Saturday, December 10, 2011

One Hard Lap Finished!

The Tombstone-Hollywood-Tulsa back-to-back filming trip is finally finally over! I'm not lying...this one was a toughie....lots and lots of moving parts. We ran mostly 4-camera shoots, adding in the ultrahigh-speed Phantom as a regular item. We really are taking the shows to a new level, and I can't wait to get them out there!

Couple of gunny things. Say Uncle links to a story on the current Virginia Tech shootings. Uncle notes that the VT campus had probably done more to be "ready" for an active shooter situation than any other place...closing barn door after horses have fled, etc. How well did their "never again" planning work? You be the judge:

14 minutes to respond...22 minutes to issue an alert

Yes! When your life hangs on seconds, the police are only 14 minutes away! Plenty of time to get a Happy Meal! Watch our scenarios on TBD Season 4 and see how quickly violence can boil up...Fourteen minutes...think about it.

In next season's TBD we also look at the controversial technique of using the gun as an impact weapon, a topic that's spun up a little buzz on the Internet. Mostly, it's a last ditch technique against multiple assailants to buy either the time or distance to put the gun fully into play. Maybe the most important thing we've learned from simulations is that the Real World refuses to mold itself to our training, requiring us to mold our training to the Real World.

Couple of new guns world a more expanded loop...the little 5-shot Ruger .357 with the better fiber optic sights and the 4.2 inch barrel (here's The Firearm Bog review) is really starting to grow on me...

First off, Ruger is a sponsor, so we've got that out of the way. For the last couple of months I\'be been carrying the Ruger small-frames snub, the ultralight-weight LCR, asan expedient as much as anything else.. Been a while (read, decades) since I routinely carried a snub as my CCW choice. But after some question off the Internet and as I was getting ready to put together by CCW Tips for TBD Season 4, I started carrying the LCR, a .38 Special version loaded with Corbon DPX. I've used 3 holsters -- a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster and leather holsters from Ritchie Leather, a vertical belt holster and a dedicated crossdraw I use when driving. Neither Ritchie nor DeSantis are sponsors. It's kinda spoiled me...the light LCR pretty much disappears on the Ritchie belt holster and conceals under a shirttail, vest, jacket, etc.

One of the CCW topics we talk about on TBD Season 4 is not comprising on one's home defense guns....if you routinely carry a smaller gun on a daily basis, and most of us do, it makes sense to have a larger, heavier "full-size" gun for home defense, since there,s no need to compromise size/weight to carry the gun.

The new Ruger is a pretty good home defense choice for a person who carries a snub on a daily basis. It's heavy enough so that full power .357 loads don't case one to have the vapors and because it's a 5-shooter you cans use the same speedloaders as for the snub. Not a huge deal, but handy. For those of us out in the boonies, it's also a "right-sized" trail gun. Besides, it's a Ruger and probably indestructible. We'll be doing a full DRTV report on it.

A second gun that has made a really great first impression on me is the Kahr CM9...I've shot a coupe of in both 9mm and .380 and was always impressed by the way they shot. The price, howeer,was daunting. The little CM9,though, has street prices in the mid-high $300 range. My T&E gun has just a super trigger pull,and I can't wait to take it to the range in my on-going evaluation of all the mini-9mm. Expect a .40 version by SHOT.

And BTW, I should have a really cool announcement from Ruger late next week...by really cool, I mean something I wanted...we'll probably be talking about at least the concept on the podcast!

9 comments:

Gem said...

Yep. That Ruger is nice. It's on my gotta check it out list.

As for the other Ruger...TEASE!

Looking forward to the podcast.

Anonymous said...

If you want a wheelgun for home defense only, as a companion to an LCR, to hell with the SP101. Get a GP100. MUCH better choice.

Michael Bane said...

At least in my own home defense planning, the purpose of the handgun is to buy the time to get to the heavier iron...your mileage may vary...

mb

hillbilly said...

Okay, here's my official guess about the "really cool" unannounced-as-of-yet new Ruger gun.

I recall on this very blog a few years ago, Michael Bane floated the idea of an almost-repro C96 Mauser broomhandle pistol by an unidentified "major manufacturer."

It never materialized.

Ruger's investment casting could easily replicate the look of a C96 Mauser and a much simplified set of internals could really help improve reliability and lower the cost of such a piece.

My guess, based on that earlier hint and Bane's love of everything steampunk, causes me to think the really cool new Ruger might be that Mauser broomie almost-repro.

Am I even close on this one?

Anonymous said...

MB,

If the purpose of your handgun is to fight your way to your AK47, why don't you suggest using the LCR? Why buy another 5 shot wheel gun to use to fight your way to the AK? Dosn't makea whole lot of sense. OTOT, a GP100 makes a good deal of sense in such a role. As you said, YMMV.

Hillbilly,

Really? Was your post tongue in cheek or are you simply daft?

Rob Drummond said...

I am a real fan of Ruger products for many reasons in particular they are made in the USA. I own a bunch of Rugers, LCP's, LC9, Bearcat, Single six,Vaquaro, SR9, SR9c, P345, and a few others. I never had a fault with any of them. One of the things I was thinking of when I got the SR9 is home defence and when I got the SR9c later I thought smaller version of the home defence gun. I usually carry the SR9c in the late fall, winter, & early spring when I have more clothes on, I have to admit I don't have a comfortable holster for it yet. In the warm weather I carry the LC9. I have put hundreds of rounds though the SR9 without a fault. I haven't put more than 50 thorugh the SR9c but it feels so similar to the SR9 (especially with the extention on the high capacity mag) that it seems like the same gun. There is an advantage to having the same platform in a carry gun & home defence gun. By the way my heavy arm is an Remington 870.

Home invasion is like a box of chocolate you never know what you will get.
Rob Drummond
Hillsboro, NH

Michael Bane said...

I've addressed the "home invasion/box of chocolates" (nice line, BTW...will probably steal it!) by routinely keeping my carry gun on my person during the day...not that big a deal once you get used to it. At the end of the day when I take it off, I set it beside me...on a table, on the floor, whatever. When I go to bed I bring the carry gun with me to the bedroom, where I place it in an easily accessible position...

...next day, it starts all over again!

mb

nj_larry said...

On the home invasion front. You should read about this cop who was killed yesterday in Brooklyn. It all started out in the classic "home invasion". May have been a low life whose home it was, but that didn't matter to the cops responding. Dead of nite, dark basement apartment, fast action. Two guys run into each other with guns in hand. One a bad guy, the other a cop who should have retired but didn't. Now he's dead. A tragedy. But goes to illustrate that all the training in world can't overcome whatever the karmic wheel has in store for you.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/nyregion/at-scene-of-brooklyn-robbery-a-police-dept-veteran-is-fatally-shot.html?_r=1

Will said...

Michael,
you say you take it off at the end of the day, and later take it into the bedroom. Are you taking it off for comfort, while lounging around the home?
Might want to consider just switching it to a shoulder rig, instead.
It can be a real shock to hear that "bump in the night" after walking into the kitchen or bathroom, or unloading the clothes dryer. A knock at the door as you are walking past can have you answering it before you realize you don't have your piece with you.