-=> Quoting Rich Willbanks to Gus Gere on 11 May 98  09:52 <=-
 Re: Firearms 
 RW> To paraphrase a tagling "The only reason you carry a 
 RW> handgun is because a shotgun won't fit in the holster." 
 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
 RW> Ever see the John Wayne movie Rio Bravo (I think that's
 RW> it)?  There's a guy can't shoot so they buy him a
 RW> double barreled 12 ga pistol.  Now that might be the
 RW> way to go is you load one barrel with buckshot and the
 RW> other with a slug.
Actually, that's El Dorado. Saw it a few months ago on TV, for what I 
believe was the first time. The guy, who was called "Mississippi" because 
no one wanted to try to pronounce his real name, was good with knives but 
had never shot a gun. When John Wayne's character had him try using a 
revolver, he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn (well, actually a 
cactus). So they found him the equivalent of the old Auto & Burglar Gun - 
as you describe it, "a double barreled 12 ga. pistol". Too bad you can't 
find such things today, they were "banned" in our country back in 1934. 
(Just like machine guns - technically not banned, but buried in red tape 
and fees.)
 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> * cough * No ranges....  
 RW> Ask around there has to be one somewhere.
Rich, he's in CANADA. No ranges that would accept civilians. He'd have to 
find a local farmer willing to look the other way.
 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> Sold!  Actually I'm leaning to something like that I
 GG> think, a not-great   compromise but one I can live with.
 RW> The may make it in 357 mag but in a 2" barrel quite a
 RW> bit of the slow burning magnum power isn't going to
 RW> burn in the barrel.  That means you are not going to
 RW> get much, if any, velocity increase and you are going
 RW> to get a much larger muzzle flash.
I have one of the aforementioned .357s, and I like it. Though as you say, 
perhaps a .38+P would have the same effectiveness when fired from it. 
Then again, there's nothing stopping you from using that in it. (I 
mentioned my 605, which I carry in a pants pocket with a holster to break 
up the outline, to the person who started this thread. Except when my 
pockets aren't deep enough, no one has spotted it - I do have one pair of 
jeans with short pockets where the end of the grip wants to be exposed.)
 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? 
 RW> Not really, I don't usually buy used handguns.  They
 RW> can be, and some times are, abused in too many ways.
 RW> If you have a gunsmith that you trust to check it them
 RW> out they are ok.  But new the Taurus should run around
 RW> $300.
Mine was just barely under that, as I recall. The .38 - the model 85 - 
should be slightly less.
 
 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> D'oh! Now you'll go and change my mind again! I guess we'll
 RW> The point is you need to choice the weapon you are
 RW> going to carry.  It doesn't make any sense to buy a
 RW> high tech high power weapon that you leave at home
 RW> because its a pain in the put to carry.
I don't know that Colt has one, but I know that Smith does.
 GG> see what's  available when I get there. Revolver almost for
 GG> sure now, double-action,  .22 or .38 possibly .357 
 RW> You could go up to a .44.  You could get a 44 mag and
 RW> use 44 spl or just go with the 44 spl to begin with.
There aren't many .44 Magnum snubbies, but there are .44 Special ones. 
There are also snubnose revolvers in 9mm (the Smith 940, the Ruger SP 101 
and maybe others).
His problem is where he lives, though. All of this is supposed to be 
academic to him, unless we can convince him to move to this side of the
Niagara River. Not much we can do if his government forbids him from 
protecting himself - and yes, they don't consider self-defence a 
legitimate use for a gun. If he has to use it, he'll be lucky if they 
only confiscate it.
Steve
... Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface.
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