At the range

[4thHorseman]

I was at the range the other day with my son, having a good old time putting holes in targets. He was shooting a SIG. Darn near jam proof product, I feel. We were shooting PMC's 40 and .45 cal. Then his gun jammed. How can that be I thought. I looked at it. The bullet case was just a bit to large in diameter for the barrel. It hung half way in the barrel. It took about 30 secounds or so pry it out, with safety in the front of my mind. After that I started to think. What if that was a situation where I HAD to have that shot? How can a gun be so DEPENDENT on ammo? Uhmm... It wasn't the guns fault. It was the bullet.
The more I thought about this the more I became aware, with revolvers this would of not happened. If a miss fire results,what is there to clear? Nothing I thought, just pull the trigger again. Uhmmm... Oh Yeah, revolvers are it now. I still love the actions of the Colts and Sigs, but I only carry revolvers.

 

[WESHOOT2]

THOUGHTS

So if my primary is a 1911 and it poops howsabout I grab my "New York reload", another gun (wheel)?

All guns jam.

 

[4thHorseman]

I understand what you're saying WESHOOT, but the point I was making was I never thought about it before, the semi auto is very reliant (spelling once again) on the ammo it shoots. So much more so than the six-shooter. The gun function without a flaw, it was the ammo, that's what I was trying to get at. You increase the odds of a misfire with the automatic. That's all I was trying to say. And you are right in the fact that all guns do jam. I don't mean to start another semi vs revolver war here... boy we've seen alot here, haven't we?

 

[Hal]

I had a round of .38 special that had a rim thickness that was so far out of spec it wouldn't allow the cylinder to close. If this had been in a speed loader, the effect is obvious of what would have happened. The brand was American Ammunition, the junk in the plastic bubble pack. The bubble pack stuff is on my "Don't buy at any price" list.

FWIW, i think you're making the smart move by going to a revolver, at least until you get some confidence back using a semi auto. Little gremlins like that running around in your head generally make for poor shot placement.

 

[WESHOOT2]

4H

Generally true, but all guns depend on ammo to work. Wheel jams occur less frequently, but they do occur.

Hence my 'one of each' post; you really can't carry too many guns.

 

[Tamara]

...but the point I was making was I never thought about it before, the semi auto is very reliant (spelling once again) on the ammo it shoots.

Carefully inspect the ammo you put in your CCW gun.

Carefully inspect the ammo you put in your backup gun.

Carefully inspect that your knives are sharp.

Carefreely go enjoy your day (in condition yellow).

 

[Ben Shepherd]

WeShoot has it. One of each.

 

[C.R.Sam]

"you really can't carry too many guns."......WS2

Yup.

Sam

 

[James K]

I admit I don't do it, but it might not be a bad idea to dry cycle all the carry ammo. Just might catch a problem in the ammo (or gun or magazine) before there is a need to use the gun.

(FWIW, my carry preference was a revolver, but I did trust a GI Model 1911A1 enough to carry it at times.)

Jim

 

[Kframe]

RAE,
I check all the backup ammo in my speedloaders to make sure it fits in the chambers.

Avoids the embarrassment in competition, might save your life in the real world.

Not, MTV's 'The Real World', obviously those people don't have lives to save if they can put everything on hold to live with a bunch of strangers for nine months.
Sheesh.


-Kframe

 

[4thHorseman]

WESHOOT, I have to laugh when you said you really we can't carry enough guns. I'm still laughing!!!
I guess you're ready for anything that might come your way, friend. I hope's it's not me on a dark night!
You are all right when you say we need to check are ammo as well as our guns. Very good points made.

 

[Hal]

Kframe,
So do I.,,,,,now.

After that incident I check every round that might be needed for HD(sorry, no carry here in Ohio yet) and keep em seperate from the range stuff.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

The dichotomysuggested between a revolver and a semi-auto is not quite valid. The two don't function in the same manner. So the semi-auto jammed while loading and what if you needed that shot? Well, now you know why you need to carry a back-up.

What happens when a revolver has a problem? For example, you are in a gun fight and you go to reload your revolver and you try inserting a bullet that only goes 9/10 of the way in and gets stuck where you can't get it out? What happens when you are in a gun fight and a primer bulges out on firing and traps the cylinder? I have seen that happen on the range. The range's gunsmith had to dissassemble the revolver. That would never happen with a 1911, Glock or other similar semi-autos.

Most semi-auto malfunctions can be cleared quite easily. Most revolver malfunctions (not fails to fire, but others as noted above) do not clear very easily and essentially take the gun out of the fight.

In other words, there are advantages and disadvantages to either platform type. Sure you would never get a round hung up on the feed ramp of a revolver as they don't have feed ramps. You will never trap the cylinder on a semi-auto because they don't have cylinders.