Concealed carry gun

[TwoEyedJack]

As much as I love my revolvers, when it comes to CC, I go with a Colt Officers Model 1911 in .45 ACP. It is so much thinner than any revolver I have tried and the smooth sides of the slide come out of the holster with no snagging.

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

Bought a Ruger LCR .357 last week, best deal I've done in a long time. Conceals great, either IWB or OWB, reliable 5 shots, construction excellent, and with more than adequate stopping power, and according to Ayoob, the best caliber to carry. Accuracy is above par, even at longer distances. With the Hogue Tamer Grips, recoil is more than manageable. I would try to test fire at a range close by, and I think you will walk out the place with one in hand. Good luck.

I've fired an LCR with both 38sp and heavy 357 mags. It's the S&W I can't get my hands on. My favorite gun shop quoted me a great price,then added that he could not get one. Stopped into the local Gander Mountain where they usually have more handguns in stock than anyone else in my area. Inquired about both guns and was told I came in at a good time because both were on sale. Great,I said. Can I look at one of each. Then he told me they could not get either one in. From their perspective,I suppose,an ideal time to shoot you a low price in their ads so you'll visit their store.

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

As much as I love my revolvers, when it comes to CC, I go with a Colt Officers Model 1911 in .45 ACP. It is so much thinner than any revolver I have tried and the smooth sides of the slide come out of the holster with no snagging.

Another customer and I struck up a conversation about SD rounds and he told me that I needed a 40cal.,that the 38sp/357 was a poor SD round because they would just go through a man,not necessarily stopping him,but that a 40 would knock him down. I think I'll just hang on to my 357 and hope I do not have occasion to test his theory

 

[TwoEyedJack]

Another customer and I struck up a conversation about SD rounds and he told me that I needed a 40cal.,that the 38sp/357 was a poor SD round because they would just go through a man,not necessarily stopping him,but that a 40 would knock him down. I think I'll just hang on to my 357 and hope I do not have occasion to test his theory

Your customer is misinformed. Handgun rounds are simply not capable of knocking someone down. If that were the case, the shooter would be knocked down as well. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. He has seen way too many movies.

The .357 is one of the best rounds for one shot stops. Especially full power 125 gr. JHP.

I shoot Remington +P 185 grain JHP in my .45 which is the best in short barrels that I have found, but I know it is not as good as a .357.

 

[Dr_B]

Another customer and I struck up a conversation about SD rounds and he told me that I needed a 40cal.

Ah, an armchair commando. Reminds me of the guy I ran into once and the LGS referring to the .40 S & W as the .40 Short and Weak. The .357 magnum round is an excellent choice for self-defense. It doesn't have to start with a "4" to be effective.

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

Poor choice of words on my part,TwoEyedJack. I should have written "would take him down".
Somehow I cannot imagine anyone continuing to move in my direction after a 357 went through his torso.

 

[billybob44]

First things FIRST...Your State has to get with it on hand gun carry.
Sorry to tell you this, but I live next door-In a FREE State.
I have a Lifetime License to Carry Handgun-anyway I should choose. Open Carry, or Concealed Carry.
Again--you're getting the "Cart before the Horse"...Bill.

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

First things FIRST...Your State has to get with it on hand gun carry.
Sorry to tell you this, but I live next door-In a FREE State.
I have a Lifetime License to Carry Handgun-anyway I should choose. Open Carry, or Concealed Carry.
Again--you're getting the "Cart before the Horse"...Bill.

Well now,Bill. If the end goal is a horse-drawn cart,I can see the wisdom of getting the cart first and becoming intimately familiar with it's particulars before I hitch a horse to it and,due to my stupidity,risk personal injury if the horse bolts. Then there's the likelihood that I may not have sufficient funds for a cart by the time someone comes along and gives me a horse. My pension has no COLA. Besides,buying yet another gun is not necessarily an oddity to most of our forum members.
But,you're right,Bill. Even though Illinois is the only holdout,I may very well not live to see CC.

Gotta cut it short. Just got an email from my real estate agent. He's looking for a house in rural Iowa for me.

 

[moxie]

Here's another vote for the .38 +P LCR. Simple. Reliable. Light. Small. Snag-free. Better trigger and sights than the S&Ws, IMO. Very effective round. Reasonable price. That's all I can think of right now.

 

[Monster Zero]

You can get a 2.25" SP101 with a bobbed hammer, which would make a nice CCW piece. Not a pocket gun, but I've heard they carry well IWB.

 

[tomrkba]

At over 2500 rounds and much dry-firing,my GP 100 is really smoothing out. The little S&W Bodyguard had a very poor feel and a harder pull than my stock GP.

Just think how nice that trigger would be with trigger and hammer shims (from triggershims.com), an 8 pound trigger return spring and an 11 pound hammer spring (for reliable primer ignition).

I bought everything from triggershims.com for $25. It made a terrible trigger very, very good. You can learn to install the parts yourself in about 10 minutes using videos on their site or youtube. These kits, along with quick insert night sights, are one great advantage Ruger revolvers have over the S&Ws. The Rugers don't look nearly as good as an S&W Model 27 with 3 1/2" barrel, but they're good enough.

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

Thanks to all who posted.
While I realize that CC in Illinois may be a long way off I think getting a CC gun now and learning how to use it well before carrying is a good idea. Buying a gun after we get CC in Ill would be unwize,as I see it. If/when it is needed I don't want to be fumbling around with an unfamiliar gun and posibly making a dangerous situation even more dangerous. Besides,I got the itch for another handgun. And,if/when it passes carry revolvers will become even more scarce. I'm going to take a closer look at the SP101,as many have suggested. The smaller LCRs and S&W BG are next to imposible to get in my area. While the SP101 is larger and heavier,I have fired an LCR and I can't see myself spending a lot of time at the range with it. Just too small and light. But,in the end I'll buy what I'm the most comfortable with and,as I've said,I've yet to fire a S&W,though I have handled one...just no place at the time to fire it.
tomrkba,your point is well taken. I can see that the hammer is dragging a bit on one side and,although the action is smoothing out nice,I have been kicking around the idea of lighter springs. I'll look into the link you suggested. At just $25 it wouldn't be a big deal if I decided to go back to stock Ruger components.
Thanks again,everyone.

 

[Ruger GP100 fan]

I wanted to respond to a post that apparently was removed reqarding practicing speed-loading. The poster warned me about the posibility of shooting myself in the foot as did someone who's video was posted on Youtube.
I always practice speed-loading with dummy rounds...never live ammo.

 

[Elm Creek Smith]

I carry a 3 inch S&W Model 13-3 or a 4 inch S&W Model 10-5 as my primary CCW and a S&W Model 37 with both. I haven't ever felt under-gunned.

The "humpback" S&W Bodyguard revolvers can be cocked to fire single-action. The hammers are just shrouded. That said, I'd practice double-action 99% of the time.

ECS