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Hi jwp475,

I like your comments. You seem to have good knowledge of guns.

Please allow me privilege of sharing another of Raisuli's Rules of Gunfighting: 1 good guy vs. 1 bad guy = bad odds for the good guy. That's why cops always confront bad guys in force when possible. While I have confronted armed bad guys by myself, I was always comforted knowing that my buddies were en route to improve the odds equation.


Take Care,

R

RufusG,

Who knows. I am sure that you're able to find the answer. Let us know what you discover.


Take care,

R

I've discovered after reading 9 of your posts there will be no value in reading the 10th.

RufusG,

Then you've found the answer. Good for you!


Take care,

R

That clouds your analysis as far as I am concerned. I also don't understand how you can call a Model 60 "worthless."

I never said that I am against an advantage, just that being at a disadvantge doesn't have to mean defeat

Many of the others were designed partly to avoid liability or the need for extensive training of their users.

Regardless, a design constraint does not erase the primary design objective.

jwp475,

You have the mindset of a survivor. And that is a crucial tactical advantage. Moreover, it is a concept that was reinforced in every firearms course that taxpayers have paid for me to attend.


Stay safe,

R

Hi Cheyenne,

We merely have had different life experiences.

If you're good with a five-shot .38 Special, who am I to argue conversely? Only you know what's right for you.

Is there any law enforcement agency anywhere on Earth that still uses a revolver? Just curious because I really don't know the answer. I've been out of the gig for too long.


Take care,

R

They should have stuck with the excellent K-Frame revolvers. Damned fine sidearms.

I think he followed that with a "for me".

The J frame SS&W in .38 Special is a good gun, but it is definitely an experts gun. It is NOT a real good gun for a casual shooter despite the fact it�s often the first choice a man will choose for his wife. Triggers are very stiff, sight radius is near prohibitively short, grip is tiny, recoil is very stiff; none of this adds up to a gun that�s easy in a gun fight. Still, for its size, it�s an excellent defensive gun when employed in the correct role. If you can shoot it well, it will do the job, I�ve seen direct evidence of it doing the job on more than one occasion. I�ve seen evidence on occasion where it wasn�t the right choice, because the guy only hit the periphery, not the core of his attacker.

I�m also reminded of the failures of the GSG-9 when they chose the S&W 36 as their duty sidearm (what in the world were they thinking?). These men were HIGHLY trained, yet still had very poor results; that experience should make a snubbie .38 user really think. Regardless of your choice, you have to be able to place your shots well.

I�m not a bullet guru, my experience tells me that a your choice in ammo rarely makes any difference at all. However, in the case of the .38 Special snub nose, this is one gun/cartridge combo where I will advise those who ask to give very careful consideration to the ammo you choose, since most .38 Special will have a difficult time performing properly out of a 2� barrel. But ballistic tests have shown, if you choose your ammo well, the .38 Special +P out of a 2� barrel will provide adequate performance, IF YOU PLACE YOUR SHOT WELL. And you have to understand, there are few if any guns that make it more difficult to place your shots well than a snub nosed revolver.

So when Raisuli say�s a model 60 is worthless to him, I take that as a personal assessment; but not one without merit.

With all that said, my preferred backup gun is a J frame LW Smith.

I would take slight exception to that, taken too broadly. If you meant to limit your reference to a J-Frame snub nose, I'm in perfect agreement, however I've never found a snub nosed K-Frame to be significantly more difficult to score with than a four inch barreled K-Frame, all else being equal.

With modern +P ammo, I consider the .38 Special to be every bit the equal of 9mm, and statistically speaking, that means completely adequate for the job. I live in a VERY rural part of the country, and if I were a cop, I'd feel MUCH more warm and fuzzy about a high capacity auto. Where I live, I'd probably opt for a hi-cap 9mm over my beloved .45 were I a LEO.

But if I were a big city cop, with backup at a reasonable distance away, I'd have NO qualms about carrying a revolver for self defense at all. My first choice would be a Webley Mk VI modified to .45 ACP with full moon clips and the barrel cut to 4". Second choice would be a S&W N frame in .45 Colt or .44 Special.

Any medium revolver S&W or Colt's in .38 Special with modern +P loads would get the job done just fine, and a bit lighter on the belt. My preference would be a S&W Combat Masterpiece as I think it's about the finest revolver S&W has ever produced.

Got to love the Combat Masterpiece.

+1 with 200 grain XTP

The Police Service of Northern Ireland was carrying Rugers, but as these are being phased out officers are being issued Glocks, in accord with UK policy to source material made in the UK or EU before purchasing "foreign goods".

Oh, and by the way, Mrs. Petticaris sends her regards.

Hi The Real Hawk Eye,

I used to carry a Model 15. It was a decent gun, but grossly inferior as a tactical weapon.


Take Care,

R

You are reading Hollyweird into my posts. I said nothing about movie gunfights. I like studying history and what I was writing about was history not Holly weird.

Hi Kevin Gibson,

No, I did not qualify my pronouncement that the Model 60 is a useless handgun. Not only is it an abysmal tactical handgun, it's chambered for a worthless round, except for shooting targets and mice.

Kevin, if anyone wants to stake her/his life on a five-shot Model 60, it's none of my business. I could care less what anyone else thinks her/his life is worth. I can write definitively that owning and, for a while, carrying a Model 60 its limitations negate any positive characteristics, which don't exist.

My recommendation is study tactics. Talk to people who've actually been in gunfights. Know that the primary objective of a gunfight, assuming avoidance is not possible, is survival. If you die, you lose. It's that simple. That's why Raisuli's Primary Rule of Gunfighting ought to always be obeyed: the only sure way of surviving a gunfight is to not get in one. One of the other Raisuli Rules of Gunfighting whose numerical order escapes me but it's way up there is that in a gunfight, the bad guy wants to kill me. And that rule contradicts other Raisuli Rule of Gunfighting: surviving is very important to my creditors.

Kevin, if someone wants to believe that the Model 60 is the bomb, I'm down with that. After all, who the hell am I to tell anyone what s/he should carry to save her/his life? However, I know the way I roll.

Take Care,

R