Well, my P.D. had another qualification the other day, and I opted to qualify some off-duty and backup guns. One was the first BUG I carried-- a KelTec P11 9mm that I had gotten a sweetheart deal on about 7 years ago. At the time, I was blown away by the fact that I could get 11 rounds of 9mm in a pistol that weighed under a pound and was "so tiny." I've carried it a lot off-duty, and it's logged many shifts as my backup gun.
Then I went through a rather stupid period for a year, when I quit wearing my vest. I borrowed my Dad's old S&W M37 Chief's Special Airweight .38 Spl with the bootgrips on it, and found that it traveled well in an ankle carry. While it was only 5 rounds of .38 Spl, it was more organic in shape and didn't print like the P11 did. It was more comfortable in my pocket, and got carried for off-duty, too. Finally, I came back to my senses and went back to wearing body armor, and the P11 went back into use as my BUG. I sighed and told my dad I'd bring him back his Chief's Special, and he said "Keep it. It's yours." Touching, really-- the man's worn this pistol since he bought it new around 1980, and has plumb worn the blue and anodizing right off of much of it. Still- it shoots like a champion.
Then, this summer, I got a KelTec P3AT. It's about half a pound unloaded, half the width of the P11, and holds 7 rds of .380. I'm pretty sure that the guys at KelTec have a practicioner in black magic on their engineering staff, because the pistol is the same size and weight as their diminutive P32, and kicks not appreciably more. I forget I've even got a BUG on-- it's so utterly comfortable.
So after an uneventful and pleasurable BUG qualification, I cleaned my BUG/off-duty guns, and realized that they all three were .355/.357 cal pistols under a pound. Come to think of it, I could technically carry them as primary duty guns under dept regulations!! (Don't let the brass read THAT!) Technically, my duty gun must be .380 or higher in caliber.
There are those who carry mouseguns as their off-duty/BUGs. I've nothing against the practice, in theory. But I've always carried an intermediate caliber for the purpose. How wonderful it is that even a man of my own EXTREMELY limited means has that option of picking from one of three sub-pound guns for that role out of his armory when setting out for the day/evening.
Then I went through a rather stupid period for a year, when I quit wearing my vest. I borrowed my Dad's old S&W M37 Chief's Special Airweight .38 Spl with the bootgrips on it, and found that it traveled well in an ankle carry. While it was only 5 rounds of .38 Spl, it was more organic in shape and didn't print like the P11 did. It was more comfortable in my pocket, and got carried for off-duty, too. Finally, I came back to my senses and went back to wearing body armor, and the P11 went back into use as my BUG. I sighed and told my dad I'd bring him back his Chief's Special, and he said "Keep it. It's yours." Touching, really-- the man's worn this pistol since he bought it new around 1980, and has plumb worn the blue and anodizing right off of much of it. Still- it shoots like a champion.
Then, this summer, I got a KelTec P3AT. It's about half a pound unloaded, half the width of the P11, and holds 7 rds of .380. I'm pretty sure that the guys at KelTec have a practicioner in black magic on their engineering staff, because the pistol is the same size and weight as their diminutive P32, and kicks not appreciably more. I forget I've even got a BUG on-- it's so utterly comfortable.
So after an uneventful and pleasurable BUG qualification, I cleaned my BUG/off-duty guns, and realized that they all three were .355/.357 cal pistols under a pound. Come to think of it, I could technically carry them as primary duty guns under dept regulations!! (Don't let the brass read THAT!) Technically, my duty gun must be .380 or higher in caliber.
There are those who carry mouseguns as their off-duty/BUGs. I've nothing against the practice, in theory. But I've always carried an intermediate caliber for the purpose. How wonderful it is that even a man of my own EXTREMELY limited means has that option of picking from one of three sub-pound guns for that role out of his armory when setting out for the day/evening.
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