RW> To paraphrase a tagling "The only reason you carry a 
 RW> handgun is because a shotgun won't fit in the holster." 
GG>   
GG> True, but a handgun is easier to hide, and when I leave home
GG> I   CAN take it with me. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to
GG> leave a fully loaded   shotgun at home, but there are
GG> legalities...it has to be unloaded, fixed  with a trigger
Ever see the John Wayne movie Rio Bravo (I think that's
it)?  There's a guy can't shoot so they buy him a
double barreled 12 ga pistol.  Now that might be the
way to go is you load one barrel with buckshot and the
other with a slug.
 RW> GG> I also have to think about the amount of time I'll have to 
 RW> GG> practise, which   will be minimal.   
 RW> Make time!  Better to spend more time practicing than 
 RW> spending time in the grave.  
GG>   
GG> * cough * No ranges....  
Ask around there has to be one somewhere.
 RW> I'm also in the 'bigger is better' camp, again with my 
 RW> bias exposed. . . 
 RW> A 22 is better than nothing but only barely. 
GG>   
GG> Depending on what you are aiming for I guess. You'd need to
GG> be able to do  CNS shots, or you may as well not bother, and
Not necessarily.  In most cases just the sight of a
firearm will prevent or stop a crime.  In a lot of the
others a couple of shots will change the criminals
attitude.
 RW> Taurus makes a nice little 38 stubby.  Stainless steel, 
 RW> bobbed hammer, DAO, five shot.  Which would be the 
 RW> smallest weapon I would want to carry unless there was 
 RW> no way around carrying something smaller. 
GG>   
GG> Sold!  Actually I'm leaning to something like that I
GG> think, a not-great   compromise but one I can live with.
The may make it in 357 mag but in a 2" barrel quite a
bit of the slow burning magnum power isn't going to
burn in the barrel.  That means you are not going to
get much, if any, velocity increase and you are going
to get a much larger muzzle flash.
GG> Being out of the game for a while I have  no idea what
GG> something like this on the used market goes for these days,
GG> plus  holster, cleaning kit. etc. Any notion? 
Not really, I don't usually buy used handguns.  They
can be, and some times are, abused in too many ways.
If you have a gunsmith that you trust to check it them
out they are ok.  But new the Taurus should run around
$300.
 RW> And someone, Colt?, has came out with a 22 that is 
 RW> mostly aluminum but with steel in vital areas that is 
 RW> supposed to be very light and therefore easy to carry. 
GG>  
GG> D'oh! Now you'll go and change my mind again! I guess we'll
The point is you need to choice the weapon you are
going to carry.  It doesn't make any sense to buy a
high tech high power weapon that you leave at home
because its a pain in the put to carry.
GG> see what's  available when I get there. Revolver almost for
GG> sure now, double-action,  .22 or .38 possibly .357 
You could go up to a .44.  You could get a 44 mag and
use 44 spl or just go with the 44 spl to begin with.
 
                      Remember:  Freedom isn't Free!
--- timEd-B11
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