Make Mine a Colt
New member
Hi. I am new to the Forum, but I have been around guns all my life. In reading the inputs here, I can see that there is a lot of right thinking people involved. So I thought I would give some right thinking input of my own
A few years’ back I read a story in one of the gun mag’s that has stayed with me. The basic story is as follows:
A nurse got off of a late night shift at a hospital, and was walking across the parking lot to her car when she was accosted by a man. The man came at her from behind and placed his arm across he throat, cutting off her air. In the brief moment she had to act, she was able to reach into her purse and secure her S&W “J” frame revolver. Extracting the gun from her purse, she was able to reach back over her shoulder and fire one round, point blank into her attackers head, ending the assault and with no doubt saving her life.
In my opinion, the S & W “J” frame sub-nose revolver is about the perfect PD weapon for a woman. They are small, light weight and easy to conceal in a purse (or other place). While maybe not the easiest gun to shoot, still it doesn’t take much training to learn to shoot one effectively. It just doesn’t get much easier than a “J” frame when things get ugly.
Purse carry? Yes. Use a shoulder bag, put your hand in the purse holding the gun, car keys in your other hand, and you will be ready to defend yourself immediately. It’s good enough to make us guys re-think that whole “man-bag” thing!
I made a mistake with the first handgun I bought wife, which was S&W 442. She could shoot the 442 effectively, but she didn’t enjoy it, and this meant she wasn’t interested in shooting it except once in a while. A couple of years later, I acquired an as new 640, and what a change this caused. Now she was eager to go the range every chance she gets. She will put two boxes through it and then be looking over at me to see if I have any more ammo! Can she shoot well? Yes, all rounds well with-in the 9 ring on a B29 at 25’. The two things I did do right on the 442 was installing a Hogue 3 finger rubber grip, and the choice of an enclosed hammer gun. My wife really likes the combination. The enclose hammer makes the gun very simple for her to understand and shoot. No buttons, no levers, just point and shoot. The Hogue grip is about the best thing you can do to a “J” fame to make it enjoyable to shoot.
A note on load. Her gun is loaded with Federal 110 Hydra-Shok PD. I know many of you have small revolvers loaded with .357, but even I don’t load my Colt Magnum Carry with .357 (.38 HS 129 +P). The Magnum rounds are just too much out of anything that weights less than about 2 lbs and has a 4” barrel (like my Python). The one exception I would have to that would be the Ruger SP 101 with a 3” barrel - I have shot .357 out of one of those, and it is a very effective and controllable package.
Some information involving the 110 HS PD ammo. I had an opportunity to shoot some of this inside an abandon house. I fired my wife’s 640 with no ear protection, in near dark conditions. Both the noise and flash were quite acceptable and I was unable to fire all the rounds in the gun to point of aim. Afterwards, I cut away the dry-wall I had fired into and recovered the rounds. None of these had penetrated the stucco outer wall of the house. In other words, this round will not penetrate through the wall of a stucco home, which as far as I am concern makes it a good choice for home defense.
Bob
A few years’ back I read a story in one of the gun mag’s that has stayed with me. The basic story is as follows:
A nurse got off of a late night shift at a hospital, and was walking across the parking lot to her car when she was accosted by a man. The man came at her from behind and placed his arm across he throat, cutting off her air. In the brief moment she had to act, she was able to reach into her purse and secure her S&W “J” frame revolver. Extracting the gun from her purse, she was able to reach back over her shoulder and fire one round, point blank into her attackers head, ending the assault and with no doubt saving her life.
In my opinion, the S & W “J” frame sub-nose revolver is about the perfect PD weapon for a woman. They are small, light weight and easy to conceal in a purse (or other place). While maybe not the easiest gun to shoot, still it doesn’t take much training to learn to shoot one effectively. It just doesn’t get much easier than a “J” frame when things get ugly.
Purse carry? Yes. Use a shoulder bag, put your hand in the purse holding the gun, car keys in your other hand, and you will be ready to defend yourself immediately. It’s good enough to make us guys re-think that whole “man-bag” thing!
I made a mistake with the first handgun I bought wife, which was S&W 442. She could shoot the 442 effectively, but she didn’t enjoy it, and this meant she wasn’t interested in shooting it except once in a while. A couple of years later, I acquired an as new 640, and what a change this caused. Now she was eager to go the range every chance she gets. She will put two boxes through it and then be looking over at me to see if I have any more ammo! Can she shoot well? Yes, all rounds well with-in the 9 ring on a B29 at 25’. The two things I did do right on the 442 was installing a Hogue 3 finger rubber grip, and the choice of an enclosed hammer gun. My wife really likes the combination. The enclose hammer makes the gun very simple for her to understand and shoot. No buttons, no levers, just point and shoot. The Hogue grip is about the best thing you can do to a “J” fame to make it enjoyable to shoot.
A note on load. Her gun is loaded with Federal 110 Hydra-Shok PD. I know many of you have small revolvers loaded with .357, but even I don’t load my Colt Magnum Carry with .357 (.38 HS 129 +P). The Magnum rounds are just too much out of anything that weights less than about 2 lbs and has a 4” barrel (like my Python). The one exception I would have to that would be the Ruger SP 101 with a 3” barrel - I have shot .357 out of one of those, and it is a very effective and controllable package.
Some information involving the 110 HS PD ammo. I had an opportunity to shoot some of this inside an abandon house. I fired my wife’s 640 with no ear protection, in near dark conditions. Both the noise and flash were quite acceptable and I was unable to fire all the rounds in the gun to point of aim. Afterwards, I cut away the dry-wall I had fired into and recovered the rounds. None of these had penetrated the stucco outer wall of the house. In other words, this round will not penetrate through the wall of a stucco home, which as far as I am concern makes it a good choice for home defense.
Bob
Seriously, you carry the one that fits you, that you can shoot well, and that you can carry consistently.