ccw change to revolver (S&W 327PC)

[Lester Polfus]

This conversation is reminding me of a good friend of mine. He didn't have a .mil or LE background, but "grew up around guns." He actually had decent firearms safety and gun handling skills, and when he got his CHL, he took it seriously. I know he attended at least 24 hours of formal training at the now sadly defunct Oregon Firearms Academy with me, and maybe more. He also practiced what he learned in those classes on a regular basis.

He went through a succession of semi-auto carry pistols, then finally admitted to me that he just wasn't comfortable enough with them to feel safe and wanted to carry revolvers. It was a super funny conversation, almost like he was coming out to me or something.

After those classes, he had gun handling skills that I considered to be at least on par with the cops I was working with at the time. He was, in my opinion perfectly capable of safely carrying a semi-auto pistol, and he would be the first person to admit it wasn't entirely rational.

The thing is, he wasn't wrong. There was something in his brain that was wired to not be comfortable with a semi-auto with a round in the chamber but was ok with a DA revolver. He bought a 2" J-frame, a 3" K-frame of some kind that I can't remember, and a 4" Model 10 and was a happy camper.

The biggest concern is to have a gun that you are competent and capable of using. If that's a wheel gun, rock it. The vast majority of my carry time right now is a j-frame if I turn right at the bottom of the driveway to go to town, and a GP100 if I turn left and go into the national forest.

[overton]

Guys, thanks for all the input, especially the encouragement. Yep, in the age of Glock, and after having taken several classes with it, it's almost like a coming out.

I put together my carry options in the picture. My Glock 19 Gen4 MOS has ATEI serrations, Trijicon HDs, 10-8 rear sight and a Striker Control Device (SCD).
I like to shoot it, and always try to replicate the drills put out by ballistic radio and luckygunner, and altough I am pretty slow, at the range, I can handle myself,
including safety rules, etc. I hate to give it up, but as you guys noticed, it's a headgame.

The S&W 342 is something I am fond of, because, as Mr. Bolke said in the P&S modcast, it's hardly noticeable. And with lasergrips and the huge painted XS dot,
I can even hit things with wadcutters. Carries easily in the PHLSTER AIWB holster.

The old S&W 13 is more of a collectable (had to have one after "silence of the lambs"), out of fear of parts breakage, but now I am really considering carrying it.
All I need is a good AIWB holster for it. The only disadvantages compared to the 327 are weight and two rds less. For me, the revolver,
especially the tiny 342, was always a one bad guy gun. Would have felt not so bad about the 8rds of the 327. Guess that is the compromise....
Really considering a combination of the S&W 13 carried AIWB and the S&W 342 carried in the pocket now.

[UNM1136]

It really comes down to this, semi automatic pistols are not for everyone and revolvers are not for everyone. One requires less manipulations to stay in a fight and the other has a much simpler and has a much more forgiving of mistakes manual of arms. You will only be as good as the training you will put into it, and how good that training is. One will not automatically make you a gunfighter, nor disqualify you. Pick whichever one fits YOUR needs and simply do the work. Personally, I think non chambered carry is a piss poor practice. By the same token, carrying a condition one semi auto pistol because other people think you should and you are not comfortable with it is a piss poor practice.

Outstanding post DB. When I first started carring a gun professionally I was too young to buy a pistol, so I borrowed a 4 inch M19 from a friend for a summer job, and rolled. I had a copy of @Mas ' Stressfire and taught myself dry how to run that gun. Well. The next summer the friend had hocked the M19, so the company had revolvers locked up in dispatch and I would literally go to the office, check out the cool M66 with pachmeyers if no one else got it, or the M10 if they did, load it, holster it and go to work. The skills transferred, and those .38s were even easier to shoot well, cause you weren't tempted to put Magnums or Treasury Loads (110gr JHP +p+) in a testosterone fueled fit. I worked the biggest gang infested shitholes in my home town during a period when magazine stories were written indicating that according to the local PD and UCRs our gang problem on a per capita basis was worse than that of Los Angeles. We had special briefings from the local gang unit regularly, assisted the local cops on building searches and area searches, and even frequently got invited to Gang Conferences that were billed as LE only.

Fast forward to 1998 and becoming a cop. The department mandated semi autos, in a compact. 40 flavor (blech). Learned them and learned them well. Had a SP101 that I originally bought for the wife and ended up carrying as a backup. In a fit of insanity I sold it to an academy classmate who fell in love with it for the same price I bought it for. By the time I became a firearms instructor in 2007, State POST standards were updated and Autos were mandatory, but due to the number of grandfathered revolvers 1/3 of the instructor class was revover based. One of my classmates washed out for his unsafe handling in the revolver portion. Stressfire still served me well, and I excelled at the revolver portion with an issued M19. Good times.

Still required to run an auto at work, but for off duty/backup revolvers are optional, and this forum is awakening urges.

pat

[rfd]

This conversation is reminding me of a good friend of mine. He didn't have a .mil or LE background, but "grew up around guns." He actually had decent firearms safety and gun handling skills, and when he got his CHL, he took it seriously. I know he attended at least 24 hours of formal training at the now sadly defunct Oregon Firearms Academy with me, and maybe more. He also practiced what he learned in those classes on a regular basis.

He went through a succession of semi-auto carry pistols, then finally admitted to me that he just wasn't comfortable enough with them to feel safe and wanted to carry revolvers. It was a super funny conversation, almost like he was coming out to me or something.

After those classes, he had gun handling skills that I considered to be at least on par with the cops I was working with at the time. He was, in my opinion perfectly capable of safely carrying a semi-auto pistol, and he would be the first person to admit it wasn't entirely rational.

The thing is, he wasn't wrong. There was something in his brain that was wired to not be comfortable with a semi-auto with a round in the chamber but was ok with a DA revolver. He bought a 2" J-frame, a 3" K-frame of some kind that I can't remember, and a 4" Model 10 and was a happy camper.

The biggest concern is to have a gun that you are competent and capable of using. If that's a wheel gun, rock it. The vast majority of my carry time right now is a j-frame if I turn right at the bottom of the driveway to go to town, and a GP100 if I turn left and go into the national forest.

a good if not great post. not everyone should be carrying condition 1, and too many already are that clearly shouldn't, and that's a scary gamble for everyone. a j-frame in town and a k-frame in country is my motto as well, and a compromise of firepower and continual practice i can live with, and have. ymmv.

[ratter75]

OP, you’re not alone in the (perhaps irrational) lust for a 327, and the reluctance to AIWB-carry a chambered Glock. I’m guilty of both as well.

Funny that nobody accuses the guys who choose to AIWB a hammer-fired DA/SAa gun over a striker-fired as having a software problem...

[David S.]

There is a SP101 and a 3” K-frame in the classifieds.

[Dagga Boy]

Guys, thanks for all the input, especially the encouragement. Yep, in the age of Glock, and after having taken several classes with it, it's almost like a coming out.

I put together my carry options in the picture. My Glock 19 Gen4 MOS has ATEI serrations, Trijicon HDs, 10-8 rear sight and a Striker Control Device (SCD).
I like to shoot it, and always try to replicate the drills put out by ballistic radio and luckygunner, and altough I am pretty slow, at the range, I can handle myself,
including safety rules, etc. I hate to give it up, but as you guys noticed, it's a headgame.

The S&W 342 is something I am fond of, because, as Mr. Bolke said in the P&S modcast, it's hardly noticeable. And with lasergrips and the huge painted XS dot,
I can even hit things with wadcutters. Carries easily in the PHLSTER AIWB holster.

The old S&W 13 is more of a collectable (had to have one after "silence of the lambs"), out of fear of parts breakage, but now I am really considering carrying it.
All I need is a good AIWB holster for it. The only disadvantages compared to the 327 are weight and two rds less. For me, the revolver,
especially the tiny 342, was always a one bad guy gun. Would have felt not so bad about the 8rds of the 327. Guess that is the compromise....
Really considering a combination of the S&W 13 carried AIWB and the S&W 342 carried in the pocket now.

You have everything you will ever need in that picture. I carried a 3” Model 13 and a J frame off duty and in plainclothes in my early cop years at the busiest, most violent times of my career. I use a 3” K and a J frame in ban states. You have a great combo. The Glock would serve you well as a great gun to shoot and train with and to have if you find a situation where the world has degraded to the point of calling 9-1-1 and nobody answers the phone.

I figure if Pat Rogers survived nightly armed engagements in Anti Crime and Anti Robbery at NYPD with a Ruger Speed Six in .38 and a Model 36, and John Helms, the most distinguished gunfighter at LAPD carried a 3” Model 64 and a 649 working his early years in SIS during the most violent times in Los Angeles, I think most of America will not be horribly behind the curve. These guys were actively trying to engage armed violent criminals in the places where they were the top of the food chain. I would think using the exact same firearms combination and carry systems while actually avoiding these same violent predators and the places they live would not be a horrible plan.

[Lester Polfus]

Guys, thanks for all the input, especially the encouragement. Yep, in the age of Glock, and after having taken several classes with it, it's almost like a coming out.

I put together my carry options in the picture. My Glock 19 Gen4 MOS has ATEI serrations, Trijicon HDs, 10-8 rear sight and a Striker Control Device (SCD).
I like to shoot it, and always try to replicate the drills put out by ballistic radio and luckygunner, and altough I am pretty slow, at the range, I can handle myself,
including safety rules, etc. I hate to give it up, but as you guys noticed, it's a headgame.

The S&W 342 is something I am fond of, because, as Mr. Bolke said in the P&S modcast, it's hardly noticeable. And with lasergrips and the huge painted XS dot,
I can even hit things with wadcutters. Carries easily in the PHLSTER AIWB holster.

The old S&W 13 is more of a collectable (had to have one after "silence of the lambs"), out of fear of parts breakage, but now I am really considering carrying it.
All I need is a good AIWB holster for it. The only disadvantages compared to the 327 are weight and two rds less. For me, the revolver,
especially the tiny 342, was always a one bad guy gun. Would have felt not so bad about the 8rds of the 327. Guess that is the compromise....
Really considering a combination of the S&W 13 carried AIWB and the S&W 342 carried in the pocket now.

On second thought, I think this is a horrible idea. I think you need to carry a Glock 34 with a red dot and a 20 round magazine, and just learn to live with it.

I'll do you a solid and give you $350 for that Model 13 to get you started, just because I'm a nice guy.

[David S.]

Standard gun forum joke in 3...2...1....

On second thought, I think this is a horrible idea. I think you need to carry a Glock 34 with a red dot and a 20 round magazine, and just learn to live with it.

I'll do you a solid and give you $350 for that Model 13 to get you started, just because I'm a nice guy.

[03RN]

Guys, thanks for all the input, especially the encouragement. Yep, in the age of Glock, and after having taken several classes with it, it's almost like a coming out.

I put together my carry options in the picture. My Glock 19 Gen4 MOS has ATEI serrations, Trijicon HDs, 10-8 rear sight and a Striker Control Device (SCD).
I like to shoot it, and always try to replicate the drills put out by ballistic radio and luckygunner, and altough I am pretty slow, at the range, I can handle myself,
including safety rules, etc. I hate to give it up, but as you guys noticed, it's a headgame.

The S&W 342 is something I am fond of, because, as Mr. Bolke said in the P&S modcast, it's hardly noticeable. And with lasergrips and the huge painted XS dot,
I can even hit things with wadcutters. Carries easily in the PHLSTER AIWB holster.

The old S&W 13 is more of a collectable (had to have one after "silence of the lambs"), out of fear of parts breakage, but now I am really considering carrying it.
All I need is a good AIWB holster for it. The only disadvantages compared to the 327 are weight and two rds less. For me, the revolver,
especially the tiny 342, was always a one bad guy gun. Would have felt not so bad about the 8rds of the 327. Guess that is the compromise....
Really considering a combination of the S&W 13 carried AIWB and the S&W 342 carried in the pocket now.

Jmcustom for the holster