[punkndisorderly]

With my new job, I'm spending quite a bit of time in the car and much less time carrying on my person during the week as my job entails working in government buildings where carry isn't an option. I'm thinking a 4" revolver might be a good bet since I generally have the firearm on the front seat under a towel while I'm in the vehicle and locked in the glovebox when I'm not.

The firearm would also do duty as my wifes range gun since that's what she likes to shoot best (other than .22's).

I'm thinking S&W 686 or 610. My questions:

How would the recoil of the 610 stoked with common factory .40 FMJ's compare to the .38 specials?

How would recoil compare between .357 (which I'm very familiar with) and 10mm or hot defensive .40's (which I'm not so famiiliar with)?

A few models I've crossed off my list are the Taurus Judge (not good for my wife and don't trust .410 for defense) and the Ruger GP100 and SP101 since Ruger made me angry the last time I purchased from them. Any other models I should seriously consider?

$1,000 is the top of my range but would prefer to keep it around $700 to allow for buying a good supply of ammo to have on hand.

[stormspotter]

Too bad you have crossed Ruger off your list. I got this Service Six a few weeks ago for less than half of your $700 figure and it is in like new condition. The only thing I have done to it is to take one coil off the hammer spring and put a set of smaller Pachmayr grips on it.



http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k10/ema567/072.jpg


I know you said a revolver, but I also have a CZ P-01 that I won't trade for any revolver. They are outstanding guns also.

Good luck with what you decide on.

[Brian Williams]

Just about any S&W K or L Frame is a great gun. I really like the fixed sight versions of them, the S&W 13 in particular. The 686 is an L frame but the 610 is an N frame and will be much bigger than the K or L frames.

I would like to know what Ruger did to tick you off, I would take any service/speed Six or a SP101 with a 3" barrel.

I also think that some of the Rossi's and Taurus' can do very well if you prove the gun before you carry it.

[armoredman]

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/easydoesit.jpg

Not a magnum though, Smith 10-8 .38 Special. Incredible revolver.

[9mmepiphany]

How would recoil compare between .357 (which I'm very familiar with) and 10mm or hot defensive .40's (which I'm not so famiiliar with)?

are you talking about the recoil of the .357 (which weigh bullet) in a L-frame or a N-frame, they are very different.

you'll also have to specify the load you're refering to in 10mm and .40

if you like the N-frame, bear in mind that if you go with the .357 that you'll get 8 rounds as opposed to the 6 or 7 in a L-frame

[punkndisorderly]

I was envisioning a .357 which would get loaded with 125 grain defense oriented hollowpoints (I'm partial to Gold Dots or Hydrashocks) for defensive use and whatever inexpensive .38's I could find for range use for wifey.

Alternatly, I was thinking about the 610 with +P 155 or 180 grain .40's or perhaps the same in 10mm from double tap for defensive use and perhaps Winchester White Box .40's 180 grains for rage duty for the wife.

I'm not really up to speed on S&W frame sizes. I'm leaning towards the 610, but am not sure my wife will be able to handle .40 S&W's out of it. I don't reload, so I can't just brew up some light loads for it.

As far as what Ruger did to tick me off. I purchased a MKIII Competition Target last year. Stovepipes or other jams 1-3 times a magazine regardless of ammo (tried everthing rom standard velocity target loads to hyper velocity stuff) or amount of lube (tried everthing from dry to dripping). Sent it back to Ruger on my own dime. They had it for three months. I never got an apology or explaination of what was wrong. They were upfront, but unapologietic about how long it would take to fix it. On the up side, it works flawlessly now and the only problems I've encountered were with screws coming loose (front and rear sights and grips). I'm still torqued that it took that long and they seemed annoyed rather than sorry.

[22lr]

Im no expert here but I just picked up a model 10 and for the money I think you would be hard pressed to do better. Ya its only 38 but with some good HPs I intend to carry it over my 9mm. Anyways, I love mine and it shoots just as good as any other. Anyways do yourself a favor and at least try one for size, I dont think you will be disappointed. But again a .357 it aint.

http://photos-h.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v2381/96/8/581381600/n581381600_1903527_1732.jpg

[9mmepiphany]

They were upfront, but unapologietic about how long it would take to fix it. On the up side, it works flawlessly now

so they told you how long it would take, fixed it in the quoted time, it now works they way it should and you're still upset...am i missing something?

back to relative recoil:

the recoil, in my experience, has been that the 180 grain in a N-frame is less than a 125 in a L-frame. the 125 really has quite a blast and flash out of a 4" barrel. any full house 10mm out of an N-frame will give you about as much recoil as a . 44 mag. your best compromise might be the 155gr .40 in the 610.

my personal preference is a 3" 696 (L-frame) .44 spl shooting 200gr gold dots. mine came Mag-Na-Ported and recoils like a .38 spl

[punkndisorderly]

Thanks for the info everyone.

I was irritated that Ruger took over three months to fix it (and this was before the LCP recalls). Just a "if you want to send it in, here's the address. It will be at least 3 months before we can even look at it" I didn't even get a form letter saying they were sorry for my inconvenience, an offer to cover the $30 bucks I paid to ship the new but malfunctioning pistol back to them, or a phone call to let me know it was on the way back to me. Also, when I called a week after I shipped it to make sure they got it, they couldn't find any record of having received it, which kind of creeped me out. They ended up finding it later that day.

When I had a problem with a Remington .22 that cost much less, they were apologetic, knew exactly what the problem was, sent the part out the next day free of charge and threw in a couple of recoil springs I wanted to buy free.

[Kind of Blued]

If the gun's going to be in your car, and you're not going to carry it, I deduce that if you have to fire it you'll be shooting from inside the car.

It's going to be LOUD. As in loud enough to damage your hearing singnificantly and permanently. Personally, I'd want to be shooting a low-pressure cartridge.

I'd want a .22 that I could empty and get out of the situation ASAP, but standard pressure .38s would be as heavy as I'd want to go.

I could be totally off base with my presumption, but it's something to think about.

[Jack2427]

What he said about noise inside the car. Shooting a 357 mag round, or two inside of a standard size sedan will give you temporary hearing loss, or possibly permanent if you have had previous hearing loss. I have been doing training for LE/security personnel going overseas and have done it there also. One of the things that we have learned about convoy and patrol duty is to train people to make sure the muzzle is OUTSIDE the vehicle before firing. There have been documented cases of permanent damage to hearing when weapons were routinely fired while the muzzle was inside the vehicle, and it did not take all that much firing inside the vehicle to cause.
Don't be macho about this, it can and will happen if the proper cautions are not understood and utilized.
I would suspect that a low recoil .38 special load would be about as much aas I would want to hear inside a car, and preferably something less. A longer barrel will help somewhat in this regard and every little bit helps.

[punkndisorderly]

Wow, I'd never really thought about sound levels inside of a vehicle, though I had thought about it inside of a home.

I think I'd still risk the chance of even permanent partial hearing loss since, if ever actually used within a vehicle, it would be in a life or death situation. Still, it's definitely something to consider pre-purchase and especially when choosing my loading. Years ago I cranked off a round of .40 at an indoor range sans hearing protection (had the range to myself and took off my muffs while I was loading) and I can vouch for how loud firearms are in an enclosed area.

I kind of wonder what the statistics are as far as chances my "car gun" would be used to defend in the vehicle vs outside the vehicle (while pumping gas for example).


In any case, it looks like this isn't as simple a purchase as I had initially thought.

[loneviking]

If you're planning to use 125 gr. bullets on a regular basis, the K frames probably are not going to be a good choice. I really like my Model 19, but it just wasn't designed to be firing these light, fast rounds. A S&W 686/586/581, any of the 'L' frames will hold up to those types of rounds well.