Erich
Member
I'm one of those guys who carries a bunch of different guns (one at a time!), depending on where I'm going, what I'm wearing, etc. I have gotten to where I only carry guns that will give me a DA first shot, but I'll carry semiautos sometimes and revolvers other. I will use a .45 ACP revolver by the bedside, and carry a RAMI 9mm during the day. I'll hike and carry a 1076, but sometimes I'll carry a 36-1. Sometimes I'll pocket-carry a P232 or a 38-2 or a RAMI, sometimes I'll IWB a P239 or a 1076 or a 65-5 or a 36-1. It just depends on my mood.
My first gun was a .38 Spl snub, a Taurus Model 85 stainless 2". My lack of experience caused me to buy into the then-current "kinetic energy means stopping power" nonsense, and I carried it loaded with 95-grain +P Silvertips. Nothing like stoking sub-.380 loads (when you consider how they did out of the short .38 barrel) in a .38 revolver.
Glad I never had to use them . . . .
I pretty quickly moved away from the .38 Spl, convinced that it wouldn't penetrate adequately (and, with those loads, I was right!). I went to a 9mm, then to a .357, then through literally dozens and dozens of guns over the years.
But I always loaded for the .38 Spl. Easy to shoot, accurate, and - I figured - "good enough" in a pinch. When I began working in criminal law I saw just how good it did work against human targets. And, as I became more experienced as a handloader, and began to hang around with and read very experienced handloaders, I began to realize that the "modern" +P loads were really not the pinnacle of .38 Spl development. In fact, the old .38/44 loads were some really hard-hitting rounds, actually outperforming many of today's factory .357 Magnum loads.
With the help of my more-experienced friends (including my friends here) I've started loading those rounds (a 160-grain LSWC at 1230 fps from a 4" K-frame with a SD of under 3 fps!). And I've developed my own defensive rounds that ought to work just dandy (a DEWC at 895 fps from a 1 7/8" tube) from the easily concealed .38 revolvers.
There's no question that there's something to be said for training with one type of gun, and there's no question that for me a DA J-frame revolver is the easiest gun to conceal in the widest variety of clothes as well as the fastest thing on target from deep cover. Revolvers sure don't hold many rounds and I've never gotten to where I feel I'm especially fast at reloading them (tho I might be faster than a few of you out there - I have worked at this a bit
), but the stats show that it's profoundly unlikely that I'd have to reload in defense of myself or another.
And many friends whom I respect are traditionalists who've never felt the need to move away from blued steel and walnut. I've talked with them over the years about my realization that they are completely right.
So, I started to think. And I wondered if I could carry just .38 Special revolvers for a month. To stop carrying all the other handguns, on hikes, in town, on the nightstand. And I talked it over with a few friends, and they all encouraged me to try it out, just for the heck of it.
So, I'm going to be trying to carry nothing but .38 Special handguns until 2008 comes around.
Heck, and blued ones at that! I may shoot other guns at the range, and I have other long guns around in the house, but I've put all the other guns up. If I'm in my dress pants, if I'm doing yardwork, if I'm sleeping with a gun on the nightstand, if I'm hiking up Bear Canyon (and the bears are out and about - scat everywhere!), I'll be carrying a blued .38 Special S&W revolver until 2008.
Wish me luck!
I'll try to update this if anything eventful comes to mind.
My first gun was a .38 Spl snub, a Taurus Model 85 stainless 2". My lack of experience caused me to buy into the then-current "kinetic energy means stopping power" nonsense, and I carried it loaded with 95-grain +P Silvertips. Nothing like stoking sub-.380 loads (when you consider how they did out of the short .38 barrel) in a .38 revolver.
I pretty quickly moved away from the .38 Spl, convinced that it wouldn't penetrate adequately (and, with those loads, I was right!). I went to a 9mm, then to a .357, then through literally dozens and dozens of guns over the years.
But I always loaded for the .38 Spl. Easy to shoot, accurate, and - I figured - "good enough" in a pinch. When I began working in criminal law I saw just how good it did work against human targets. And, as I became more experienced as a handloader, and began to hang around with and read very experienced handloaders, I began to realize that the "modern" +P loads were really not the pinnacle of .38 Spl development. In fact, the old .38/44 loads were some really hard-hitting rounds, actually outperforming many of today's factory .357 Magnum loads.
With the help of my more-experienced friends (including my friends here) I've started loading those rounds (a 160-grain LSWC at 1230 fps from a 4" K-frame with a SD of under 3 fps!). And I've developed my own defensive rounds that ought to work just dandy (a DEWC at 895 fps from a 1 7/8" tube) from the easily concealed .38 revolvers.
There's no question that there's something to be said for training with one type of gun, and there's no question that for me a DA J-frame revolver is the easiest gun to conceal in the widest variety of clothes as well as the fastest thing on target from deep cover. Revolvers sure don't hold many rounds and I've never gotten to where I feel I'm especially fast at reloading them (tho I might be faster than a few of you out there - I have worked at this a bit
And many friends whom I respect are traditionalists who've never felt the need to move away from blued steel and walnut. I've talked with them over the years about my realization that they are completely right.
So, I started to think. And I wondered if I could carry just .38 Special revolvers for a month. To stop carrying all the other handguns, on hikes, in town, on the nightstand. And I talked it over with a few friends, and they all encouraged me to try it out, just for the heck of it.
So, I'm going to be trying to carry nothing but .38 Special handguns until 2008 comes around.
Wish me luck!
