In some cases, a lack of forethought can create no end of confusion. Take, for example, the “Thirty Eight.” The 20th Century has seen innumerable .38-caliber loadings, and using the wrong one in your weapon could have some pretty disastrous results.
In fact, very few .38 cartridges actually use a .38 caliber bullet. What follows is a quick tutorial on .38 cartridges.
A friend compares carrying a gun to wearing ladies' underwear. It's comforting, and as good as it looks, it's not something you'd want to have to explain to a random person on the street. It's a secret you keep to yourself, but one that could save your life one day (*).
It's vital to have one that fits the hand just right. Under stress, the weapon needs a sure grip, and one in which the sights line up naturally. The quality of grips is a rarely-mentioned factor in this.
Sometimes, a good loading just can’t get a break. The 10mm was introduced in 1983, based on suggestions from Jeff Cooper. He’d imagined a cartridge that could match the speed and flat trajectory of the 9×19mm with the heavier projectile of a .45 ACP, basically splitting the small/fast vs. large/slow debate down the middle.
This had been tried before, of course. The .41 Magnum was an earlier attempt to reconcile the .357 and .44 Magnum loadings. Based on the .400 Eimer wildcat cartridge, it could propel a 210gr bullet at 1520 ft/s, dumping a biblical 1080 ft/lbs of energy (1). Sadly, the .41 never caught on, and it faded into a sort of semi-obscurity, kept afloat by reloaders and aficionados who saw its potential in a wide range of loadings.
I wonder if it might have succeeded given a catchier name…something like .400 Lightning. Or the Four Bore Groin Punch. Who knows?
This is a Smith & Wesson Model 67, the stainless Combat Masterpiece in .38 Special. According to Supica & Nahas, it was manufactured in 1974. This one’s a no-dash model from the first production run and has the stainless sights. It also has the tapered and pinned barrel, which would later be replaced with a straight, heavy barrel to match the Magnum frames.
At least that's what I hear at least once a day from yokels who see me carrying one. Their arguments are puerile for the most part, and they all seem to echo the same misguided sentiments.
The first is accuracy. People will claim that the revolver is somehow inaccurate. What they really mean is that they can't shoot it well. In fact, the revolver, having a fixed barrel, is capable of greater accuracy than many automatics. Case in point:
S&W 696, .44 Special, 8 yards, 2" bullseye.
First things first. Clips and magazines are not the same thing, and the terms are not interchangeable. Confusing the two is very annoying.
Here’s a simple rule to remember the difference: if it has a spring in it, it is a magazine, not a clip.
A magazine is a spring-loaded mechanism used to load ammunition. With the exception of revolvers and top-break shotguns, most modern firearms load cartridges from a magazine of some sort. Bolt-action rifles and some older military ordnance utilize internal magazines, while most other modern firearms use external magazines.
Everyone who's been abroad has seen the Ugly American. They're tourists. They flaunt the local laws, they mock any customs they don't bring with them, and they get offended because not everybody in the world speaks English.
Then they throw a self-righteous hissy fit because their rudeness doesn't get rewarded.
The good news is, you don't have to travel to a foreign country to see this animal in the wild. You just have to take a look at what the gun culture has turned into right here at home.
If you're new to it, great. Welcome aboard. Bear in mind, you're entering a culture with roots and customs going back several centuries. We've got rules, they're important, and not following them could get someone hurt of killed.
We're a bit sensitive about that sort of thing, as you could imagine.
Josh Sugarmann, director of the Violence Policy Center (VPC) has a Federal Firearms License (FFL). This is the same guy who raised fees on FFL applications and drove home dealers out of business, claiming
The FFL is a public safety scandal created by the very agency charged with enforcing federal firearms laws. By giving a federal gun-dealing license to virtually anyone who can come up with $30 and isn’t a convicted felon, ATF has put criminals in the business of selling guns.
Yet, according to the BATFE database, Sugarmann has held an FFL for at least a dozen years.
You can keep your ugly carbon-fiber high-speed-low-drag tactical holsters. Leather has worked for five centuries of pistols, and it still works today.
There are currently two bills pending in the Georgia legislature regarding gun ownership in this state. One stands to expand our rights, and the other is a misguided, untenable piece of legislation that stands no chance of passing and has angered people on both political poles.
Guess which one the NRA is backing. It's not the good one.
This is another of Tom Dyer's modified Tom Threepersons holsters. Essentially, it's a cross between the Threepersons and the old Bucheimer Federal Man that we brainstormed together. …