Packin' Heat

[white avenger]

If you could have only one handgun for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

 

[Rowan Hawthorn]

If you could have only one handgun for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum.
1. Very strong, reliable, safe pistol.
2. Accurate as all-get-out; the one I previously owned hit targets over 300 yards away - with no scope. I'm still kicking myself for letting that one go, and I'm looking into maybe replacing it next summer.
3. Ammunition is easy to reload, and can be loaded anywhere from light target loads to moose-stoppers and anything in between. Performs well with any of them (plus, I still have my reloading dies and about a thousand rounds of good empty brass...)
4. Can be used for hunting and self-defense equally well. I have taken rabbits with all of the small .380 autos I've carried over the years - but it's not something I'd want to rely on if that was the only way I had of putting meat on the table. It's a little bulky, but if things got to the point where that was all I could have, I'd probably dispense with the concealed carry and just put it on my hip where I'd rather have it, anyway.

 

[palabravampiress]

I would choose an antique muzzle loader - just for the history of it and the impressively loud "boom."

 

[white avenger]

I like the Rugers too, but my choice would probably be my 4" Security Six. It's got probably the strongest frame of any medium revolver ever made, and it's pretty easy to conceal if that were a consideration. Ammunition is always available, either .357 or .38, and like your .44, it's easy to reload ( in fact, it's the first thing I ever did reload, a whole lot longer ago than I care to think about), though obviously, those moose stoppers of yours are a bit above my limit. I must've put a truck load of ammunition through it, so many that I've sent it back to the factory to be tightened and re-timed twice, ( they've never charged me a nickel for the service, and have always fixed more than I asked for. That's service!). The only real complaint I've ever had about it is, after shooting for a couple of years or so, it always gets slightly out of time and begins shaving lead on one chamber. Other than that, it's perfect.

(R H, you mentioned a trouble shooting 4" DA's, well, I've always had the same problem with anything longer than 4". )

 

[Rowan Hawthorn]

The main reason I would go for a single-action over a double is that the lockwork is simpler (and it's tough enough to work on.) If it ever came to the point where I could only have one gun, I suspect repair work would also have limited availability. With the SAs, I could pick up some spare parts for possible future necessity, and, while they might not be as perfect as I'd like, I could make them work. One good thing about the .357, it can be loaded down, too, and make an even better small-game gun than the .44. It just doesn't have the upper-end range. And I'd probably go with the 5-1/2" barrel in the Blackhawk - I like the 7-1/2". but that's too unwieldy for everyday carry, and the 4-3/4" doesn't give the sight radius I like for longer-range. The 5-1/2" for me just about the perfect compromise. Up close, sights are irrelevant, anyhow, as I never use them for close work.

 

[white avenger]

Of course, something I didn't think about would be a Thompson Contender with a boxfull of barrels, but I guess that'd be cheating, wouldn't it? Plus, single shot doesn't leave much margin for erroe, and with my eyes...

 

[Jules]

I've never seen a real gun, being in the UK they don't really allow people to have guns, although Manchester is having a lot of shootings.

I'm totally against guns...yes, that's very narrow minded of me but go figure 🙂 My mums friend was shot by her brother when he was cleaning his gun. She died. It's such a pointless accident. I get what you said before WA, that a gun is only dangerous in someones hands who doesn't know how to use it, but unfortunately, were human, and human beings aren't perfect. All it takes is one mistake and your looking at a possible Man Slaughter charge. I can also see were your coming from with having the gun for protection, but again its only as good as the person wielding it. Being completely truthful now (and hating the femininity of it), someone could easily take a gun from me in a struggle and there I've just handed my robber an armed weapon. Then there's the fact that I have no aim whatsoever, I always score the lowest on the Buzz Light Year Ride lol. But even if I could shoot, I don't think I'm the type of person who could look down the barrel of a gun and threaten someone. I'm just too soft 🙂

 

[white avenger]

It;s certainly true that people are accidentally killed or injured in accidental firings of both handguns and long guns every year, but that is more a fault of mishandling than ownership. No firearm, and I repeat, NO FIREARM should ever be touched, either by the most inexperienced amateur or the best trained expert, without being checked immediately to see if it is loaded. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever been killed or even slightly injured by a gun unless someone either accidentally or intentionally squeezed the trigger. Firearms are inanimate objects, no more dangerous in and of themselves than a hammer or a table lamp. both of which can be just as dangerous in the hands of someone determined to do you harm. As for criminals, I don't know what the statistics are where you live, but here in the U S, there are more than 8 times as many people killed every year by drunk drivers than by firearms. Given those statistics, and using your logic, we would be walking everywhere we go.

As to the argument of "giving a robber a loaded weapon," I have never said and never will say that every person should walk around armed at all times, but it is a fact that predators feed on the weak. In a society where the odds are that the person being assaulted might very well be armed, the overall number of assaults invariably drops dramatically. There are many ways to greatly increase your chances of not becoming a victim of robbery or assault that do not involve the use of a firearm, but this is not the place to get into that. If you are interested, check with your local police department, and they will probably be able to direct you to a teacher if they don't offer the classes themselves.

If you are "against all guns," I have no problem with you avoiding them as diligently as is humanly possible and I sincerely hope you live a long and happy life doing so. That is your choice, and you should by all means have the right to make it for yourself. Just allow me the same free choice.

 

[Jules]

I watched a documentary about guns called Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore. I'll admit that most of my views come from watching this because in England you just don't have the local neighborhood watch going out buying guns to protect the place you live. You hear about robberies in the UK were household owners attack their robbers with physical violence not guns. Gun crime is just not that common in the UK. The slight increase in gun usage in England resulted in police requesting the few people who do have guns to turn them in along with any other lethal weapon.

In the documentary it looks into one bank that gives you a gun if you open an account, it shows that places, the equivalent to the Asda supermarkets in the UK, letting you buy bullets when you do the shopping. Being terribly British now, that just isn't done over here lol

 

[white avenger]

I watched a documentary about guns called Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore. I'll admit that most of my views come from watching this because in England you just don't have the local neighborhood watch going out buying guns to protect the place you live. You hear about robberies in the UK were household owners attack their robbers with physical violence not guns. Gun crime is just not that common in the UK. The slight increase in gun usage in England resulted in police requesting the few people who do have guns to turn them in along with any other lethal weapon.

In the documentary it looks into one bank that gives you a gun if you open an account, it shows that places, the equivalent to the Asda supermarkets in the UK, letting you buy bullets when you do the shopping. Being terribly British now, that just isn't done over here lol

If I remember correctly, Mr Moore received an academy award for "Best Documentary" for that film. He later admitted that most of it was pure fiction. It would not only be imprudent, it would be illegal for a bank to give guns as an incentive to open an account. If that film is your major argument, then I suggest that you have been duped by a charlatan. I have no objection to arguing the FACTS about gun ownership or the safe and legal handling of firearms. Just do me the courtesy of using facts and not fiction as the basis for your argument.

 

[Jules]

If you check out this site, Moore AND the bank advise that the bank does give out guns, the only difference between what was shown on the film and real life was that the gun is delivered 10 days later. If you have a link that shows that the documentary was all a load of rubbish by all means I'll read it.

I didn't mean to turn this into an argument. I live in a place were people do not have guns for sport or safety and I'm proud of that. I never said the way you live is wrong, I said I don't like guns period. If the fact that I disagree with you or draw my information from a documentary that talks about guns in the US (because I have no other way of getting that kind of knowledge) offends you, then tough. I'm not going to apologise for my point of view.

This is the quote about the bank and gun:

In March 2003, John Fund reported in a Wall Street Journal diary page that the bank employee who handled Moore's account, Jan Jacobson, said that Moore had arranged the transaction weeks in advance, and that customers have "a week to 10 days waiting period" before collecting their guns.

 

[white avenger]

What was your source?

 

[Mr. Pointy]

I'm conscious that gun control can be a very fraught subject and can lead to heated debate. I'm sure I don't have to remind you guys to keep it civilised (and you have - thanks 🙂) because I wouldn't like to have to close what could be an interesting discussion.

 

[Blondie Bear]

Michael Moore is the definition of "spin." He gets an idea in his head and makes the "facts" fit that idea instead of the other way around, confusing a lot of people with just enough truth mixed with outright lie and a flashy presentation to make it look somewhat plausible if you don't "shop around" for your information.

/rant