Old Dog

I just finished an editorial about this issue. I found it strange that our President is telling us to make a choice but the choices have already been made for us, mostly in secret it seems. So, in fact, we do not have a choice at all. All we have is a long and hard legal road ahead of us to repeal what has already been passed. My concern has always been that, like the terrorism laws, any new laws granted to our Government can be used to blindside us and used to legally ban all civilian weapons and rights to privacy. If interested read it here and comment back on this forum.

I saw that myself. I was going to mention it but figured that readers would pick up on it themselves as you did. The general public and gun grabbers use a form of math that equates deaths to number of rounds. Even though 4 died, they would say that if he had half as much ammo, only 2 would have died. I have made a very good living by not underestimating the stupidity of some people. That is why marketing is so much fun.

I have posted an editorial about the very recent shooting that took place in CA, a little while ago. Why anyone thinks strict gun control, like they have in California, will make them safer from this kind of thing, is beyond me. You can read my editorial and find the link to the developing story here.

I have read a lot of posts talking about this or that handgun being the best for our military sidearm. I have not come across a national poll, although there may have been some somewhere. Anyway I decide to start my own poll as I wondered what the gun owning public thinks when politics and money are not part of the selection process. Vote here and see the results

Here is my opinion. The only two speeding tickets I got was when I used a radar detector. First off they go off all the time if you drive in urban areas. Then I found out the hard way that most radar guns are not constantly on and by the time you get the alert it is too late to slow down enough. I stopped wasting my money on them if for no other reason that the technology changes so quickly that what you own today is not so good two years from now. I seem to do much better relying on common sense things like just making sure that if I speed, there is someone going faster than me in front of me. I look for brake lights up ahead because people naturally slow down when passing a radar trap. When I had radar detectors I tended to rely on them too much and after so many false alerts, tended to ignore them until I got a good solid alert which by then, meant that I was already clocked.

I know that all you New Jerseyians have your own problems with the many proposed State gun control bills but do not forget that our old friend Joe Biden is still pushing for gun control on a National level. He just sent out a letter trying to drum up support. Read more here.

What gets me the most is the sheer amount of time and effort put into gun control to reduce about 11,000 deaths a year when alcohol, cars and medical mistakes kill a heck of a lot more people and yet you rarely see much being done about that. It really is about not wanting others to have more power than you have. It is never about saving lives.

I did not see any posts about this so I figured since it is in NJ I would post a link for those interested. Read it here.

I arrive home from shopping, take off my gun which has been riding on my belt in either an IWB or OWB holster for the last two or more hours. My hip is sore but I go about my business anyway. Hours later, my hip is still sore. Sound familiar? Read More…

The following article by Dave Lewis will demonstrate how to use a revolver speed loader. I personally have a few and use them when I can. With practice you can load a revolver almost as fast as a semi auto. The Lost Art of the Revolver Speed Loader

If you drive all day and night you can make it to Florida and see what life is without all the gun control you have up there.

I voted no and do not even try. My range is only 25 yards. In any event I practice defensive shooting and I would like to see someone do a 3" group with 5 rounds in 3 seconds. That would impress me. All I ever see is very slow fire at those distances unless it is a steel match and you have more real estate to hit.

I thought that I wanted an older model like the ones I used to have until I held one and felt the trigger. The good old days did not seem so good after all. I had the 686 but did not fall in love with it so I sold it and got a Ruger Wiley Clapp GP-100 with a 3" barrel. Everything done to the gun was to make it a better fighting gun. I even sprang for a trigger job although the stock trigger was pretty good. The is quick to get on target and easy to reload due to the cylinder holes being chamfered. Complete melt job and tapered cylinder to make holstering easier. Fiber optic front and Novak rear sights. Everyone that shoots this gun loves it. And less than what a 686 costs, or used to be.

Just bought 3 boxes of SD .380 for $18 a box of 20. Have seen the same thing selling for $36 elsewhere. Also found and bought a new Colt Mustang Pocketlite at a non auction website. Two M&P Shields sitting on shelves at my LGS for 3 weeks now. Plenty of Glocks, Sigs and HK's, M&P's. Pretty much all the same old guns that used to be on my LGS shelves pre panic buying.

Glad to hear. When I got back from Nam I had to sneak in to avoid the protesters at the airport. Changed into civilian clothes in the restroom of the airport and grabbed taxi. Two years ago when I moved into this almost 100% Republican retirement community, I had someone say, "thank you for your service". I replied, "huh?". They repeated it and then I realized that I had on my Vietnam Veteran hat for Veterans Day. It was the first time anyone thanked me and it did get to me a little.

10 rounds is livable? I assume you only own guns for target practice. For defense and competition that is not good. Maybe 5 years from now someone will say 5 rounds is livable. In case you did not know, we started with no limit, then 15 and now they want 10. Do you see a trend here? Never say it is livable because they depend on that to chip away a little at a time.

That is why we all end up with a drawer or more full of holsters we no longer use. I have a bad hip so certain holsters are less painful than others. I need the extra leather to cushion the gun or I am in pain. However, I have pretty much committed to pocket carry due to my hip problem and sold off all but my home defense full sized guns. Got rid of my four 1911's and have 6 pocket guns from .380 to .45 ACP in caliber to choose from. If I need something bigger I have a HK P2000SK and FNX-9 available although I rarely go anywhere where there are people under 55 years old since I live in a retirement community. I rotate 6 carry guns, work from home and usually sell off my guns after a few months to get new ones, so my guns rarely have any holster wear. At worse they go into the holster in the morning and taken out at night once every few weeks so my needs are very different than others. I do belt carry but mostly OWB these days. If I am going to be sitting most of the time, I will wear a pancake style OWB holster. They work out very well for me since I always wear un-tucked shirts, shorts and sandals. If I need to conceal my Ruger Gp-100 or my FNX-9 I will usually wear both an un-tucked tee shirt and outer shirt which conceals anything. However I can only do so for a few hours or else my hip will be sore for a few days.

Eh. Well built holster but I find the hybrids more comfortable. If you like the VM2 design there are a lot of good clones out there at a third of the price and no wait. Sometimes I feel that the VM2 is so desirable because it is expensive and you have to wait a long time to have one custom built for you. You can get one for the popular pistols at Top Gun Supply for about $150 in stock. If they are out of stock they usually get more in a few weeks time. I personally do not keep my guns for long periods of time and I have 6 carry guns that I rotate at will. My holsters never are used long enough to show any wear so it is a waste of money to spend too much on them. I used to get holsters from Milt Sparks and others in exotic leathers and wait months for them. In some cases by the time the holster arrived, my gun was sold already. In others, I used the holster and did not like it. The few custom ones I have are sitting in a drawer as I find the less expensive ones more comfortable. Perhaps it is because the leather is thinner and thus more supple or perhaps I like the designs better. Sure my expensive holsters will last a lifetime, my lifetime at least, but I rarely use them anymore preferring the ones I get on ebay and Amazon that are handmade and molded to my particular gun, done by leather workers that do not have a big name. I also like Galco and MTAC holsters. No long wait and they work well for me. Take a look at the MTAC hybrid. Less leather than the others and very comfortable and well made.

My quest started when I first heard that Colt was releasing a new Colt Mustang Pocketlite. I went to any online gun sight that I could think of and when possible submitted my email address to be notified. Twice a month or more I would haunt the local guns stores looking for one. Finally after 16 months I got an email telling me that Impact Guns had them in stock. However when I logged in it was too late. They were all gone. I waited some more and finally decided to buy the Sig P238, a Sigified version of the Mustang. The very next day I walk into a different gun store to buy some .380 ammo and lo and behold they got in a new Colt Mustang. Since I had just bought the Sig the day before I had to reluctantly pass on it. I still kept looking, calling up stores and asking. Then the panic buying set in and it was very difficult to find popular guns, especially those not produced in large numbers. I have found guns I want only to have them become out of stock between the time I placed them in my cart and was ready to check out. My birthday is coming up and my wife told me to buy myself a gun. I have bought over 30 in the last 3 years but only kept looking. There was only one gun on my bucket list left to buy; the Colt Mustang Pocketlite. I have spent the last two weeks constantly checking online gun dealers. It was interesting to see guns posted and then gone within minutes. This morning I had placed a NAA Black Widow in my cart and before I checked out I wanted to see what else they had. When I went back to my cart the gun was gun and out of stock. All day I watched guns added to the in stock items at all hours of the day and then disappear soon thereafter leaving only the off brands, cheap brands, not well liked and very expensive guns for sale. I pushed the limits and found a few websites that I have never visited before and while looking for something else I saw the Colt Mustang in stock. it was $100 more than two years ago and $60 more than last year but this time I pounced on it and it will be in my hands by the end of this week if all goes well. I will give a range report when I shoot it but my long search is finally over. I used to tell people that there is only one gun on my buy as soon as I see it list, money or not and this was it. Do I need a 5th pocket gun? Well no I do not but I want one. I have this thing for small guns. Then again my wife is 4' 11" and 95 lbs. so .......

I average 14 new guns a year. Most guns only last a few months with me before I flip them for something new. However I have hit the wall. My birthday is in a few weeks and there is nothing that I want to buy enough to pay the current inflated prices for. Even my Local Gun Store does not call me anymore when they get new guns in and I am their second biggest customer. As they said, there is little that I have not owned before. I have gone through my bucket list of guns and now have what I consider a great carry and home defense collection. See if you agree: Carry - Sig P238 - Sig P938 - Micro Desert Eagle - NAA .22lr mini revolver - S&W 340PD - Springfield XDs - Ruger Wiley Clapp .357 Magnum revolver - HK P2000SK Home Defense - FNH FNX-9 9mm 17 rounds. It took me over 30 guns to settle on these as the core of my collection. Each has a niche in my defensive strategy. When I lived in NJ all the guns I bought were for competition or range use. Now all the guns I buy are strictly working guns used for defense. I carried the 340PD again today and it is by far the most comfortable gun that I own to carry in a major caliber. I truly forgot that it was in my pocket. I have a feeling that I may be trading off some of my other carry guns as I see me carrying this every day.

Not only am I in Florida but on a Saturday I was the only shooter at the local gun range. I had the place to myself and when they are not busy I can stay there all day for just $9 because I am their second largest customer.

I was surprised that I was able to go through a full box of .38 spl and still wanted to shoo it more. Yesterday my hands were good. No arthritis pain at all so I went shooting. I normally go on Fridays but I try not to shoot lightweight guns when my hands are hurting. The Golden Saber .38 +P are a nice mild shooting load and have very impressive ballistic gel results. Since the Horndady FTX 110 grains penetrate 12+ inches in Ballistic Gel with 4 layers of denim, there is no reason not to use that very gentle round. The +P rounds penetrate the same but expand a little bit more. We are talking fractions of an inch though and I rather have the milder round so my follow up shots are faster. My testing at the range yesterday confirmed that . I was able to shoot fast and keep them all in COM.

They are going for $700 normally but this one had new CT grips on it that the previous owner put on in an attempt to shoot it better. When that did not help he sold the gun. I actually did not buy it. I traded a pair of LCR revolvers I was not using. The .357 version is a tad too heavy for my tastes and the .22 mag is no longer cheap to shoot and difficult to find ammo for. Plus I got two boxes of Federal .45 ACP ammo to even it out. This was not a private sale either. I have been looking for this gun locally for a few years and finally found it in a pawn shop. Down here there are pawn shops every few miles and they all sell guns. It is a gun buying paradise but right now the prices are high due to demand. So not bad as the LCR's cost me about $960 new last year. My birthday is coming up next month and my wife told me to pick out a gun and I saw an M&P Shield in my LGS yesterday. He wanted $550 for it. The last one I bought cost me $369 so I refused to pay that price. I have more guns than safe room so I can wait for things to get back to normal.here already. The one I bought is like new and they are going for more than I paid for mine with the CT grips.

Probably for the same reason there are no Klu Klux Klan chapters in Uganda.

Just picked up a gently used, or as I like to call them, broken in, S&W 340PD for $800 with fairly new CT laser grips. Guy who owned it shot it a few times and never shot it again. He was not what I call a Shootist. Finally decided to sell it to get something he could shoot at the range. Gun is like new but then again I find a lot of guns like that in my retirement community. People with guns die, ammo is too expensive on a fixed income and old age makes shooting difficult. This gun is the 11.4 ounce J-frame that is made of Scandium and Titanium. For some reason people buy this gun and insist on shooting hard recoiling .357 magnums in them and when they cannot take the recoil they trash the gun. I do not even load my heavy Ruger Gp100 with hot .357 loads. No need to unless you hunt or may come across some wild animals. There are many good .38 spl +P loads out there that do a fine job and in fact, some regular .38 spl pass the FBI Denim protocol. First off, the gun is light. Feels like a toy, even when loaded. It is a dream to carry in your pocket or on belt. Has the typical back notch sight and mine uses a fiber optic front which I prefer. Mine came with CT laser grips which I promptly removed as it stays light late these days and I rarely am out when it is dark. If I go out in the dark I usually take one of my 9mm Sigs with night sights. Quite frankly if you need something to see where you are aiming, it is too dark to be shooting anyway. Carry a penlight flashlight. I do. Trigger is typical S&W J-Frame although mine has been smoothed out by the former owner. I replaced the CT grips with Hogue Bantam mono grips which tend to reduce felt recoil. It seems to direct it to the sides of my hands rather than into the web. I started off with some Golden Saber .357 magums. I already know that they are mild recoiling as I have used them throughout the years in my .357 revolvers. I shot two cylinders full and while they did make their presence known, it was far from what I read on gun forums about it taking off your hand or refusing to shoot more than one round, etc. I can understand though how it would not be pleasant to shoot a lot of them. I did not want to shoot more than two cylinders full myself but it was no deal breaker. If I wanted to shoot .357 magnums in a J-frame I just use a heavier J-frame. Apparently a lot of gun owners do not know about the effects of recoil in relation to weight. So many keep buying lightweight guns and then act surprised when the recoil is stout. I liken the recoil of a .357 in this light J-frame to be about the same as slapping the helmet of the offensive tackle opposite me when I used to play football. It stings but nothing you cannot suck up and do again the next play. The pain is not really the problem because in defense you are not going to be shooting more than a cylinder full, unless you carry .357 as reloads which I do not advise. The .357 rounds were very accurate but the problem was that the muzzle flip made follow up shots take longer than I like. The muzzle flash was there but only a problem indoors in confined areas. Some talk about losing night vision without qualifying it. I fought a war and was in the artillery and between my m16, 1911 and the big 175mm guns, there was a lot of muzzle flash at night and we were not blinded and were able to see and shoot the enemy attacking us. Do not accept as fact every thing that you read that sounds logical. Sure if you were in a small enclosed room, it may be a problem and therefore not recommended for home defense. I will grant you that, but typical ccw outdoors defensive use should not be a problem at all. Also remember that if you are blinded by the muzzle flash just think how the guy who has the fire ball heading his way is affected. At least you are prepared for it. Next up were Golden Saber .38 +P. Very mild round in this gun and from what I have seen, penetrate deeper than similar short barrel Gold Dots on most gel tests. No problem shooting a few cylinders of these. After that I put 50 rounds of practice .38 spl through the gun and was very happy with the groups when I shot groups. I shot mostly one handed and some left handed. Before I left the range I shot the Hornady 110 gr. FTX loads. They penetrate 12" through 4 layers of denim into ballistic gel. They will penetrate as well as many +P rounds without the flash and recoil and are *****cats in the 340PD. I was very impressed with this gun. Having shot close to 100 rounds I did not notice any soreness in my hands. Heck, after 25 rounds of .45 in my XDs my hands are shaking from being battered by the recoil and I am not recoil shy at all. I do not enjoy shooting small calibers because there is not enough recoil to satisfy me. With a proper grip recoil should not be much of a problem. Jeff Copper once said that recoil is 80% mental and I tend to agree with that. If you think it will hurt; it will. I bought this gun because I was looking for a sub 12 oz. gun for pocket carry in the summer. There were no good choices other than the LCP and its ilk and I consider those guns as BUGS or as guns for those times when you cannot carry you regular defensive handgun. I went into this knowing full well that I would not be shooting .357 magnums. I considered it a great lightweight .38 spl that I could also shoot .38 +P for defense, type of gun. However I still read a lot of post by people who insist to put wooden grips on their gun and load it up with 158 gr. .357 magnum loads and then complain about the recoil. If only they would teach physics and ballistics before you buy a gun it would save a lot of people a lot of money. The gun was very accurate and I knocked out the X on a few targets at 7 yards. Head shoots using slow fire of about 1 second per shot were also very doable at that range and even out to 10 yards. In short, I recommend this gun for experienced shooters who understand how to make this kind of gun work for them. It is not for the person who thinks they can have their cake and eat it too.