I have run into a number of guys that see my 45colt Ruger NM Vaquero as a poor choice of carry gun.
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I have run into a number of guys that see my 45colt Ruger NM Vaquero as a poor choice of carry gun.
It would not be my choice, but then again not everyone likes my brand of motorcycle, car ,or beer. If it works for you that is all that matters.
I voted "yes" because I personally think they are a good choice for me.
You use what you're comfortable with. After all, it's your life.
Hope this helps.
Fred
They would work just fine.
I forget who has it on their tag line but it say something like this; one well placed shot is better than 500 misses.
If it works for you that is all that matters. Personally I like my DA.
Stay safe
Jerry Jr.
Not my first choice for SD, but what someone else chooses to defend themself with is none of my business. If someone asks my opinion on what might be best for THEM, a little question/answer session usually takes place, and either a double-action roller or autopistol gets the nod.
What might work best for me as a deeply-steeped D/A revolver enthusiast and lukewarm-to-eager autopistol shooter might not be the best for you or someone else. I can certainly hit what I aim at with a S/A roller, and if I were to choose such a piece as my back-alley predator repellant a second such arm ("Sheriff's Model?") would make a lot of sense. I sure as h--l wouldn't like trading finality with a skilled CAS shooter armed with a SAA repro.
HI,
Watch a cowboy action shooter, they are no slouches.
The group here in ut. co. Utah, has compeated with local S.W.A.T. Teams & won.
No gun is usefull if you can not hit w/ it.
If one was nearby in a AH S---! Situation I would use it. But I prefer double actions .
My daily carry is the S&W Model 642. I use the FBI load. I recognize that it is probably marginal. However, I WILL/DO carry it. Any load is better than none and the FBI load has a good record for stopping power.
I would much prefer a .45 ACP fully loaded with a good cast bullet of appropriate shape (MiHec's 200 gr H.P. at 900+ fps comes to mind). However, I won't normally pack a 1911 even tho' I have over a 100,000 rounds through my three in IPSC shooting. The 1911 is arguably the best combat handgun EVER. However, as a civilian, it is too much for general carry (for me). "Too much" meaning too bulky and too heavy. I DO have a Kimber CDP Ultra II 3" that is almost light enough for me to use, daily. I might go in that direction but right now it is the 642.
Regarding someone's choice of a good single action - five good shots that hit are hard to argue with. If the caliber is sufficient, it is even harder to argue with. Do I consider it the best, no! But it will certainly get the job done, with finality, in the hands of a skillful shooter.
YMMV
Dale53
Your life expectancy goes down remarkably after the first 6 shots. You should do pretty good up to that point.
I carry two reloads, just in case something goes wrong. You can never predict what sort of situation you might encounter, and I plan for a worst case scenario instead of a best case scenario, and I'm still walking and talking and everything. Happily, the odds are against your having to face this sort of situation.
Self Defense?
I guess a S.A. would be just fine. Provided you get to pick the time, place, distance and number of combatants you face.
And then? You gonna have some splainin' to do.
Murphy
IMHO, Less than a cylinderful is going to settle just about all problems a civilian is going to get into. A single action revolver is quite fast in practiced hands, giving up virtually nothing for the first and most important shot, and very little for the first six. I personally don't carry a single action very often for a concealed carry gun, but I have, and was comfortable with it. :cbpour:
Has anyone ever been killed with an SA revolver before?
Oh, yeah, I guess they have....
It is the 21st century and a lot of more modern sidearms have come along since the SA wheelgun. That said, I have carried one myself from time to time. Mostly if I carry a wheelgun it is a DA,tho...
So I answered if you are comfortable with it, go right on ahead.
I was involved in a conversation earlier with a fella that thought his .32 Auto was just fine as a defensive sidearm. I can tell ya right now I'd choose an SA .45 Colt over a .32 Auto any ol' day.
It depends upon how much time and effort you put into practice with the SA, some people are very good with them. I took a regular defensive handgun course at Thunder Ranch years ago when it was in Texas. Heidi Smith was helping to teach the course and got into a conversation about single actions with a friend of mine. The next day she brought a SA to the firing line and proceeded to show the class how a trained person with a SA was not as handicapped as some would think. Shooting side by side with the class she kept up the rate of fire and was able to reload it fast enought to keep up with the turning targets. Hell, I felt that I was not keeping up with her and I had a 1911! True, she is a highly trained instructor but it opened my eyes to what a SA can do in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing. If you are willing to put the time into it, a SA can be an effective defensive weapon.
With so many good DAs to choose from, why a SA for that purpose? So no, IMO.
Not a good choice for me, but I'd take it over chunkin rocks at some bad guy.
how many gun battles last longer than 5 or 6 shots each?
I have a Ruger BH in 45 Colt that I would not hesitate to use for social purposes. However it is big and heavy. I also have a .44 Special Charter Arms Bulldog with a short snout that is very concealable and light in weight.
The Bulldog is my CCW weapon when concealibility and weight are most important. If the weather is cooler and I can conceal my Browning then the Hi Power with 147 Gr Double Tap rounds is what I carry.
Any gun is better than none and if you can hit your target with your 380 ACP better than your .45 ACP then you should carry the smaller gun.
I voted go for it if that's what you are comfortable with and trained with. For me, I would never carry a SA. For starters, they are typically to big and heavy for me to carry daily - concealed without a jacket or other top cover. Second, if a situation arises that calls for use of a gun for PD, your pulse will be 160 bpm or faster, adrenaline will be flowing hard. Under those circumstances, fine motor skills go out the window. That's when something along the lines of "point and shoot" prevails, IMHO.
If you have trained sufficiently to control your physiological fight/flight natural reactions, and can handle a SA under those circumstances, then you're good to go. Otherwise, a gun less demanding of one's fine motor skills might be a better fit.
If your comfortable and profienct with it. There are times when I'm woods roaming and a SA revolver is all I have on. For normally day to day carry I'll either carry my 1911 or Smith 442 in the pocket, however I always have another SA revolver carried as a backup and that's a NAA mini revolver in .22LR.
CD
Think about the 45 Long Colt.
A 250 grain or more slug.
One of them should take the fight out of most bad guys if it is well-placed.
Yes I say, sometimes I carry a Bisley Blackhawk 45.:drinks:
Good morning
Any gun is better than no gun.
90 some % of all civilian gunfights are 1 shot. Just the presence of a gun stops most everything. So yes I feel quit content with a single shot on my person.
Providing you avoid the obvious bad ideas- dealing drugs, starting fights with armed people in bars, fooling with other folks significant others, burglarizing homes and businesses, assassinating heads or state, stuff like that- and assuming you're not actually dumber than a rock and know enough to avoid obvious pitfalls (see above) then I see no reason the average person armed with a SA wouldn't be as likely to survive the typical armed encounter as the guy with the WonderNineTacticalExtremeBottomFeedingNinja gun. The mere presence of a weapon is alleged to have the calming effect on BG's needed something like 80% of the time according to some stats (believe what you wish). If the BG has the drop on you from the start (been there- a 22LR looks huge pointed at your face) then all the fire power in the world isn't going to help.
Ah, whatever. I tire of the High Road type discussions that always end up going in the same circles. Use what YOU feel is good. I've carried from a 25 Auto to a 45ACP. They all work.
To each his own.
Might not be my first choice but I wont tell someone else how to defend himself. With practice you can become vert proficient at reloading.
If you feel comfortable with single action, go for it.
Aren't you the fella that posted a few weeks ago he was worried about the gang activity in the Tex-Mex border area he lived in?
Gang activity means just that: Armed Multiple Morons!
While I think the Single action pistol is a neat tool, I have owned several but don't right now, the fact remains these are called "Crank & Yanks" for a reason!
Add in the fact that no matter how fast you are you are never going to re load a Crank & Yank as fast as you can reload an auto pistol.
I think selecting a single action pistol for this type of possible defense is a way bad idea!
Using a single action because it's what you have is, as always, better than rocks.
But in this case you have a choice as to what you carry because you are planning defense ( proactive) rather than having defense thrust upon you ( reactive).
Once again a small single stack 9mm or 40 1911 style pistol and a couple spare mags will get you what you need when you need it.
Supposedly the average gun fight is under seven yards and lasts for 2.7 rounds. Altho not my first choice, it could get the job done in the hands of a man that knows what he is doing. The SA's I have shot seem to point very nicely, especially the Colt clones.
As long as you're not going up against multiple armed assailants in which case I would prefer at least a mortar squad or a Cobra gunship as back up! Cause even my Colt Combat Commander with two spare eight round mags would be hard pressed to handle multiple armed BG's. Just my two (inflated) bucks worth.
Some gun is better than no gun.
Not my first choice. I feel there are better options out there. I wouldn't purchase a SA revolver for defense. But I would use one if I needed to.
FWIW, my 'working on the farm always on me" rig is a SIG 226, with a large capacity mag and two more on my pistol belt.
So far it has been up to the task of dispatching copperheads and a rabid skunk.
For BGs, this would not be my first choice.
To have a valid poll, you need to include a category entitled "I don't give a damn!"
well i answered they are good. but then i used one for self defense.
at the time i was carring a ruger blackhawk in .357 with 45/8 barrel. i stopped at a red light a porch monkey came running over grabed me by the neck and yelled get out of my car . i grabed the above pistol shoved between his eyes cocked the hammer. i guess him seeing the hollow points going round changed his mind. he let go and got out of there fast.
Here I carry a 3 3/4 Vaquero with 335 Keiths at 1075 when the bears are out. Otherwise a 1911, especially when I go to Texas, see the post above about TexMex border.
bob208, way to go!!! I'll bet that boy saw Jesus
I shoot 24 rounds right handed and 24 with the left daily....two handed Weaver stance...with 5.5 inch VAQUEROS/BISLEY VAQUEROS in either 357 or 44. I feel relatively comfortable walking around the farm. More stressful moments would require my 624, 625, 627, 629 or 645....more likely an 870 or M1A.
A better idea is to go quietly about your business and avoid places where it might be "stomp a stranger night." I drink SODA at my faorite saloon, know most of the staff, and leave when anyone gets rambunctious....and I go there about once a month.
:Fire::cbpour::redneck:
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Up here I most often carry a large bore revolver, normally a 629 but I recently picked up at flat top 44 that I have taken a liking to. On the rare event that I have to go down state I usually take my 1911 and load up every magazine I have.
A single-action will do just fine. Just be pro-active, as it’s better to have the revolver in hand and ready to go, than draw on the run going for cover after taking fire. If you get off the 1st shot and take the BG down the others will scatter for cover, as will you, and everything will settle down pretty quickly - because their easy prey turned mean and most turds want nothing to do with an armed stranger who knows how to use his revolver.
Your biggest hassle will probably be with the legal system.
Nothing wrong with packing a single action.
And if you think you'll need more than six shots,
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h3...olliday930.jpg
Just bring two.
Jim
I often carry a 4 5/8" Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt. Especially when it gets colder and people go nuts with the heavy clothing. So it's the 1911 for nice weather, and the Vaquero when it gets cold. Then there's the BUGs...
I would hate to come up against the man who can use a SAA than some punk who holds a 45 auto sideways or some one who buys a semi auto for defense then never shoots it. I feel good with a SAA and do not feel undergunned. As far as coming across gangs if your going in them areas then you are better off with a PUMP shotgun or Semi Auto scatter gun. For what it is worth they called them Model 97's and 12's Trench guns because you could hold the trigger back and empty out a trench as fast as you could pump the gun. My Fighting shotgun is a 97.
Shoot what you think will save your ars when it counts. Practice with such gun often so it becomes second nature; an innate behavior where thought isn't necessary while under distress.
Think about this, how many cowboys and ranchers of the past used single action revolvers to save themselves, their families and their livelyhoods? Of course at that time there were fewer choices too.
As for me, a DA is the direction I would go..............if need be.