Comments on Badtux the Snarky Penguin: Ruminations on guns

Interestingly, a .38 Special has about the same am...

2006-04-02T19:46:54.453-07:00

Interestingly, a .38 Special has about the same amount of stopping power as a 9mm, if loaded with the correct rounds. It seems that soft-nosed hollow-point lead bullets fired from a revolver expand better than the jacketed 9mm rounds, which tend to either overpenetrate or fail to expand because of the jacket needed in order for them to feed properly in an autopistol. So yes, a compact .38 revolver is not a bad self defense weapon even in today's high-tech day and age. Just load it with a good-quality hollow-point high-pressure round (and make sure you have a good quality revolver that'll handle a high-pressure round -- no Saturday Night Specials here, thank you!). A compact .38 frame is significantly lighter than the typical .357 frame, albeit not as light as the new plastic-framed autopistols. Do be aware that, compared to a Glock, you have twice the trigger pull (average revolver has about a 10 pound pull to cock the hammer then release it in double-action mode, Glock has a 5 pound pull), so it's a little harder to shoot accurately with a double-action revolver. However, given the ranges at which most home defense scenarios take place, that isn't a big deal.

A revolver is not, however, a good choice as a concealed weapon, due to the size of the cylinder which gives it a distinctive thickness and heft, even on revolvers with a snagless hammer intended to make them useable concealed. A slimline autopistol with similar stopping power is much more compact.

- Badtux the Well-Armed Penguin

You brought up in your comments one important item...

2006-04-02T19:31:31.100-07:00

You brought up in your comments one important item that you skimmed over in your post, namely that a firearm is a ranged weapon.

My take: 9mm are good for scaring people; .357 goes through walls, not good for the city; snubnose .38 is the way to go. And why the hell do you want 5 boxes of interchangeable ammo? Get the right ones.

The 50-cal Desert Eagle is the ultimate in self-defense, but it has a way of jamming after a while. Keep the screws tight. Shoulder holster = ease of access.

Ah...I had not seen that product before. It sound...

2006-04-02T19:18:50.333-07:00

Ah...I had not seen that product before. It sounds akin to the system on the Styer pistols that has a small tab drop down in front of the trigger, and when your finger goes into battery, the tab is pushed back into the frame. As an aside, the styer handguns are some of the more under appreciated pistols on the market. The sights consist of a lage triangle fron with a trapezoidal shaped rear. Lines up really fast and is easy to keep from holding over too much. Another great instant battery system was the HK P9 series with the squeeze cocker. A small town cop (only one in the town actually) used one as a duty pistol. Anyhow, I don't really need to carry for self defense, so my defensive needs are a bit different. Actually, for my needs the best thing I can get would be a Webly Mark V and get some reloading freinds to make me up some .455 cartridges. a 265 grain bullet traveling at only (max) 650 fps is kinda perfect forhome defense...espescially since with a relatively mild load you would have no worried of overpenetration...espescially with soft lead bullets. On the modern front the new weapon from FN is pretty interesting. I wonder how long it will be available on the market once the *ahem* abilities of the round are more widely known.

For a safety on the Glock, there is a little plast...

2006-04-02T10:51:29.856-07:00

For a safety on the Glock, there is a little plastic trigger guard thingy that is made for the Glock, that fits between the trigger and the frame. Since the first half of the trigger's travel is the "safety" on a Glock, this means the pistol is effectively safed while this guard is in. And it can be popped out with the tip of a finger when you need to fire the weapon.

My problem with a traditional safety is that it's too easy to leave the safety in the wrong position, such that when you need to fire the weapon, you can't, and when you don't want to fire the weapon, the safety is off. My 12 gauge shotgun has a safety, and half the time when I go out to target-shoot, I pull the trigger on the first shot and nothing happens because I forgot to flip the freakin' safety.

A revolver is point and shoot. A Glock is point and shoot. When you need a weapon for self defense, that's what you want. If you forget to flip the safety in the field with a hunting weapon, you miss a duck or a clay birdie. If you forget to flip the safety when some goon is coming at you with a knife (easy enough to do in a panic situation), you're dead. That's why, if you're going to buy a weapon, I suggest a double-action weapon such as a Glock or a revolver. If you're going to carry concealed, the trigger guard block thingy for the Glock is easy to clear while clearing the weapon from its holster, and prevents some object from getting into the trigger guard and firing off a round (and there's no question whether the gun is safed or not -- block in = safed, block out = not). That, in my opinion, is all the safety that a self-defense handgun needs.

-Badtux the Well-Armed Penguin

Wow...that was alot of personally's in the last po...

2006-04-02T07:33:17.316-07:00

Wow...that was alot of personally's in the last post. chalk it up to just digesting a big Sunday breakfast.

Glock also has an interestingcaretridge/gyn combo ...

2006-04-02T07:31:56.703-07:00

Glock also has an interestingcaretridge/gyn combo in a chambering known as .45 GAP. It allows a .45ACP powered cartridge to be fired from a mid-size (9mm) frame by using a shortened case loaded to a higher chamber pressure. I am a big fan of this idea since I personally like big bore chamberings. I am personally waiting for more companies to offer this chambering (as of last year anyway only Glock and Springfield offered it) since I, personally, do not like the lack of a manual safety on the glock. If Barretta offered it in a 92 style pistol or CZ had it in a CZ-75 style frame, either company would have a new customer. Actually, CZ would have a repeat customer since I currently own a surplus CZ-52 (.30 tokarev) that I love.

I actually have no use or need for a Kahr, so the ...

2006-04-01T12:12:48.536-08:00

I actually have no use or need for a Kahr, so the question of new vs. used is somewhat irrelevant for me. I was doing research. If I were to buy a handgun, I'd probably go with a Glock, since concealability is not an issue for me (I live in a county that issues CCW permits only to government officials and people who have more than $100,000,000 in the bank). In my opinion, the fundamental Glock design is the most robust autopistol since the original Colt 1911.

The other alternative would be a good quality revolver, which traditionally has been much more robust and easier to use than an autopistol design. A .357 Magnum will shoot both .38 Special and .357 Magnum loads, and has more stopping power than you'd expect even with the .38 Special round or reduced-blast .357 load to bring recoil down to managable levels (an unjacketed soft lead bullet fired from a revolver typically will impart more of its energy onto a target than a jacketed bullet fired from an equivalent autopistol -- autopistol rounds must typically be jacketed because otherwise they will not feed properly from the magazine).

However, the Glock design is as robust and easy-to-use as a revolver design and gives you a much wider choice of calibers and rounds (albeit not in the same gun as with the .357!), and is more compact to boot as well as giving you a larger magazine capacity (not particularly important for self-defense purposes since if you don't put the perp down within three shots he's not going down, but for cops it's important), not to mention that an autopistol typically has less kick than a similarly-powered revolver (due to the extractor mechanism taking up some of the kick), while a Glock is also fairly light and easy to hold on target compared to the relatively heavy revolver, so the Glock edges out the .357 by a hair, especially since I can't handle the full .357 load so the full potential of the weapon isn't usable by me. Still, you can't go wrong either way if looking for a good self-defense weapon.

- Badtux the Gun Penguin

Just a suggestion....Kahr Arms is owned by Rev. Su...

2006-04-01T10:38:02.663-08:00

Just a suggestion....Kahr Arms is owned by Rev. Sung Yung Moon...alontg with Auto Ordinance/Thompson. If you decide on the Kahr (A fine weapon outside of the company ties) you may want to look for a used example. But, that is just a personal thing.

Interesting analysis of the true reason for the Ir...

2006-04-01T06:25:02.523-08:00

Interesting analysis of the true reason for the Iraq War, BadTux: keeping at a distance from the White House those who know which end of a gun to point.

That suggests more wars to come to make sure, say, the National Guard isn't around when their cities disappear on account of presidential cronyism and negligent homicide. They might react rashly.

The nice thing about the Internet, Blue, is that i...

2006-03-29T09:16:49.873-08:00

The nice thing about the Internet, Blue, is that it makes research easy. Too easy. It's easy to drown in information. That thread that you posted a link to is a good example. What we get out of it is that the Rohrbaugh is as small as a .380 K-Tel P-3AT(Kel-Tec), the PM9 is slightly bigger, but the PM9 is easier to shoot straight and takes a wider variety of ammo. If we're talking about a backup gun for when the main service weapon is not available for whatever reason, and said gun is in an ankle holster, the PM9 will probably work okay (and if the main service weapon is a Glock 17, a 9MM backup weapon is preferable to maintain ammo commonality). Or if jogging in a high-crime area, the PM9 will fit fine in a fanny pack. But if the person packing is a rather petite female, well, those better be some loose-legged pants... the bell-bottoms fad of a few years back means that the thrift shops are packed with discarded bell bottoms, so I guess said petite female will just have to be unfashionable :).

As for our military, Roman emperors tried to keep their military as far away from Rome as possible. That is why Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon was so important -- for the first time the military was used in Rome to achieve regime change, a fact which both created and destroyed the Roman Empire in the end. But King George III is keeping our military as far away from the New Rome as possible, too. Most of the guys who know which end of a pointy stick goes "Bang!" are in Iraq or Afghanistan. With one-year rotations (and only 6 months inbetween), 2/3rds of our infantry troops (the guys who know how to kill people) are overseas, along with virtually all of our war-fighting equipment (even M-16's and ammo for them are in short supply on American soil). King George III definitely knows his Roman history, or at least Vice President Halliburton does. Those legions are on the opposite side of a mighty big Rubicon...

- Badtux the Weapons Penguin

Have you see this? Glock Talk - Why Wait For A Roh...

2006-03-29T08:16:08.143-08:00

Have you see this? Glock Talk - Why Wait For A Rohrbaugh When there PM9s Available

The one thing that we do have gone for us, is that half of our military actually thinks those ruthless guys in power are full of it.

Here is another fine weapon although not as small as a pocket pistol
Heckler & Koch Mark 23 Owners Guild

Badtux, you're not on my list of mens that need ki...

2006-03-29T04:59:51.573-08:00

Badtux, you're not on my list of mens that need killin', I swear. :)