Musings on Handguns

[GEM]

I am buying a 22S gun, just because and it is cute. It is a gun and way back when 22S were carried by righteous men. I know in those days all wounds were feared because of infection!

However, the ubiquitous 9mm is my EDC except for circumstantial demands.

 

[chicharrones]

Now, if I had a backyard range, I could shoot more. My semi-auto CCW pistol would get more use, but I would not consider that to be recreation.

How do othesr feel?

I'm with you on that. I have guns for recreation and I have guns for defense. Some defense guns do carry over into recreation, but not all.

For recreation, I plan to always have .22 revolvers. Currently I have 4, but would like to add 2 more. I just love the things, whether single action or double action.

For softer centerfire shooting, I currently have a Beretta 81BB (.32ACP) and I could shoot the softer variety of .38s out of my .357 magnum guns. Of course, 9mm will be with me a long time.

I sure could see myself with a 1911 in 9mm in a decade or so. A tall 1911 slide makes it easier for my hands to grip onto, compared to something like my CZ75 or even that Beretta 81BB with their comparatively minuscule slide areas. Which should make a big difference when my hand strength declines.

 

[Kleanbore]

Another for the list of "nos": any target air pistol that requires ten pumps between shots.

 

[brutus51]

But those things have little real relevance to self defense, which is the subject of the thread.

I can relate to this as I haven't shot my pellet gun in ages because pumping it is to much work.

 

[Old Dog]

and in my old age 7 yards has become the new 25.

And 60 is the new forty!

 

[chicharrones]

And 60 is the new forty!

It'd better be. I've got 3.5 years 'til I hit 60 and my new boss is 41 and physically fit.

I've been getting back into exercising over the last three years to forestall falling off the physical capability cliff.

Too bad I can't wash off the ugly that's showing up in the mirror every morning these days.

 

[chicharrones]

Speaking of pump up airguns, I took the Crosman 1377 with red dot into the garage last night for some target practice. Shooting diagonally across the two car wide garage into the small work bench alcove gets me 9 yards away. I leave the pellet tin by the target. Load the gun, walk to the shooting position, pump 6 times (out of max of 10), and shoot. Walk back to the target to get a pellet (and see where pellet went), then repeat the process.

The 1377 is a much easier gun to pump than some others. It's not like real exercise, but it beats sitting on the couch.

View attachment 1013761

 

[toivo]

If you ever get a chance, try a steel frame, full size 1911 in 9mm. Heavy for carry purposes but man, what a soft shooter.

Plus one on that. Pardon the cliché, but "It's like shooting a .22!"

 

[toivo]

I actually thought I would like one of those little NAA .22 revolvers until I put one in my hand and wrapped my middle finger around it’s grip.That’s all I could grip it with. Weird…not something I care to fool with.

Revision CV grips will fix that -- full two-finger grip:

 

[GEM]

I do like the NAA Minis despite their low 'tactical' value. Just be sure you don't wave them at a crowd of AK-47, AR-15 carrying demonstrators and get on Youtube.

I have carried one as a BUG. But if I got to that - well, it's the end of the world and here comes the last zombie.

 

[Kleanbore]

I am thinking about getting a CO2 pistol.

 

[chicharrones]

I am thinking about getting a CO2 pistol.

I have several of those, but all of mine happen to be repeaters that mimic regular handguns. They make for good fun hitting larger targets in a hurry.

Of course, Crosman makes a CO2 version of my pump up pistol. I've thought of one of those as well, but the only CO2 Crosman I have at the moment is a rifle.

 

[jstert]

i too am shooting mostly 22lr/wmr these days. i stocked up on rimfire ammo after the bho ammo drought and have enough to now shoot as i please. i simply enjoy less wear&tear on me with rimfire. for defense i rely on a 38sp j frame revolver. in my world i can do fine with just 22 and 38.

 

[DDDWho]

Ammo availability, price and my stock pile have sent me to 22 as well. So much so I recently bought a S&W 41 for $1250. and Friday I ordered a Volquartsen trigger kit for my Ruger Mark 4 Competition because of it’s nasty stock trigger. I don’t shoot in matches, my shooting range is my yard. A 22 usually sets beside me on the porch waiting for some critter to show itself

 

[SwampWolf]

So get a .327 fed mag revolver and you can fire 5 cartridges from it.

The Ruger LCR will hold six of them.

 

[SwampWolf]

I'm on the doorstep of being eighty years old but, like Porter Wagoner, I plan on going down swinging and I've got a lot of ammo I can't take with me. Yeah, my hands hurt, my joints balk at bending and my eyes don't see as well as they used to but, like Old Dog, if I can still walk I plan on dirtying bores 'til I get to the water's edge. And even if it comes to not being able to walk, I think that's why God made wheelchairs.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Hmm... what do I NOT want to own or shoot?

Anything so small and with more magazine capacity than I can shoot empty without losing my grip on it.
Anything made with more plastic than steel.
Anything with a sighting system that requires batteries to operate.

That's about it. Otherwise, I'm pretty open minded. My next handgun purchase, if I make one before the end of the year, will be one of those Zastava M70 .32ACP surplus pistols. Marschal Grips has some pretty neat wood grips for them that a gunsmith I know says makes them actually easy to grip, modifying them for decent after-market CZ-style sights is simple, and they appear to built like little tanks. Way overbuilt for even the European military loaded 7.65mm Browning. I wouldn't use it for a truck gun, just something to put in my back pocket when walking down to check the mail.

 

[Mr. Mosin]

Medical issues of the ocular nature have begun to restrict my long gun cartridges to ~12/13 ft./lbs recoil energy. Handguns are still a-ok, but I dislike the big Magnums, and prefer sticking to double action Smith's of the J/K frame .38 variety, 1873 SAA patterns in .45 Colt, and single stack automatics. Hopefully said ocular issue doesn't deteriorate much more, but... as the Lord wills, so be it.

 

[John Joseph]

I could get along nicely with just an N frame launching .44 Specials and a good M-41.22 target pistol if I no longer CC'd.

 

[TTv2]

Time passing is a constant, but one thing humans aren't is a constant. Makes me wonder what I should get now to experience before health goes with age. I enjoy the Public Defender, has all the recoil I'd want and the multiple holes I see on a target is fun. Above that I don't have much for a big boomer and don't have much interest in silly stuff like .460, .480, .500 Magnum. What would be interesting tho is a TC Contender or Encore in those calibers or even .223 or .308.

Kleen, would a single shot Thompson Center pistol interest you?

For recreation I find myself enjoying black powder guns more and more and would recommend them for recreation. Still cheap to shoot and as long as they don't use a primer I can actually shoot them. No one knows what the future brings, but nothing is a guarantee, what we see today may be normal for the next decade or longer. I've been wanting a single shot Lyman .54 for over a year now. Can't find them except gunbroker with $450 price tags.

The only air gun that's a pistol that interests me is the Webley Nemesis. 6 or 7 shot magazine (depending on caliber) and powered by cheap Co2 cartridges you can get at Walmart for under $20 for 40 cartridges. Webley made a rifle version that I do want, but it hasn't been imported to the US yet.

I mean, for $100, you can't go wrong with the pistol. Heck, maybe I'll just get both pistol and rifle in .22, they share the mags.

 

[chicharrones]

The only air gun that's a pistol that interests me is the Webley Nemesis. 6 or 7 shot magazine (depending on caliber) and powered by cheap Co2 cartridges you can get at Walmart for under $20 for 40 cartridges. Webley made a rifle version that I do want, but it hasn't been imported to the US yet.

I mean, for $100, you can't go wrong with the pistol. Heck, maybe I'll just get both pistol and rifle in .22, they share the mags.

View attachment 1015452

That's a pretty interesting air pistol. It looks to have a reversible bolt handle and the grip storage of the hex key is nice.

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/webley-nemesis-co2-air-pistol?m=4790

 

[CraigC]

Now, I can get as much enjoyment from the web, and from posts from CraigC and Driftwood Johnson, as I ever did from Shooting Times or Sixguns by Keith.

Dang, now that is high praise! Probably not deserved but it made my day!

I talk a lot about the heavy stuff but I don't do that crap for fun, because it ain't. It's a means to an end. I'm shooting mild to moderate most of the time. Tons of rimfire. Lots of .38Spl, 9mm, .45ACP and over the last year or so, lots of 5.56 and .300BO. When I'm shooting revolvers, most of that is under 1000fps with .44Colt, .44Spl, .45Colt, etc.. I have thoroughly enjoyed padding my accumulation of replica SAA's and S&W's.

Plain few are as fun as a good Single Six, I've got four Old Models and four New Models.



Cimarron .44 Specials.



American, Schofield and Russian.



Open Top, 1860 Richards Type II and 1851 Richards-Mason.

 

[.455_Hunter]

The NAA platform weapons definitely have a place for where you still want to be legally armed, but discretion is the order of the day.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

The NAA platform weapons definitely have a place for where you still want to be legally armed, but discretion is the order of the day.

I have to be honest, if NAA came out with a spur-trigger, top-break, .32S&W I'd pony up the cash for one and (finally!) get my FL-CWP. I've been eyeing an early 20th Century automatic knife at the local pawn shop for a while now - it's just like the one I bought and carried in Germany in the 80's but nicer and better made - but you have to have a CWP in FL to carry an automatic knife. A good knife like that and a small revolver - I'll put up with the snickering and insults from the multi-mag black Ninja squad - but it's hard to image being better armed for social encounters and still work at a public institution.

 

[TTv2]

That's a pretty interesting air pistol. It looks to have a reversible bolt handle and the grip storage of the hex key is nice.

https://www.pyramydair.com/product/webley-nemesis-co2-air-pistol?m=4790

Yeah, well when u only get 30 shots before the Co2 can has to be replaced you want to make that as easy as possible. The rifle version uses the 88gr Co2 which gives it over 200 shots before it needs replacing.