Confederate
Member
The best home defense gun, in my view, and the one I recommended to friends who weren't into guns, was the S&W Model 13. It takes .38+P loads in apartments and .357 magnum rounds on cross country trips (what a difference it would have made had Dennis Weaver had one in the movie Duel).
But that's for the guy with one gun and not much interest in shooting sports. For the rest of us, what do YOU use? I used to have my Smith 4-inch 686. Now I have either a .22lr Mark II Standard or, presently, a Rossi 5-shot .38 with +P loads. I downgraded because I live in a pretty safe neighborhood...and because in my state, if one had to use a firearm for self defense, they'd never see it again. In Virginia years ago, I had some apartment scum steal my Smith 63 .22lr while I was at work. They lost their jobs, but the gun was gone...and I loved it. Later it was recovered in a Washington, D.C., drug bust, but did I ever see it again? Not in this life!
I've been told that in Maryland, police can pretty much seize anything they want after a shooting or after an armed confrontation. Also, if you get caught on any gun violation, they can and often do take everything. (I used to take a .22lr pistol to work in my trunk so I could drive a few miles to the range after work. That, of course, can get you the death penalty in this state, if caught, and though it was unlikely, if there was an incident, a random search of vehicles -- they could come to my home and clean me out.) Thus, I've moved my stuff out of state and keep a cheap but dependable Rossi in my drawer with a box of ammo, and a gun or two well hidden around the house. And if for any reason I have to use it in self defense, I can afford not to see it again.
So what about you? What kind of pistol is in your drawer...and why? Am I being too cheap by depending on an inexpensive gun I can afford to lose?
But that's for the guy with one gun and not much interest in shooting sports. For the rest of us, what do YOU use? I used to have my Smith 4-inch 686. Now I have either a .22lr Mark II Standard or, presently, a Rossi 5-shot .38 with +P loads. I downgraded because I live in a pretty safe neighborhood...and because in my state, if one had to use a firearm for self defense, they'd never see it again. In Virginia years ago, I had some apartment scum steal my Smith 63 .22lr while I was at work. They lost their jobs, but the gun was gone...and I loved it. Later it was recovered in a Washington, D.C., drug bust, but did I ever see it again? Not in this life!
I've been told that in Maryland, police can pretty much seize anything they want after a shooting or after an armed confrontation. Also, if you get caught on any gun violation, they can and often do take everything. (I used to take a .22lr pistol to work in my trunk so I could drive a few miles to the range after work. That, of course, can get you the death penalty in this state, if caught, and though it was unlikely, if there was an incident, a random search of vehicles -- they could come to my home and clean me out.) Thus, I've moved my stuff out of state and keep a cheap but dependable Rossi in my drawer with a box of ammo, and a gun or two well hidden around the house. And if for any reason I have to use it in self defense, I can afford not to see it again.
So what about you? What kind of pistol is in your drawer...and why? Am I being too cheap by depending on an inexpensive gun I can afford to lose?
