Book Review - Defensive Use of Firearms

Defensive Use of Firearms is a short book on self-defense by Stephen P. Wenger. To be honest a large portion of it concerns standard topics that can be found in any number of books of this type, mindset, tactics, equipment, legal issues, etc. His advice is sound, no doubt, and consists mostly of common sense measures that will help you be better prepared for a life threatening encounter. If you have read other self-defense books I am sure you will be familiar with most of the topics within.

One area where Mr. Wenger does depart from the norm is with regards to shot placement. Most self-defense instructors teach their students to target the upper torso in an attempt to hit a vital organ, lungs, heart, major arteries, or if you're real lucky the head or central nervous system. It is the predominant view these days and it has become almost a religious doctrine, not to be questioned. Mr. Wenger does question it though. He believes that your best chance at stopping an attack is to target the pelvic region, specifically to damage the bones and joints there that will immediately bring an attacker down. He certainly isn't the first to advance this view. I doubt he will be the last either because the idea has merit.

I am recommending this book. Even if you don't agree with all of Mr. Wenger's theories I think this book might still help you, if for no other reason than to make you defend what you believe about your self-defense tactics, and why you believe it.

Principles Of Personal Defense

Today I read Colonel Cooper's classic for the umpteenth time. It is a short book, booklet really, but it is essential reading for all of us determined to defend ourselves from violent predators. Although it's forty years old now the advice contained within is timeless. Everyone should read this and reread it every so often too, to keep it fresh in your mind.

Carry experiment

For two months I've been running a little experiment with my carry guns. Well, the experiment is over and learned some things.

For years now I've had a routine. I'm sure many others that carry a gun have the same one. For most of the year I would carry a full size self-defense pistol. I had many over the years but the one I most often used was a Colt Government Model. It was easy enough to carry and I shot it well, you couldn't ask for more than that. But it is harder to carry in the hotter months, especially when wearing lighter clothes. So, in July and August I would put the GM away and use a smaller "Summer Gun." For over a decade mine was a S&W M649 but a couple of years ago I went with an even lighter J-Frame, a 342PD.

The J-Frame Smith & Wesson is a fine weapon, reliable and easy to carry. But the capacity is limited, reloads are harder than an auto, and a 2-Inch snub is the most difficult gun to shoot accurately. Despite its charm I must say that for a while now I've wanted to upgrade to something better than my short trip "Gas station" gun. The J-Frame is not the best self-defense tool in the box, certainly better than nothing, but it is a compromise.

At the beginning of this summer I also had another problem. I had a S&W SW990L and I couldn't decide if I wanted to sell or not. Its' a great gun, completely reliable and accurate, but I didn't need another range toy and I wasn't sure I wanted to carry it. That's when the experiment came about.

I let the 342PD sit it out this summer and began carrying the SW990L. It's roughly the same size as a Colt GM (although a bit thicker) but weighed less and held one more round too. Searching through my holster box I found a IWB holster for my USP that fit the big Smith reasonably well. It wasn't perfect but was good enough to carry without being dangerous. So the experiment began.

Since mid-June I've been carrying a ten shot (9+1) .45 auto rather than my usual five shot .38. Yes, it was more difficult. No, it was not as comfortable. But it wasn't so bad that I felt it couldn't be done on a regular basis. What I've found is that I can carry a much better tool for defending myself, one that doesn't make me feel like I'm compromising my safety.

I'll be looking for a 1911 type pistol with a lightweight frame to replace my J-Frame in my carry lineup. I think it will be perfect for what I need. The SW990L will be going. It's a good gun but I already have others that do the same job and without adding more expenses I don't need. I'll keep my J-Frames though, if for sentimental reasons if nothing else. They might even see the occasional duty, but I doubt they get used on a regular basis again.

People with guns collection # 46

"PHILADELPHIA, MAR. 20 - Ready for trouble - Carl Potnick stocks shelves in his father's Philadelphia food market with a .38 caliber revolver strapped cowboy fashion to the outside of his butcher's apron, Friday. Potnick started wearing pistol after neighboring women's and children's apparel shop operator was slain in a holdup Thursday." March -1971

Picking a team

Been going through my gun collection again. I just inherited several from Dad and don't have room for them all, something has to go. I will always hold on to some of those antiques I love but there are others I can't justify keeping.

One change for certain will be with my self-defense handguns. I'm getting out of the traditional double action (DA/SA) pistol business altogether. Those are the hardest guns for me to shoot well (probably for most shooters) and I don't practice with them nearly enough for a weapon I might bet my life on. Although I carried them in the past over the last couple of years they have basically turned into range toys. I already have enough toys.

I will be keeping my HK USP .45. It's DA but can also be used "cocked & locked" and that's how I've been using mine for a while now. It's a great gun, I've carried it several times since I bought it. The pistol is actually lighter than a 1911 but it's just too big to use regularly. You need a good jacket or coat to conceal the HK. I have been using it mostly as my "house" gun and will continue to do so. The USP loaded with 13 rounds of hollowpoints and light attached makes an excellent home defense option.

For my carry needs I will be relying mainly on my 1911 pistols since that is what I have practiced (and feel most comfortable) with. I will also continue to use my double action revolvers for now since I also train with them quite a bit too. In the future though it's conceivable that I might go with the 1911 (and variants) entirely.

I've also decided to get back to my regular shooting sessions at least once a month, and practice with one of my self-defense guns every time I go. I'm also considering more formal training but I believe this first step, picking a main gun and practicing with it a lot more, is a good first step.

Gone Shooting - 22 day

The weather was nice so I went shooting again earlier today. This time I only took .22s. There was the Ruger Government model from last time. I wanted to put a few more rounds through it and I also needed to adjust the sights. I took another .22 too, my Budischowsky TP-70. Ammunition used today was Federal "AutoMatch" and cheap Winchester both with 40gr bullets. As usual targets were 5-inch Shoot-N-C brand.

The Ruger was first up. All firing was from 50ft using an improvised rest (the roof of my car and a rolled up towel). No surprises in the accuracy department as it performed just like it did on the last outing. It was shooting high but didn't take long to make it right. But mostly what I was interested in this time was reliability. Because of the weather I only got to fire 100 rounds through it last session and I wanted to continue the test. Today the Ruger effortlessly ate up everything offered it, another 200 rounds without malfunction. So far so good.

Next up was my Budischowsky TP-70. All shooting was done at 15ft using my strong hand only. The Budischowsky was a high end pocket pistol from the 1970s. It had many features not common to guns that size. Features like real sights, a separate extractor, slide stop and a decocker. They only made them a few years with the large majority in .25 Auto. The .22 version was only produced one year and they're a little tough to come by.

This pistol is basically a range toy. I only keep it for two reasons, because it's so cute and so cheap to feed. I would never rely on it for personal protection. First is the caliber, while this was a very innovative "mouse gun" 30+ years ago time has passed it by. Now you can get pocket guns almost identical in size and actually lighter in .32 or .380. The "micro" 9mm pistols aren't far behind. But even if I wanted to rely on a .22LR for self defense I still wouldn't use this gun, it's just too persnickety.

The magazines are one problem. It will hold seven rounds but you'll quickly find that to be the easiest way to get this pistol to malfunction. You better count them out when loading. Six rounds, no more, ever. Another issue is the double action trigger pull. IT IS AWFUL! Even at 5 yards you can see I was pulling shots to the right. Firing in single action you can actually make reasonable sized groups but it's not safe to carry it that way. But the Budischowsky's biggest problem is being a very finicky eater. I have never found ammunition that it would feed reliably 100% of the time. Until today. I put 150 rounds down range with the Federal brand without a hiccup. Next time I have it out I'll try the Federal again. If it repeats today's performance I guess I've finally found the ammo it likes. Yes this little pistol has plenty of problems, but it's so cute!

Had some fun today and didn't even have to go through a lot of expensive ammo to do it. As a bonus I might have finally found just the right formula for my problem child.

Idiots and their guns

Some people idiots shouldn't be allowed to own guns, this guy is one of them. Right now this is a big local story, you can read more here. Let me give a short summary for you - 56-year-old man was having a problem with kids in the neighborhood (ringing doorbells, banging on windows, etc.). One night while "scared and confused" he shoots a 12-year-old boy in the back with a shotgun, and all over a child's prank.

This sad story all began with some boys getting together, and as unsupervised boys are bound to do they found some trouble to get into. They decided it would be fun to ring some doorbells and run. Kids have played "Ring and Run" a lot longer than I've been alive, I have done it myself although it's been a few decades. I'm not going to defend these boys. They were old enough to know better and the phrase "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" came to my mind when I initially heard about this. But although it's true that they shouldn't have been on this man's property in the first place I'm also thinking that having two collapsed lungs and a 100 shotgun pellets dug out of you might be excessive punishment for an infantile trick.

The authorities say it was a crime; the shooter says it was an accident. I say at best it was 100% pure essence of stupidity. For this post I'm not going to worry about the disputed facts in this case, the whole truth will come out soon enough. Today I'm solely commenting on the statements this man has already made. He has managed to make it 56 years without having any major run in with the law so I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is telling the truth, for now.

He said - That he thought there were burglars outside his home and only wanted to scare them. I say - Idiot, you don't point a gun to "scare" people, to intimidate trouble away. If you are aiming a gun at someone you better be completely convinced that they are about to take your (or some innocent persons) life, which with rare exception is the only valid reason in a justified civilian shooting. If you want to "teach" someone become a schoolteacher.

He said - "I had no idea who it was or how old they were" I say - Listen up moron this is important, I doubt you have ever heard any of this before so I'll tell you now. There are 4 crucially important rules for gun owners, learn them all. The one most applicable here, Know your target and what is beyond. You were prepared to shoot and kill someone and had absolutely no idea who they were and you didn't know that other kids were nearby either. This was a wide-open invitation for tragedy and it was only your stupid luck, and the grace of God, that this didn't end with some child dead.

He said - "The gun went off… but it was an accident" and he was "shocked and upset at myself for leaving a shell" (in the gun). I say - Einstein, this is no "accident," you had a loaded gun, you had your finger on the trigger. That's not an accident, just you being stupid. Starting to see a trend here? Did you even look at that link in the previous paragraph? And speaking of stupid, how much is required to confront a burglar with what you thought to be an unloaded gun?

If this man somehow manages to dodge a conviction and keep himself out of jail I hope he never owns another gun. Sell them, give them to the police, have them cut in half with a torch, have someone crush them. Just don't own another. People like this make it hard for the rest of us gun owners that take the enormous responsibility of firearms ownership and self-defense seriously. Guys like this are the ones gun haters think of as they try to destroy all of our rights, they think we're all like this. Every easily avoidable incident like this one only solidifies their misguided beliefs that no one but police and military are "smart" or "good" enough to have weapons. Having guys like this on "our" side only makes the fight for our freedoms a hundred times harder. They are the worst enemies that the average concerned, thinking gun owner has.

I carried a badge

A recent post by Guffaw about working as a security guard brought back the memories of my own brief stint as a pseudo law enforcement officer and working the mean streets of the city, well actually, mostly mean vestibules. Starting in '04 I spent over two years working as unarmed security for a local company. At the time I needed extra income to pay off some bills and this was the best job I could find that would work with my schedule.

I did mention it was unarmed security? The company told us that fact four or five times during our initial three-hour orientation. It must have been a big problem with new employees as it was mentioned repeatedly. They also told us as many times that being caught with a gun while working for them was grounds for immediate termination, whether you had a deadly weapons license or not. Know what else would get you fired right quick? Doing anything but observing. You see all of us fledgling "Security Officers" soon discovered that the only thing we were there for was to be a "visual deterrence" for criminals (mostly shoplifters) and to be a good witness if possible. What we were not supposed to do was jeopardize our safety or the company's profits while on their payroll. And they meant it, not even two weeks after we finished "training" one of the guys I started with helped some employees at a store he was working at, he "helped" them by tackling a shoplifter running out the door. Yep, you guessed it, fired on the spot. Poor sap must have thought he was a cop or something. He was mistaken. They tried to tell him numerous times during that extensive half-day training session before we were "signed off" and let loose on the world, guess he wasn't listening. They weren't paying us to "do something," basically we were being paid to stand around and look official and (in theory) we would scare away anyone that meant trouble for our customers. The scarecrow security theory. My first supervisor on the job put it succinctly, he told me to just "stand there and look serious, but friendly."

Being the new guy I got all those exciting jobs that the other employees didn't want. The boring jobs, the uncomfortable jobs, and of course the dangerous jobs. Because of my regular work I didn't have much time available on the weekdays but did on the weekends and I got to work a lot of them. It wasn't unusual for me to have 24-30 hours in before the regular work week arrived Monday morning. The company had a big contract with a local grocery chain and our mission was to stand there in the front vestibule of their store and frighten criminals. I got a lot of those jobs as many of my co-workers refused to do it, or at least found a reason to get out of it. You don't know what fun is until you've stood in the lobby of a grocery store going insane from the tedium, doing your twelve hour shift (usually midnight to noon) with only a very short restroom break every few hours. Good times!

But it wasn't all standing around with your feet killing you for boring hour after hour without end, there was other fun to be had. They also sent me more than a few times to a local downtown hotel notorious for a murder a couple years before, a drug deal had went bad in their secluded back parking lot. My assignment, if I accepted it, was to make a continuous loop, patrolling each floor of the hotel from top to bottom on the hour, including the aforementioned murder site. It was the graveyard shift (12A - 8A) and while it was lonely I wasn't completely alone. As I said the place was infamous for a relatively recent and well known murder and a known drug area. The local police made it a part of their regular beat and I would see them maybe three or four times during the long night. Otherwise I was on my own. The only good thing I can say about the duty was that it wasn't boring as standing looking out the front window of a grocery store for 6 to 12 hours at a time.

Those were the two main duties I had that first year but there were other memorable ones too. Once in a while I worked at a shopping complex in the city center and adjacent to it was a large Catholic Church. Every weekday at noon they would give out food to the needy. Let me tell you that was some fun trying to keep a 100 or more homeless (mostly men), many undoubtedly mentally ill, on the church property and from overrunning and damaging your client's. Your only weapons a harsh look and the threat of calling the real police. Good times!

Then occasionally, maybe once or twice a month, I would get assigned a "gravy" job, typically when someone called in sick or was on vacation. I suppose they were grateful that I took so many unpopular assignments that they would throw me a bone on occasion. It was during these times I would get my own patrol car, ours were little white Ford Focus sedans with a spiffy stripe down the side that read "******* Security" and had a light bar on top. I would usually get the night shift (or course) and would drive around in the nearly empty parking lot, listening to overnight A.M. talk radio while I protected the grocery or department store from evildoers! Good times! Really!

I was popular with my immediate supervisor because I was one of the few guys he had that would take anything offered. I did the dirty jobs many of his other employees wouldn't. Plenty of long shifts and boring posts. I didn't want to either but I had to, I needed the money. I did the work and didn't complain and I'm sure that's what he appreciated the most. In that first year the only job I ever turned down was working the front door at an abortion clinic, that's just something I could not do.

After about 15 months of that kind of "fun" I asked them to cut back my hours. I had paid off some bills by then, I still needed some extra money but I rapidly tired of working seven days a week. Because I had done a good work for them (and without complaints) I must say they made an effort to find me a regular post, something better than what I had been doing. They finally did find something, a nice Saturday only job at a local factory. I would go in the morning at seven and would stay until they were finished, usually three or four that afternoon. I had my own little office, heated and central air. My only duty to sit there at my desk and let people in or out. The rest of the time I could read or listen to the radio, but quietly, and absolutely no TV! Mainly I just tried to stay awake. Infrequently I would still find myself with the odd "interesting" assignment when they really needed me to. Finally I must say I bored of the exciting life of an unarmed security officer and found myself a somewhat better second job, at least it paid more.

Did I ever carry a gun in my "unarmed" security job? Sure did, plenty of times my Smith & Wesson 649 was right there with me. Usually in a holster around my ankle or occasionally in a "tuckable" holster inside my waistband. It was legal for me to carry and any time it seemed prudent to have a gun I did, like the murder hotel for instance. I was willfully violating company policy and knew I would be fired then and there if caught, but it was my life on the line so I decided to take that chance. The company knew to, at least I believe my "field" supervisor did. There were a couple of times he seemed to notice me "printing" but never said a word. They probably sent him on some dangerous jobs too when he first started.

Question for the gunnies

Do any of my readers use a shot timer to practice with on a regular occasion, either live training at the range or dry fire at home? Both? If you do has the timed training significantly improved your abilities, specifically pertaining to self defense shooting and concealed carry? Has the use of a timer made a noticeable improvement in your presentation speed and effectiveness down range? For years I have been "concealed carry" practicing (live fire) by simply making a concerted effort to shoot as fast as possible while keeping all my bullets on target. Of course it's not very scientific and while I might "feel" I'm shooting fast I really don't have anything to compare it to, it's all subjective on my part. I'm thinking it's time to move my training up another level. If you have personal experience with this your opinion would be helpful.

The Colt .45 Automatic

The following story originally appeared on my first website, jwilsonsworld, on 11/22/2002.

The Colt .45 automatic: King of the fighting handguns...

I find it remarkable that a handgun that was designed and entered military service over 90 years ago is still one of the most respected and used guns in the self defense gun market. Many gun designs have come and gone in the last 90 plus years while the model 1911 design has remained virtually unchanged, despite many newer designs and the "short comings" of the 1911 design "old slab sides" goes on and on and is considered by many experts to be the ultimate self defense tool. When you decide to get serious about self defense the 1911 is considered by many to be the only option. "Old ugly" gets the last laugh on all the competition.

My first experience with "old ugly" goes back to the late 70s, I wasn't even a teen yet but I already had several years shooting experience and my Dad decided that I was big enough to fire his Colt .45 automatic, his gun was a 70 series that had the polished nickel finish and was a beauty to behold. We went to an area behind my cousin's house, it was a dump area and there were no houses nearby to worry about. I found a nice target a safe distance away, an old concrete statue that someone had discarded. I set my sights on the statue and fired, I remember the distinctive sound of the .45 going off and the sight of huge chunks of concrete being blown off of the statue, slowly with each successive shot the statue became a shapeless lump until finally there was not much left. That was my first experience with the .45 auto and it illustrated to me personally what shooters have known since the 1911 and the .45 acp cartridge originally came out, the .45 auto means brutal firepower at your fingertips.

I didn't buy my first .45 until years later, it was 1991 and I bought a used series 70 model. This particular .45 auto was just your standard blued model with the smooth wood grips that Colt was building in the mid 70s, it was in average used condition and cost me the grand sum of 375.00. You could buy one of new Colt 1991 models that had just came out for only a little more but that used 70 series with it polished finish really caught my eye and I had to have it.

That particular Colt is long gone but since 1991 I have never been without a 1911 in my house. It is my favorite handgun design and I think its design is nearly perfect for what I want in a handgun. Most of the 1911s I have owned have been Colt but I can't put down any of the other quality gun makers, I have owned Springfield armory products as well as Para-Ordnance, and they were great guns. I have also heard great things about Kimber and Dan Wesson and some other brands but I usually end up with a Colt. Please understand when I talk about the "Colt 45" I am talking about any 1911 design based on the Colt model, despite my brand loyalty I would feel very safe with any of the brands listed above, and would not think twice about using them to defend myself or another person in trouble.

What is so great about the 1911 design? It has been around for over 90 years basically unchanged, is it really that great? I think so; let me explain what things I love the most about the 1911.

One of the things I love the most about the 1911 design is the size of the gun itself, I have owned many .45 automatics of different designs and the Colt .45 has them all beat. Some of the guns I have owned in .45 acp include the Smith and Wesson 4506 and 4516, Sig 220, Ruger P90, and the Glock model 21. All of the above .45s are huge compared with the Colt! The Colt .45 is thin and svelte compared to the above. One of the things that make a gun easier to carry is the thickness of the gun, and comparing .45s the Colt wins hands down! The Colt compares about the same for overall length and height with the models above but the above guns are much thicker than the 1911 and in some cases like H&K full size model is nearly twice as thick as the Colt! You might wonder why I go on about how thick a gun is but I find that is a major factor in your comfort level and ability to conceal when carrying a gun on a belt, I think its probably as important as the weight of a handgun for carrying.

Another thing I like about the 1911 is the single column magazine and the resultant grip area of the Colt. Since the 1911 was designed for the average man and my hands are average sized I find that the grips fit my hand perfectly. How a gun fits your hand is the most important factor when shooting a gun (especially in rapid fire) and the Colt is perfect in that department. I have owned larger .45s like the Glock 21 and while it was a reliable well made weapon it was much harder for me to shoot it well, because of the 13 round magazine of the Glock it is much harder to get a good shooting grip as compared to the Colt.

Another feature of the Colt I really like is the thumb safety, I really like a gun that has a positive safety system for carrying, it greatly reduces the chance of accidental firing compared to a gun like the Glock which has no manual safety at all. Several years ago our local police switched over to Glocks and there were several accidental shooting resulting. Also having a gun, which can't be fired until the safety is disengaged could actually save your life if a bad guy got your handgun from you, if the bad guy didn't know how the gun works it could give you a few seconds that just might save your life.

One of the best features of the Colt .45 is the single action trigger, while you can train to use a double action or double action only pistol no one can really argue that they are better, all that you can argue is that the other trigger types are safer for the untrained. Simply put the single action trigger is the absolute best action to have when using a gun in a life threatening situation (which is probably the whole point if you are carrying a gun in public), it is much more consistent and it is much easier to shoot it faster and more accurately than any other trigger type. It does require more training and effort to learn to use a "cocked and locked" .45 than the other trigger designs but I believe that it is really worth the effort.

What about some of the flaws of the 1911 design? Of course no design can be perfect and that includes John Browning's famous offspring, but I believe that the flaws in the 1911 design are small and overstated. The one "failure" of the 1911 that I heard (or even read) about the most is that the 1911 is not reliable right out of the box and requires some modification to make it useable. My experience with the 1911 is exactly the opposite of this opinion, it has been my personal experience that the stock Colt is the most reliable and it is only when you start messing with the design things start to go wrong. I learned a valuable lesson very early on in my gun experiences and I think it has saved me a lot of money, and aggravation. One time I was at my favorite gun range with my Colt 70 series, and right down from me was a gentleman with a highly modified Springfield armory 1911. You could see by this gun that it had been "tricked out" and it appeared it had just about every custom option that you could think of, it probably cost this guy at least double what the gun originally cost to build this masterpiece. The only problem was that this gun would not work, this guy tried everything but his nice custom .45 just wouldn't keep running, it kept jamming, I don't think it fired more than 3 rounds in a row without some malfunction, meanwhile my stock 70 series fired mag after mag without a problem. Finally this guy was so embarrassed he just got up and left taking his jammed gun with him. This taught me an important lesson that you have probably heard yourself, if it's not broke, don't fix it. Most automatics including the 1911 don't need to be "fixed" with the possible exception of some minor personal things like sights or grips, or occasionally an auto might need a throat job if you want it to handle specific hollowpoint rounds. The point I am making with all of this is that the any well made auto works fine if left alone in its original condition and when you start changing things you just increase the chance of failures. If you just have to customize your 1911 at least send it to someone who specializes in 1911s and has a reputation for great work, it will probably cost you more in the initial cost but in the long term you will be better off. Most of the failures I have personally experienced with the 1911 have been caused by the magazine and since this is the weak point on any automatic pistol we can't really blame the 1911 design. All I can say about mags is that you get what you pay for, there are a lot of good magazine brands out there, 2 of my favorites are the stock Colt and the Wilson magazines. Another "failure" of the 1911 design is the extractor, it is said that the 1911 extractor is not up to modern standards. Let me say that I have owned dozens of guns based on the 1911 design all using the same extractor system and I have never experienced a problem with the extractor or a broken extractor, and I don't know of anyone that has, maybe I'm just lucky in this department.

What about the .45 acp cartridge itself? The .45 was originally designed to be a "man stopper" and after all of these years it still holds up very well. It is my favorite cartridge for self defense, having in my opinion the best combination of stopping power and at the same time is the most manageable of all the major calibers. Even the old military "hardball" 230 gr full metal jacket round nose bullet will stop a man 65% of the time with a good hit to the chest, and using some of the modern hollow point loads the "one shot stopping power" of the .45 acp goes up into the mid and high 90s. But it is not just the stopping power; if all you were worried about was the stopping power you could go with the .357 magnum, which is still the #1 stopper. Have you ever fired a short barrel .357, especially inside a small room or in low light conditions? If you did fire a .357 under those conditions you could expect to be temporally blinded and receive some major hearing damage, and getting off multiple shots fast would be nearly impossible compared to the .45 automatic. You could also use some of the newer cartridges like the .357 Sig but they have problems similar to the .357 magnum, they are harder to control in rapid fire and they produce much more muzzle flash. I'll say it again for dramatic effect; nothing offers the stopping power and manageability of the .45 acp cartridge.

In 1911 our military accepted into service what has become one of the best fighting handgun designs of all time. Over the years it has served us well in several wars and with the police and with the many civilians that have come to love and trust their "old slab sides", and despite the many new designs and calibers that have come and gone since 1911 "old ugly" still remains one of the best choices for people who desire a handgun to protect themselves and their loved ones. I believe that legacy reflects just how great the Colt 1911 design really was all of those years ago. The 1911 will continue to be an admired and used handgun design far into the future, and that idea says more than any words can.

Books - Outgunned!

After re-reading Outgunned! by Robert A. Waters and John T. Waters Jr. I must say that it is an interesting book, not a great one, but certainly will hold your attention. It is the subject matter that really intrigues me, a topic that most of the mainstream media wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. Outgunned! is about private citizens that have captured or killed violent criminals in the commission of crimes. The book is a compilation of stories collected mostly from America's old west and prohibition gangster era. These stories differ in time frame and geographically as well but the one commonality they have is that in all of these true cases it was armed citizens, not law enforcement, that were finally able to bring these ruthless and violent criminals to justice. As I said this is not the greatest book, but it is worth reading if for no other reason than to remind us just how an honest, free American citizen armed with a gun can at times be the greatest asset to their country and community.

Books - The Deadliest Men

Just re-read The Deadliest Men by Paul Kirchner. This book is a collection of tales of many men (and some women) throughout history that have proven that they have the "Warrior Spirit", prevailing in armed combat. The author gives short profiles of these men and women and the deeds that have earned them a place in history. From World War I fighter aces to 18th century duelist. From the ancient history of Alexander the Great to the modern tale of a Los Angeles jeweler that triumphed against the odds in four separate gun battles. These stories perfectly illustrate the idea that ultimately it is the man (or woman) and their willingness to fight and win that decides the outcome of violent confrontations. That while training and equipment are important, it is really the attitude of the warrior, more than anything else, that decides his fate.

Shoot what you've got...

I've done it myself. I have done it a lot over the years. Finding a reason to buy another gun. I guess many "gun nuts" probably do the same thing. Always looking for that next best thing. There always seems to be "just one more" to buy.

I am certainly as guilty as anyone and probably more so than many gun owners. There are very few guns that I can honestly say I need. A .308 rifle is one of the few. But I've got a "thing" for S&W N Frame .357 revolvers. I certainly don't need another but I keep on buying them anyway. Even when the rational side of my brain tells me that I have more practical ways of spending my "gun money" I keep on buying them.

But this story is not so much about my chronic Smith & Wesson collector's disease (which could be the whole story by itself) or gun purchases in general, but more about guns that we want to use and like, but can't be happy with. It seems especially bad when concerning guns we use in a self-defense role. There has to be something better out there, there has to be. We are always looking for that new "something" that is going to make us the perfect shooter. "This new fangled Wizzzzer-9® will finally make me a super crack shot." When that doesn't pan out we look for the next new toy that will make us the shooter of our dreams, it has to. It just has to.

Instead we should have just bought more ammo and practiced a lot more often.

As I said I'm certainly no one to be casting stones. But at least in self-defense guns I have a little more control. I have used the same .45 Automatic as my main carry gun since 2003 and use it the large majority of the time. The bullets were big enough to do a lot of damage and as was able to hit what I was aiming at. That's all I asked for. That's all I needed. And while I have been tempted to upgrade over the years I never did. Maybe I was too preoccupied with collecting S&W's to worry about "THE BETTER" but for whatever reason I never felt compelled to continually trade up my few carry guns. I finally got to a point where I was happy with my choices. Maybe I am getting a little more practical in my middle (old) age. Maybe I am coming to a point where I can make decisions using reasoned thought instead of blinding emotions. Maybe. Maybe a little.

I can say I'm not as bad as I used to be. Over the years I have owned at least one handgun from just about every major manufacturer, always looking for something better. Never found better, only found different. Because as a rule most quality gun makers produce a quality product. They only differ in the details. Do you like DA or SA? Do you want a frame mounted safety or slide mounted, or none? Do you want plain or 3-dot sights? Do you want 6, 8 or 17 shots? Yes, most guns can be made better with customization but first you've got to figure out the big details of what works for you.

If you're like me, at some point you will have "enough", or you should. At some point you figure out what will work for you, stop trying to find "THE BETTER" and just strive to become proficient with what you've got. At some point you should mature in your gun ownership.

I think I am almost to that point now. I've said before in other posts that practice is more important than equipment. Maybe I'm starting to believe it myself.

So when is enough enough?

I would say when you find a gun in a sufficient caliber for your needs, that you are comfortable with AND can shoot well you should stop looking and just do your best to become an expert with that gun. A Beware the man with one gun kind of thing...

I sat down and made a gun list, not guns that I LIKE, not guns that I WANT, but guns that I NEED. It is a very short list as there are few that I really need anymore. I will be striving this year to fill that list and to become more proficient with the guns that I already have. Can't promise to completely give up that Smith & Wesson .357 "thing" though. That's just asking too much!

wilsonblogclassic® Originally posted Thursday, July 16, 2009

Pocket GunsPocket guns - they might be praised or cursed, daily carried or a "safe queen", but what self-respecting "gun nut" doesn't have at least one in their collection? I own several myself, most of the Smith & Wesson "J" Frame variety. For several years they were all that I used when I carried in public. A steel frame S&W M649 being my main carry gun from 1997 to 2003. That little .38 Bodyguard traveled nearly everywhere with me and it still sees occasional use right up to today. Despite having better carry guns I still know how useful a good pocket gun can be.

Pocket guns have a lot going for them, ease of concealment being one big factor. Their small size and (generally) light weight also make carrying them all day long a minor chore. But ultimately it is the convenience of the pocket gun that has to be its greatest asset. When your little gun isn't much of a burden on you it is much more likely to be taken when you leave the house. And that's the best thing the pocket gun has going for it, since it's much more likely to go with you, it is much more likely to be there when you need it. How many better self-defense handguns get left at home because they're too much a burden?

But you do trade off the convenience of the pocket gun for other important considerations. Generally, they are much harder to shoot well and to make consistent hits with, more practice is definitely needed. The lighter weight guns can actually be painful to shoot (causing you to practice much less with them) and many pocket guns are in less effective "mouse gun" calibers. But whatever else good or bad that might be said about little pocket guns the most important thing you can say is that they are much more likely to be there when you really need them, and that's probably the most important thing that you could ever say...

wilsonblogclassic® Originally posted Thursday, May 7, 2009

Shot in the head with a .25 auto... and really really angry

After the concealed carry piece that I had written back in March I thought that I would elaborate on the incident that finally caused me to give up using a .25 automatic as my primary carry gun. The final proverbial "straw" that broke the camel's back. This incident occurred over a dozen years ago.

At the time I had been carrying a Colt Model 1908 (.25 Auto) and then had recently switched to a Beretta in the same caliber. I knew in the back of my head that my little pistol was not up to the requirements of a main carry gun and that I might actually be in trouble if I really had a need for it. I guess you could say that I was in denial.

My denial did last a while but it wouldn't last forever. You see, while I was living in happy ignorance it wouldn't be too long before it began eroding as I read story after story in gun books and magazines about the lackluster performance of little mouse guns and just how marginal these calibers were. When the local television news reported about a "drive by" where the bullets from a thug's .25 automatic didn't even penetrate the metal screen of his intended victim's front door that was just about all that I needed to hear on the matter. And then came the "final straw".

"Jay" was a friend of mine from work. We were well acquainted but didn't really hang out after hours, he was about 8 years younger than me and we had different interests in life. Jay was in his early 20s, an average guy, and like many young men his age spent a lot of his weekend free time in bars chasing the girls. That is where he found his trouble.

One Saturday night while at a bar Jay got into a conversation with a girl, the guy that was with the girl didn't like that. Words were exchanged and before anyone knew what was going on the other fellow produced a gun and fired a shot. Before he could get off another round though my friend proceeded to beat that man into unconsciousness.

When the police arrived they found the unconscious instigator, a dozen or more witnesses and Jay, who had a minor head wound. The police took him to the hospital. Jay had a cut to his head, which by the time he arrived at the hospital had already stopped bleeding. Although the doctor wanted to take x-rays Jay was feeling better and didn't want to stay. At his insistence they patched it up and he got out of there. Within a couple of days though Jay started having bad headaches. He went back to the hospital and the doctors immediately found the source of his problem, a .25 caliber bullet lodged in his temple.

I won't try to defend the actions of my friend. Knowing him then, I've no doubt that he said things that probably helped escalate the situation. Given the age of the two young men involved, the setting, the abundance of both testosterone and alcohol, I would say that both had a part to play in this drama and neither were completely innocent. The point I am trying to make in this long-winded story is that MY FRIEND WAS SHOT IN THE HEAD AND HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT! In fact at the time he thought the bullet had missed him completely! It wasn't until the fight was over and the other guy lay dazed and bloody on the floor that someone pointed out to him that he had been hurt. Jay told me at the time that the effect of the guy shooting at him (actually shooting him) was only to make him angrier, I am sure that this fellow took a worse beating because of it! I am also sure that if the other guy had a larger caliber gun my friend would have been killed. Having seen the actual bullet wound I have very little doubt of that.

Very shortly after this incident I began looking for a better carry gun, I eventually settled on the classic Smith & Wesson "J" frame in .38 Special. Which I now consider to be the absolute minimum caliber in a main carry gun.

I've not owned many mouse guns since, and never again as a primary carry gun. But even I must admit that they do have their limited uses. If I do carry one as "back-up" it is knowing that I am going to unload the gun into the person attacking me. I have no delusions of "one-shot stopping power" or the effectiveness of these minuscule calibers. I simply acknowledge them for what they are, a desperate last-ditch effort.

Of course arguments can be made for using these small pistols, both for physical, practical, and other reasons. At times I have made these same arguments myself. I will not try to talk others out of their little guns, it is their decision to make, it is their life to live. All I can do is simply relate the very personal reasons why I no longer chiefly rely on them. Why I can no longer accept their role as anything but supplemental. For me, to do otherwise would be to deny the simple facts that I have observed with my very own eyes.

wilsonblogclassic® Originally posted Monday, March 9, 2009

I Carry a GunYes I carry a gun and have for a long time now. Whenever I'm out in public I carry a gun. It hasn't always been that way. When I first got my concealed weapons license in 1996 I started off with some strange ideas about carrying a gun in public. Most of the ideas that I had were just from plain inexperience. I was new to concealed carry and had no clue what I was doing. Given some time and study though I would eventually out grow those childish ideas, but it would take a little while for me to recognize just how ignorant I was and to make efforts to change it.

I am lucky in that I was able to learn both through my own trial and error as well as from the experiences of others. Fortunately, more often than not, I recognized good advise when I got it and put it to good use. I was smart enough to realize that I didn't really know a thing about this subject and strived to learn all that I could. I read every magazine article I could find, every book available. Unfortunately not everyone grows up and learns from their mistakes so easily, nor do they want to. They want to do it on their own and/or they don't want other gun owners to think of them as an inexperienced "newbie". They would rather leave their questions unanswered and continue in their ignorance than admit that they need help.

Most of my mistakes were more trivial in nature and are experienced by many when they first begin carrying a gun. Things like types of holsters, belts, and carry positions etc. can really only be learned thru your own personal experience. While advice might be of some help these types of personal details are mostly a matter of trial and error on the part of the new gun person and it is up to them to find out what works best for them. For instance, my first few years I carried using a flimsy regular dress belt. I wasn't going to "waste" good money on a gun belt when I could have more to spend on guns and ammo. I made carrying a gun a lot more difficult and uncomfortable than it should have been just because of my hardheadedness. I could've saved myself a lot of trouble if I just took the advise of others more knowledgeable.

Other mistakes though can be more serious in nature. My first big mistake was in my gun's caliber. I had no concern for it and simply chose my first carry gun using one simple standard, how easy it was to carry. Many gun owners use this same standard, I mean a gun is a gun? Right? My first carry gun was a Colt .25 Automatic "Vest Pocket" model of 1908. Sure was easy to tote around, there can be no denying of that. The fact that this particular caliber is marginal at best and might or might not have stopped someone attacking me wasn't even considered. I had so little concern over it that when I finally did decide to buy another carry gun it wasn't over worry of the anemic caliber that I was carrying but simply because my little gun's age made me weary of it. My second carry gun, a Beretta, was also a .25 Auto. But it wasn't too long after buying the Beretta that I began hearing horror stories about this particular caliber and was beginning to rethink my position. Then when someone I knew was actually shot in the head with a .25 and hardly affected it was a real eye-opener for me that got me thinking that caliber selection might just be important in a carry gun. Not too long after I bought my first carry gun in a "serious" caliber, a .38 Special.

Probably the biggest mistake I made though was when I carried. At first I only carried my gun sporadically, my gun only came with me if I was going to a "bad" area of town, or maybe going out at night. Most the time I didn't carry a gun at all. It was just too much hassle. Unfortunately many gun owners feel the same and some never outgrow it. I might not have myself except that I had the good fortune of hearing a very moving speech by a woman named Suzanna Hupp.

For anyone out there that might not know, Suzanna Hupp was there that day at the Luby's Cafeteria murders that took place on October 16th 1991 in Killeen Texas. It was up until the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech the single deadliest mass shooting in American history. As I said she was there and she wasn't alone. She was there that day having lunch with her parents. At that time in the state of Texas concealed carry was illegal. Suzanna Hupp, being a good citizen followed her state law. Even though she had a gun with her she left it in her car. It was a mistake that she would regret for the rest of her life. 20 people where injured that day, 23 more were killed. Hupp's parents were among the dead. More so, she was able to do nothing but run as a deranged gunman executed the parents that she loved and many other innocent people.

In the spring of 2000 I watched Dr. Hupp as she gave a very moving speech about what had happened to her on television. I watched as she emotionally told how she truly regretted not taking her gun with her that day. How she would prefer to be in prison if it could mean that her parents and other victims might have been saved. How she would have to live for the rest of her life with the knowledge of what she could have done to stop this tragedy from happening.

It was at this point that I "saw the light". I could now see how truly stupid, immature and outright dangerous my attitudes about carrying a gun were. That we had no control over when or where we might need a gun and to pretend otherwise was simply deluding ourselves. No one can predict the future and yet that is what I was doing every time I left the house without my gun. I was predicting (hoping) that I would have no need for it.

Since May 20th 2000 I have not gone out in public without a gun. There are of course certain places that by law I am not allowed to carry. But aside from those, if I am in a public place I have gun on me. Whether it is long trip or short, "good" place or "bad", day or night, I have a gun on me. I understand now that to do otherwise is just not an option for any rational, thinking gun owner.

wilsonblogclassic® Originally posted Saturday, December 13, 2008

Time for another gratuitous gun photo!Is there any thing more beautiful than a well worn gun? A gun with a lot of wear is a well trusted, well loved gun. A well worn gun has character. This is one has that and in spades. This old Colt Government Model .45 was made in 1953 so it had just turned 50 when I purchased it in 2003. There was a lot of finish wear already so there wasn't much collector value left in it, purely a shooting piece. And that's what I had intended to do with this one, shoot it and shoot it a lot. But when I found out how accurate and completely reliable it was I made it my main carry gun and it has been ever since. Over the last five years there has been much more finish wear added, "beauty marks", and there will probably be more to come as I have no intentions of retiring this old warhorse yet. I might add some better sights but that's an indictment of my middle-aged eyes not of this classic .45 Automatic, which is just as fine a pistol now as it was when it left that factory in Connecticut 55 years ago...

wilsonblogclassic® Originally posted Saturday, December 6, 2008

Gun Owners and the "Magic Wand Syndrome"

"When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you..."

When You Wish Upon A Star © 1940
Music by Leigh Harline - Lyrics by Ned Washington

The other day I read a news story about an Arizona man that got into a confrontation with a thief breaking into his car. The car owner was armed with a gun and for whatever reason, could not or would not use his gun against the young criminal. As a result the thug took the car owner's gun from him and then proceeded to beat him with it! The man was badly injured but the story did have a somewhat happy ending in that he kept his life, it could have just have easily ended much more tragically. I don't know all the facts regarding this particular incident but I would be willing to bet that this was yet another manifestation of what I like to call the "Magic Wand Syndrome".

The Magic Wand Syndrome is the very naïve belief that a gun is a powerful cure-all endowed with magical powers, a mystical object that can somehow save the day by just be presented. All you need do is wave this miraculous talisman in the direction of your problem and it will disappear. A person's troubles will just evaporate with the display of a gun, criminals will flee or surrender, conflict will instantaneously end and all will be right with the world. MOST IMPORTANTLY, THIS MAGICAL DEVICE CAN DO ALL THIS WITHOUT EVER BEING FIRED - ITS MERE PRESENSE IS ENOUGH TO WORK ITS MAGIC. There are some otherwise sane people that actually believe in this fairy story and they do so at their own peril. For people that don't own a gun this is nothing but harmless delusion, but for those that do own a gun and also hold to this childish fantasy it is a dangerous belief that could cost them their life some day.

Yes, wishful thinking can get you killed.

I've encountered this attitude several times in my own life; the most recent occasion was with a male coworker a few months ago. We were discussing firearms and he was talking about his home defense gun, a .45 Sig Sauer pistol. His comment to me was if a criminal did break into his home that they would "wet their pants" after he showed them "the business end" of his .45 Automatic. Maybe they would "wet their pants" but on the other hand maybe they would pull their own gun and just start shooting. The possibility that a criminal might not be paralyzed with fear when looking down the barrel of his gun was something that my coworker didn't want to accept. After all what kind of person wouldn't be completely intimidated when looking down the barrel of a gun? I tried to talk some sense into the guy but he was having none of it.

That's not the first time I've dealt with gun owners, or potential gun owners, with similar hardheaded attitudes.

The first time I ever dealt with this personally was with another coworker many years before. She knew that I was the resident "gun guy" and was continually asking me firearm questions. I came to find out that she wanted to purchase a gun for home protection and was interested in my opinions on the subject. So I proceeded to tell her about various types of guns that could be used for self-defense and the best calibers suitable for the task. It was there that she stopped the conversation to inform me that she had no intention of buying ammunition and that she only wanted a gun to "point" at an intruder if she had to. It was her belief that killing was wrong and she did not want even the slightest chance that she could kill someone. She might have to buy a gun but under no circumstances was she going to buy the very item that makes a gun practical, the ammunition. I quickly tried to talk her out of this childlike idea and to bring some rational thought into the conversation. I told her that best thing would be to go ahead and get the gun and ammunition, and the training to use it. I also told her that if she wasn't going to possess ammo to not have the gun either because it would just increase the chances of her getting hurt or killed. I told her that if she couldn't live with the idea of owning a gun and possibly having to use it she would be better off to just get a big dog or pepper spray or maybe take Karate lessons. But mostly I tried to emphasize the idea that a useless, empty gun wasn't going to be any help in her time of need and her "plan" was not well thought out to say the least. I never knew the outcome of that conversation because not too long after that she took another job and we never spoke again. I would like to hope that I talked her into getting that gun, ammo and the training to use it, if not that, then at the very least dissuaded her from the silly notion that pointing an unloaded gun at a armed intruder was somehow a good idea.

There are thousands of instances every year where gun owners prevent crime simply by having a gun, without ever having to use it.

Knowing that the above statement is true some might think that they wouldn't ever have to fire a gun at someone. Maybe they won't, but they shouldn't count on it, life isn't always a statistic. You can never completely predict how people will react, not people that you know well and certainly not people that you've never met. If you were to confront an armed intruder in your home one might indeed "wet their pants" and surrender while another might be agitated to the point of attacking you with their own weapon, or like in the case above wrestle your own gun from you and proceed to beat you with it, or worse! It is great that many armed confrontations end with no shots being fired but the point here is that if you are using a gun you should be psychologically prepared for the worst case scenario. You should be prepared to use it on someone! If you can't accept and prepare for that possibility you shouldn't own a gun. This is not a fairy tale, this is not your perfect dream world, this is not the movies, this is real life and there are very real and sometimes horrific consequences to your actions. If you can't mentally accept the idea that YOU may have to kill someday to protect yourself DO NOT OWN A GUN! Having one that you can't or won't use could get you badly hurt or even killed. Better to be robbed, better to be beaten, better to be raped than to have a gun that you won't use, because it might be used on you. And under those circumstances you probably wouldn't live long enough to regret your foolishness.

wilsonblogclassic® Originally posted Saturday, October 24, 2008

Real-World Survival! by Walt Rauch is an info packed little tome well worth the effort of seeking out and studying. Rauch is a former military intelligence officer and Secret Service Agent. He has also worked several other high-risk occupations where he put his life on the line nearly everyday on the job. The result of all his experiences is this, a well-grounded and pragmatic approach to surviving the dangers of our modern society that is unflinching in its honesty. Rauch pulls no punches, he tells it like he sees it and lays it all out for the reader to accept or not. This book covers a wide spectrum of topics; everything from the basic hardware requirements to developing the proper mind set needed to survive violent confrontations. The chapters where the author goes into the more mundane details about this gun or that, this type of action or that, are relatively standard and honestly are what you can see in many other books of this type. Where this book stands out though, and where Mr. Rauch is at his best is when he is discussing things like the proper mindset that needs to be developed in order to survive violent encounters as well as the psychology of the criminal mind. In this book he refers to violent criminals as "otherhumans" and lets us know in no uncertain terms that they are not like us. Their minds don't work like normal people's and they will do whatever required to get what they want, including taking your life. Other authors have made this same point, but Rauch really brings the idea home for the reader with his simple writing style that is very plainspoken. Rauch shows the reader the unpleasant truth and leaves it up to them what they want to do with that truth. Another example would be a memorable chapter on the aftermath of taking a human life. It is a real eye opener that will probably leave some wondering if they even want to carry a gun to defend themselves. I consider this book to be required reading if you intend to carry a gun in public, and it probably wouldn't be a bad idea if it was required reading for every honest citizen as well.