Bug-a-salt FTW.
I am 48. In my life, I have indicated to an antagonist that I had a weapon, by word or gesture but without producing it, a handful of times. In each case, the antagonist reconsidered their course of action. In two instances I can think of overseas in a combat zone, I pointed my weapon at a person with deadly intent. In both cases, that person reconsidered his course of action. I have held a gun in my hand inside of a locked house (once), apartment (Several times), and hotel room (twice) while waiting for a drunk or confused person to figure out that breaking down my door was a maybe not good idea. I have also, this past summer, rolled off my bed from a dead sleep and grabbed my rifle because I heard a flurry of shots outside.
Just having a gun (or knife, in one case) and being ready and willing to use it if need be has, so far in my life, solved every single incident where violence may have ensued without it.
I do own a .32. I can’t remember the last time I carried it. I usually carry a 9mm or .38 with proven ammunition.
Now, for crickets and nasty spiders: I use a .177 Crossman air pistol. If the critter has a heavy exoskeleton, I will use a pellet. If not, just the sudden burst of compressed air will tear it to pieces. That pistol will kill a mouse or rat as well. A steel spatula has proven to be a deadly mouse chopper of opportunity.
I can’t count the number of days I spent as a kid with a crossman .177 BB gun hunting grasshoppers in my grandparents’ garden as a kid. It was fantastic fun, like miniature quail hunting, though truth be told I shot far more on the ground than on the wing.
I’m glad this thread took the turn it did, I haven’t thought about that in a few years and it’s making me smile while enjoying an early autumn night on the porch.
Last edited by Caballoflaco; 09-26-2020 at 11:17 PM.
im strong, i can run faster than train
@TBone550 ‘s post also reminded me about having to crawl up under those same grandparents crawl space one time because I was little and we were running some tv cable from their new satellite dish. And....the entire crawl space area was filled with hundreds of camel crickets, which are harmless, but unpleasant company when one is squeezing themselves through the 2.5” feet of space between the dirt and floor joists of an older house at the age of 9 or 10 years old.
im strong, i can run faster than train
Dude, not cool. I hate bugs that go snap crackle squish with bunches of goo. They're always the ones that I plainly see are about to whack my motorcycle visor, but there's not enough time to act before they're a big smear in front of my face. After dark I sometimes slow down and see how fast I can go and still have enough reflexes to move my head out of the way and avoid them. Sometimes I come home with neck cramps because of that really smart game.
I would wager that more “real world” gunfights have been won with calibers, and guns, that most here would turn their nose up at.
I’d guess a Taurus .38 and something like a Bryco-Jennings .380 or .32 at the top of the list.
If you’re the “victim” and you survive, you win.
Does the above offend? If you have paid to be here, you can click here to put it in context.
MUC=Managing Unknown Crickets?
Apologies to @SouthNarc
Chris