Will Carry

When I go to the range with my Bisley, I take my time, get my breathing right, proper grip, correct stance and work on my trigger pull. You only get 5-6 shots before you have to reload so each one has to count. It's beautiful! I used my Bisley Vaquero for our companies unofficial pistol competition and won. I had the only revolver, everyone else had semis. Mine is a .357 magnum to match my Henry Big Boy and that's what a shoot in it. That thing gets so hot you burn yourself reloading it. I could iron my shirts with it. I am looking forward to getting a Colt 45 single action but they are very expensive yet if I clean my safe from all the closet queens I could probably buy one.

I bought a Ruger Bisley Vaquero that has fixed sights. I was worried about the sights not being adjustable, but they are dead on. My "Holy Grail" is the Colt single action......one day.

I realize that a 38 special has less recoil than a .44 special, but if you ever have to use a 38 for self defense, you will wish it was a .44 special. Those are some fine revolvers you have. I have been wanting a Charter Arms Bulldog for many years but the price and availability of ammo gives me second thoughts. I know they make 45acp revolvers with moon clips and now without moon clips but if I'm going to carry a 45acp it's not going to be in a revolver. One day I'll find me a .44 Special.

The XD-45 is a great handgun. It will serve you well. I traded mine for a PPQ-45. The PPQ is a fine handgun but no better than the XD in most aspects.

I would take my Smith and Wesson model 36 3" with the square butt grip. I can yank that little smoke wagon and put two rounds in you before you can clear the holster with that Glock 19. OK I'm just trash talking. For me, the model 36 is that fastest handgun I own to draw and fire two aimed shots, but I ain't Wild Bill Hickok.

The only reason I bought the danged pistol was because the Army adopted it. They had good luck with the 1911 and the Berretta. I have the sub compact. It seems to be a well built pistol, I would like a pinky extension on the magazine. Plus the 12 round magazine will only hold 11 rounds. It hasn't blown up yet.

I would not recommend a Ruger LCR. It's light weight makes the recoil a little worser. I would go for a Smith & Wesson 38 special but even though snub nosed revolvers are marketed for women, they are snappy and unpleasant to shoot and require a lot of practice to shoot accurately. Also, using a speed loader under duress is next to impossible. I still carry a speed loader because I will sure try to reload if I must. Smith and Wesson makes some revolvers with 3 and 4 inch barrels but they are expensive. Ruger makes a SP-101 that I would recommend also. If you had not asked for a revolver then that opens up a whole new world of possibilities. .380s, 9mm even .45 acps. M&Ps, XDs, Glocks, Sigs, Walther, Khar, CZs. The Smith and Wesson M&P line and the Walther PPK PPQ line are nice. Ruger makes some nice semi-autos too. The LC380.

I asked about getting a custom leather holster for my Sig sub compact. Several people mentioned Red Cent Custom Leather in McLeansville NC. I like buy local when I can so I called Harold and asked about a nice OWB holster. He asked where I wear my pistol, did I want it canted, did I want padding between the grip and my hip. did I want dark leather or light. The price was so reasonable that I had him make one for my S&W model 36 3". I got them in the mail last week. All I can say is WOW! The leather is dark brown, almost black, it is molded to a specific handgun and fits perfectly. It's canted enough that I can conceal as well as an IWB holster. The stitching is excellent. Red Cent Custom Leather will get more of my business. I am glad to have been able to buy locally from a skilled leather smith. I know you guys it Tennessee have some good leather smiths (is that the right term?) too.

I only need one gun, but since I can never decide on which one I bought one of each.

I have a Hi-Point Carbine. It has never failed to fire and the only thing I have cleaned is the bore. At 100 yards it's DNO. That being said, I would not carry a Hi-Point for self defense. That's just me. Remember Bob Ross, that painter on TV with the afro hair do? He was always saying "It's your painting. Do it like you want to." That's how I feel about firearms. If you want a Hi_Point, you won't be happy until you get one.

I had a pre-63 Winchester 30-30 when I was a kid. I never needed a scope back then, I had 20-15 vision. When I moved to Nashville to go to school, some punks broke into my house. I didn't have a gun safe. They got the 30-30 and my great grandfather's cake gun. A break top S&W 32 that one of his prisoner's wife brought to the jail, inside a cake. My Grandpa said "This cake is too big for one man. We'll share it with everybody." He did not arrest the woman. The punks in Nashville were arrested. My guns were never recovered. If I had both the Marlin and the Winchester side by side, I would pick the one with a smoother action.

You'll like it. I had one for many years and it was reliable and almost as accurate as my 1911. I sold it to buy a PPQ-45.

I keep all my weapons clean I spend more time cleaning my firearms than shooting them. The self defense ammo was 240gr Winchester Supreme elite XP or something or other and Golden Sabers in 185gr. The ammo I have seen defective out of the box is Winchester White Box. I found distorted 45acp round once. The feed ramp is polished nicely. I keep the slide rails lunbricated with just enough grease but not too much. I'm very particular about cleaning and lubricating my guns, although nobody is perfect .... at least I'm not. I have blown through most of my self defense ammo so I will try some HST and Hydro-Shoks. If that doesn't work I will replace the recoil springs and mag springs, or just get some new mags. I was at a gun show about ten years ago and was planning on buying a Taurus 1911. It was new then and claimed to have features you would only find in a custom 1911. I found the Taurus 1911 and picked it up to inspect it. The blueing looked awful! Red flags went up and I put it down. Then I looked over and saw this Colt Government model series 80 in stainless. A bigginers 1911. It was Purdy! and only a couple hundred bucks more than the Taurus. It was so uterrly reliable and accurate I never bother to try and customise it. I did learn how to reassemble it blindfolded. (from field stripping not total disassembly). I greatly appreciate the advice and do not assume I know anything about 1911s. I would rather you tell me things I already know (it never hurts) than have people think I know something I don't.

I usually run my self defense ammo through my guns when I go to the range, just to see if they would feed. Yesterday my 1911 had two failures in two magazine of high tech high dollar self JHP defense rounds. One round jammed in the top of the barrel. Another round failed to return to battery. I poked the first one with my finger (holding the slide) and the second I just pushed the slide forward. I then shot 200 rounds of WWB FMJs without a hitch. For 10 years that pistol has not failed to fire once, using all different kinds of ammo. What should I check? Magazines I use are Chuck Mcormick and Colt. I did not check the ammo. These high dollar rounds go in and out of all of my 45acp handguns. I have seen distorted casings and bullets before. Hmmmm? I had the range all to myself. It was great. I get a little nervous when the range is crowded. They don't have a Range Warden, they have cameras, which isn't the same. My shooting was terrible! I couldn't figure out what I was doing. Finally I figured it out while shooting my single action .357. By then I have 10 rounds left. I put six in a two inch circle and then 4, at 7 yards. That mo better.

Everybody and their brother seems to have an LCP. After I shot one, I lost interest. I got a Sig P-238 Equinox and it's a honey. I remember when the PMR30 was selling for way over it's list price. I friend of mine came up to me and said "I guy wants to sell me a KelTec PMR30 for $650. Is that a good price?" I told him that is was a $300 pistol and not to buy it.

I just sent my P320SC off to Exeter NH for the voluntary recall. Since my first post I have been shooting my P320SC, making sure not to drop it. I shoots great and it is well made! It will make a good carry weapon. I have found a guy who makes pinky extensions and found a guy who makes nice holsters. I am now thinking about going outside the waistban with a holster that sits up high on my hip.

Zarate is the illegal immigrant that shot and killed that young lady in San Fransisco. He claimed he found a bag with a gun in it and it just went off all by itself. The jury believed him and aquited him for manslaughter but gave him 2-3 years for being a felon with a firearm. The key to this "trial" was the defenses premise that the pistol, which was stolen from a LEO in Oregon, had been modified and had a "Hair Trigger". In my mind a "Hair Trigger" is not a measure of force. I would have liked to have known (had i been on the jury) how the pistol was modified. What the trigger pull was and has a gunsmith checked out this weapon to see if it had any defects that would have caused the pistol to discharge. Why the DA did not go down this path? Maybe the pistol was modified and they didn't want to go there or maybe it was a politically motivated trial to get back a Donald Trump. I also thought that cops did not modify their weapons because of potential liability in a court of law. Masaad Ayoob touches on that often in his writing.

I love those "slice of life" stories! Tennessee has changed so much in the last 30 years that it is important to write these stories lest they be forgotten. If things had been different, I would still be in Tennessee. Instead of the New New Jersey, suburban hell I live in now. They are gobbling up farmland at an alarming rate. Poor country folk are selling their land to the gentry and moving to the cities to find work. In Scotland, 97% of the land is owned by 3% of the people. North Carolina is doing the same. Tennessee ain't far behind. The Cumberland Plateau was once inhabited by poor country folk, now I see a lot of retirement communities of retired Yankees and Country Clubs. I want to tell a story now! I'll write it this evening and post it.

I bought the P-320 sub-compact because I wanted a small double stack 9mm. It was one of those impulse buys. Then I found out that they didn't make a pinky extension for the magazine or many accessories at all and I'm having trouble finding a good IWB holster. It is also hard to get that 12th round into the magazine. I am overall dissatisfied with it so far. I hope our troops are not. Sig E-Mailed me a few weeks ago and said they would let me know when I could send it back for the voluntary recall.

Mine runs like a swiss watch. I don't have 1000 rounds through it though. I love the pistol but I have started carrying the Ruger LC9s or a S & W model 36 so it has become a safe queen. I need to take it out and start running some ammo through it.

Wicked! I want one! One of the engineers I work with has an Obsessive Compultion disorder and has gotten in to knife edges and sharpening. He bought me a leather strap, a ceramic stick and a pocket microscope. The Microscope is a big hit with me. It has a 60-120 power lense and a small LED light. I can look at an edge that appears really sharp and see all kinds of distortions. Take the same edge and work it with a leather strap and ceramic rod and you can see the difference in the edge through the microscope. It cost $11 for the microscope. if you are interested and have OCD, I can send you a link for the pocket microscope.

Nate Squared or N82 holsters are made in Lexington NC. When I got my Nate Squared holster I put all the others away. They got it right! I highly recommend them. I recently purchased a Sig P-320 (should have got the Glock) and I wanted a holster for it because it would not fit in my N82 holster I use for my pocket 9mms. Nate had one and it's his new model called the twist release retension holster. It's made the same way as my old holster accept it has this twist release function. You cannot draw the weapon unless you twist it slighly clockwise, then pull. It's has gotten some good reviews. I practiced for a week in front of the mirror. If I did it right, the weapon was released just fine but if you pull first then twist you will not be able to draw the pistol. Then there is my spare tire. I have put on a little weight in the past few years and the fat hanging over my belt got in the way of my twisting. I had to send it back. I wasn't able to draw it 100% of the time in my living room mirror. I would hate to have to draw it under stress. No worries now. My Sig P-320 evidently can be used as a hand grenade and I am waiting to send it back to Sig for the recall work.

I have found an N82 holster that is so comfortable you can't even feel it. I leave it in the holster because sometimes I spill my water on the night stand and I do not want my little friend to get wet.

My CZ-75 is all metal accept for the guide rod, which is plastic. I thought that was kind of cheesy for CZ to go cheap on the guide rod for and otherwise well made pistol. I was going to order an aftermarket guide rod until I read that the plastic guide rod was installed on purpose. It has something to do with preventing wear or something another. I has never given me any problems but every time I strip it for cleaning it bothers me. My CZ-75 SP-01 is my range gun. It's a honey! I bought a holster for it from Israel that has a spare mag pouch on it. It's like wearing an anvil on my side. It pulls my pants down so much I don't use it. It's in a bag with all the other holsters I have bought and don't use.

My favorite range 9mm is the CZ-75 but it's too heavy for carry. I have two Sigs, the P-320 and P-238. The P-320 is waiting to be recalled so SIG is on my bad side right now. The Ruger LC9s has a sweet trigger but the mag release has given me trouble. I have one 9mm that doesn't stand out at all. It has a weird trigger, the sights are odd and it has a grip like a 2 x 4. It's the one I go to. I call it the Barvarian Brick others call it a Glock 19.