JAB

To my mind, given the area where I live, the places I frequent, my lifestyle and so on - and given the very low likelihood that I will ever even need to draw my firearm at all to defend myself - I would posit that I have a greater chance of being killed by falling space debris than of being in a situation where the capacity of a j-frame isn't 'enough', where I am going to need to 'score hits' with a handgun in self defense at what I would honestly consider rifle, not self defense handgun, ranges/distances yet not be able to find cover to get behind in order to reload.  Could it happen?  Sure - and a lingering chunk of Sputnik could finally leave its low Earth orbit after 60 odd years and konk me on the noggin' but it ain't likely.  This is, of course, just my thinking and not meant to challenge or antagonize anyone else.

I think if I were going to carry a semi-auto in the class of a .22LR then I would opt for a .25acp, instead, for the simple reason that the .25 was designed as and always intended to be a semiauto round.  The fact that the .25 is a centerfire round rather than rimfire doesn't hurt, either.  Often the guns are the same size (with the exact, same models being offered by some companies and the only difference being the caliber for which they are chambered) and it is said that Browning designed the .25acp to be roughly the equivalent of a .22LR that would actually be reliable in a small semiauto.  In fact, he supposedly set out to design a .22LR 'vest pocket pistol' only to realize that .22LR wasn't a very good choice for the platform due to reliability issues - prompting him to create the .25 round and pistol.  Yes, .25 ammo is more expensive than .22LR (assuming you can actually find .22 ammo) but I doubt this is going to be a 'plinker' and isn't it worth spending a little more $$$ on ammo to gain reliability in an, "Oh, crap," type of situation?  There are those who claim that the .22LR has more velocity ("power") than the .25acp but I believe that is usually because they are comparing .22LR fired from a rifle to .25acp fired from a pocket pistol.  That is an apples and orangutans comparison.   All that said, while I own a small .25acp pistol and sometimes carry it around the house I think the advent of the KelTec P32 several years ago further marginalized .22LR and .25acp pistols as primary carry guns.  I don't own a P32, myself (although I do have its sibling, the P3AT) but my mom does.  Having fired hers, I can say that the recoil is pretty minimal - not much (if any) more felt recoil than a small .22LR pistol.  The trade off is that the .32 offers a (slightly) bigger, heavier bullet that seems to move at comparable velocities (at least based on what I found at Ballistics by the Inch.)  Sure, if JHPs are used without taking steps to prevent it there is the potential for rim lock but the steps to prevent that potential are pretty easy to take.  Of course, that gets in to the debate over whether or not one should even use JHPs for carry in a .32.   As others have said, if I were going to carry a .22LR it would be a revolver.  However, I'd feel better with one of the higher-than-standard capacity .22WMR revolvers that are out there (like the 9 shot Taurus that Jonnin mentioned.)  The only bad thing I have to say about rimfire revolvers is that the triggers are often pretty heavy and apparently can't be lightened much without further compromising reliability.       Consider, however, that many .22LR (and .22 WMR) revolvers hold more than the five or six that are standard in centerfire revolvers.  For instance, Jonnin mentioned that his wife has a Taurus .22LR revolver that holds 10 rounds.  That is as much as most semiauto magazines will hold (possibly more than some.)  Therefore, one could have as much ammo 'on board' in the revolver as the semiauto and be able to keep firing after a 'dud' without having to tap, rack, flip, slam, scatter, smother or cover :) .  Okay, you could up the semiauto capacity by one with a round chambered but is that one round really that big a deal?  Were I going to carry a rimfire revolver for SD it would definitely be one of the higher capacity models in WMR.

      The .30 Carbine was near $30 per box - something like $28 or $29 and change.  Sorry, didn't notice the price on the Blackout.  I only noticed the .30 Carbine price because I have an M1.  I started to take a picture but didn't because I wanted to hurry and get a few things I needed and get out before I started feeling bad.  I mostly was wondering if .22LR supplies had gotten any better during the couple of months I have been more or less out of commission.  Answer: Nope.  It would be kind of nice if I could count on regularly finding .30 Carbine at Wally when I want/need it.

I was in the Rockwood Walmart the other day and of course just had to swing by the ammo shelves.  When I did, I saw something that just struck me as odd.  Of course there was no .22LR in the place, not even a 50 round box.  What they did have (among other things), however was a big stack of 50 round boxes of Remington UMC .30 Carbine ammo.  They also had a big stack of 300 Blackout ammo.  I don't recall having ever seen .30 Carbine ammo at any Walmart, before and I have certainly never seen 300 Blackout ammo at a Walmart.  My first thought was, "When you see a big stack of .30 Carbine ammo and a big stack of 300 Blackout ammo at Walmart and there is absolutely no .22LR ammo, you know something is off."

Dampened/wet coffee grounds make a good, natural looking stain for leather. I just rub it on and let it set a little while. I think it works better if you use hot coffee to dampen the grounds. In my experience, used grounds fresh out of the coffee maker don't work as well - I guess they lose a lot of their 'loose' color in the brewing process. Even with unused grounds it doesn't make a very dark stain but I think it looks nice and also think the color makes the leather look a little less 'brand new.'. Of course, time and use can do that, as well.

Well, I am back at work today.  I'm not really feeling up to being here but when the FMLA gets close to running out  - and leave time is even closer to running out (meaning no more paycheck with no more insurance soon to follow) there aren't that many options.  At least this place will be shut down for a couple of weeks for the holidays after Friday so I guess this is a good week to return.   My surgery wound still isn't completely healed.  There is a section at the top that is still open and still has to be packed and covered.  A healing wound of this nature will throw false results in a PET scan so the oncologist scheduled the scan for the 22nd.  I hope the wound is healed enough to proceed by then.  After that the oncologist will know more about how to proceed.  Chemo is pretty much a given but I guess the scan will help determine the aggressiveness.  I am not sure they could start chemo before the surgery wound heals, anyhow.

Thanks for all the well wishes. I still haven't seen the Oncologist. I have an appointment next week. The big thing is that they will need to do a test (a PET? scan) to determine if the cancer has remained localized - being that it is stage 3 and they found some cancer in a couple of lymph nodes - or if it has spread. If localized, we'll be looking at how to cure me. If it has spread through my body, we'll be looking at predictions of how long I have. C'mon, local. The surgeon says that my ostomy should be temporary but that he doesn't want to do the reversal surgery until my chemo is done because he doesn't want to do anything that will delay the chemo. I outright hate the thing but at least it looks like it won't have to be permanent. As an extra, added bonus it looks like problems related to congestive heart failure are coming up, again. At its worst a handful of years ago, my ejection fraction got down to 15%. Normal for someone my age, etc. is about 70%. Mine got back up to about 65% but the scan done in the hospital indicated it is back down in the 35 to 40% range. So I have to see the cardiologist in a week or so, too.

A few weeks ago I was having trouble 'going'. I thought it was just constipation. Long story short, turns out there was a blockage in my bowel. Things backed up so badly that my colon apparently perforated/ruptured. Three surgeries later, including removing my appendix, I now have a colostomy bag and a big incision in my abdomen that still isn't fully closed. To add to the fun, it seems the mass causing the blockage was cancerous. Haven't gotten much in to that part of treatment yet other than the certainty I will need chemo. Anyhow, just thought I would let folks know what is going on with me. Not sure how much I will be on for a while.

Now your other thread (25-50 yards) makes more sense.  Think of this - are you likely to have to take a shot for home defense that will exceed 50 yards?  You say that your friend is 'superb' with the M1 out to 150 and that you aren't much interested in shooting beyond 100.  That sounds, to me, like your M1 in stock form will easily do everything you want it to do.  Maybe your best bet is to skip adding optics, etc. and use that money to buy more ammo for more practice?  

.30 Carbine.  It was made for carbines.  It's right there in the name.   Lots of fun to shoot, low recoil, accurate and at 25 to 50 yards with the right ammo should have no problem getting the job done.  People claim they are 'underpowered' but the one I have belonged to my late, maternal grandfather who once told me that he had taken more deer with a .30 Carbine than any, other rifle he owned.  I mentioned that to my uncle (my dad's brother) a couple of weeks ago and he said that he (my uncle) had personally seen my grandfather take several deer with it.  One shot kills out to about 40 yards.  I know you didn't mention hunting - I am just using that as an example of what the .30 Carbine can do in the right hands.  Supposedly the .30 Carbine is roughly equivalent to a .357 Magnum.  You can get 15 and 30 round mags.  Ammo isn't exactly widely available, though.    I am also pretty fond of my Hi Point 995TS 9mm carbine.  Surprisingly accurate and reliable.  Major drawback is that there are only 10 round factory mags for it but there are other 9mm carbines that will accept higher capacity mags.  Ammo availability would be much better than .30 Carbine meaning you could plink/practice with it more.  From the numbers I have seen 9mm doesn't seem to pick up as much velocity/energy from a carbine vs. a full sized handgun as does something like .357 Magnum but again, with the right ammo it should be pretty capable.   I don't have a .357 carbine but I kinda wish I did (a lever carbine) and that is about all I can say about that.   Personally, I don't much enjoy 'plinking' with full on, centerfire rifle rounds (like 7.62X39 out of my SKS, for instance) all that much.  Shooting them at targets every once in a while when I can get to a range where I at least have a long enough shot to make it 'worth' it - like maybe 75 and 100 yard shots, sure, but at 50 and especially 25 yards, nah.  I'm sure some folks enjoy doing so but not me.  I don't own anything in .223/.556.

  I am glad you followed up and that your concerns were taken seriously.  I know some people advised that you just 'let it go' but I think it is good that you didn't.  Many of us complain (to each other/friends/family and so on) about poor customer service but as long as we don't follow up and get something done about it - as long as guys like this assistant manager get away with crap like this with no repercussions - there will be no improvement.  As I said, before, I frankly don't give a tinker's damn if someone is having a bad day there is no call for them to take it out on strangers/customers.  I mean I don't necessarily expect "Little Mary Sunshine" and don't even care if the person at the counter is a little grumpy, doesn't smile or so on but I do expect not to be treated downright rudely, I expect to get what I ordered (and paid for) and I expect not to be treated like it is my fault if they get my order wrong. 

If I had unlimited funds (rather than severely limited funds) I would have a Unimog set up as a camper.  For those who are unfamiliar with the Mercedes Unimog and its capabilities:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INxkz6UcNoE   I have seen them with a camper built on the back, before.

A couple of oldies but goodies:   Did you hear about the difference between a dead possum lying in the road and a dead politician lying in the road?   There might be skid marks in front of the possum.     and     Did you hear that they finally worked out the difference between Barack Obama and God?   God doesn't think he's Obama.

  Personally, I think they have a serious, irrational fear of an inanimate object that completely defies any logical explanation.  But that's just me.

Depends on the platform.  For a small, pocket gun I prefer revolvers because it is my belief that semi-autos in very small, light packages are riding a razor's edge for reliability even in .380 (although I do carry a P3AT sometimes.)  I would think that would be even more true in 9mm.  Also, for 'up close and personal' shooting at literal contact distance a revolver won't fail to go into battery if you have to shoot with the muzzle pressed into an assailant's gut whereas a semiauto can.  .38 Special is made for revolvers.  No moon clips needed, no having to punch empties out with a stick if you load loose rounds, no need to worry about some 'wonky' cylinder construction in order to avoid using moon clips.  Personally, at the level of performance either round would give from a small, pocket gun my thinking is that getting shot is getting shot and, as others have said, shot placement is going to be the difference.  Further, in such small guns it isn't like the capacity of a semi-auto is that much higher - certainly not enough higher to offset (for me) the advantages I believe a revolver has over a semi in a gun that is small enough to fit in a pocket (or very easily hide in a belt holster.)   Now, in a platform that is a little bigger - say, once you get big enough that the .38 would have a four inch barrel and the 9mm could accept standard capacity mags - I think the advantage would shift to the 9mm for carry.  Although I am largely a revolver guy if I am going to have something of that size on my belt it is hard to deny the advantage of 16 rounds vs. 6.  I also think that the 9mm's velocity/energy advantage would be more marked in guns of that size.  Just my :2cents: .

  At first blush that might seem to make sense but if you really consider that statement a little more deeply it really makes absolutely no sense, whatsoever.  A person who is going to illegally buy a gun and illegally own a gun probably won't worry too much about illegally carrying a gun.  Laws, in reality, only restrict the actions of those who are willing to follow them either because they believe that following the law is the 'right' thing to do or because they do not want to deal with the potential consequences of not doing so.  Criminals do not follow the law - that is why they are called 'criminals'.  So, the only people whose actions are restricted by HCP laws and requirements are the law-abiding citizens that aren't going to be a problem, anyway.  The same goes for the stupid signs at posted businesses.  Imagine a guy with a history of armed robbery saying something like, "Man, I'd really like to rob that bank.  First thing I'd do is shoot the security guard.  Too bad I can't legally carry a gun to do it with and even if I could they got one of those 'no gun' signs up so I guess I'll just get me an honest job, instead."  I mean, is a person who is willing to commit a serious crime like armed robbery or even murder really going to care that it is illegal for him (or her) to carry a gun for the purpose of doing so?  The strange thing is, businesses that post and anti-gun groups that push them to do so - as well as people who oppose relaxing carry laws - act as if that is exactly what they think will happen.

  Me, too - especially if it is a Saturday morning I go in expecting to be there for an hour or so.  If I don't specifically need to talk to Robbie it is usually pretty easy to get Ben's attention.  He might be having a conversation with someone else but he will interrupt that to ask if I need any help.

  I went in there once when they first opened.  Once.  Noticed the staff was wearing 'Carry Permit' badges and have not been back.

  My favorite, too.  I don't think the staff 'ignores' people on purpose so much as the regulars like to talk to them and Robbie tends to try to do ten things at once.  Saturday mornings are especially hectic in there.  I have had a couple of guns that had to go back to the factory for work and Robbie never has a problem sending them with one of his shipments.  Because of that I have yet to send anything back to the factory on my dime.  He even sent a P3AT that needed repairs back for me that I didn't even buy from him (and I told him that I hadn't.)   Frontier used to be okay but pretty high priced back when they were in the little shop.  Some of their staff were better than others but overall they were pretty good.  Since the move to the bigger/better facility, though, I don't like going in there very much.   I have heard good things about Fugate's down on the other side of Athens (I guess it is in Calhoun or Charleston) but have never been in there.  There is Loudon County Sportsman in Lenoir City but the guns there must all have gold lined barrels based on the prices I have seen.  Benton Shooter's Supply down on the other side of Delano is a big store with a good selection but they are also very 'proud' of their merchandise.  I kind of got turned off of them back during the last ammo shortage when they were splitting Remington UMC 100 round value pack boxes of .380 ammo and selling them in trays of 50 for as much as what the whole 100 round packs cost at Walmart.  Smacked a little too much of Cheaper than Dirt's business practices for my liking.  That was reinforced the last time I was in there a month or two ago and saw that their regular, run of the mill .22LR was priced at $7.00 or more for a box of 50.  That's worse than Gouger Mountain!  They actually had more .22LR on the shelf than I have seen in a long time and, as far as I am concerned, they can keep it.  I did get a decent (not great but decent) deal on a used Super Blackhawk in .44 Magnum there a few years back.

  Me, too.   Great looking knife, really nice work.  As usual.

I'm kind of in the same mind about a knife.  I have no training or experience with knife fighting so, for me, a knife is more a tool than a weapon.  Not that I wouldn't try to use it in self defense if I had no, other choice but for that matter I'd use a dead cat for self defense if that were all I could lay hands on at the time.  I like folding pocket knives but just think that - for some things - a fixed blade makes a better 'tool' than a folder.  That is why I liked the Paklite rather than a more 'tactical' type knife for this purpose, as well.   I have a few neck knives but because of what they are and how they are intended to be carried the blades on them are so small and 'light' that they probably wouldn't be too much more effective as a tool for slightly heavier tasks than a folder.  Fine for light work or as a SD option but not as substantial as the Paklite. 

  A second belt loop would likely hold the sheath tighter but then the sheath would have to be wider.  I was going to put two loops on - one at each end - and not put one in the center so I could center them over the rear belt loop on my pants like I would do with a pancake holster.  Problem was, the sheath is too narrow at the ends meaning the loops weren't wide enough to allow my belt through.  The only place it was wide enough was at the center and there was only room for one loop.  This could, of course, be remedied by making the sheath wider but that could run in to its own issues.   For me, the reason for coming up with this is that I already have too much 'stuff' vying for a spot at or around the 4:00 - 5:00 position.  My cellphone is usually there but if I carry a gun on my belt (rather than in my pocket) then it goes there and my cellphone goes in my pocket.  There is simply no place for a knife there.  It could go handle forward on the left side at about 9:00 but that would mean having 'stuff' on both sides of my belt and I think that would get annoying.   I think (and actually have thought about this, before) that if I were going to carry a knife in the 4:00-5:00 position and I didn't want to carry in a straight verticle, I'd go with more of a slightly 'diagonal' position rather than a true horizontal.  I'd also likely be carrying closer to a 3:30 position.  Kind of like carrying a gun with a forward cant to the grips.  I've also seen where some folks carry a small, fixed blade (even smaller than the Paklite) horizontally on their weak side but right up close to the belt buckle.

  Exactly. :pleased:

  But you aren't determining the difference between the two calibers in the SAME gun because NO gun is actually being used.  As you said, it is a simulation.  I'm saying that I'll take REAL results from 'close' barrel lengths over theoretical simulations of guns and loads that don't even really exist, at all, period, in any way, shape form or fashion.  If you prefer the latter over the former then that is for you to decide and none of my business.  I, on the other hand, will continue to place more trust in results gained from firing a real bullet from a real load through a real gun.  I'm not trying to be a jerk, be dense or be argumentative but I really can't understand how a fantasy result from a computer simulation could be seen as more 'valid' than physically shooting real ammo through real guns and measuring the real results.   You are right in that the added 1/2 inch or so might make a difference.  In this case, as I said before, any 'advantage' in that match up would go to the 9mm - and it still only made 32.3 ft lbs more energy than the .38.  To me, that is a significant bit of real world data that makes me suspect that what we might 'expect' from the higher pressure, etc. of the 9mm based on data and simulations does not actually prove to be true in physical reality.   You are also right in that a snub isn't going to make the kind of energy a service sized gun will make.  I also think that the differences would be more pronounced when a couple of inches are added to the pipe.  Further - and perhaps even more importantly - the hotter loads are going to be much more 'shootable' from a larger gun.  So, again, I am not saying that 9mm isn't potentially more 'powerful' than .38.  I am saying that - in loads that most people would be willing to regularly shoot through a small, light handgun such as a snubnosed revolver - I do not believe there is going to be much difference in the end results.

Thanks, GT! :rofl: Here ya' go: For some reason, I think the pic makes it look like the knife handle sticks out more than it really does. I say that because, as you can see, it hides pretty well under just a t-shirt: