Which handgun for Home defense?

[Bird]

James, I guess the worst day I had on the range was one year when I went out there one Winter to qualify in the morning on the pistol range. Fortunately, it was not raining hard, but enough we all wore our raincoats and caps, and while it wasn't miserably cold, it was certainly cold enough. Then we went to lunch and went back in the afternoon to shoot the 12 gauge. Normally, we did both pistol and shotgun in one session and only shot 3 rounds in the shotgun. But that one year, they'd gotten one of those clay pigeon chunkin' machines, and that afternoon we each shot 25 rounds. Now I was a country boy who grew up hunting and thought you couldn't miss with a scatter gun. But while we were at lunch, the front moved on through and that afternoon, the rain had stopped, and there was a miserably cold north wind that would nearly knock you off your feet. So, with a coat on, collar turned up, cap and earmuffs on, glove on the left hand (never could shoot with a glove on my trigger finger) I'll never forget that I only hit 12 of the 25 clay pigeons that day.

 

[k0ua]

James, I guess the worst day I had on the range was one year when I went out there one Winter to qualify in the morning on the pistol range. Fortunately, it was not raining hard, but enough we all wore our raincoats and caps, and while it wasn't miserably cold, it was certainly cold enough. Then we went to lunch and went back in the afternoon to shoot the 12 gauge. Normally, we did both pistol and shotgun in one session and only shot 3 rounds in the shotgun. But that one year, they'd gotten one of those clay pigeon chunkin' machines, and that afternoon we each shot 25 rounds. Now I was a country boy who grew up hunting and thought you couldn't miss with a scatter gun. But while we were at lunch, the front moved on through and that afternoon, the rain had stopped, and there was a miserably cold north wind that would nearly knock you off your feet. So, with a coat on, collar turned up, cap and earmuffs on, glove on the left hand (never could shoot with a glove on my trigger finger) I'll never forget that I only hit 12 of the 25 clay pigeons that day.

All in All I would call that a pretty good score considering the conditions!

 

[Soundguy]

hey.. any day i'm shooting and someone else pays for the shells.. and pays me to be there is a good day!

 

[brin]

hey.. any day i'm shooting and someone else pays for the shells.. and pays me to be there is a good day!

Now wait a second Chris....When I was in Basic Training the Army paid for all the shells...even loaned me some nice firearms and such...and yeah it was freezing rain in FT. Campbell , Ky...in January '67...It was not a good day...LOL :confused3::laughing:

 

[kootch88]

The best gun is the one you have the gonads to use and know, or think you know, the consequences, and deal with the ramifications if you are wrong. Most people will get hurt with guns in self defense situations because they can't decide if it is time to pull the trigger or not, and if it is a bad guy, he has no qualms about pulling it as soon as he thinks you are a threat.

 

[Soundguy]

sure it was.. you were training to defend your country!

and I THANK YOU for that service.

 

[Bird]

hey.. any day i'm shooting and someone else pays for the shells.. and pays me to be there is a good day!

Yep, as long as I was on active duty, the department provided the ammo and my salary, but now I'm on my own time and using my own ammo. They do provide the targets.:laughing: Of course, I buy the same targets to use when I go practice at Bass Pro, so I know the city isn't paying more than $.27 for a target; don't know about the cardboard backing used.:laughing:

The targets we use are:
https://www.letargets.com/estylez_item.aspx?item=TQ-15DPD

 

[TripleR]

hey.. any day i'm shooting and someone else pays for the shells.. and pays me to be there is a good day!

The common saying on our range days no matter the weather was, "A bad day at the range beats a good day at the office"; about the only thing I miss.

 

[dmccarty]

The common saying on our range days no matter the weather was, "A bad day at the range beats a good day at the office"; about the only thing I miss.

Going to the range stresses some people out. They should relax. :laughing::laughing::laughing: Ok, if they mess up they have to turn in the badge and gun but take a chill pill.

I have never been that stressed on the range partially because I was familiar enough with firearms that I knew I would do well. I was never that stressed when someone was yelling and screaming at me to make me stressed. I always thought it was kinda funny. :laughing::laughing::laughing: Did not show it of course! Other training I have had stressed not being stressed. :laughing::laughing::laughing: You can't be stressed and do certain things well and shooting is one of those things. I learned along time ago to not think much on the the range. :shocked: When it was time to shoot a part of the course, listen to instructions and Do. Don't think about what you just did. Don't think about what you will do after this part of the course. Just think about what you are about to do and Do without over thinking and getting stressed. Easier said than done though.

One time I saw this guy who would NOT listen at all. He would not Do. He would only think about the result he wanted not what he needed to Do to get the result. As a result, , he did not get the desired result. He did this often and he kinda got away with it shooting a pistol but when it was time to shoot a 12 gauge it got interesting. He simply would NOT Do as he was told and he kept MISSING with a shotgun using 00 buck. I mean REALLY! :shocked: Pretty danged sad and pathetic. Just listen and Do. How hard is that? Well, it was so hard he failed. He shot over and over and over until he was black and blue and could not raise his strong arm anymore. He would not mount the shotgun correctly so the recoil was tearing up his arm and his face. He was one hurt'n unit at the end of the day and I felt no sympathy at all. He needed to go find a new occupation which I assume he did since he did not pass.

I have seen a guy kinda loose it on the range. Far worse than the guy with the shotgun but I felt sorry for the guy that lost it. I don't mean he went nuts on the range, he just completely lost his limited ability to shoot. Shooting was one of the guy's big weakness, he had several issues, but shooting was one of them and he lost what little skill he had one day. It was U G L Y and sad. I was impressed that he did not quit but he was failed and that was that. I was also impressed that the range officer, who is a retired CSM from a rather high energy unit, handled the situation very well and in a manner I did not expect. I was surprised at the range officer's action and was very impressed at how well he handled the situation.

The range can be an interesting, educational, and even entertaining place. If you have your mind right. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[Bird]

Dan, when I started in law enforcement, officers did not have to shoot a passing score. The head man at the academy told the class that if you can't shoot at least 70 or better, you should go out to the range on your own time and practice until you can because your life might depend on it some day. But we didn't have to do that. Now we were always seated, or lined up, in alphabetical order, so the same guys were always on either side of me. One of them just couldn't seem to get the hang of shooting a handgun; S&W .38 spl. 6 shot revolver with 4" barrel. Several of us used to make a little bet; the one with the worst score had to buy the cokes when we finished on the range. That one guy never joined in on that because he knew he'd lose. But in spite of his apparent inability to shoot, he never showed any signs of stress. And, of a class of 29 officers, he was the only one to ever have to use his gun in the line of duty a couple of years later; fired 5 shots, hit the suspect with all 5. He couldn't seem to hit that target that wasn't shooting back, but when it really mattered, he kept his cool and did what had to be done.

Of course, in later years, rules and laws changed and officers are required to qualify. And in Dallas, the minimum passing score is 80 instead of 70.