California Says One Gun a Month, So...

Uh oh...

this should do it for August I guess!

All you slags hopped up on Jabroka better stay the fuck away from @Paladin!

*That's* how long I've wanted one of these. Since Jimmy Caan gunned down a buncha slags with one.

How did California let that slide?

I'm surprised they haven't banned anything over .22LR.

They have to neck it down to a .22LR sabot that has a muzzle velocity of plaid.

In the 1960s, when wildcat European rifle calibers were the rage, P.O. Ackley necked a .378 Weatherby Magnum down to take a light .22 caliber bullet. Results were predictable (yes, muzzle velocity was plaid) and the name given the cartridge is pure gold.

Isn't the Casull a five-shot revolver? Because the cartridges are so large? And the gun needs the extra metal to withstand the forces of firing it . . .

Yup. Though Ruger does make a 6 shot Casull these days.

I had always wondered why it was a .44--the .44 Remington Magnum--that was the most powerful common handgun caliber, and not a .45. I found out that when Elmer Keith was experimenting with super-hot big-bore revolver loads back in the 1950s, he used a .44 Special because it was built on the same size frame--and with the same size cylinder--as the .45 Long Colt guns of the time, but, owing to the smaller overall diameter of the cartridge, the .44 had more metal between adjacent chambers in the cylinder, giving an extra margin of strength. I think he learned this the hard way, given the picture below (which is of a cylinder from Keith's collection)...

I've got my Grandad's .38 Snubby that was his BUG (actually more like his BUBUG) in the Pacific. It only holds 5 rounds.

Yeah, but that was to make it small, light, and easily carried, right? It wasn't intended as a primary weapon.

That's a small frame revolver (like an S&W J-frame). Typically, they're good for 5 rounds of .38/.357.

A medium frame (S&W K-frame, a Model 66, for example) is good for 6, the slightly larger medium frame (S&W L-frame, Model 686 Plus) is good for 7, and the large frame (S&W N-frame, Model 627) is good for 8. Obviously, the smaller frame sizes are easy to carry/conceal. No one except Dirty Harry and Elwood's Dad would carry an N-frame, owing to the large size/weight.

The gun I'm getting is a large framed-revolver. A gun this size would normally hold 6 .45 caliber rounds, but it only holds 5 because, as Lanz pointed out, the cylinder needs the extra strength.

My Model 629 Mountain Gun disagrees! But, my favorite wheel gun to carry is my Pre-Lock 3" Model 66.

Smith has recently brought out a new 3" 66 Combat Magnum and I hope it will get California approval (yes, it's got the Hillary Hole on it ). I think that's a great configuration for a carry gun.

(And if I were going to carry an N-frame, it would be my S&W 327 R8. 8 shots of .357 Magnum in a lightweight [if somewhat large] revolver should settle most problems that can be settled with a gun.)

I did not know that. My dad bought this for my granddad back in the early-80's. Dad and I nicked all of his guns when he started showing signs of dementia (later Alzheimer's) and I laid claim to it. It's the handiest wheel gun I own. A real natural pointer.

I would like to get a redhawk in 454, the only wheel gun I have now is a Ruger lcr, a .38 snubbie that's a bit too lightweight, but I'm about to add a few NFA items to my collection.

If you want to carry a revolver with style, SAA or go home.

Then if someone threatens you, you can say "You're a daisy if you do."

I actually have a shirt with this on the front of it...

Blackhawk and Super Blackhawk have sights that actually work...

Oh, yeah...



Picked her up today. First used gun I ever bought, though this one is so pristine, I'd believe it if someone told me it had never been fired. Spotless and clean, clean, clean.

I don't normally consider used guns, but this one was about half the price of a new one. I was set up to buy one of the Ruger Bisley .454s, and the guy at the shop told me about this one. It had just gone up for auction on a website, and I was able to buy it for the current (low, IMHO) bid.

Very nice, probably fired once, was the owner's arm in a sling by any chance?

Funny anecdote. Back in 1971 when Dirty Harry came out, sales of Smith and Wesson Model 29's jumped through the roof. About six months after that, it was not uncommon to find them for next to nothing in the used gun sections at your local gun store. They would often include a box of ammo with two or three rounds missing.

yep - not a fun weapon to shoot. A .357 is about all the recoil I can handle.

Yeah, I can see some new shooter buying one and squeezing off a few rounds before saying "Well, that's about enough of that."

Most .44 Magnum factory ammo doesn't give me any problems, but Remington has a 180 grain load (which I call "authentic" .44 Magnum) that is absolutely flinch-inducing, even from a heavyish Smith 629. Big concussion, big flash, sharp recoil. I've never fired Smith's lightweight 329 revolver, but I would be scared to shoot these rounds out of it.

The first time I shot my .500 Magnum, I was using the Hornady 300 grain flex tip bullets and after two cylinders, I was pretty much done for the day. My palm was sore and red. Doing the arithmetic, these things are almost the equal of a 12 gauge slug in muzzle energy.

The funny thing about big magnums is that, after you shoot them, .45 ACP and 9mm feel like absolute popguns.

Depends on the gun.

Out of my R8 or my nephew's Ruger GP100 (both fairly big), .357 isn't too bad.

Out of my 686 (mid-sized), it's a little unpleasant (and an edge on the frame bangs the inside of my thumb painfully).

Out of a J-frame (small), it's very unpleasant. Smacks your hand good.

Out of a superlightweight scandium-framed J-frame like the 360, it's got to be a downright bastard to shoot .357.

I was letting a novice shooter learn the ropes on my Model 66 a few years ago. I loaded five rounds of .38 SPL and one round of 125 grain hot hand loads. I spun the cylinder and closed it blind. I told them to fire when ready and let me know when they found it.

When my nephew got his GP100 many years back, we went to the range. At one point he had cocked the hammer on a round, and I said something to him. So, he decocked the revolver in order to set it down and turn his attention to me.

After we were done talking, I watched him 'cause I knew what was going to happen. After a few more shots he got to the first fired round, and got a click when he dropped the hammer on it. He started to put the gun down and I got his attention, spinning my finger in a "keep going" gesture.

He got this look on his face as if to say "Really? You think I don't know it's empty?" But he pointed the gun down range and rather nonchalantly pulled the trigger. Click. "See?" said his expression.

I gestured "keep going" again.

He pulled the trigger again. Click again. His expression was "You're mental. It's empty."

I gestured "keep going" once more.

He pulled the trigger. Full house .357 Magnum round blasts downrange.

The look on his face? Priceless. Shock, followed by a sheepish "I did not know that" smile.

Of course, by decocking the gun, he'd left a live round sitting in the middle of all the empties.

I can see how people could make a dreadful mistake that way.

I had a Rossi .357 (protip, don't buy one) with an 8 inch barrel, I could shoot that thing with hot loads all day ( if the hammer pin hadn't broken after 45 rounds). I have a Ruger LCR .38 snubbie that weighs just about nothing, I put a box of general range ammo through it and decided that that one needs to stay in the safe.

Yes, those LCRs weigh nothing. Even the .357 version--which is a bit heavier--weighs very little. Can't imagine they're much fun to shoot.

It kicked so much that it made follow up shots unrealistically slow for a carry pistol. I shudder when I think of firing +P out of it.