Category: Allies

Some good info by CarteachO

Post author By Grumpy
Post date February 5, 2019
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Sunday, December 16, 2012

Wheel gun carry: .38 Special Vs .357 Magnum

Despite the staggering number of choices amongst semi-auto pistols for personal protection, there are still a large segment of the population who prefer revolvers. Even those who swear by one auto or another often have a small revolver as a backup.
Why? Because they work. It’s not new technology. Most are not fancy. Almost none have any kind of external safety to remember under stress. They just….. work. Pick up a double action revolver, squeeze the trigger, and if it’s loaded there will likely be a Bang. If not, squeeze the trigger again and try the next hole.

Revolvers have been around the personal defense scene for many generations, and for concealed carry, the shooting public seem to have settled on the snub-nose for everyday carry. Short, small, relatively light, and utterly dependable, a snub nose has been in the pocket or holster of many an officer or shopkeeper since the 1940’s. Even earlier, lawmen were cutting down larger pistols and making their own snubbies, the easier to pack some protection as they patrolled city streets. J. Edgar Hoover required his agents to be armed at all times, and demonstrate proficiency with the little snubby on a regular basis.
There’s a wide range of caliber choices for those packing a wheel gun, but two still hold the position of top dogs by a very wide margin. The .38 Special, a round that’s been chambered in pistols since 1900, and has been in wide use since the 1930’s. The other, the .357 magnum, developed from a desire for a more powerful version of the .38 special, and that’s exactly what it is.
Dimensionally almost exactly the same as the .38, the .357 is made just a little longer so it will not chamber in a .38 Special hand gun. This prevents the high pressure .357 round from being mistakenly fired from a .38 special gun…. and also gives us a wonderful choice. This closeness in dimensions means any firearm chambered in .357 will also shoot the .38 Special, allowing the shooter to have a much cheaper, quieter, and gentler round to practice with and enjoy. While point of impact will change quite a bit between the two rounds, this is of little concern at typical self defense practice ranges of 30-50 feet.

More to the point, for our discussion, the .357 offers a substantial boost in velocity and energy when compared to the .38 Special. Even the ‘+P’ version of the .38 made for modern pistols does not come close to equaling the power available from the .357 loaded to full pressure.
The higher pressures of the .357 Magnum requires a somewhat beefier build to the pistol, but weight and size comparisons between snubbies of both calibers show them nearly the same.
The choice facing us is not really one of weight or dimension, but power. Control ability and muzzle blast come into play, as does recoil. The .357 does not get it’s nearly doubled energy over the .38 Special without a cost. While a .38 snubby might be relatively comfortable to shoot for most people, the same pistol in .357 has a ….. ‘snappy’…. recoil that nobody sneers at for long. Perhaps that’s why so many revolver shooters enjoy the ability to practice with .38 ammunition, but carry defensively with .357 Magnum rounds in the chamber.

This is a point Carteach agrees with. Given the choice between the same pistol in .38 Special and .357 Magnum, it only makes sense to buy the magnum version. One can then always shoot the lighter .38 loads, and even carry them if desired. I consider it a cost-free option, as the magnum pistols are generally no larger or heavier than the .38 version these days.
As for ‘stopping power’, that has always been a nebulous term. The fact is…. pistols don’t generally knock people over. They punch holes in them, and if nerve centers or major bones are hit, the fight is generally over. Otherwise, pistol level rounds just punch holes and mess things up. Yes, they will eventually knock down just about everyone…. but that notion of a bad guy hit with a bullet from a pocket pistol, and immediately doing a double backflip over the railing and falling into the volcano…. only in the movies.

That same reality holds with both .38 Special and .357 Magnum.   The only real difference between the two is velocity and energy. Both, kept to proper bullets for their velocity, have excellent track records in self defense. The .38 Special holds it’s defensive position well when stocked with the old FBI load….. a 158 grain hollow point lead semi-wadcutter bullet. This bullet punches holes, and messes things up, and that’s all that can be expected.
The .357 Magnum, with it’s higher velocity and energy, makes bigger holes and messes up more stuff.   As simple as it sounds, this difference is significant. Very significant. As a result, the .357 Magnum has a substantially better first shot drop record in defensive shootings.
If one can deal with the recoil, muzzle blast, and control issues of the .357, there is no reason not to choose it over the .38 Special.   As said….. one can always just stoke the pistol with .38’s instead of .357’s. That said….. The Fat Old Man would not feel undergunned with the ancient .38 Special, given an understanding of it’s limitations.  There’s been a representative sample in his collection for many, many years indeed. It fills a niche nicely, serves it’s purpose without fanfare, and has the most important feature possible in any defensive weapon….. it works.

Allies Anti Civil Rights ideas & "Friends" Born again Cynic!

The Hidden History of Gun Control in America

Post author By Grumpy
Post date January 30, 2019
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Allies Gun Info for Rookies

Some more good stuff from hickok45

Post author By Grumpy
Post date January 27, 2019
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All About Guns Allies

Would America Be Better Off Without the Second Amendment? (From Media Bias Monthly)

Post author By Grumpy
Post date January 26, 2019
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Dear Readers, Subscriber, and other parties:

Lately there has been a lot of bluster about repealing the 2nd Amendment.

The Washington Post recently published an article entitled “The terrible

numbers that grow with each mass shooting” by Bonnie Berkowitz,

Denise Lu and Chris Alcantara, (Updated Nov. 9, 2018)

“It looks at the 158 shootings in which four or more people were killed by a

lone shooter (two shooters in a few cases). It does not include shootings

tied to gang disputes or robberies that went awry, and it does not include

domestic shootings that took place exclusively in private homes. A broader

definition would yield much higher numbers.”

“The 1,135 people who were killed came from nearly every imaginable race,

religion and socioeconomic background. Their ages range from the unborn

to the elderly; 186 were children and teenagers. In addition, thousands of

survivors were left with devastating injuries, shattered families and

psychological scars.”

Wow, 1,135 Americans have been killed by other Americans in “mass shootings,”

this is tragic. Indeed, for every person killed in a “mass shooting” there are tragic

losses. Someone loses a friend or a loved-one and in the words of Joseph Stalin,

“The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of a million men is a statistic.”

Perhaps Bonnie Berkowitz, Denise Lu and Chris Alcantara are of the opinion that

the United States of America should be more like other countries around the world

which prohibit the private ownership of firearms. The leftist-socialist aristocracy of

today’s America believe only the ruling-intellectual classes should be in possession

of firearms, and even these will be wielded by “trained professionals” who magically

understand the complex nature of defensive firearm usage.

The pundit and ruling-intellectual classes pine for America to adopt a firearms

ownership policy “more in line with Europe and other countries.” How would

America’s mass shooting body-count look by comparison? Here is a list of countries

where the population did not (does not) have a 2nd Amendment and their death

totals (+/-).

Killed by the Japanese: 60,000 Koreans, 6 million Chinese, (not including Filipinos,

Malaysians, Burmese, and others)

Killed by the Germans: 6 million Jews, 21 million Russians, (not including Poles,

Yugoslavians, French, Greeks, and others).

Killed by the Soviets: 10 to 20 million Ukrainians, 2 million Afghans,

Killed by the Communist Chinese: 30 million Chinese, (and still counting).

Killed by the Rwandans: 800,000 Rwandans

Killed by the Yugoslavians: 585,000 to 2 million (WW1 and WW2, Kosovo, too

many conflicts and ethnic groups to count, just skip it.)

Killed by the Cambodians: 1.6 to 1.8 million Cambodians

At this point the deaths of people who were never allowed to own their own guns

could stand from 78 million to 87 million not including how many other wars, conflicts,

and perpetrated by how many despotic governments around the world?

Would America be better off without the 2nd Amendment? Let’s see, 1,135 killed

compared to 78 million to 87 million. As the old saying goes, “You do the math.”

“Firearms stand next to the constitution itself. They are the

American peoples’ liberty teeth and keystone of independence”

— President George Washington

for Media Bias Monthly,

John D. Long, Editor

All About Guns Allies

Israeli Pistol shooting training session

Post author By Grumpy
Post date January 26, 2019
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All About Guns Allies Ammo

Smith & Wesson Model 27-2 Range Report from Xavier Thoughts

Post author By Grumpy
Post date January 26, 2019
No Comments on Smith & Wesson Model 27-2 Range Report from Xavier Thoughts

The Smith & Wesson Model 27-2 is a pinnacle of handgun craftsmanship within the venerable Springfield Massachusetts manufacturer’s history.

Smith & Wesson Model 27-2 - 3.5 inch barrel

It was built and fitted by craftsmen that are no longer working, and polished by hand prior to receiving one of the most exquisite blue finishes ever available. The Model 27 is the direct descendent of one of the most revered S&W wheelguns ever built, the Registered Magnum.

It possesses a close resemblance to a previous N-Frame, the .38/.44 Heavy Duty. The .38/44 HD was developed to shoot the radically uploaded .38HV cartridge, essentially a .38 Special round, in response to law enforcement needs at the time.

It was the precursor to the .357 Magnum. The .357 Magnum itself was developed as a sans pareil handgun and cartridge suited to both law enforcement and sporting use. Smith & Wesson predicted the high cost of the revolvers in the Great Depression economy to be a limiting factor on production.

From the time of introduction in 1935 until 1938, .357 Magnum revolvers bore individual registration numbers and included a certificate of registration.

Demand for the premium handgun far exceeded expectations. With the completion of some 5,500 units, it became obvious that a limited production strategy was not practical, and individual registration stopped. Thus, the Registered Magnum became the Pre-model 27.
I purchased this Smith & Wesson Model 27-2 from a private seller at a gun show. The three and a half inch barrel is not exactly scarce on a Model 27, but it is hard to find. This example was pinned and recessed, and wore a set of target grips.

The checkered topstrap and sight rib is a unique feature of the Model 27. I took the revolver to the range with a 50 count box of 125 grain Winchester White Box .357, and a Winchester Value Pack of .38 Special.

I found the revolver to already be sighted in suitably for myself. The previous owner had dabbed some orange paint on the front ramp, but I had removed that the night before.

The Model 27’s trigger pull was consistent throughout it’s arc. Firing double action, it was not difficult to hold the sights on target. When fired single action, the revolver was a precision instrument.

The heavy N frame easily absorbed the recoil of the .38 Specials. When the .357 Magnum rounds were slid into the chambers it became a fire belching weapon of the gods. This revolver was accurate on both loads, and a hell of a lot of fun to shoot.

When a person considers the advantages of practicing often with your carry gun, shooting your carry loads, it is easy to understand why some would opt to carry the N frame snubbie rather than a K frame such as the Model 66.
I also own a pristine Model 27-2 with an eight and 3/8 inch barrel. I have shot that long barreled revolver only a few times, relegating it to it’s wooden presentation box for my son to receive someday. This three and a half inch Model 27 is mine, and it will be shot often.

Labels: N Frame Smiths, Range Reports