New to CCW, need help :)

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What about the S&W Model 60. I think it looks cool, seems "better," (I dislike the idea of all five fingers not being able to grip a firearm) and it's in .38 or .357.

By the way, how come I hear .357, .38, .380, and 9mm used "interchangeably in some situations? Are the calibers not really that caliber or something?
 
As ambassadors for the firearms community, we should be cultivating a learning spirit in this individual. A young adult from MASSACHUSETTS is asking how to go about carrying, and it degenerates into an argument on MA laws? The man doesn't even have his first gun yet, give him a break.
Do you honestly think you need to convince him that the 30-day wait is a bad idea? He'll figure that out himself when he buys his second gun: "I already own a gun, if I wanted to go kill someone I could be using THIS one. . . Why do I have to wait 30 days for my second one?"

Cultivate, cultivate, cultivate.

"Focus!" as bogie would say.

Rob,
Welcome to THR. I apologize for the derailment on this thread. We are all excited for you and proud that you have made this adult decision.

As others have mentioned, it is important for you to get some firearm experience, or "trigger time" as we say. A good safety training program is a must. Try calling sporting good stores and police departments, ask for any gun safety courses you might take. If you are ever in the Syracuse area, I would show you myself how to safely use various firearms. Perhaps another member who is closer to your location would make a similar offer.

Second, you really should stick around here on THR since there is a LOT you can learn from this site. Please pardon the occasional MA-bashing, as I pardon the occasional NY-bashing. It's not us, it's the laws of our states which people don't like.

That's pretty much it, get some safety training and stick around here, you will learn much.

PS. I think GLOCKs can be owned in MA depending on the date that they were manufactured.
PPS. Can you buy a long gun at your age in MA? Might be good to learn the safety rules with.
 
Oh, another thing about revolvers, not sure if the conversion is legal in MA (I don't live anywhere near there, don't travel there so I don't know what the laws are), but provided it is, a moon clip conversion is always a good bet. Faster reloads, and assurance that all rounds leave the gun.

Edit: As for .357 and .38, the .357 is a longer version with stronger brass so a .38 special can be fired in a .357 mag gun, but not the other way around. As for 9mm and .380, for those to be used in a revolver it has to be made to use moon clips, and the .380 is a strait walled case, unlike the 9mm which is tapered. Pictures shortly of the 4.
 
don't even think about getting a carry gun yet. You're doing great by reading up on the laws and getting your carry permit when you turn 21.
from now until you're 21, find a gun store in your area that sponsers a gun rep show. That where reps from many pistol mfgs. gather with their guns and you get to try as many as you want... for free. You'll probably have to purchase the ammo from the sponsering shop so they can make something but it's by far the best way to try 10 or 15 calibers, styles, sizes and makes before you buy.
When you start to carry, don't go by looks (no one should ever see it while you're carrying) or what someone else's idea of the perfect carry gun is. Buy a small, very dependable, very dependable, fits-YOUR-hand, very dependable weapon. If it's big - you won't carry it very often. If it's not 100% dependable - it's a club.
 
I think it's legal to own a long gun at my age. I had a friend in a computer class in high school that owned his own 12 gauge for sport shooting at 15. Maybe I should look into that?
 
Yeah, with a 12-guage, you could get into trap shooting, which is a fun game where you yell "PULL!" and a round clay target shoots out into the air like a frisbee, then you shoot at it, watch it sail on and then finally break when it hits the ground. Every once in a while, for some reason the clay breaks into two pieces right after you shoot at it, and very rarely it explodes into tiny pieces.

It is a lot of fun!

Also, a 12-guage is a very good home defense gun, which will at least keep you covered when you are home until you can get your carry permit and a carry gun.
 
Thanks, VA, but I still don't understand how a bullet that a firearm designed to fire a .357 inch in diameter round can also take a .38 inch in diameter bullet, which is .02 inch wider. Is a .38 bullet really .38 inch in diameter?

Let me put it this way:

How wide is a .357 round? A .38? A .380? A 9mm? It sounds like there's some overlap or that one of the bullet caliber designations has nothing to due with how wide that bullet really is.
 
IMG_1252.jpg

.380, 9mm, .38 super comp, .38 special, .357 magnum

It's because the ".38" isn't .380 inches, but really .357 inches as is the .357 magnum. The 9x19, and .380 ACP are .356, and the .38 super is .355. I don't know why...someone may give why in a later post, but that's how it is for some reason.
 
Just to return to the "attitude adjustment" issue for a second, I can fully undertand where Rob87 is coming from. I moved out to Colorado in 1963 from New York City and was absolutely shocked to find that one could buy a handgun by just showing one's driver's license to prove residency.

I can still remember the clerk's amusement at my questions: "Do you have to be a cop? Do you need a permit?" etc.

I was also shocked to learn that handguns were sold in hardware stores, drug stores, at Sears, and of course, through the mail (this was pre-GCA 68.) And to learn that the streets were not slick with blood.

So as soon as I'd established residency, I bought one.

It took me about a year to feel completely comfortable about the idea that any Colorado resident could buy a handgun. I still had that subtle feeling that I was somehow breaking the law.

It was just a question of attitude adjustment from that in which I was brought up: New York's infamous Sullivan Law --which even then was much worse than the MA laws are now.

Rob, you are in as isolated a situation as I was in New York. Hang in there.

Remember that most of the people here regard firearms ownership as a right to be revoked, and not a privilege to be granted.
 
Hey Rob, I'm not trying to sound intolerant, If I do, then its unintentional. You gave your opinion as to why you're ok with the laws in MA. I gave my reasons why I would oppose them. Sometimes I come across as rather blunt, its not intentional. I'm just very passionate about my firearms rights and the shooting hobby in general. I'm not holding any hard feelings, we can agree to disagree. I apologize for sounding like an ass.:eek:

Welcome to THR, there is a wealth of information here. I'm sure once you start getting involved in shooting, you will become hooked on it, its very addictive and fun. Regardless of your views on the laws, anytime we can add another shooter to the ranks, its a good thing.

A 357 snubnose would be an excellent choice for concealed carry. A huge plus to this gun is the fact that you can shoot 38 specials in it, which is good for practice and there are some good 38 defense loads as well.
 
There's a note on the MA AG's website about glock handguns (as well as any others that fall into the following predicament like the 1911s) are not legal for sale because they lack having a 'loaded chamber indicator' (LCI) or a 'magazine disconnect "safety"' (MD"S"). This would be why people that don't know anything about guns shouldn't make laws regarding required safety features. Both of them are dangerous for the reason that they promote laziness when handling a deadly weapon, the LCI can interupt feeding reliability and you can't dryfire the gun without a mag in if you have a MD"S".
 
One thing I need to point out: the approved roster list is not a list of firearms legal to sell in MA. That list is basically the firearms approved to be...approved by the attorney general. There are many firearms on that list that are not legal for sale because the AG says so.

For example, the Sig P226 DAK is not legal, but is on the approved roster list. :( I don't like it, but I have to follow it.

Redneck, no hard feelings. More often than not, emotion is not conveyed well through just words. I have sense of your tone of "voice," so to speak, nor do I have any sense of your body language. We can agree to disagree. :p

And VA, thanks for the photo. It really helps to see them all lined up. It seems like the .3x calibers are all almost the exact same size, haha. Although, I've seen 9mm translated as .355 caliber, and when I did the math, I got .354, and you said it's .356. :O

It honestly sounds like a .357 revolver would be good, as I get the impression .38 special ammunition is rather cheap.

Just to gauge your guys' (and you girls, too) opinions on things:

S&W Model 60 vs. Ruger SP101 (.357 2")
Walther PPK/S vs. Sig P232 (.380 ACP)

Right now those are the four I'm looking the most at. Are there better choices for a S&W? I'm more attracted, I've found, to pistols that have a full-size grip but have a shorter barrel, rather than a shorter grip and a shorter barrel, so I tend to like the Model 60 over the other S&W revolvers I've been pointed to.
 
Bump.

And I think I'm removing the PPK/S from the list of firearms I want to check out. I found a thread on another firearms forum where a lot of people said they were having a ton of trouble with them, even going through multiple models trying to find a working model.

A lot of people speak very highly of Sig, so I guess right now the P232 is the only auto-loader I'm currently considering.

Curious: is the .357 Sig comparable to the .357 magnum round?
 
Rob87;

Here's another consideration that you want to try out before you buy. Revolvers tend to be more uncomfortable to conceal. Just a fact that they have this built-in bulge called a cylinder. The semi-auto's, being more-or-less flat sided (or at least much smaller bulges) tend to be more long-term carry friendly. A lot of this is going to depend on your build and carry method. IWB, Inside WaistBand, is usually the best for concealment. However, IWB heavily depends upon the holster for comfort. Mine is a Milt Sparks Exec's companion, not cheap. But, it's been in continual use since 1997, ie, comfortable.

The better semi-auto's are honestly just as reliable as revolvers. I'm not sure what's available to you in Mass., but here's a short list of things you may wish to look at/try out. SIG P239, H&K USPc (compact), P2000, Kahr, or the new S&W M&P.

Is the .357 SIG comparable to the .357 magnum? Yes, it's comparable, but it doesn't compare well. The magnum is a far more versitile round capable of producing much more energy. The SIG is limited to it's platform, meaning that it absolutely has to be constrained to what will function in a semi-auto firearm. Or, to put it another way, the magnum will function flawlessly with bullet weights from 110 grains to 180 grains, & sometimes heavier yet bullets. A 180 grain bullet in a .357 SIG is pretty much fantasy land.

900F
 
Thanks for the help, 900F. That's the biggest reason why I was looking more at semi-autos more than revolvers. I figured the cylinder would get in the way after a while, whereas a semi-auto is fairly flat and could at least hug my body better.
 
Rob, on the CCW demystified series it puts an arguement forward as to why a J-frame sized revolver is better for pocket carry than a semi-auto because of it's shape. A semi-auto prints like a gun, but a revolver would print like a bunch of junk in your pocket. But...if you can't shoot a revolver well, then you shouldn't carry one period.
 
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