big gun discharges up and over, which freaked me out when the empties started landing on me. Very hot.

Tecate

[guyfriday]

 I let a marine fire off a few rounds with a S & W 629 Classic I had(Dirty Harry gun), and he declined the headset saying that "his ears were trained". Whatever that means - crazy.

It means he has hearing loss. I know the feeling from being a Machine Gunner (M2s and Mk19s)

As for a handgun, Kimber has a nice little 357 revolver, but as with all Kimbers the price is up there. Taurus has this nice little revolver in .32 H&R Mag. (Taurus 327). While it might be a smallish round, it is a very effective round that doesn't take up space.

It's all going to revolve around what price range you're looking at.

[CCoburn]

I was a member at a shooting range back around the early 2000s, but I stopped going and my membership ran out. You had to be a member of NRA to get into that place, and the owner of a local gunshop that got me in the first time isn't even in business anymore, he retired. I later found out that one of the members I knew from there got into a domestic dispute with his estranged wife and mother and ended up shooting them both and eventually went to prison on two counts of manslaughter – he got like 50 years for that. He used to reload his own ammo and I used to save my spent .44 casings for him.

Then they opened up a public range not far from the other one, and I went there a few times until some black guy from New York murdered a girl there, and then soon after that it was closed. I did hear about an indoor range close by, but I haven't bothered with it.

My Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter .44 found a new home between the two front seats – it fits perfectly there. It goes wherever I do. I do drive to a lot of remote areas that might be considered a little sketchy in some ways. For long periods of time it wouldn't see any use, but lately on occasion when I'm deep in some rural area and there aren't any houses around and I have a decent backstop, I get out and fire off a round or two.

I did think briefly about trading it for a .357. They got a brand-new Ruger Blackhawk(I think) for around $700 that would be close to an even trade, but after becoming re-acquainted with it a little more recently I'm thinking I'll probably keep it. I might try those .44 Special loads sometime, but I still got quite a few of the Magnum left. Not that it would make much difference, it might be a little easier on the gun, but that headset would still need to tag-along with us wherever we go.

[727Sky]

Back in the day I purchased a few police trade-ins and was always pleased with their condition and like new functionality. I agree with the following video https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SdA8Gjvh4...ture=share

[CCoburn]

Back in the day I purchased a few police trade-ins and was always pleased with their condition and like new functionality. I agree with the following video https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SdA8Gjvh4...ture=share

I think for reliability alone though, I'd rather have a single action over a semi-automatic or even a double action. The less moving parts and spring-loaded mechanisms, the less that can go wrong. It would really suck being in a dire situation and having your gun jam on you.

Another thing that used to bug me about SA's is that constant depressed state and spring tension of clips that are kept loaded in case you need it in a hurry. It's probably a good idea to have an extra clip or two for periodic loading/unloading and probably increases the life of the spring mechanism to not be kept in a compressed and loaded state for long periods of time. An occasional drop or two of oil on the spring and moving gun parts as well.

Of course the SA's are a little faster(if they don't jam) when every second counts. When I first got my S & W(SA) .22 it would frequently misfire because the clip wasn't properly inserted all the way. You really needed to force that clip up in there with the meat of your palm to get that one last little click.

[CCoburn]

Just Keeping the Cobwebs Out


I was up north a bit the other day driving down this deserted dirt road that had a nice high bank on the right that would make for a decent backstop, so I decided to get out and fire off a round or two. I traversed a moderate gully and pressed my empty Five Hour shot into the bank. I took two shots at maybe around ten yards. The first one moved it a little, but the second one blasted it into oblivion, apparently. I must have spent a good three or four minutes after trying to find it (to see the damage and pick up my trash), but it was nowhere to be found.

On the way out like maybe a couple minutes down the road I saw a ranger parked on the left reading or writing something, but he didn't seem concerned. I kept checking my mirror on the way out, and it was one of those roads that had like tractor ruts or something and I could only go about 10 MPH or the car would get to shaking really bad.

I'm always really careful with this sort of thing, and I didn't feel like I was doing anything wrong although it wouldn't surprise me much to be questioned about it.