Some random thoughts:
1. Personally, a J-snub is not quite “enough gun,” for me. An SP101, however, has just enough more size and heft to be “enough,” for me. I am talking about ergonomics, and shoot-ability, not ammo capacity, in this case. This is just me; I am not trying to convince or convert anyone. (My hands are long, but not wide.)
2. My favorite speed loader, for an SP101, is made of stainless steel, by Ruger. It is a bit heavy, as it weighs just as much, and is as large, as an SP101.
2a. There is not as much “work space” when reloading an SP101, or J-snub, compared to a K/L-Frame or GP100, and a speed loader carrier, on the belt, takes up about as much room as a whole ‘nother SP101 or J-snub, anyway.
2b. For several years, about 2002 to around 2008, my most common carry combo, when not wearing a PD uniform, was a pair of SP101 snub-guns. Sometimes, I added a third SP101, or substituted a Speed Six or GP100 for one of the SP101 snub-guns. Starting about 2008, it tended to be a P229, teamed with an SP101.
3. My aging hands do not like being hurt by compact 9mm pistols. Been there; done that; finito, por favor. I am uninterested in any Glock smaller than a G19x or G17, which are, really, rather big guns.
4. The protruding, blocky, rear portion of a Glock slide is my concealment nemesis, regardless of barrel length. A spurless-less-hammer SP101, Speed Six, or GP100 is amazingly concealable, on my person.
5. The blocky double-column-width Glock slide, inside my trousers, is my comfort nemesis. I can accommodate a cylinder, inside my trousers, along with a slim barrel, more easily. That is what works, for me, at six feet tall, wearing trousers with a 34” waistband.
6. Any ammo capacity, be it five or thirty, is enough, until it isn’t. Be ready.
7. I bought my first GP100 about 1990 or 1991, and added several more, over time. With some of the OT money earned, during and after Hurricane Harvey, I bought myself a very slick, sweet Ruger GP100, 3”, with a spurless hammer.
8. I am now retired from LEO-ing. I fired one shot in the line of duty, in almost 34 years of sworn service, all of it patrol, and hit exactly where intended. My 4” GP100 was enough. (Trivia: I carried a Stainless Python, on duty, while waiting for the firearms lab to finish testing my GP100.) I did switch to autos, for duty, in 1997, but, in hindsight, could have saved myself the expense. This does not mean that I advocate a general return to duty revolvers, just that I could have kept using duty revolvers. One of my academy classmates, unless he has retired in the last few months, is still carrying revolvers, on and off the clock.
9. I am, now, OK with six to eight cartridges in the gun, be it auto or revolver. I still like toting more than one, if “going into town,” with that meaning Houston, Texas.
Again, to be clear, I am not trying to convince or convert anyone.
1. Personally, a J-snub is not quite “enough gun,” for me. An SP101, however, has just enough more size and heft to be “enough,” for me. I am talking about ergonomics, and shoot-ability, not ammo capacity, in this case. This is just me; I am not trying to convince or convert anyone. (My hands are long, but not wide.)
2. My favorite speed loader, for an SP101, is made of stainless steel, by Ruger. It is a bit heavy, as it weighs just as much, and is as large, as an SP101.
2a. There is not as much “work space” when reloading an SP101, or J-snub, compared to a K/L-Frame or GP100, and a speed loader carrier, on the belt, takes up about as much room as a whole ‘nother SP101 or J-snub, anyway.
2b. For several years, about 2002 to around 2008, my most common carry combo, when not wearing a PD uniform, was a pair of SP101 snub-guns. Sometimes, I added a third SP101, or substituted a Speed Six or GP100 for one of the SP101 snub-guns. Starting about 2008, it tended to be a P229, teamed with an SP101.
3. My aging hands do not like being hurt by compact 9mm pistols. Been there; done that; finito, por favor. I am uninterested in any Glock smaller than a G19x or G17, which are, really, rather big guns.
4. The protruding, blocky, rear portion of a Glock slide is my concealment nemesis, regardless of barrel length. A spurless-less-hammer SP101, Speed Six, or GP100 is amazingly concealable, on my person.
5. The blocky double-column-width Glock slide, inside my trousers, is my comfort nemesis. I can accommodate a cylinder, inside my trousers, along with a slim barrel, more easily. That is what works, for me, at six feet tall, wearing trousers with a 34” waistband.
6. Any ammo capacity, be it five or thirty, is enough, until it isn’t. Be ready.
7. I bought my first GP100 about 1990 or 1991, and added several more, over time. With some of the OT money earned, during and after Hurricane Harvey, I bought myself a very slick, sweet Ruger GP100, 3”, with a spurless hammer.
8. I am now retired from LEO-ing. I fired one shot in the line of duty, in almost 34 years of sworn service, all of it patrol, and hit exactly where intended. My 4” GP100 was enough. (Trivia: I carried a Stainless Python, on duty, while waiting for the firearms lab to finish testing my GP100.) I did switch to autos, for duty, in 1997, but, in hindsight, could have saved myself the expense. This does not mean that I advocate a general return to duty revolvers, just that I could have kept using duty revolvers. One of my academy classmates, unless he has retired in the last few months, is still carrying revolvers, on and off the clock.
9. I am, now, OK with six to eight cartridges in the gun, be it auto or revolver. I still like toting more than one, if “going into town,” with that meaning Houston, Texas.
Again, to be clear, I am not trying to convince or convert anyone.
