Jonnin

There is a civil war BP group somewhere (actually lots of them around the north and south) and while they do wear a uniform, its really a shooting group. I cannot remember the details, only went a couple of times, but they did various pistol, muzzle loader, and all the way up to henry lever's and at the big events, they had morter & cannon as well.

Shoot slowly at first. Glocks enhance recoil a bit, and if you fire fast, you will miss the follow up shots if you do not have an excellent grip (including strong wrists and arms) and a good stance. Accuracy and skill are the first things to build, speed comes naturally with practice as you gain skill. There are many instructional videos on line, and you can buy instruction as well, but for now just practice putting each shot on target, one at a time, at your own pace, and from there you will make steady progress. Enjoy the practice, its supposed to be fun even if you miss some -- when you become frustrated with it, put it down and try another day.

The magnum DEs are a toy. Its too big and heavy to go into a purse or be carried in any reasonable fashion and while it would be a solid home defense weapon, it would blind and deafen the shooter if used at night for defense. Its also a bit pricy to leave in a nightstand for a burglar to find. The only practical use I see for it would be a hunting pistol, and a stock would help that but the SBR conversion is not for me. Get a carbine if you want a carbine. Its powerful but I would seriously question it as a practical self defense gun. Not every gun someone owns has to be great for self defense though, it is what it is and its a LOT of fun to shoot.

Heh you don't have to hide. Glocks work, if nothing else, I give them that much!

Yes, I have worked on shooting on the move and at moving targets, and reloading on the move etc. And I expect those are also easier in practice than under stress. But apart from going down to a rough area and starting some stuff to get in some practice, I have to make do with paper.... and this stuff is beyond the scope of the 380 discussion apart from the low capacity issue, which is a real concern if one misses a few times under stress. I have 3 mags, if I still didnt escape or "win", then no other weapon would have saved me either. The 15 -25 yard stuff was seeing what the gun could do, I also expect an attacker will be closer than this, and I have used it at various ranges under 15 yards.

the sig, its basically a SAO 1911 micro. The trigger travels about 2/3cm from untouched to fired at maybe 3 lbs (guessing the weight here). It has the moving barrel like a 1911 and greatly cuts the recoil down. I cannot shoot it anything like a full sized gun --- I can empty it fast, and I can keep it in the vitals of a man sized target at 15 or less yards, that is as much as I am willing to claim! I meant a real DAO with the comment (the 10 pound triggers moving an inch or more), glock triggers are nothing like that. I can tolerate the glock trigger, its not that bad until you compare it to a single action. They are fine -- its not that I hate glocks, its that I like other things a lot more, if someone gave me one I would enjoy it, but I don't miss them much either If someone gave me a DAO, I would have it sold NIB inside a week.

My wife had one of the 709s for a long time. It was fine, a little less than stellar accuracy but a great choice for self defense ranges. Never had a jam or any trouble out of it and I am sure it would have worked great if we had been in need of it. IMHO one of the top 10 DA pocket 9mms, maybe even the top 2 or 3.

I can shoot my 380 faster than I can shoot any glock, even the realy long slide ones. It has a shorter, tighter, better trigger than any glock, and lower recoil as well. I reload my practice ammo, but not my carry ammo, so its $4 per box of 50 roughly -- same as my practice 9mm actually. Many of your points are due to your specific circumstances (gun model, inability to reload, etc) and have little or nothing to do with the 380 round as a caliber or choice. I agree a larger pistol in a larger caliber with more rounds is more powerful, no doubt about it, but there are pros and cons to every gun choice. I could go buy a kel tec p-11 and tell you that the 9mm round sucks, its the same thing... DAO guns are just not fun to shoot for anyone short of a weightlifter

They absolutely should deport him. Unless, as noted, obama grants asylum or a pardon or whatever else.

yes a new auto often has problems for a few hundred rounds. These come from magazines that are stiff and new as well as the moving parts being stiff and new. Load the mags and let them sit for a couple weeks or more. Break it down and lube it up good. Shoot 5 or 6 boxes thru it. If its still acting up ask again!

get a 6 inch. The additional velocity does not matter on the range but if you are looking to shoot at deer, you will want to have it. Also the longer sight radius lets you hit stuff farther away easier, and the extra length is better suited for a scope if you ever go that route, all of those make the longer one a better deer pistol IMHO.

I am also a lefty and that is a frustrating issue -- it always costs you $50 extra per gun to get the controls swapped, if not more. Its not just the safety, I like to get the mag drop button swapped too, so its even more pricy for me. Even worse you can rarely find a left handed control, often you HAVE to get ambi which are fat and ugly. Just need one on the left, not one on each side, why is that hard to understand? I left my sig as it was and shoot it right handed, which is no big deal for me after years of shooting in a right handed world, I feel confident I can use the gun right handed to handle an assault. I may one day swap it to left handed, or get parts to do so, but it has not been a priority.

A recent class I was in... instructor: the next commandment is to keep your guns and ammo in seperate locations and locked up... (time passes). Later: If someone came in on me I would grab that shotgun & he better be out the door when he hears me work the pump... ME: How did you get the gun and ammo unlocked and ready in time? Instructor: I don't know how to answer that... (He finally said the rules are there to keep kids from getting into your guns and the important thing is to keep the kids safe, after thinking about it for a while). Just goes to show that even great gun owners (and he was great, and covered the important stuff very very well and did an awesome job) will echo nonsense from time to time

A law is a law, both the girls and the uncle broke the law, specifics do not matter, the point is that attacks on the behavior of a relative is a poor one, on the level of name calling or mud slinging. This is like the media harping on palin's daughter's behavior: its unprofessional and crosses a line.

I dont use a cleaning rod, I bought a set of soft wooden dowel rods and normally shove a fluffed up q-tip soaked in hoppes down the barrel (for the .22s). I only use a rod once in a great while if I can see something stuck in the rifleing that will not come out with gentle methods. Very slight damage to a crown can ruin a gun's accuracy, if you are shooting long ranges or are very serious. At short ranges, you will not notice the effects. With cheap ammo, you may not notice the effects. It just depends on the specific damage and what level of accuracy you are talking about. The rods are much softer than the barrel and should not be able to damage it much unless you are very rough with the gun when you clean it. I use the wood not because I worry about the cleaning rod damage but because it was easier to work with on partially disassembled guns.

I have always felt that a HCP should allow the person to carry any sort of melee weapon (knife, stick, nunchucks, whatever). In the long run I would have anyone able to carry anything, but this would be a small step/victory and encourage more people to get a HCP!

Don't want to take this one too far. Just a few years back, W's girls were partying pretty hard and had a couple of run-ins with the police. No one has a lot of say in how their uncle acts, but how your children behave is another matter.... Much as I dislike zerO, and as amusing as this is, it is not a productive way to pick on him, better to stick to the real issues IMHO.

I am not 100% sure of course but I suspect a couple of the gun stores, even the big name ones, sell guns as a "service" to their customers and make up for it with accessories, ammo, targets, or in some cases, a range on location. I will pick on sportsmans warehouse for example... I spend a fair amount of time in there, but have not bought a firearm or ever seen anyone else buying a firearm in the store. Looking, yes, but buying, never. But what I do see are tons of people with $200 or more in reloading supplies or ammo in their cart, along with the occasional optics or other gear.

I had to hit DC once for a conference, and flying in on a day trip, did not get to carry. Some of the areas we drove thru up there were poor and rough looking beyond description.

My 22/45 (Mk II) will go together incorrectly (the bolt will not move if this happens, try again...) and the big lug that goes thru the bolt and handle gets stuck easily (wiggle it for a while and it will eventually slip free). Between these two issues, even though I have done it many, many times, it remains a pain. I have had it go together in under 5 min and I have had it take over 30, depending on whether it wants to go back properly and whether it gets stuck. The 1911s are a pain too, typically I wrench out the bushing far enough to release the spring first, then take out the pin and then take off the slide, once the slide is off I take it on down starting with the bushing. 1911ish pistols are far better... most you just pull a pin, pop off the slide, and its done, its that stupid bushing that makes the 1911 a pain to deal with. The 2 easiest are the DE (push a button and it falls apart) and the makarov (pull down the trigger guard, remove the slide). And one of the oddest is a mousegun 22 ... remove the front sight, which is holding it together.. needless to say its not an accurate gun!

People want to get what they can when they sell, and the gun industry makes it so they paid out the nose for it when they got it. The buyer gets taken even on "good deals" -- with 10% tax, background check, possibly transfer fees or shipping, etc, gun shop prices, and more. A lot of "used" guns barely have 5 boxes thru them, they are "basically brand new". The buyer wants to sell it and get 85% of his money back (for example) and finds a brick wall: his price is more than bud's list price (nevermind the shipping and fees and all that, the buyer often cannot understand the bottom line vs the list price). That makes both sides frustrated. Throw in that cheap guns are hard to sell right now. If I sold a $200 pistol that was 2.5 hours away, I would spend $50 in gas and $10-20 for food on the way, and I try to buy stuff if the meeting place is a gun shop, just to be nice/supportive/whatever, so time I get home I would be lucky to have over $100 left. Gas and food killed a lot of cheap gun sales, face to face stuff, IMHO. My dad was big into buying used to avoid any paperwork, he got that way about the time of the brady/clinton bs laws, and never really stopped worring after those were passed.

I will bet you can get your local reloading store to order you some special, if they do not stock it. They have a way around the hazmat fees (they must, or powder would be $50 /lb bottle); most likely they are charged once for the whole shipment and can divide the fee out over many units of products. Avoid buying it online esp in a small quantity, if you can.

If you use a hollow base round it should expand enough to seal the barrel, and I am pretty sure a lead slug would too. It should be possible to make rounds that perform well in the larger barrel. Or, you could probably poke 38sp slugs into the 9mm case if you wanted to, with a little creativity.

welcome! I am also a fan of the .44, one of the most versatile handgun calibers, accurate to long ranges, and just fun to shoot. Glad to have you in the neighborhood.

I have used a remora pocket holster for most of this year and its still as good as new, grabs the pocket and stays put, very well made and great design (or material, whatever).