Is that what you carry? I havent really checked on that ammo I just assumed availability and choices would be limited.Originally Posted by Sammy1
To me thats the great thing about 38/357, you have a lot of choices. I may not be able to walk into a lgs and get exactly what I want but surely I can get something.
I'll wager you a PF dollar™ 😎
The lunatics are running the asylum
No, I looked into it for a woods gun when hunting/fishing/hiking. Currently, I switch back and forth between .22lr and 357 mag for those task. I researched the .327 mag and was really impressed with it's performance, both woods and personal defense. I haven't bought one yet but it's on my radar.
While I pack a J .38 Centennial very often ... IF I was to really go the revolver route for my main battery I'd get a 6 - 7 shot medium frame .357 or even a 10mm, say the new Ruger GP100 in 10mm but with a 3 inch barrel.
Why? Shoot-ability. Much easier to hit with a medium frame than a J frame. It's not the round count, its the hits that matter. So I'd pack a medium sized revolver with 3 inch barrel, round butt, and in .357 or 10mm.
Fortunately though.. I usually just pack a Glock 26 when going to a larger piece than a J frame.
I’m an admitted glock guy who carries AIWB, but I have on occasion pocket carried a snub as a primary or as a second gun in a jacket pocket. The not easy and safe part of multiple guns for me is having to manage multiple guns throughout the day, especially if one is a”roving” gun.
When I’m using a snub is as a backup in a jacket pocket I have to remember where all my guns are all the time and handle at least one, often in a car or bathroom if I’m putting on or taking off a jacket, and I also have to make sure I never leave a blaster in an unattended jacket. Decide what to do with the extra gun when it gets too warm for a coat, but I don’t want to feel like Blacbeard or a civil war cavalry man walking around with a quarter dozen guns.
With my glock. The holstered gun goes in my pants at the cracking rays of dawn, before I leave the house. It stays there all day without me touching it. It’s still there and holstered at the end of the day, where it comes out of my pants still in the holster. Hell, it doesn’t even come out of the holster but a couple of times a week, and that’s just to check for dust bunnies, bullets etc.
Devil's advocate time: Protection against risk is a continuum. It's been said many times on this forum that any handgun is a compromise, but most of us can't carry a rifle every day. So where's the balance point? That's a personal decision, and we won't all make the same decision.
Maybe I've had too many statistics classes, but I have a much higher risk of being hit by a car than I do of needing a gun to defend myself. However, I don't stop crossing streets or driving to the office or to buy groceries, because life goes on and that means assuming some low level of risk almost every day.
I have a meeting coming up in a city with an above average crime rate, with state and federal agency folks, and need to be on three airplanes in each direction to get there and back. Given the hassle and the fact that I don't know in advance how NPE that government office will be, and the potential consequences of being made carrying (possibly losing a major client), I'm not going to carry that day. That means I'll knowingly assume a small amount of risk. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, because I might get hit by lightning or win the lottery, too.
Bottom line, yes sometimes I carry because I know I'll be in a higher than average risk area. But most of the time I carry because I can, and because I enjoy guns, and often it's something practical and efficient but sometimes it's an old steel revolver just because I enjoy old steel revolvers. It's almost never because I'm paranoid that I'll actually need it that day, rather the philosophy is be prepared and never need to use it. That's worked pretty well for a long time.
As for two J's vs a K, I've never tried two J-frames although it's a perfectly valid choice in some circumstances. I have carried a K and a J, and an N and a J, and a semi-auto and a J, although not often and usually in urban/wilderness interface situations where humans and wildlife can be low-level risks at different times in the same day.
If I lived in the large percentage of the country where I never had to worry about anything bigger and tougher than a coyote or a feral dog a .327 would be a good possibility, although it that situation I'd be more likely to load it with 32 H&R mag wadcutters. My 3-inch SP101 is a flamethrower with .327, although it's nice to have the option. I handload and have .327 dies so availability really isn't the issue, it's more the lack of real-world data on big critter effectiveness and the amount of time I spend in places with bigger than average critters.
Bear in mind , the more tools you have on you the more you have to take care of if things go hands on.
Also all Jokes aside one gun with ten rounds in it, is much quicker access to that second batch of five rounds than drawing a second gun. And most ten shot pistols in my experience are easier to shoot than a J frame as well.
Welcome to Africa, bring a hardhat.
My thought on this is that managing two handguns adds a complication nobody needs in a violent, rapidly evolving lethal force situation. The 66 of course adds a round and is easier to shoot well. But I'd venture to guess there are exponentially more little S&W J-Frames, Ruger, etc. 5-shooters carried than 66s. Much as I like the 66, I don't carry one concealed, nor do I carry two J-frames.......ymmv
I keep telling myself I’m done with revolvers, but that dang 642 is so convenient. However, 2 Js lose the convenient factor for me, at which point I’d opt for a much more capable gun.
Not to mention the bulk of two j-frames versus a Glock 43x or P365. Two j-frames is more cubic inches of metal you're carrying, which isn't that easy. Where are you going to carry the second j-frame? Is that really feasible?
I'm in the process of transitioning from a 642 to a G43x for ease of carry and increased rounds on board. I find the thickness of the cylinder a bit of a pain to manage.
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