I just love the banter on here...backed up with a lot of good advice!
Just got to add my 2 cents: 2 is one and one is none! ( Clint Smith!) CARRY 2 guns in case one fails or you shoot one dry!
My personal carry guns while off duty are a 642 Smith and a Glock 27. Consider an inexpensive shotgun or rifle for your "trunk gun" too. A handgun is just something to use to fight your way back to a good shotgun or rifle!
Suggestion: find an old SKS and a few strippers of ammo. Put it in your trunk and drive safely!
Cheers Brothers,
dakasat

My main machine is a J-frame, with XS small dot tritium glow-in-the-dark sight in front (which sorta makes sense, since there is no rear sight), and CT lasergrips too. That's not a "belt and suspenders" redundancy thing for me. Unlike Erich, who said, "... I found myself using the sights to find the dot in the first place, which struck me as silly.", I use the dot to find the target, then push the button on the laser to aim more precisely. I don't use flashlights, either, but I agree that target identification is paramount. We always leave enough lights on in the house to be able to see, anyway, it only takes a 7 watt bulb, and there are those midnight trips to the bathroom. Of course, my purposes are strictly defensive, I don't have to execute search warrants or any such stuff as that. The advantage of the tritium dot and the laser grip is that I don't have to be able to see the gun - so I can be in the dark - but I do have to be able to see and identify the target.

But when I go out, I also stick a Kahr PM9 on the left side. The good thing about a revolver, particularly something that carries at least a .38 spc. +P (most of which convey enough force to be able to crush bone at 50 yards), is that it's very likely to work each and every time you pull the trigger. It is a mechanical device, and therefore will fail. But they don't jam up like semiautos will, and you can just pull the trigger again if they misfire (though you can do that with one of the Sig DAK models, too). And, if I should ever have to use it, I'll probably go through all five bullets right quick, so having 7 9mm's available too is a good thing. You've got to assume there might be more than one attacker.

Reloading capacity is good, too; I've got a couple of HKS speedloaders for the S&W and a couple of extra magazines for the 9mm. Better to carry around way more than enough; it's hard to plan exactly what's going to be needed in an emergency.

Erich, I never get tired of reading your very informed and logical posts on the matter of J frame carry. It is the carry solution I've landed on. Thank you! Nice tip on the flashlight too - ordering one tomorrow.

quote:

Unlike Erich, who said, "... I found myself using the sights to find the dot in the first place, which struck me as silly.", I use the dot to find the target, then push the button on the laser to aim more precisely.

User, you do realize that I was talking about using the barrel mounted sights of my revolver (I have only used Ashley/XS sights on semiautos) to find the projected "dot" of the laser? It sounds from your description that you do exactly what I did.

sprscientist, thanks for the nice words! I was just this morning marvelling at the versatility of the J-frame and the dependability and usefulness of a good .38 Special round. And I've gotten so that I don't leave the house w/o the Fenix light - I'm always using that thing. It's sort of one of those tools that I wonder how I ever did without.

quote:

Originally posted by Erich:

quote:

Unlike Erich, who said, "... I found myself using the sights to find the dot in the first place, which struck me as silly.", I use the dot to find the target, then push the button on the laser to aim more precisely.

User, you do realize that I was talking about using the barrel mounted sights of my revolver (I have only used Ashley/XS sights on semiautos) to find the projected "dot" of the laser? It sounds from your description that you do exactly what I did. ...

Now I'm not sure - what I wrote is confusing to me, now, what is it, two days later? But what I meant by "the dot" is the tritium front sight. I use the sight to locate the target and get a pretty good fix on where the bullet's going to go, and then turn on the laser for fine-tuning. As a practical matter, that's the same point, as I've gone to some trouble to get the laser fairly precisely aligned. This is all in theory, of course, but it works pretty well in killing paper.

It may be an emotional comfort factor, but I don't like the fact that the sights on the revolver are nonadjustable, and the rear sight consists of a channel grooved out of the top of the gun. I like things I can aim precisely. So I don't have much confidence in my ability to point the revolver in exactly the right direction. Part of the difficulty lay in my lack of initial understanding about how those sights work. I didn't understand "cover up the target with the front sight's dot", I was using the traditional "rest the target directly on top of the front sight" rule. I thought I'd lost my ability to shoot until someone explained it to me. I'm still not entirely comfortable with the "tactical" approach, having grown up in a "target" world. so the laser provides an extra reassurance. And I see the redundancy in the aiming systems as a useful device in case one of them fails.

I probably do a lot of things in a way that you'd regard as "silly" - lots of people think I go to extremes of detail and effort in a lot of areas. Some of my clients compare me to the "Monk" tv character played by Tony Shalhoub. I'm not obsessive/compulsive, just compulsive. On the other hand, I don't have to deal with nearly as many problems as other people do, and I win cases (I do litigation for fun and profit) because I run circles around larger and more prestigious firms by being more diligent and careful.

Silly, yet effective.

And about those neat little fenix LED flashlights, if you use the coupon code "cpf8" at checkout then you get 8% off the total, so I bought the single AA version and the single AAA version for just over $90.

http://www.bobtuley.com/pointshooting.htm#defined

Excerpt from link posted above:

"Snub Nose Revolvers:
The authors experiments with small framed S&W revolvers, like the Chief's Special and J Frame revolvers, proved that they are some of the most effective point shooting pistols. The pistols, when provided with older style original S&W wooden grips, provide consistent accurate grouping when utilized for one handed point shooting. When used with the newer style rubber grips, the guns are less effective for the sake of accuracy when used for point-shooting."

Yeah, but how a set of stocks fits one's hands is a highly individual thing. Myself, I like S&W factory wood stocks with some sort of frontstrap grip adapter. I've got friends who need a lot bigger set-up.

I noticed when point shooting my RB J frame i was hitting low.Changed over to a RB to SB conversion[service stocks],added a Tylet T-Grip and the gun naturally points level fo me.The kick-out provided by the SB pushes it up off of my palm to level it out.The SB were the grips these folks in the link were talking about[i think the article was written when most J frames were SB.]I agree with Erich that it is a matter of individual preference and size and shape of hand.

I've found that it's hard to get my left (weak) hand trigger finger on the trigger fast with traditional style wood grips on a J frame round butt. Right hand works fine. I guess my right hand hand nose picker is more limber. Anyway Altamont boot grips solved the problem.

I agree with what others have said, a practiced shot can really get some serious lead on target fast with a J frame. The key is mastering the double action trigger pull. If your trigger pull is all wet, a J will reveal it more than the bigger guns. A good broken in trigger is a big help also. I have small hands and am very comfortable with J frames.