GRIZ

A 4" 357 (L frame S&W or GP100) would be a better choice. The extra weight of the L frame or GP100 helps to control recoil. You can consider other calibers but the 38/357 gives you the broadest range of power loadings from wadcutters to full magnum. The Ruger Speed/Security Six is also an excellent choice. Better than a K frame S&W IMO. In another thread someone mentioned a shop that got several of them in for like $425 IIRC. Revolvers are every bit a viable SD handgun as a semi. I have no problem loading magazines or racking a slide. I carry a revolver about 90% of the time and that's by choice.

I have a 916 since about 1975 and picked up an Eastfield recently. They are good utility grade shotguns. The single action bar is the only downside. S&W owned the LE handgun market at that time and wanted to get the shotgun market but it was a bad idea for them. It would be the same as Remington (who owned the LE shotgun market then) thinking they could come out with a line of handguns to take that away from S&W.

I have a Stoeger that works fine but the exposed hammers really add character.

You can do it with just a pistol grip but its not easy or as accurate.

To my experience most failures in Garands are not catastrophic and the gun will keep running to some degree. Id suggest an extractor, firing pin, and one of every spring. The Garand Guy or Bill Ricca in PA would be the best nearby sources.

In cases like this I've always had my insurance company pay the claim under collision in full hen get it back from the guilty party.

There's a bit of disinformation here. Not dangerous mind you but not totally accurate. If you take a lead bullet and a jacketed one of the same profile and weight you will find you need less powder for the lead bullet to achieve the same velocity as the jacketed. This is because the lead bullet (if sized properly) seals better but it also has a lower coefficient of friction in the bore. While the lead bullet is sealing better its also getting pushed down the bore easier. You drive the lead bullet at the same velocity as the jacketed with lower pressure. Although you probably have to shoot a gazillion rounds of jacketed bullets to wear out a bore you'll never wear out a bore with lead bullets. They're just too soft to do so. If you use the same lead and jacketed bullets and the same powder charge the lead bullet will be faster. This is due to the lower coefficient of friction. In this case the lead bullet generates less pressure. Higher velocity does not always mean higher pressure. By the same token high pressure doesn't always mean high velocity if it peaks early. That's why for high velocity loads in say a 357 or 44 magnum you use a slower burning powder and not Bullseye. If you are trying to achieve the maximum velocity at a safe pressure a lead bullet with a gas check is the way to go (I'll get into gas checks next). Leading in a bore can be caused by improper sizing (too large or too small) or too soft an alloy but more often than not is cause by too high a pressure not too high a velocity. The higher pressure deforms the base of the bullet and you get leading. You can solve this two ways. One is to go to a harder alloy. The other is to use a gas check on the base of the bullet. The gas check protects the base of the bullet, prevents it from deforming, and prevents leading. The thin coating on the base of a plated bullet works the same way to a lesser degree. I know a guy who shoots lead bullets in his 1903 Springfield and Garands. He casts his own from a controlled alloy. He pushes these lead bullets to nearly 2000 fps until he has leading issues. When he puts a gas check on the same bullet he takes it to about 2600 fps with no leading as the gas check protects the base. He can push them a little faster but his accuracy is better at his 2600 fps charge. There are a few reasons gas checks are not used as much as they were once was. One is the extra step and expense when you cast your own. Another is if you buy gas checked bullets they cost about as much as jacketed. The biggest reason is probably the bullet weights, styles, and designs available and relative low cost have taken a lot of people away from casting high velocity lead bullets.

I would suggest a 4" 357 S&W L frame, GP100, or a Taurus (if the price is significantly less than the first two and price is an issue). Contrary to what others will tell you, you don't need to go out and get an action job immediately. Many do this and use it not as an edge but as a crutch. A 4" 357 is a do it all handgun or at least as close as you can get to one. Learn to use a DA revolver well and everything else is easy. AFAIK a G19 is the best do it all 9mm.

I'm with Ray on this. I never found a folding stock that came anywhere near a standard stock as far as comfort and ease of use. Many of the folders, telescoping, collapsing stocks have too little or no drop at the comb making them at least difficult and many times impossible to sight properly. This includes a lot of the big buck ones that cost almost aa much as the shotgun.

I'm with Bob on this one. You mighr wear it a few days but after it chafes, flops around, gets sweaty and stinks, you'll stop wearing it. This is a different take on the belly band which also fails AFAIC. I've been carrying a J frame on a regular (daily for long periods) basis for almost 40 years. Here are my suggestions for a J frame concealment holster. An IWB like the DeSantis Soft Tuck. A minimalist IWB not one of these stupid deals with some large paddle attached. You can also take off the clip and use it as a pocket holster. Midway had them on sale recently for like $11-12. A DeSantis Speed Scabbard for an OWB. I like the one without the thumb break. Last choice but sometimes that's all you can do is an ankle holster. Get one like the DeSantis leather one with the padded cuff. I have used shoulder holsters for a J frame but when the holster and straps are so much bigger than the gun it doesn't make much sense to me. Trust me drawing from anywhere under pressure is risky.

Tricking or inducing someone to commit a crime is entrapment. If all the actions this guy took were because he was egged on by the FBI then it was entrapment. I doubt this was the case because the US Attorney's office would have had the FBI drop it. If he was predisposed to commit the crime its not entrapment. If he mentioned to someone that he wanted to bomb the Federal Reserve but he needed the explosives and other materiel. If this someone went to the FBI who then supplied the things he needed it is not entrapment. None of us are privy to what actually transpired here and we may never be. The US Attorney closely monitors sting operations to prevent an entrapment defense. There are times of course when the defendant puts up an entrapment defense and there are 12 bumpkins on the jury who let him off.

I think there was an exemption for LEOs to own NFA weapons under the 2A statutes.

You are entitled to believe this was some retarded guy the FBI recruited to justify some baloney. People ask why didn't they stop it when something happens. When there is pro-active operations to prevent someone from doing something its baloney. Some will never be pleased.

The Obama adminstration can say what it wants. They are trying to get a stay on the court ruling but have not gotten one yet. Those detention provisions have never been used. They will not be used unless there is a stay on the ruling. You are arguing against something that hasn't been used and at this time can't be used.

Kaiser please read my post #15. You are entitled to feel as you do about unconstitutional detention. A Federal court ruled those terrorist detention provisions unconstitutional and they have not been used. This is how the system works.

You're putting up an entrapment defense for this guy? I think somewhere he did a lot more than say "hey I didn't do that good last semester, maybe I'll bomb the Federal Reserve". If you fail to realize the value of conducting an undercover sting to arrest someone predisposed to commit a crime that's your call. Perhaps when the FBI found out this guy wanted to do something like this they should have waited until he did make a connection with a terrorist cell and may have been able to be successful and detonate a real bomb. Maybe you'd feel different if he was planning to detonate a bomb and selected your house as the target. Uh...FBI is under Justice Dept and not DHS. You need to be more specific about what part of NDAA you don't like. Is it the improvements to military health care? The NDAA covers everything the military does every year. I'm guessing you're talking about the terrorist detention provisions which have already been ruled unconstitutional by a Federal court. Yes, the Obama adminstration is trying to get a stay on this ruling but haven't got it yet AFAIK.

That healthy muzzle flash would rule this ammo out for SD use AFAIC. Muzzle flash bothers most people more than recoil. I do use +P ammo in K frame size revolvers because 38 special is so underloaded by the factory but its not the panacea most think it is. You're getting all that muzzle flash and recoil and additional stress on your gun for...an extra 125 fps. That figure is from Remington's website.

I've had a Mini 14 around since about 1975-1976. My first cost me $160 IIRC and adjusted for inflation that's about $600 today. If you wanted an AR at the time you had your choice between a Colt or a ColtAn and cost about $500. That would be near $2000 today. Its not that Mini 14s are so expensive but that ARs have gotten so cheap due to the plethora of manufacturers. My experience with Mini 14s is not only limited to the 5 I've owned. The agency I worked for issued them along with ARs and M16s for a few years. During that time I got to shoot a least a few dozen examples including. SBR and AC556 versions. I haven't shot any that wouldn't shoot 3-4" at 100 yds from a cold barrel (some better) which would open to 6-8" when the barrel got hot. If you research thi is well within acceptable accuracy for a M1 carbine. You're also getting a better cartridge. That accuracy is also better than most AKs until the past 10 years or so. Its about the same accuracy I get from my stock Saiga which I got a couple of years ago for under $300. I will admit the Saiga takes more rounds to get the group to open up. I'm wondering why Saigas are getting so expensive. I have some 10 and 15 rd mags that work well in my Mini 14 but most of the 20 and 30 rd aftermarket mags are junk. The factory 20 and 30 rd mags haven't been available to the public until the past few years. They are expensive compared to AR mags. I never had any problems with these. The aftermarket mags are the source of the reliability issues. I guess if you grew up shooting ARs and AKs you may feel the ergonomics are wrong. They are no different than a M1 carbing and you have to rock the magazine in like a M14. Clearing malfunctions is certainlt easier with a Mini 14 than it is with an AR or AK. Lock back the bolt, pull the magazine, and everything is exposed allowing you to clear it. One area I can testify for the Mini 14 is durability. When we had them at work long guns were not individually issued (bad idea which was later rectified) so there were about 10 of them that were left at the range and used only for qualification and training. After several years some of these guns started to keyhole rounds into the target. Prior to this there were zero issues with these guns that were cleaned only every 1000-2000 rds. We contacted Ruger who sent a rep down. He asked us to estimate the number of rounds through these guns. Easy enough to do as ammo consumption and training and qualification records were available. The instructors came up a 80,000 to 100,000 rds per gun. That's with zero problems or parts replacement. Ruger took the guns and basically replaced everything except the receiver. When they returned the guns they asked us to let them take measurements periodically but this didn't happen as were, regretfully, replaced with AUGs. The reason I've gone through 5 Mini 14s is not because there was anything wrong with them but I needed cash for projects and I knew I could replace it at reasonable cost. The one I have now I bought over 15 years ago. The Mini 14 is excellent for what it is. Kind of like a modern M1 carbine. Its not a battle rifle but it wouldn't take much to turn it into one. It will work as a SHTF rifle as is because if you think you're going to survive fighting prolonged engagements where you'll beshooting hundreds of rounds per fight you're not going to last long.

That's all true I was just hitting on some of the downside. In any case a lightened metal slide still weights a lot more than a polymer one would.

You're must be correct Bob. I was looking at the Hogues on my GP100 which of course has no backstrap. However I have Grippers on a K frame with an open backstrap. This may be due to variations in style offered at different times (these grips are at least 20 years old). I have newer Grippers that cover the backstrap.

You can probably build a gun with a polymer slide that will handle the pressure but other considerations would apply. You would need a super power recoil spring to slow the slide down on the way back. Try the slide on a blowback operated centerfire like a Hi Point which has a metal slide. If that's an 8 oz slide and need a 20 lb spring my shade tree mechanical engineering tells me you'll need a 28 to 40 lb to slow that 4 oz polymer slide down on return. If there's a real ME out there feel free to comment and correct me if needed as I don't have my reference materials with me and not sure which formula applies. In any case such a strong spring would require the frame to be beefed up substantially. If you make a locked breech gun with a polymer slide similar issues will apply. Now in a design like the 1911 the sole purpose of the recoil spring is to return the slide to battery and reload the chamber. You can safely fire a 1911 without a recoil spring as it doesn't unlock until the chamber pressure drops way down. Using an extra power recoil spring so you can shoot hot loads is fooling yourself. A slighty more powerful spring may give you more positive feeding with some bullet designs like SWCs but does nothing for hot loads. A super extra power spring with a steel slide only puts extra stress on the frame as that heavy spring slams that slide forward a lot harde than the frame was designed for. Eventually you will crack the frame. However with a polymer slide you will need that extra power spring to ensure proper feeding due to the lighter weight of the slide. There are some people on this forum that seem to strive to get the lightest trigger pull possible on a DA revolver which shows they don't have a full understanding of how a revolver works and think they can compensate for their poor technique with a light trigger. If they balk at dealing with a smooth 8-10 lb trigger imagine how they feel about a twice as heavy recoil spring? I've never understood the fascination with super lightweight handguns. I hear people say "I don't even know its there" but if I'm carrying a gun I want to know its there. I'd rather have that 24oz 640 with less than half the free recoil of that 9 oz moon metal gun that costs twice as much. So much easier to control and shorter recovery time. I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way.

I think this is the same guy that raced one of the guys on British Top Gear. Did the same kind of stuff.

I would think that if the Series 70 firing pin were so unsafe the military would have had issues with it during the first 60 years of using several million of them. Don't get me wrong I'm not against safety devices.

I have both and I don't think the 70 is any less safe. The Series 80 came about due to one or two isolated incidents in the 70s. This was the time Jeff Cooper and others were really starting to popularize the 1911. You have to remember there were many who did a lot of modifications to 1911s like pinned grip safeties and stupidly light triggers and the full story of these "drop discharges" wasn't fully known. HP White did manage to make a 1911 drop discharge by dropping it from something like 10' on a concrete surface, using guy wires to guide the gun on a precise angle. If you work at it you can get any desired effect.

Although its all biodegradeable it is messy. Clean up will take you a lot longer than the pleasure shooting them.