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I'm no expert by any means but I'm a 66 year old guy with stiff hands, so I understand some of your concerns. My wife and I both have .38 revolvers that we like. Hers is a Taurus with hammer, .38 special. Mine is a Smith & Wesson Airweight, hammerless, .38 +P. We only keep standard .38 so as to keep it interchangeable. Trigger pull is a bit heavy on my S & W, 10 pounds. Recoil manageable for us. My hammerless is what I carry in a pocket holster. Easy to pull without snagging.
A revolver is a much easier gun to shoot and care for. Autoloaders must be kept clean and oiled to be reliable. Revolvers should be cleaned too but it is less critical if you should forget here and there. Since you have trouble loading magazines, I would for sure stick with a revolver. Try a .38 on a range. With a hammer model, you can **** and single fire if you have too. Less trigger pull, but must remember to lower hammer if you don't fire the shot. If recoil is too harsh, try a .22 magnum revolver. Better to hit with a smaller bullet than miss with a larger one. .32 revolvers exist but are not easy to find any more and ammo is less available.
Taurus makes an 8 shot .22 magnum revolver and I'm sure others do as well. 2 extra shots over the 6 and 3 over the 5 shot revolvers. Our .38's are both 5 shot.
There's no chance that I'd I'd forget to lock it, ADD or not, that's for sure, It will only be out in any case if I was taking it to practice. Not his son, he has young grandson's. IMO any gun should be locked when there are kids in the house.
And that is what you should concentrate on, when choosing a "safe" (pistol box). Safe from kid's prying fingers.
For now, I would forget the 1000 pound burglar resistant safes, and I don't recommend storing in a fireproof safe (too many of them build up humidity on the inside).
Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl
I didn't have any problem with the trigger for single action, just double. I believe it was a .357 Magnum.
I take it, you don't have any problem with setting the hammer to the rear?
I'm no expert by any means but I'm a 66 year old guy with stiff hands, so I understand some of your concerns. My wife and I both have .38 revolvers that we like. Hers is a Taurus with hammer, .38 special. Mine is a Smith & Wesson Airweight, hammerless, .38 +P. We only keep standard .38 so as to keep it interchangeable. Trigger pull is a bit heavy on my S & W, 10 pounds. Recoil manageable for us. My hammerless is what I carry in a pocket holster. Easy to pull without snagging.
A revolver is a much easier gun to shoot and care for. Autoloaders must be kept clean and oiled to be reliable. Revolvers should be cleaned too but it is less critical if you should forget here and there. Since you have trouble loading magazines, I would for sure stick with a revolver. Try a .38 on a range. With a hammer model, you can **** and single fire if you have too. Less trigger pull, but must remember to lower hammer if you don't fire the shot. If recoil is too harsh, try a .22 magnum revolver. Better to hit with a smaller bullet than miss with a larger one. .32 revolvers exist but are not easy to find any more and ammo is less available.
Taurus makes an 8 shot .22 magnum revolver and I'm sure others do as well. 2 extra shots over the 6 and 3 over the 5 shot revolvers. Our .38's are both 5 shot.
Thanks. I think I’m going to try another revolver on Friday.
I didn't have any problem with the trigger for single action, just double. I believe it was a .357 Magnum.
Single-action really isn't a good choice for self-defense. In a high-stress situation you're likely to just pull the trigger, without first cocking the hammer, which won't fire the gun. Any revolver you choose really does need to be a double-action model! DA revolvers are as idiot-proof as any handgun can possibly bee, and that's what you need when it counts.
That’s really small isn’t it? Shouldn’t I be more experienced in terms of accuracy for a gun like that? Is it easier to load? I have arthritis in both thumbs. I’ve had injections in both of them. It was very painful trying to hold the slider down to load the EZ once a few bullets were in there.
1. The S&W EZ (semi-auto) was easy for her to load and shoot. They make a ported barrel which helps with muzzle jump. I took it to my friends range and at 25yds I was hitting dueling steel paddles with ease with old Federal ammo.
My wife did not have issues with the beavertail safety at the back of the 'grip'. She's 5'5" average build. She does not like the 'complexity' of a semi-auto. She prefers revolvers.
2. My wife has a S&W Model 60, 5 shot .357 revolver. She has only shot light target and .38spc +p ammo. She has no problems with it. To her it fits her hands much better than the EZ. Cocking the hammer is not an issue, however she doesn't have arthritis 'badly'. Double action shooting is always a challenge to new shooters, and hers is a relatively new gun with only 100 rds or so thru it. It will get easier with time. However a competent gunsmith can work some magic with the hammer and trigger. She ENJOYS shooting this firearm. That is most important!
Having fired both- I am more 'accurate' with her S&W 60 than the S&W EZ, but I have always been more comfortable with revolvers than semi-auto's.
I have a S&W .44 mag revolver which I purchased used that had some work done to it. I could operate the hammer with my little toe- it's slick! DA trigger pull is like squeezing warm butter. I shalt not part with that one, lol.
You should understand that even a mortal wound may not drop an attacker immediately. It can take 2 minutes or more for someone to bleed out from a bullet wound to the aorta, and that is plenty of time for someone to do you serious injury. A non-fatal wound may not drop an attacker at all. Hence the emphasis in this thread about using a caliber that puts more kinetic energy into the target (increasing the amount of damage a single shot does) and the need for the gun to have enough rounds to allow you to get several shots on target.
It's not at all like what you see in the movies. A person who is shot doesn't just immediately drop to the ground (unless they are hit in the head or spine).
A Ruger SP101 is chambered for both .357 Magnum or .38 Special. The SP101 is smaller than the Ruger GP100 and holds 5 rounds rather than the 6 rounds that the GP100 holds. The SP101 weighs significantly less than the GP100. Most SP101s that I have handled have a lighter trigger pull than the GP100s typically exhibit. I also find the Ruger 101’s cylinder release easier to activate than the S&W and Colt examples. I’d recommend trying one when you go for your next session with your instructor.
Hard to handle... the recoil is sharp. Larger handguns have more of kind of a "rolling" recoil that's less punishing even if it's stronger, like the difference between being shoved and punched.
No slight intended at all, but this is the issue with 'duffers' who have internet access and google.
The FMJ ammo predated this because.......
....
...waiting.....the world adopted...
auto loading weapons and the hardened jacketed round prevented jams...given the technology in use.
My rule of thumb is 'the future technology always sucks less'.
The convention prohibiting 'dum dum' rounds as you called them (just call them expanding bullets - people will take you more seriously) was because they caused excessive wounds, not less, and Im am not a doctor, but excessive wounds lend to more deaths. Ever see an ACTUAL military M16 or M60 and its feed of choice? (chosed because the 5.56 and 7.62 rounds are close to civilian counterparts -yeah yeah yeah blah blah blah)
Ever big game hunt and see the effect of a .30ish cal PSP, not even jacketed, on a big game animal? (which would be closest to a human, without shooting a human, which I do not want you to do...)
In my state - and YSMV -, while I have not hunted in a coupla years now, we outlaw FMJ for big game cuz it might/probably/will thru and thru and well, might go places you dont want it to. This is bad. Plus it throws your aim off when you sight in for precision. They fly different. Ask a sniper. No, a REAL sniper, not an internet buddy. REAL snipers will not talk about it on the internet.
So when we - the US - adopted the treaty, but did not sign article 3 (lookitup) we said 'hey, yanno what, we have these rounds in place already <insert evil grin>' Duz anyone reading this still serve in the armed forces and can verify the rounds used TODAY? Are they still compliant?
Yes, we formed and joined nato, but that was not the point, this was absorbed INTO the NATO protocols for the prosecution of war. Hence, should you ever go and buy ammo that is of a military grade caliber, you oft see the word 'NATO' next to it. (which TECHINCALLY refers to the load as well as the bullet) and for that matter, yes we signed and maybe did, maybe not ratified in the senate a NUMBER of hauge convention treaties. lol, do they not teach civic and contemporary us history AT ALL anymore??? I will leave it to you lookemup, please dont use google. But thats not the point.
and FTR, using fedbizops and fedramp you, joe civilian CAN supply ammo from 3rd parties to the US and many other govts not under sanction. however......there ARE strict rulz despite posts saying there are NOT and we can and do put people behind bars for simply selling the wrong ammo to US backed <whatevers> <---which is why ACTUAL arms dealers and armorers etc do not ALSO discuss this on the internet. lol
The poor gal just wanted advice on what to protect herself with.
Yes, the US military today still uses exclusively FMJ rounds for small arms.
Other than my brother who won the 'man-o-war' in san diego while in the 2nd BN 75 rangers at lewis and got his choices of cross service trainings as reward and did them and due to his performance became instructor on the back end? (halo, bubble, sere, sniper et al) No. Not at all. (yes, I gave you more than enough info to dox him, BUT, he STILL is a cali cop for a coupla years more so dox carefully. they tend to frown on that and every state honors calis 'long arm doctrine' for state officials/employees)
sidebar: no one here ever served and took the trainings? wrong forum to ask this prolly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RetireinPA
Mr Tax doc, Im gonna go out on a limb here and posit, with all due respect a) you are not now, nor ever have been a member of the shooting military (i.e. infantry like stuff) b) you are not now, nor ever have been a member of LE, and c) you are not now, nor every have been a 'special agent' <---the govt classification for employees authorized to carry and use weapons as part of their duties, be it FBI, CBP, even the 87000 armed IRS agents , and for grins d) none other than maybe once or twice a casual hunter.
And, Im willing to bet, you dont know anyone who *IS* (or even was)
Your statements on this subject are 100% false and what a true pro would liken to the people who hang out in cop bars. Had you every actually been there you would know DIFFERENTLY
I only mentioned 'doxing' because this is the internet and this isnt even a GOOD site. Too many people try to prove their points by being stupid. If I have said (and I have) that I am 60 and he is my younger brother then he is 18 thru 59 yo, how hard is that to locate 2nd/75th rangers who did what he did, and we know he is a cali cop (cuz I said so) and in their infinite wisdom they publish the locations of, photos, badge ID and SALARY of all things.
suffice to say, if you were any of A, possibly B or likely C, you know him, if A, could have trained under him, and that he once ranked 9th in the WORLD as a sniper when active. So can we agree he talked to more armorers on the bus to the range than your read about in magazines, lifetime? maybe ever? I will accept his 'rumors' as you call them, over your 'fact' any day of the week.
PS: if you were 'A' above, you know that in battle, in infantry, you achieve an objective and this may involve shock and awe, wounds or kills. No one really cares once fire is suppressed or you advance. ONLY, overwatch (snipers) shoot to kill ALWAYS. No target, has EVER heard their shots. ONLY, read that over and over again until you understand it.
The poor lady just wanted to know what to protect herself with.
So another appeal to authority, and an ad hominem. Two logical fallacy’s in a single post. Thats pretty good!
If what you claim is true, finding evidence that would support that fact should be very easy to do, and I would challenge you to do so. Please understand that appeals to authority aren’t evidence. They are logical fallacy’s, not evidence of anything.
Good luck!!
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