Friday Funny (Walking Dead)

People with guns collection # 86

LIGHT BEAM AIDES POLICE OFFICERS - DETROIT, MICH. - G. Howlett Davis of Detroit (Right) demonstrating a device he has invented which when attached to the barrel of a revolver projects a beam of light that illuminates a small area into which bullets fired from the revolver will hit. This device is expected to be of great use to policemen hunting fugitives or armed criminals in dark places, for once the beam of light picks up the target it can be held and the bullets placed in it. Emerson Osborn is acting as target. This light beam is effective up to 50 feet. 8-20-40

The Grand Experiment

One year ago today I began using only double action revolvers when I carried concealed. No doubt long time readers of this blog will know I am a fan of S&W revolvers. I have carried them for many years now, but never exclusively. I thought I would give it a try.

My two main carry choices (top two in photo) have been a Model 342PD (.38 Special) and a "Pre 27" (.357 Magnum) - two guns about as different as you can get and both still be revolvers. The 342PD is a 5-shot Airweight so light you easily forget it's on you; the .357 is ungainly hunk of steel that will fire heavy .357 loads like they're light .38 Specials. Also in the lineup was a M649 and Chiefs Special (both .38) and for a short while even a 686 (.357).

I don't have any grand revelations for you. Carrying these revolvers wasn't much more difficult than the autoloaders I have carried for years. Yes, the big Smith was a bit more cumbersome but nothing that couldn't be done regularly. In no way did I ever feel that I was somehow "undergunned" when carrying revolvers. I never felt I was short changing myself.

I found the main difference was in carrying the reloads. I always like at least one reload with my carry gun and that's where the disparities between autos and revolvers really started showing. Typically I will carry my reloads in a front pants pocket. I've found that even a large capacity magazine in your pocket isn't too difficult to deal with, on the other hand revolver speed loaders, if carried loose, can become quite the chore.

I used both speed strips and speed loaders. The strips are of course much easier to carry on you but slower to use. The speed loaders are much quicker for reloading but more of a hassle to carry. What did I do?

As the year progressed I found myself carrying speed strips more often and speed loaders less and less, especially the N-Frame ones that were the main problem. Eventually I got lazy and just started carrying an extra J-Frame revolver which, although heavier, didn't seem as bothersome as an N-Frame speed loader rolling around in my pocket.

Now that the year has ended I don't know if I will continue the experiment. I have several good carry autos that I would like to start using. The one thing I do know for sure is that if I carry revolver speed loaders again it will have to be with a good holder attached to the belt. Trying to carry them any other way is just too much of a headache.

People with guns collection # 85

David and snake - July 1956

Gone shooting

I went to the range yesterday morning, the temperature was 70, the sky slightly overcast - nearly perfect shooting weather! I had a "new" gun I wanted to try, a Smith & Wesson SW99 (45 ACP) that I recently purchased.

If the gun looks familiar it is because I owned (and blogged) about a similar pistol that I had a while back, the SW990L. The two handguns are nearly identical; the main difference being that the 990L was more like a double action only type trigger while this SW99 has what Walther calls the Anti Stress (AS) trigger. I won't go into a detailed review of the differences today, perhaps at a later time.

It's possible that I might use this gun for concealed carry and self-defense so this time I was more interested in reliability than anything else. I took along several brands and types of ammunition for testing. Typically, when I want to check the reliability of a semi-auto pistol I will randomly load the magazines with various types of ammo and see how it does. Today I took 3 types of hollowpoint ammunition (all 230 gr), some old 230 gr ball and even some 185 gr semi wadcutter match ammo. All the above was loaded in the magazines with an effort to keep changing bullet types at least every few rounds and to top off each mag with something more difficult (like WC or HP) than ball ammo.

I fired 170 rounds in this fashion without a single malfunction. Today I shot at the 25 yard line and firing unsupported kept the groups at 4-5 inches. Next time I take this gun to the range it will be with my chosen self-defense load to see what it is really capable of.

I had a really great morning and hopefully will get back to finish testing real soon!