Wheelguns

There is something satisfying about revolvers. Don't get me wrong, I like autos. I've got three autos, of three different makes, and they're all decent guns. I like 1911s best of the autos I've shot (although the Steyr that Marko had at the NE GBS was a HELL of a nice 9mm), and honestly, I do shoot an auto better than a double-action revolver... but that's a matter of practice, which I can find time to do.

I just picked up my new carry gun on Monday, and took a few pictures yesterday. Here's the newest member of the family:



Five shots of .38+P in a 15-ounce package. It's definitely snappy (and I have the scab on my thumb to prove it), but entirely controllable and really not unpleasant to shoot. I'll be working on accuracy in the next few weeks, I hope.


Size-wise, it's really not much smaller than the Thunder .380 I've been carrying:


What it doesn't have, though, is an exposed hammer, or a beavertail to make a conspicuous, pointy lump in my cover garment. In addition, the round butt and the round of the cylinder should blend into the belt line a little bit better, and the shorter, narrower barrel won't be as obvious. Or at least that's the theory. I'm sacrificing three shots (7+1 in the Bersa, 5 in the S&W) and quick reloads, but also losing about 10oz of weight. It's an acceptable trade-off.

Somehow, along the way, I've developed a taste for S&W wheelies. Don't get me wrong - Colt, Ruger, etc, all make some nice guns. I've shot an SP101 that was a joy, and the Super Alaskan in .454 Casull was just spiffy. I'd love a SAA .45LC at some point. So far, though, S&W has been my focus... evidenced by the fact that better than half my pistol collection says "Springfield, MA" on it.

A quick family portrait:


Top: S&W 647 .17HMR
Right: S&W 21-4 .44Spl
Left: S&W 28-2 .357Mag
Bottom: S&W 642-1 .38Spl +P

Breakfast pastry

The day was chaotic and, while not entirely quiet, more subdued than years past have been. Mom had announced her intention of doing a "simple breakfast", which is a change from the usual multi-course holiday meal that starts around 8:00 and ends when the last person passes out. I decided to bring something to share, and made small pastries. But not the sweet donut/croissant/turnover kind. Oh no. I had to be difficult. Sausage and cheese pastries. They turned out AMAZINGLY WELL.

Night before: buy or prepare a package of phyllo dough. Crumble and brown 1lb of breakfast sausage. Drain the grease and put in fridge on a paper towel.

Morning of:
Preheat oven to 375F.

Place ~1T of sausage and a pinch of shredded cheese in the center of a 6x6" square of lightly oiled phyllo dough. Fold the corners in, wrap in another lightly oiled 6x6" square, and lightly brush the top with oil. Repeat until you run out of sausage.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet, evenly space the pastries on it, and bake for 10-15 minutes; the dough should be crisp and lightly browned.

Holy smokes, they were GOOD.

Holidays

This Christmas is a bit of a different feel than they've been in years past. It's my second as a husband, first as a homeowner. My grandmother is in the hospital, which is putting tremendous strain on everyone else (and it's no picnic for her). The whole family is in town (although staying with my parents, for the most part) but it's going to be a subdued day.

Any thoughts or prayers or good wishes are appreciated. In the meantime, hug your family a bit tighter and please, remember, after the pile of neatly wrapped presents are turned into giant piles of less-neat paper and smaller piles of gifts (batteries not included!) ... remember what this season is all about. Even if you're not a Christian, this is a time for family. Remember that. Treasure it, because they won't all be around forever.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Carrying

There are a million different opinions on carrying a pistol. We'll ignore the good/bad prepared/paranoid arguments; if you're reading this you likely know I fall in the "good, prepared" camp.

Once you've reached that point, it's time to decide what you're going to carry. Wheelgun or bottom-feeder? Caliber? Night sights, day-glo sights, lasers? Inside- or outside-waistband, ankle, shoulder carry?

Made all those decisions? Now it's time to actually FIND the gun you want - and believe me, there's options! Off the cuff, here's a few choices:
Wheelgun: .38/.357/.44, Small-, medium- ,or large-frame. Round or square butt. 1-7/8", 2", 3" barrel. S&W, Ruger, Charter, Taurus.

Auto: .25/.32/.380/9mm/.40/10mm/.45. Barrel lengths from Really Short to Friggin' Huge. More makers than I'd consider trying to list.

Of course, everything is a compromise. Want a .45 with a 3" barrel that weighs 20-odd ounces? No problem - but it's harder to control. .380 in a 12oz gun? Sure thing. Easy to conceal, but not as much stopping power* as the .45. Revolvers tend to be more reliable but have a steeper learning curve and are harder to shoot well.

When I first started carrying, it wasn't a 24/7 thing. I carried my 1911 Government when I thought I should. It was big and bulky and not the easiest thing to conceal, but I shoot it reasonably well and it's hard to argue with .45ACP. I was also still learning to dress around the gun, instead of fitting the gun into my wardrobe. Eventually I bought a Bersa Thunder .380, which is much smaller, much lighter, also very controllable - but a much less powerful cartridge. Very easy to conceal. For the time being, it's nearly a 24/7 piece for me.

But - something about the Bersa just isn't quite "right" for me. Part of it is manual-of-arms: I learned most of my shooting technique on a 1911. The safety clicks DOWN. A Bersa's safety pushes UP. It's a tough change. Maybe I just don't quite trust the .380 round completely. I've been looking at options and finally settled on a S&W 642. It's a double-action only J-magnum frame .38Spl+P. Five shots in the cylinder. Even lighter than my Bersa and overall a smaller gun. Power-wise, it's a hair more than the .380 has, but not by much.

My carry ammo in the Bersa is Hornady Critical Defense - 90gr at 1000fps. Not a bad little round, and I would trust it if I had to. The FTX bullet has tested well, but I have yet to hear of real-world results. The .38, though, opens up the options for carry ammo dramatically. It's an old cartridge, first introduced at the end of the 19th century, and originally loaded as a black-powder cartridge - hence the significantly larger case volume. The ammo I picked up today is Winchester's 125gr JHP +P, 125gr at 945fps - about a 25% increase in muzzle energy over the .380. A non-plus-P round wouldn't see quite as much gain.

For simple size comparison:


The .38+P is on the left, the .380ACP on the right. Tic-tac container simply for scale.

A snub revolver takes more practice to shoot well - which I don't object to. Hell, I like making things go bang! Learning a quick reload requires constant repetition. So how does one acquire that? I'll load up a box of dummy rounds. Sized brass with a crimped-in bullet, but no primer or powder. Sit in front of the TV and practice, every night. Learn the DAO-trigger? Same thing. Unload, unload, unload, then dry fire, constantly. As weather, time, and finances allow, a range trip on a regular basis; weekly if possible. Doesn't need to be lots of ammo; one box of .38 LRN a week comes out to about 2600 rounds a year. For a reloader, that's peanuts - maybe $200 in materials. A couple boxes of carry ammo annually to keep in touch with the +P snap. No big deal.

So which one is the "right choice"? There's lots of good advice out there, and plenty of bad. A new shooter going to the gun store has about even odds of hearing that a J-snub is the "perfect carry gun". A new female shooter will probably be shown a Charter "Pink Lady" or a S&W "Lady Smith"**. THIS IS BAD ADVICE.

The best good advice I can give you: make friends in the gun community. Find a nearby range. Take a handgun class (the NRA and many ranges offer these regularly). TRY GUNS. Find what YOU like to shoot, and what YOU will carry. If it takes pink fuzzy D21s hanging from the grip to do it, that's what you should get. What works well for me as a carry pistol may not work well for you. Try it, shoot it. If possible, try presenting from a holster. Even if it's not the holster you would necessarily choose, feeling what it's like to get a grip, draw, acquire sights, and shoot may change what your feelings are about a particular gun.

Edited to add:
* - "stopping power" is a fallacy. There are numerous formulas and studies and tests done showing that .357Mag has the most stopping power, and nearly as many showing 10mm or .45ACP with the same title. Others will claim that the lowly .22LR is the deadliest round out there. There is no simple formula to determine stopping power. It's a combination of the cartridge, shot placement, penetration, the target's mindset ... a vicious dog might be stopped by a poorly-placed shot from a .22, while there are documented cases of drug-addled criminals absorbing multiple center-mass hits from "guns beginning with '4'." A good hit with a .22 beats the hell out of a miss from anything.

** - Fellow blogger and occasional commenter JayG pointed out in comments that a 3913LS may be a perfectly acceptable choice for a new shooter's carry gun. He's absolutely right, and it is a Lady Smith. (According to SCSW3, a 25oz 3.5"-barrel 9mm semi-automatic Lady Smith.) I had forgotten that S&W put that label on some of their autos. Personal bias: when someone says "Smith & Wesson", I think "wheelgun". I own four revolvers and they're all S&W. My autos are all different makes. It's what many call "a clue". ;-) So, yes, a small auto may be a great choice. A light snub generally remains a sub-optimal choice for a new shooter (and for many experienced shooters as well).

Butchery

MrsZ and I are butchering my most recent deer on our own, instead of paying someone a significant chunk of cash ($65 last time) to do a mediocre job. We spent $50 on a very good boning knife and a cheap hacksaw, and I skinned out the doe earlier this week. She hung in the garage a few more days as the temperature dropped...

Last night, we moved her into the kitchen, where there's a nice beam across the ceiling. She hung in their, encased in a plastic bag, to thaw to a cut-able temperature.

I came back from a search call this morning and MrsZ had started trimming off the slabs of fat around the haunches, and then I cut out the back straps before heading off to work. I sliced off a little piece of the strap and quickly seared it in butter, then ate it ... man, there is nothing quite like that first piece of fresh venison!

In other realizations, there is nothing quite so redneck as having a skinned-out deer hanging in the middle of one's kitchen...