Self Defense

[Krikit 1,164]

See if this helps:

OMG. I used to love Ren and Stimpy. Thanks Bill.

I heard that the Saw movies are quite soothing in situations like this.

What's a Saw movie? And I'm not going to google it in case I get even more traumatized!!! lol

[Ban Hammer 13,429]

What's a Saw movie? And I'm not going to google it in case I get even more traumatized!!! lol

oh go right ahead, google away

[SMOKE 1,426]

What's a Saw movie? And I'm not going to google it in case I get even more traumatized!!! lol

good call

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

This is something I understand. I enjoy muzzle loaders, both flintlock and percussion cap. Obviously they serve no real world purpose. I could see it now, an intruder breaks in.

"Excuse me sir, would you please wait a minute while I load the powder, wad, and round and then ram it?"

In the past muzzleloaders were kept loaded. Children were taught to keep their hands off them. Children were safer then.

we actually killed boatloads (literally) of British soldiers...TWICE...with muzzleloaders. 600,000 Americans killed each other in the civil war, nearly all with muzzleloaders. They are plenty deadly.

Percussion revolvers, such as Colts lasted well beyond the advent of cartridges and were even being sold in Sears catalogs in the early 1900's. They were the bargain basement obsolete models by then, but still in use. Until 1935 the "muzzleloading" percussion Colt Dragoon and Walker were the "world's most powerful handguns"

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

OMG. I used to love Ren and Stimpy. Thanks Bill.

That is the fast acting version.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Sometimes. I was visiting a friend some years back, and we were comparing the 9mm NATO and the .45 ACP. After some discussion, he pulled out his pistol and shot at a 6" x 6" fence post 20 feet away, on the other side of the road in front his place. The post shook with the first round, so there was no doubt he hit it. Not to be outdone, I pulled my VP70Z, and fired at the post. Nothing. I fired again. Still nothing. Thinking I missed the post (not that hard to do with the stiff trigger pull on that particular autoloader), we walked across the road to check it out. Sure enough, there was the .45 caliber round stuck in the post, but no obvious sign of the 9mm rounds, until we looked at the back side, where we could see where my two rounds exited, two almost perfect 3/8" holes drilled through the post.

I used to use a .22 for drilling pilot holes when I was a kid. Worked great for lag bolts which we used to attach the metal braces to corners in fences.

The military found out that penetrating a human is much easier than a fence post and the bigger hole left by the .45 incapacitates better. They also dropped 17" bayonets when they figured out that the average human is about 9" thick. The bullet "sticking" in the post means that the bullet transferred ALL its energy (more than the 9mm to begin with) in the post. Your 9mm's wasted a lot of their lesser energy crashing into something beyond the target, probably dirt. If you want to KILL something or someone that is alive before you shoot it, it is BEST if the bullet you are using tranfers ALL its energy to that end. That is why hollow points are useful. They expand, increasing the frontal area of the bullet and requiring the bullet to expend more energy to penetrate. Hopefully coming to a stop before they exit the target.

Full penetration is not a bad thing for hunting bullets since animals...dumb things that they are, do not KNOW they have been shot by a gun and they usually react by running, fast, even when their heart has been chopped to pieces. The blood trail left by an exiting bullet makes it easy to find them 100 yards away in the woods. That is why contrlled expansion bullets are so popular for hunting. They allow SOME expansion for energy transfer but not so much as to prevent complete penetration. Given that the initial energy of the rifle bullet is some 10 times more than the handgun anyway, a little wasted energy on dirt is worth it. Besides the animal is presumed not to be shooting back.

To play nice with others, not so knowledgeable of firearms and mostly that had LOST wars, we adopted the 9mm also. It should be noted that many of the people that really use handgns in combat, as opposed to those that use them to show they are a non-com or above, are still using .45s and they have been kept in use by the Marine Expeditionary force and SOCOM.

The 9mm, so far, has an excellent track record of being used by the losing side in several wars. We had a .45 cartridge until 1892, switched to a .38 (actually .357 diameter, same as the 9mm) and basically the same energy as the 9mm and dropped it when the Moros in the Philippines seemed to eat them up and spit them back at our soldiers. The US hastily got the old Single Action .45s out and commisioned Colt to make the M1909 double action in .45 Colt while they looked around for a permanent .45 caliber replacement. That came in 1911 and was used with perfect satisfaction until 1985 when again we forgot history and went back to a .355 diameter bullet.

I will not argue with your choice of gun for shooting fence posts. For self defense I will carry a .45

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Even more traumatizing..... a mutilated corpse. Not a vision I can unsee..... and my husband is out of town..... and we've not long relocated here so I don't know anyone to keep me company and take my mind off it.

Sorry you are so vulnerable. If I had locks on my doors, I would take them off and send them to you.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I will not argue with your choice of gun for shooting fence posts. For self defense I will carry a .45

Personally, I prefer the weight and feel of the Colt Commander over the Beretta. Still, there are times when it would be nice to punch through something solid to hit whoever is hiding behind it. However, if you want to keep all your rounds in the same room they are fired in, nothing beats the .45 ACP.

Edited January 29, 2011 by Some Old Guy

[Fandango 1,439]

Sorry you are so vulnerable. If I had locks on my doors, I would take them off and send them to you.

Sometimes, Gary...you reach new diquish heights.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Sometimes, Gary...you reach new diquish heights.

I got me a tall diquish! And kinda big around, too!

Edited January 29, 2011 by Gary and Alla

[Sofiyya 1,687]

I carry a flame thrower where guns aren't allowed.

[Fandango 1,439]

I got me a tall diquish! And kinda big around, too!

Give your crazy need for validation a rest, for once?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I carry a flame thrower where guns aren't allowed.

I use a blamethrower. It is much more effective.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Give your crazy need for validation a rest, for once?

Aw, I was hoping Steven would say that.

[Fandango 1,439]

I use a blamethrower. It is much more effective.

*SNORT*