Oops. Got timed out. Had to log on again. One of these days I'll get used to these new fangled gun forums. Ha.
Although I was brought up properly in the K frame society, I kind of lost interest and went to the dark side when my department permitted semi-autos for duty carry in the mid-seventies, if I recall correctly. I carried a Smif M59 in uniform and an M66 when in the suits or off duty. In the late eighties, Beretta 92fs were issued and required carry on duty in uniform. It is but a reliable and accurate brick in my hand. When I retired in '93, they were too new to allow retirees to buy their duty gat, so I was Barettaless for a while. I stumbled along trying to find the perfect 9MM for geezer carry. The S&W 39-2 came close and the S&W 3913 came closer, but only the latter hit the sweet spot. Later, a Beretta 85FS filled in for a few years. What a beautiful gat even though it is chambered in Europellet 380. Still, there was something missing.
I had a brief affair with 1911s as carry blasters. My rotundness absolutely ruled out the Colt GCNM for carry. The Colt Officer's ACP was a candidate for awhile, but I was always leery muscle memory for DA/SA would be a problem.
Last year, I found a nice used M36 at a good price. It was my 1st J frame. Always with me and always five for sure, with five or ten in HKS speedloaders. It wore Pachmayr Compac grips. Carried a lot and shot a little. The narrow 1/10" front sight was hard to find with old eyes.
I continued stumbling around, found this site, and the rest is history. Interesting, but Painful.
Today, after running the K frames with +Ps and the M36 and Cobra with standard pressure loads, I loaded the 642 with ancient Rem/Peters 158 gr JHP +P. Ouch. Owie, ouch, ouch. Ouch.
In preparation for the day, I had swapped the Pachmayr Compacs from the M36 to the 642 and about 500 dry fire cycles. This was enough to raise a good callus on my finger and get a smooooth trigger.
I am going to need a lot of practice. And, some Ibuprofin.
Best to all 642 thread winners.
(I'll post a finding about speedloaders in the M36 another day).
