Pocket Handgun: Small 9mm Auto or 642 Airweight?

[Joe in PNG]

An empty piece of brass caught under the extractor will gum up the works.

There's also extractor rods walking loose*, and the ever popular ballistic bullet pull, where a bullet jumps the crimp and jams things up good and hard. Usually because the shooter didn't read the recommendations in the manual.


*A friend had a Model 10 with this exact problem.

[Hambo]

How deep do you go with wiping it out? Do you remove the sideplate or anything?

I've got a 642 on the way

Removing the sideplate is not something that needs to be done on a 642 unless you're doing work to internals. The screws are specific to their location, not mix and match. Internals do not require much lube.

Revolvers are more like mechanical watches than semiauto pistols.

[SwampDweller]

Removing the sideplate is not something that needs to be done on a 642 unless you're doing work to internals. The screws are specific to their location, not mix and match. Internals do not require much lube.

Revolvers are more like mechanical watches than semiauto pistols.

Good to know, especially about the screws. I just wonder if/how pocket lint or other debris could find its way into the internals

[Totem Polar]

Fired as they have been carried I note many semi autos have a "one round and a stovepipe" habit.

Not that a guy like you needs any backup on this topic from me, but that’s also been my experience with the *rather extensive* list of pocket pistols that I’ve owned over the years.

This is most def a thing, including guns as large as a Sig P232 .380–which was disconcerting to discover at the range just a few days after I thought I might be reaching for it in the field one Idaho afternoon on a hike. That gun was stone reliable for “range duty,” otherwise.

The only “pocket” autos that I’ve personally owned that seemed immune to this phenomenon were a Sig P238 (which had other challenges, but was generally reliable, even after weeks of loafing around in an RKBA pocket holster) and my recent manufacture G42, which runs like a Glock, and has been my companion on NPE-free days of late. I feel comfortable treating that one like a sock-drawer revolver, but not any of the other small autos I’ve owned. Of course, the G42 is a pretty large (and simple) pocket pistol. We shall see how my Seecamp experiment goes, as that one racks up some pocket time.

But, yeah, for whatever reason, that first round tends to get married to the chamber in small guns that bounce around close to the body for a while. JMO. You’ve forgotten more about small gun use than I know, but I think you’re spot on about this, FWIW.

[SwampDweller]

It appears to be an artifact of the gun not being manipulated or lubed for a period of time. One of my friends noted that if he went more than two weeks without getting rid of the pocket dsut and lubing the gun that he'd regularly get the one round and a stove pipe effect

Slightly off topic, but I’ve been listening to your recent P&S modcast “How To Revolver” and full(er) size revolvers were briefly talked about, including potential advantages of .357 Magnum in 4-6” revolvers. My question is: What loads in .357 Magnum are best for say, a 4” model GP100?

Thanks, I’ve been learning a lot from you.

For my incoming 642, I have Federal Gold Metal Match .38 full wadcutters ordered.

[Mark D]

Regarding maintenance; I carry a 642 in my pocket for about 16 hours a day. That's about 5,700 hours a year. Every few months, I wipe it down, inspect it, and snake the lint out of the barrel and cylinder. Every year or so I shoot what's in the cylinder and put fresh ammo in it. That's it.

[Chuck Haggard]

Slightly off topic, but I’ve been listening to your recent P&S modcast “How To Revolver” and full(er) size revolvers were briefly talked about, including potential advantages of .357 Magnum in 4-6” revolvers. My question is: What loads in .357 Magnum are best for say, a 4” model GP100?

Thanks, I’ve been learning a lot from you.

For my incoming 642, I have Federal Gold Metal Match .38 full wadcutters ordered.

Assuming you mean for defensive use, almost any of the old school .357mag 158gr JHPs do really well, as do some of the 140gr JHPs like the Remington and the Winchester Silvertip. Save the 125 and 158gr Gold Dots in the .357 for hunting.

In .38 +p the 135gr Gold Dot and the Remington 158gr LSWCHP also work well from a 4" gun.

[Chuck Haggard]

There's also extractor rods walking loose*, and the ever popular ballistic bullet pull, where a bullet jumps the crimp and jams things up good and hard. Usually because the shooter didn't read the recommendations in the manual.


*A friend had a Model 10 with this exact problem.

The ejector rod coming unscrewed is THE issue I typically see in the S&Ws

[Glenn E. Meyer]

My 442 had that problem - traded it for 642, no problems.

[SwampDweller]

Assuming you mean for defensive use, almost any of the old school .357mag 158gr JHPs do really well, as do some of the 140gr JHPs like the Remington and the Winchester Silvertip. Save the 125 and 158gr Gold Dots in the .357 for hunting.

In .38 +p the 135gr Gold Dot and the Remington 158gr LSWCHP also work well from a 4" gun.

Yes, I meant for defensive use. I'm surprised to hear that the old school JHP loads are recommended over bonded Speer Gold Dot 125gr and 158gr. I take it's an overpenetration issue?

Does the extra "horse power" of the Silvertip or Remington give any advantage over, say, a modern duty 9mm load?