“Three-Five-Seven”……….Part II

Ok, we're at the gunshop of your choice.......and there ARE a lot of choices!  There are DOZENS of different companies making guns today, especially with the way things are in this country (and the world, for that matter).

You need to have decided before you walked in.....what this gun is intended to do.............shoot paper targets or save your life if it comes to it?  You can shoot paper targets with a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun, (as long as you "don't shoot your eye out!").

If you're buying this gun to protect yourself against an adversary who might shoot back, my advice is to always "spend the money".  There are a LOT of $200.oo to $300.oo guns out there, made by manufacturers you never heard of.---------but there's a REASON that a Smith & Wesson or a Ruger runs $600 to a thousand, depending on the model.  The firearms arena is one of those oldtime examples of where you really DO "get what you pay for."

A hallway or a dark parking lot, is NOT a good place for a "bargain basement" pistol.

That being said, let's look at calibers.  How much is enough?  We'll start at the bottom and work our way up...................

There probably isn't a more popular caliber with people than the little 22 rimfire.  If you don't own or even LIKE guns, you've still probably SHOT a 22, sometime in your life.  Inexpensive to shoot and no recoil to speak of, they're just a fun little gun to plink with or hunt rabbits or "whistle-pigs" with.  I can't imagine a gun collection, large or small, without a 22 in it.  It's way too small for self-defense though, unless you got really lucky with a vital shot in the heat of the action.  But a hit "just any old place", will not reliably put an intruder down, which would be unfortunate if he too is armed!  The 2 guns pictured are a pair of Rugers----a Single-Six revolver and and old Mark I , 22 automatic.  In the photo on the right, is how the 22 stacks up with a 9mm cartridge, and the NINE doesn't always get the job done with the first hit.

22's...........I love 'em!........but they're better-suited for pop cans than anything else.

The 25 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol).  It makes a good paperweight!

If you're a novice, the "NUMBER" 25 would make you think it's better than the 22.  In fact, it's not even as good.  While it DOES shoot a slighter larger bullet than the 22, it is nowhere near as fast.  The 22's have far better range and penetration.  I'd never shoot anybody with a 25----it would just tick him off!  I wouldn't personally own a 25, so I don't have one of my own to show you here. The gun pictured  is a Browning from an internet photo.

The 32 ACP (or 32 Auto, as they're called), like this little Beretta Tomcat, (also internet photo), is a little better, and will perform ok if you're close enough and don't have to go through heavy jackets or anything like that.  Adolph Hitler committed suicide with a 32 caliber Walther PPK, but he also held the gun right up against his temple.

Keep in mind that I'm not "knocking" any of these guns as we go along.  In a crisis, you use what you have.  Guns like this are very popular with a lot of folks because their small size makes them very concealable, and their small kick makes them comfortable to shoot and the ladies like 'em.

But along with the small size and the small kick-----is also a small CALIBER....

You do NOT know who you're dealing with in the middle of the night.  Paper targets and pop cans don't shoot back.  These guys DO, and even if this guy isn't packing heat, you can bet he's got a knife.  A proper defense pistol needs to have enough power to put him down with the first shot and KEEP him there before he can return the favor.

One other point here.....and a BIG ONE.............this "humanitarian concept" of ..."Oh I wouldn't want to kill anyone...I would just shoot to WOUND him."

It makes a good epitaph on a tombstone.  If he has no more regard for you than to BREAK IN and DO WHATEVER HE WANTS....he'll kill you just as quickly.....even if you were NOT armed and offered no resistance.  Besides, a DEAD witness tells no tales to the cops later on.  He doesn't WANT you to remember what he looks like.

If a hood breaks into MY place, there'll only be one side of the story after I finally call 911.  Mine...............Let's move on...........

Now, you can have stopping power, and still have some concealability

At left is a Walther PPK in 380 ACP and a Russian Makarov in 9mm x 18.......On the right are a pair of snubnose Smith & Wesson revolvers, a "LadySmith" (above) and an old model 10 below it.....both in 38 caliber.

Entering the 38 caliber/9mm "world", we start getting into some power without having to tote a BIG gun around........although in MY opinion, the 9mm/38 guns are the BARE MINIMUM I would recommend for a "carry gun".  The cartridges pictured are (L-R): 38 Special+P.....a standard 38 Special, 9mm Makarov, and a 380 ACP.  Note also that except for the Makarov, the OTHER 3 are all HOLLOWPOINTS.  You give yourself every advantage if you're carrying a smaller pistol.  (I use hollowpoints in ny BIG pistols too).

The standard 9mm is probably the most widely-used pistol & cartridge in the world these days.  Pictured is a Smith & Wesson Model 39.  At the right are a 38+P, 38 Special, and the standard 9mm Luger cartridge in the popular 9 x 19.

("9 x 19" means a 9mm bullet with a cartridge case length of 19mm).  The old Russian Makarov is a 9 x 18----same slug but shorter case, and the 2 do not interchange between the two guns.........(MOST 9mm's you'll ever encounter today, is the 9x19, that started way back with the Luger itself.)

....which brings up another point.  There are a TON of different calibers out there.  The Russian Makarov for example, was a favorite of the Soviet KGB for decades, and is a fun gun to own and shoot today, but you won't find AMMO for it at your local WalMart.

It's always best, especially in any survival situation, to carry a gun in a popular caliber they everyone ELSE shoots, so ammunition supplies are plentiful., like the 38, the 9, the 40, etc........and speaking of the "40"........

Sig Sauer P226 in 40 S&W (internet photo).  I don't own a 40, so I can't really say a whole lot---pro or con---.  What I DO know, is that the 40 was designed to bridge the gap between the 9mm and the big 45 automatic that's been around since 1911....yet STILL be a fairly concealable pistol.  I have friends who have 40's, and they seem to like them.....so I would summize that they are pretty good guns.

Besides your ability to handle increasing recoil as we "up" the calibers, a gun should also FEEL like it's right for you.  I shot a 40 one time that belonged to a friend in Boise.  It was in a Glock pistol.  I personally do not like the feel of a Glock, although many people DO.  For ME, I thought the slide was a bit top-heavy, and I didn't care for the trigger pull.  That's just ME.

No gun feels the same to any two shooters.  You have to just get out there for some "hands-on."

The 357 Magnum.........This is my "preferred" carry caliber.  I own LARGER pistols, but none that are more versatile.  Pictured here are a pair of Rugers.....a double-action GP-100, and a single-action Blackhawk.  (we'll go into "double-action" and "single-action" later, when we get into our "revolver vs automatic" showdown).

The 357 can do it all, and do it all WELL.  The preferred gun of the Highway Patrols in most states for decades, it is fast, powerful and accurate.  The new Hornady 357 FTX (red-tip) is shown here beside a 38+P, 38 Special, and a 9mm.  Note that the Magnum cartridge is a bit longer---more case capacity for more power and speed.

357 handguns have to be built stronger & heavier than 38's, to handle the extra cartridge length and power of the 357 cartridge, but because the 38/357 projectiles are identical, you can chamber and shoot the milder and shorter-length 38 Special, and 38 "+P" cartridges in your 357 handgun all day long, which is VERY convenient.  In a heavier handgun than a standard 38 pistol, you barely feel the recoil of the 38 special loads when you just want to go out and "plink", and the extra power of the Magnum cartridge is not needed.

Now----to my way of reasoning, the 357 Magnum is the OPENING DOOR to the calibers that are considered  "One-Shot-Stoppers."  I can't imagine being hit anywhere in the torso by a 357 Magnum, and getting back up.

If you're new to the handgun world,you probably won't like nor want a 44 Magnum.  There are even BIGGER guns out there today, but the 44 is just about the upper limit of practicality.  Built heavier than the 357 to contain the extra power of ITS cartridge, the 44 is not short on stopping power----nor RECOIL either!  ("Dirty Harry made it look easy-----but remember they use BLANKS in the movies!"). In the lower photo, we see 9mm, 357 Mag and 44 Mag cartridges, for comparison.

I like that extra power when we're hiking in the woods, where you might meet up with a bear or something, but it's WAY overpowering for "two legged" animals, so I rarely carry it around town, (although I did YESTERDAY for some reason). (It'll be one of the 357's today though, as usual).

Finally, we come to the 45's, and THEY come in "all kinds of flavors"  Because of it's bullet weight and mass, virtually ANY 45-caliber gun is a reliable man-stopper.

Back in the early days of the west, they were "black powered Cap & Ball, faithfully reproduced by the Ruger Old Army revolver.

When the self-contained metallic cartridges came along, Colt built the Single Action Army revolver in 1873.  In 1911, John Browning of Ogden, Utah, designed a 45 caliber automatic pistol (shorter cartridge case), that Colt would build for the next 72 years, that saw action in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and another 8 years after THAT.

The 45 automatic was (and still IS) immensely popular with the shooting public, although in recent years, we've seen a comeback of the "old west" style of pistols and ammo.  At the leff is the 45 auto, with the longer 45 Colt beside it.....and at the right, one of the more popular guns chambered for it, a Ruger Blackhawk.

There are some really fine DOUBLE ACTION revolvers that shoot this fine old cartridge as well.........poised here below the Blackhawk is one of my very favorite pistols, a Smith & Wesson Model 25-5.  The 45 Colt "long cartridge" is an even BETTER man-stopper than the 45 auto.  Little heavier bullet (255 gr vs 230)......longer case, more powder, but still not bad in recoil.

At first glance, you think those two cartridges are the same, but the one on your left is a 44 Magnum and the other a slightly larger 45 Colt----yet the 44 Magnum is the more powerful of the two, believe it or not!  You see....while the modern-day Blackhawks and Redhawks will handle just about anything.......the old original Colts will not.

Steel tempering technology and metal processing today is far advanced of what it was in 1873, so the quality & strength of steel today is well above what it was then.  If you had X-ray vision and could look inside of those two cartridges in the photo, you'd find that the slightly larger 45 is only filled to about 70% of its case capacity.

Because the ammo makers are aware of the thousands of original Colts STILL OUT THERE, ALL factory 45 Colt loads are kept down to "milder" levels, so some collector doesn't blow the cylinder out of an "heirloom."  Those who RELOAD THEIR OWN though, find that the reloading manuals allow hotter loads for the 45.....IF.......you're shooting a Ruger Blackhawk or a Thompson Contender.

RE-CAPPING Part II............."Zook's recommendations "

Spend the money for the BETTER-BUILT GUNS.

Buy as much caliber as you can reasonably handle (go shooting with a friend before you buy).

Nothing BELOW a 9mm or 38 for personal defense.

This leaves only one area left...........a "wheel-gun" or a self-loader".....(we'll look at that in Part III).