Why Every Woman Should Carry a Gun

There is the functional value of better accuracy
in being able to cock it,
in that very little pressure is necessary to discharge it,
so that your hand will shake less, from less squeezing of the trigger.
I think that the picture of the .38 with the exposed hammer,
is in black n white.

Many guns r available in a large variety of grips,
including rosewood ( which I have on my blued, gold trimmed .38 Taurus Model 85 ).
http://www.pistolmikes.com/m85grc.html

Chances r fairly decent that u can get them on the LadySmith.
I have been accosted by police at gunnery ranges,
to commend me on the beauty of my ordnance;
( excuse me for bragging ).




David

I have some preference for an exposed hammer, but it is more important for target shooting than defensive work. The double action on an S&W isn't enough to pull off target at defensive ranges, anyway.

I'm also more fond of wooden grips than otherwise. Partly because they can be reshaped for individual preference. Again, not a big deal. On the one pictured, I would probably touch up the glossy grips with a bit of 320 grit sandpaper. It works better for me. The big feature on the Ladysmith is the wooden filler behind the trigger guard. I consider it essential in controlling the gun. In fact, I have bought oversized wooden grips and done major surgery to get a fit.

That Ladysmith is just any old J Frame S&W, only factory produced with acceptable grips. Some J Frames come with concealed hammer; most do not. Either way, it's a good gun in .38 cal. For concealed work, the cylinder is reduced in capacity to 5 rounds. I can live with that. Actually, I have more than one J Frame. On one, I've almost entirely removed the hammer spur. It really is possible for it to snag on something - like a pocket, if that's how you carry.

That's a nice one David :-D

I get along great with cops and most everyone really, but I've never challenged one on anything before (except the one I use to go out with, but that's different, of course) and I don't want to risk it. I want to get along with everyone, but I get a little testy when I'm wrongfully denied something.

Hey, brag away :-D

Thanks Rog :-D

Hey you guys
I didn't see (and didn't read back either) if you mentioned the importance of cleaning the gun after using. You do feel it is important don't you?

Well, yeah. Kind of. The old corrosive primers are a thing of the past, so it's not really important from that standpoint. Still, powder residue holds moisture, so rust is still with us. That is still true to some extent with the stainless models. Also, automatics (can't bear to say semi automatic) need to be kept fairly clean around the extractor and bolt face to be sure of functioning. Many need a bit of oil to prevent rust, but on a defensive handgun that needs to be always ready, apply oil and remove as much as possible. The oil can work eventually work it's way into the primer, expecially the super lubricants like CLP BreakFree. If it's going into deep storage, oil away and toss in a big of silica gel to adsorb moisture. Remove the oil before loading.

Once they perfected the system, there were lots of automatic weapons working in terrible conditions in Southeast Asia. Sometimes, they were cleaned.

On balance, it's better to clean after shooting, in my opinion.

When I'm tired, I get verbose. Let me summarize as best I can. I can't imagine putting away a dirty gun, but I don't really think it's vital. Some guns never get cleaned, and just keep shooting away.

Mine will be cleaned after ever use. I already knew that one

The two main things you might ever need to shoot in Canada would be criminals and brown bears...

Here's another sort of firearm some body living in Canada might want to own:



http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=89617704

When you fire a 44mag cartridge through a rifle instead of a pistol, you suddenly have one of the world's ultimate weapons in your hand: little if any noticable recoil since it's still a pistol cartridge, but 300 fps faster than through the pistol barrel and vastly more lethal than any 30-caliber rifle including those with twice the muzzle energy. That's a gun a woman could shoot comfortably which would drop a brown bear in its tracks.

I know Ti, (its my primary practise)and I dont like the T 38 in Titanium. Ti's expansion coefficient is a property that is used FOR an advantage.I see no advantage in a gun thats movement can expand and possibly lock up.

PS, Montana, keeping extra cylinders available('speed loaders") is a benefit of the "pre owned" police .38's. Also, I like a longer barrel, the use of which permits more accurate shooting at a greater distance from the pack of wild dogs threatening your stock).
We(probably like you) have more coy -dog problems with our sheep than we do thugs breaking in. Coyotes dont often give up their distance- location so I could have hit em with my trusty bull barreled rifle so often, I find that , after hearing barking and panicky bleating on the intercom, I find that Im in the barn with the coy-dogs and they are just harrasing the sheep and trying to kill them inside. So, my biggest concerns, are not having ricochets and not hitting the sheep.
Ive always liked the open hammer, > 5" barreled, speed loading revolver.

2 years ago, on NEw YEars day, two pit bulls attacked our neighbors sheep (and they will not own a gun) . So they called and the only gun I had immediately available was a Sig 45 . SO I go driving over to my neighbors with a spare clip and got off 2 shots at one dog and killed it. I fired at the second and the gun jammed. We got out of the barn quickly so I could extract the jammed shell and reload. Meanwhile the pit bull (ears and tail bobbed so it was a "workin dog" for some rural druggy lab)skeedaddled.

When the state cops arrived and we ascertained the owners of the dogs, my neighbors were advised NOT to press charges cause there was a big time stake out on the owner. (HE later ws arrested in a night raid and is in jail for running a meth lab)..

SO, A speed loader may be slower to exchange , but if an auto gets jammed, you cant call "time out" and everyone stands down while you try to fix the problem.

Question for the pros, is there ever an alignment problem with autos that causes the ejector to jam?

I was unaware of that characteristic of titanium. I do understand that fasteners in titanium have a tendency to bind up if not treated with antiseize compound. How about aluminum? It has roughly twice the coefficient of steel. I ask because I have an Airweight Chief Special with steel cylinder and barrel, but with an aluminium frame. In any case, I don't visualize weight being a disadvantage unless the piece is carried concealed in a pocket. Most target pistols are almost obscenely heavy.

I'm not especially in agreement on the longer barrel for household defense. Anything over 4" gives the perp a leverage advantage at close quarters, but we all have to do our best to anticipate possible situations before investing in a gun. Muzzle velocity does fall off quickly with shorter barrel lengths, but a well made short barreled pistol, like my Chief, can have uncanny accuracy. So far as packs of wild dogs, I think I know Montana well enough to suspect she would probably try to reason with them, and just might persuade them of the error of their ways. I say that while recalling her problems with deer in the garden - back in Abuzz time. Oh, just for what it's worth, my Chief won't accept speed loaders with the custom grips. Don't know if the Ladysmith will, or not.

I am very surprised that anything put out by Sig would jam, especially if it hadn't experience the same problem in practice, with the same ammunition.

Being neither pro, expert, nor gunsmith, I can't address that ejector problem. Those stovepipe jams that happen when the slide close before the case is completely ejected are usually caused by the case contacting the ejection port. Anyway, that is what I have by way of hearsay.

roger
I didnt know that they had a name for the type of jamming, but yeh, thats why I figgered it was something in alignment. I only had the Sig lock up once but it was at a critical time. Ive had the Hi-Power lock up so many times that Id wanna throw the damn thing into a crick.

Boy, I sure have my work cut out for me on figuring out what I'm gonna get. So many options!

Roger is right about the animals, though. They don't bother me and if they do, I'll try reason first, or maybe a big juicy steak. I've got no sheep to protect, though, and if I did, I would do what I had to do to protect my animals. My creatures are priority.

The purpose of my weapon would be for self defense from the human world.

Post pics. Girls with guns are double hot!

My gun of choice S & W model 19 since it shoots .38 or .357 mag. bullets

They will eventually fail if you continue to shoot it without cleaning. This is not my opinion, it came from an expert.

roger
I hope you didn't take that post too harshly. I didn't mean it that way. It is just a friend had their gun fail at a critical time and it could have cost them their life. The gun was looked at by experts and that was the conclusion of the failure

Is that your gun TTH?

No Montana, that is a picture I got off the internet but, it is the same type I have.

Nice :-D