What does it say about a man...

[Will Carry]

who has a gun safe full of "full capacity" tactical hand guns, but defends his home with a 5 shot 38sp snub nosed revolver?

The first place a burglar looks when he breaks in a house is the bedroom closet, then the night stand next to the bed. They will even look under the bed and between the mattress. Next to jewelry, fire arms are the most desirable item for a thief.

My gun safe is hidden behind a false wall in a closet. You don't even know it's there. Everything in my home that hints I am a gun owner is in that safe. If someone were to break in my home while I'm out working for a living, they would have no indication that I was a gun owner. No holsters in my top drawer, no bags of brass casings, nothing. A burglar may notice that I keep books on my bedside table, but I figure a burglar has no use for books and maybe he won't notice that one is hollowed out with my snubby in it. Maybe I need a bigger book? Recon?

Edited March 10, 2010 by Will Carry

[oldogy]

Interesting. It tells me the man is confident in his skill with a snubby. Ever hear of "mugging money" or cheap "decoys"?

oldogy

[Derek]

Interesting. It tells me the man is confident in his skill with a snubby.

nicely stated

[Will Carry]

Crimson Trace. and lots of range time.

When I went to San Francisco I had a decoy wallet. I wasted three days of my life in that town. Hated it. Too dad gum crowded for my likes. People were smoking pot on the street! Smelled like a college dormatory. A concealed handgun would be useless on those crowded streets. You couldn't walk one block without some poor homeless dude asking for money. It costed me $40 a day just to park my car. I was so glad when that plane touched down in North Carolina, I wanted to kiss the tarmac,

[gunsablazin]

To each their own, but a "snubby .38" would not be a first choice for home defense, and I shoot one pretty well. If you have better options why not use them? I have a friend who has a carry permit, and a nice collection of good defensive pistols, Glocks, 1911s etc. and he carries(when he carries) a Taurus .25, I don't get that at all and I have told him so. He is afraid of getting one of his better guns stolen etc. I agree with locking up your guns, I do the same, but if I need to get between a bad guy and my wife and children, I want something more than a snubby. My:2cents:

[Guest bkelm18]

To each their own, but a "snubby .38" would not be a first choice for home defense, and I shoot one pretty well. If you have better options why not use them? I have a friend who has a carry permit, and a nice collection of good defensive pistols, Glocks, 1911s etc. and he carries(when he carries) a Taurus .25, I don't get that at all and I have told him so. He is afraid of getting one of his better guns stolen etc. I agree with locking up your guns, I do the same, but if I need to get between a bad guy and my wife and children, I want something more than a snubby. My:2cents:

A hit with a snubby is better than a miss with a 1911. Use what you are proficient with. Like you said, to each their own. No need to chastise someone on their choice for home defense.

[gunsablazin]

No offense intended, just stating my opinion.

[Will Carry]

You have a good point Gunsablazin. That's why I asked. I'm thinking about carving out a bigger book for my XD-45 maybe even my Colt 1991. My eyes, as I have gotten older, will no longer focus well on pistol sights. I have found that Crimson Trace help a lot. I have them on several of my pistols.

1) First you find a book that you will never read again that is big enough to accommodate the pistol.

2) Place a piece of waxed paper in the front of the book and glue the outside of the pages with Elmers glue. The wax paper will enable you to open the book after the glue dries, the glue will hold the pages together while you cut.

3) Draw an outline of the gun on the first page, then start cutting the outline with a sharp knife or box cutter. Make the outline 1/4 bigger than the pistol.

4) When you finish, you can put the book on a book shelf and it will look just like a book. It's the oldest trick in the book, but a crack head ain't read the book. Hopefully.

Edited March 9, 2010 by Will Carry

[nightrunner]

definetely not saying its a poor choice because there are people that are better with manually operated firearms than semi-autos, example, SA revolvers than 1911 or glock or a single shot break action rifle than a lever action or bolt action .

how about a subcompact glock or XD in that same size book?

or you could just get an encyclopedia and hollow it out for a Desert Eagle

[Will Carry]

I could do it with a Glock 36 but I'm thinking XD-45. (13+1) All I have to do it talk my wife out of here Betty Crocker Cook Book.

[nightrunner]

now your talking!

[oldogy]

FWIW, big old books can be purchased very cheaply at a book sale. Check with your library for sale dates.

oldogy

[DaveTN]

Get a dog and none of that stuff is even an issue.

[Guest clsutton21]

who has a gun safe full of "full capacity" tactical hand guns, but defends his home with a 5 shot 38sp snub nosed revolver?

The first place a burglar looks when he breaks in a house is the bedroom closet, then the night stand next to the bed. They will even look under the bed and between the mattress. Next to jewelry, fire arms are the most desirable item for a thief.

My gun safe is hidden behind a false wall in a closet. You don't even know it's there. Everything in my home that hints I am a gun owner is in that safe. If someone were to break in my home while I'm out working for a living, they would have no indication that I was a gun owner. No holsters in my top drawer, no bags of brass casings, nothing. A burglar may notice that I keep books on my bedside table, but I figure a burglar has no use for books and maybe he won't notice that one is hollowed out with my snubby in it. Maybe I need a bigger book? Recon?

Now I know where your safe is...along with anyone else that wants to check it out.

[Kelemvor]

No offense Will, but you seem to have a lot of paranoia about your stuff being stolen and too much faith in your ability to stop intruders with your 5-shot .38spl.

I can understand you being paranoid about your guns being stolen, but it would typically follow that you would also be paranoid about being attacked. I could also see you being relaxed enough to only really want a small revolver to defend yourself, but then it would follow that you wouldn't really be all that concerned about your guns being stolen either.

Everyone has their own opinions about home defense, but I am inclined to want to place myself at an unfair advantage. I want to have the better weapon, training, and situational awareness if and when my house is invaded. If there are 2 or more BG's I want to have enough rounds to sufficiently neutralize all of them and have more rounds in the magazine if anyone else shows up. I also want to be able to reload quickly if necessary. A revolver does not do that for me. That's my take on it. I hope it's never put to the test.

[Guest mikedwood]

I could do it with a Glock 36 but I'm thinking XD-45. (13+1) All I have to do it talk my wife out of here Betty Crocker Cook Book.

Thrift shops have large books cheap sometimes.

[StPatrick]

You could also attach a holster to the back of your nightstand, or other easily accessible / concealed location.

[Guest smileyguy]

Well, I keep a 7 shot 357 bedside while my "tactical" handguns sit in the safe, but I also keep a Hawk 982 12 gauge pump bedside. It's a great gun despite the Chi-com bashers. Better fire power than ANY handgun, and If it gets stolen, hey, it's a $200 gun. No big loss.

[redneck]

Well, I keep a 7 shot 357 bedside while my "tactical" handguns sit in the safe, but I also keep a Hawk 982 12 gauge pump bedside. It's a great gun despite the Chi-com bashers. Better fire power than ANY handgun, and If it gets stolen, hey, it's a $200 gun. No big loss.

Well I hate to admit this , But I keep (2) 9mm and (2) 12ga by the bed .

[Guest smileyguy]

Well I hate to admit this , But I keep (2) 9mm and (2) 12ga by the bed .

Nuttin' wrong with being prepared redneck.

[JAB]

I routinely and purposefully choose one of my revolvers over one of my semiautos to be the 'bedside gun'. For years, my go to bedside handgun was a Colt Police Positive that was built in the late '70s. Currently, the bedside gun is the Taurus 66 I picked up earlier this month.

I like revolvers for this purpose because if needed I will have been awakened rather suddenly and rudely from sleep and may have to shoot from a prone position with a less than optimal grip (if I have advanced warning, I'm going for the shotgun hidden just a few feet away, anyhow.) Revolvers don't care if you limp-wrist them. They don't care if you shoot them at odd angles. I don't have to worry about clearing jams with my hands shaking from nerves, in the dark, still half asleep at 3 in the morning. If the intruder is already at contact distance by the time I get a shot off, I don't have to worry about pressing the muzzle into his gut, etc. pushing the slide out of battery and preventing it from firing. If I can't get the job done with six shots, that should at least be enough to get me to the shotgun.

Using revolvers is just simple and they just plain work (yeah, I know - if a revolver jams it can be impossible to fix without a competent gunsmith but that is a pretty unlikely 'if'.) If I wind up in a true shooting scenario, I'm sure adrenaline and nerves will kick into high gear in which case simple would be good. That is why I sometimes even choose to carry my .38 snubbie instead of a semiauto.

[Guest smileyguy]

I routinely and purposefully choose one of my revolvers over one of my semiautos to be the 'bedside gun'. For years, my go to bedside handgun was a Colt Police Positive that was built in the late '70s. Currently, the bedside gun is the Taurus 66 I picked up earlier this month.

I like revolvers for this purpose because if needed I will have been awakened rather suddenly and rudely from sleep and may have to shoot from a prone position with a less than optimal grip (if I have advanced warning, I'm going for the shotgun hidden just a few feet away, anyhow.) Revolvers don't care if you limp-wrist them. They don't care if you shoot them at odd angles. I don't have to worry about clearing jams with my hands shaking from nerves, in the dark, still half asleep at 3 in the morning. If the intruder is already at contact distance by the time I get a shot off, I don't have to worry about pressing the muzzle into his gut, etc. pushing the slide out of battery and preventing it from firing. If I can't get the job done with six shots, that should at least be enough to get me to the shotgun.

Using revolvers is just simple and they just plain work (yeah, I know - if a revolver jams it can be impossible to fix without a competent gunsmith but that is a pretty unlikely 'if'.) If I wind up in a true shooting scenario, I'm sure adrenaline and nerves will kick into high gear in which case simple would be good. That is why I sometimes even choose to carry my .38 snubbie instead of a semiauto.

Well said. I use the same HD set up, revolver & shotgun, for a lot of those reasons. The reliability of the revolver is hard to beat.

[Guest Rockman]

How to choose?? Would I use the 3" S&W 696 "L" frame loaded with Winchester 44 special silvertips, the 3 1/2 " Model 27 loaded with good .357 magnum rounds, or my .38 super Lightweight Commander loaded with 130 grain hollowpoints? All are comfortable to shoot and all perform flawlessly.

[knoxrocks222]

you ought to go with "The Color Purple" hollowed out you could probably stand up an 870 long ways in there

[Chief07]

who has a gun safe full of "full capacity" tactical hand guns, but defends his home with a 5 shot 38sp snub nosed revolver?

The first place a burglar looks when he breaks in a house is the bedroom closet, then the night stand next to the bed. They will even look under the bed and between the mattress. Next to jewelry, fire arms are the most desirable item for a thief.

My gun safe is hidden behind a false wall in a closet. You don't even know it's there. Everything in my home that hints I am a gun owner is in that safe. If someone were to break in my home while I'm out working for a living, they would have no indication that I was a gun owner. No holsters in my top drawer, no bags of brass casings, nothing. A burglar may notice that I keep books on my bedside table, but I figure a burglar has no use for books and maybe he won't notice that one is hollowed out with my snubby in it. Maybe I need a bigger book? Recon?

Great tips!

I too have false walls, a hidden room for my "Stuff".

Everyone may need it when "Wingnut ears" tries to

circumvent the second ammendmant also.