Has anyone EVER used more than 5 or 6 shots carrying a revolver?

Well I always carry 7 rounds in my 5 shooter
Actually when a 686+ is too big to pack, I have no qualms carrying *just* a .38 Undercover. It may not be enough, but sometimes I just take those chances.

I have never fired a gun at anything that wasn't made of paper or a badly mangled road-hit deer. The deer was done in with a 30-30 at 2" not a revolver. Coincidentally, the only time I have drawn my gun bump-in-the-night was years ago when I thought i heard someone rustling in our suburban backyard around 1am. I snuck out the front door armed with a 686 (what I owned before my +). No reload. Just the 6 beans in the wheel. I never even thought about grabbing my speedloader.

I found nothing out there. Not even a raccoon or stray cat. The weight of the 686 in my hand along with the hundreds and hundreds of rounds I had put through it felt pretty good. It may not have been enough if there had been an actual intruder(s), but i usually only carry a reload with my wheelguns out of habit and not perceived necessity.

My honest assessment of myself is that if I found myself in a prolonged firefight, I'd probably be toast regardless of the reload.

rkittine said:

We need a pool. Not sure how to do that here. For those not thinking of their wartime days or their time as a police officer how many have:
Ever Cleared Leather during an actual or perceived human threat (Not the Beaver or an Angry Bear)
How many have actually pulled the trigger on a human threat
How many have had to shoot more than once?
How ,any have had to shoot more than the full complement in the particular gun they were using

For me I have had a concealed carry permit in New York State and New York City since 1971, well before Rudy cleaned up things in New York City. I used to carry whenever out of the house, including at work and my employer knew it. THANKFULLY I never had to clear leather or shoot. A few times I did have to turn and go the other way.

I had a big picture of a Model 36 Smith in my store when I owned a gun shop. It said "It is better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it". Though I get the truth to this, today, where I live I feel more safe without a gun on than walking around with one that one might see and turn out to be a jumpy off duty or undercover officer.

Bob

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I've heard of this kind of thing before. I also know that i've had to clear leather a couple times in the past 5 years. Mainly because of loose/agressive dogs. Usually i'd reholster as the ownerscame out to get their dogsback to the porch. Just once did I keep my gun in my hand until the owner was well back and then I put my gun away and kept on walking. That one was touchy because the guy was rip roaring drunk and looked like he was ready to try and beat my arse if something would have happened. Thankfully they all understood my reasoning for drawing down on their furry friends. You never know how friendly that 75+lb dog is gonna be when they come running across the road to check you out.

Sounds better that running straight down the road when a car is chasing you.

Kleanbore said:

Why on Earth did you even consider doing that?

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I was alone. My wife and daughter were out of town visiting her mom for a few days. I was up late sitting in our living room of our small house around 1am watching TV. The back of the house backed up to our small fenced backyard. The illumination of the interior lighting muted visibility to the back yard short of a super weak backdoor patio light. In short, lest I stick my head out the door and look, it was like being on stage. I was totally lit up but unable to see anything out in front of me.

Instead of blinding busting out into the backyard through the door, i opted to go out the front and around the side. My eyes could adjust to the dark better and anyone who might have gotten in would have come through the side gate of the fence. In short, I would be able to possibly deduce what was making the noise by any sounds i heard coming from the side and visually see if the gate was open (human) or closed (human or most likely animal). I would also be in between whatever was back there and the only easy exit short of going over the fence. I figured that if I was quiet enough I could see if it was an animal and let it be, or a person and choose to confront or observe and retreat to notify the authorities.

Coming out the back sliding glass door would have put me at a lot of tactical disadvantages, i think.

Moot point since it was nothing, but it sounded like Bigfoot at 1am.

I found it closed and couldn't find signs of anything inside the fence and figured it must have been a raccoon or possum poking around in the easement between the houses. It just sounded bigger.

I'm sure back when the revolver was nearly the universal LE handgun, there were instances when reloads were required. In fact, I know this happened in the FBI Miami shooting.

I'm sure I'm the only person to have ever gone out to investigate a noise at night, right? How many people here talk about sticking a gun in their waistband to take out the trash or check the mail? In what world is it a better legal option to be armed for a 60 second walk to the curb than it is to check on one's property in the middle of the night?

Castle Doctrine dictates that in the event that someone is illegally on my property (including both the house as well as attached yard) with what I deem is a threat to myself or someone else that I am within my rights to defend myself or others including the use of deadly force. I was not looking for a fight nor would i ever want to even have to point a gun at someone in self defense nor explain to anyone why I took any harmful action, but i was curious as to what was making all that noise in the dark and happened to still have my 686 on my hip as i was still dressed. Now, I had no real reason to believe anyone was out there. I figured it was just a couple of raccoons or some cats making kittens. There was nothing in my yard to steal short of a plastic toddler slide. No external yard barn to pilfer through. Very little reason to hop the 6' fence. No bubblegum gangster tween/teens in my small neighborhood who would be up to mischief cutting through.

So I guess the best course of action now would be to see if i could borrow someone's Way Back machine to warn myself of 10 years ago at a house I no longer own to either SKKUURRRRRK open the sliding glass door and poke my head out and hope, call and bother the Sheriff's department so that they could show up in 35 minutes because I heard a noise and was nervous about it, or just go to bed and hope I don't hear a crowbar splintering my window sill.

But what all this has to do with the actual topic of the thread, zero. Zero shots were fired so no, i have never had to top off my revolver during the one and only time I ever had it drawn.

mcb said:

You guys always turn to the dark side (and not just in this thread). When someone asks about reloading (not in competition) I am thinking about a hunting event where the critters are so plentiful that you have to reload. Those are always fond memories where you have bagged several critters and are making a reload to take a few more. The faster and more furious the reload and more immediate the need, the better the story sounds later around the camp fire with friends and a beer.

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I HAVE reloaded in a hunting situation to take more critters. I've reloaded my single shot muzzle loading Hawken Rifle laying in the furrow ditch at the edge of a corn field twice to take a total of THREE deer out of a group of about 10 not more than 50 yards away across bare frozen ground. And I was using powder and ball not any fancy speed loaders or pyrodex pellets. Three shots, three deer, finally stood up to chase the rest off and go collect my work for the rest of the day.

Fiv3r said:

I'm sure I'm the only person to have ever gone out to investigate a noise at night, right? How many people here talk about sticking a gun in their waistband to take out the trash or check the mail? In what world is it a better legal option to be armed for a 60 second walk to the curb than it is to check on one's property in the middle of the night?

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It isn't about what is legal. It's about not doing something stupid. Like walking out into someone waiting for you.

Fiv3r said:

Castle Doctrine dictates that in the event that someone is illegally on my property (including both the house as well as attached yard) with what I deem is a threat to myself or someone else that I am within my rights to defend myself or others including the use of deadly force

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You might ought to read up on this a bit.

Jack Ryan said:

I used all ten from a 9mm Colt one night when a beaver surprised me up in the yard and he still got away.

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A beaver attacked you?!

A slight diversion but I used a Glock 27 on an attacking jack rabbit. We were driving at night in the Texas Hill country in a jeep on private land. Scanning the land with a big old light, we spotted a jack rabbit. They are a nuisance, so the driver told one of us who had a lever action 22 LR to take it out. Well, he opened fire to little visible effect. Said rabbit then charged at us while the shooter pumped rounds!

I said: Oh, for God's sake. Pulled the G27 and hit it for a stop. Put another round in it to be sure it was gone and wouldn't suffer. Never took on a beaver. I did follow a big porky pine through the dawn mist in the Hill country on the way to a blind. Stayed far back and it was just fun to watch. Didn't want to end up on Dr. Pol, having Dr. Brenda pulling quills out of my butt.

I think the logical answer to the need for more than 5 or 6 shots is to say that someone might need them in 1 or 10,000 incidents, but what if you are that incident. I will continue to carry an extra magazine with me, all the same.

Jim

Kleanbore,

I am an LEO and have been for almost 3 decades. This thought does occasionally cross my mind and on duty, I carry two extra magazines, it is the agencies policy.

Jim

MaxP said:

That would probably depend on what you’re hunting. I am of the school where you keep shooting until you are certain the animal will not be getting up to leave town or exact revenge upon you. Reloads are never a bad idea irrespective of the firearm being pressed into action.

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Thats my feeling as well, i carry 10rnds of rifle ammo in a front pocket and 10 more in my pack when rifle hunting. When hunting with a wheel gun i keep a full cylinder of rounds in a sealable pocket, or in a small rifle shell holder.
If im carrying my 10 i carry a spare mag.

My thoughts have changed with the current times on this. Imagine yourself surrounded by a hoard of rioters. Would six shots make you comfortable?

In today's climate I am still carrying my 5 shot 38. I have added my 1911 and 2 extra mags to the console in my truck though.

GBExpat said:

A beaver attacked you?!

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It happens. I know of one instanced where a beaver killed a guy. It attacked him and tore up the inside of his leg, hitting the femoral artery. He bled out right there. While we're discussing improbably animal attacks, I know of one person killed by a mountain goat in similar circumstances. Two friends were hiking when a territorial goat attacked on of them. A sharp horn severed the first guy's femoral artery. His buddy tried to save him but the goat was "guarding" the fallen hiker and wouldn't let him approach.

I don't have all the details of the cases, just news reports of the time, but I don't think any of the men had firearms along.

Phaedrus/69 said:

... I know of one instanced where a beaver killed a guy. ...

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WHOA! Good to know!

I have had periodic dealings with beavers 'round here over the years (usually involving my "eviction" efforts ... they can REALLY trash a creek & contiguous area) but never witnessed any aggression in them. It was always SLAP/Splash and gone.

Don't get me wrong! I don't think we need our next thread to be "What gun for beaver protection?"! But wild animals can be unpredictable and dangerous. Heck, I've read that domestic cows kill more people in the US every year than bears, and I'd be surprised if it were otherwise given the amount of each we have. I only know of two people attacked by beavers though; one was the guy killed and the other is just a pretty humorous anecdote (he wasn't injured just pretty shook up!). I seriously doubt that they're something to lose sleep over.

I carry Two J-Frames. One accessible to each hand. I also carry speed strips. I haven’t needed them so far and hope it stays that way.

Two J frames. I like it. “ say hello to my little friends”!!!