Not all .45s are equal

[Hawghauler]

I grab my SA 45 more often than not although I do have a shot gun handy too. Anyone who stays in the house after I have shot one round (never done so yet) is either crazy or has an incredible edge on me. If that ever happens I will run from the house screaming "do what you want with the women but leave me alone" Great liberal battle cry. Nice pair you have there BTW.

 

[Big country]

I have always thought about the weapon mounted lights as good to have but not a priority. Like TI said there a lot of times when you will find you left hand needed some where other than illuminating the situation. I use a tail cap 115 lumen LED flash light and the same holding techniques that TI posted, There is another one I've been looking at that I'll post pics up latter on if I can get my hands on a camera. I don't have my Plasma rifle yet but I'm working on a better shotgun LOL! INHO anytime there is a reason for my gun to come out I'm always going to be short on ammo and need a bigger gun no matter what gun is in my hands.

 

[Hawghauler]

I won't be short on ammo until I hear "click"

 

[txinvestigator]

A wise man once said:

"Re ammo capacity.
If you never get in a fight, you have too much.
The mili second you press that trigger, you don't have enough"

The only way I would carry a .45 is if the mag capacity is in the double digit range. If I cant have 10 or more rounds of .45, then I'm bringing the 9mm.

Do you know how often shootings involve double digits of ammo?

 

[Big country]

IIRIC. The round count in most shootings is almost always under five.

 

[TexZaa]

LED readout

In the future, I'm hoping that firearms manufacturers offer optional digital readouts on the guns that tells you how many rounds you have left. And perhaps a soft voice recording that says "I'm sorry Dave, but you are out of bullets."

 

[Texas42]

In the future, I'm hoping that firearms manufacturers offer optional digital readouts on the guns that tells you how many rounds you have left. And perhaps a soft voice recording that says "I'm sorry Dave, but you are out of bullets."

I think there should be the option of having the gun simply say the preferred four letter word.

 

[TexZaa]

I think there should be the option of having the gun simply say the preferred four letter word.

It took me a few minutes to stop laughing at this one.

 

[Mate]

Sorry, I dont like betting my life on statistics and averages.

Do you know how often shootings involve double digits of ammo?

 

[txinvestigator]

Sorry, I dont like betting my life on statistics and averages.

Then from where did you get your "10 round minimum" number?

 

[Texas Bulldog]

My door was kicked in last night
http://www.texasguntalk.com/forums/...got-kicked-last-night-need-gun-safe-help.html

The gun i grabbed out of A LOT of choices... Springfield XD-45 13+1 of .45 with the light/laser attached is good for me.

JOe

 

[Big country]

Sorry, I dont like betting my life on statistics and averages.

Then from where did you get your "10 round minimum" number?

TI does have a pretty good point their.

 

[Texas1911]

Sorry, I dont like betting my life on statistics and averages.

I agree, it's funny that we all own guns for the 5% chance that someone invades our house, etc. but we rely upon stats to validate magazine capacity and lethality?

It is better to have more ammo if you have that option, always. There is no real logical argument to say otherwise.

I would rather have 15 and need 6, than have 5 and need 6, but I don't think it's a make-or-break rule if I only have 5, personally.

 

[Big country]

He has a prtty good point to. LOL

 

[TexZaa]

bad Houston experiences

I grew up in Houston. Graduated high school in 1973 there. The 70s saw an increase in crime there that was astonishing. I experienced:

-- an attempted robbery

--a drive-by shooting (I was not the target)

--was randomly shot at twice on public streets by individuals who just happened feel the need

--I was mugged and stripped naked in a public building at knifepoint

--an unidentified assailant tried to drag me out of my car while I was waiting for my boss to open the print shop near downtown early one morning.

--My wife and I were threatened on the street a block from my home by six guys piling out of a vehicle proclaiming that they were going to kick my butt and **** my wife. It's amazing what looking down the barrel of a big handgun does to their vocal chords. Their voices went up a couple of octaves as they piled into their vehicle faster than any Chinese fire drill I've ever seen.

--I stopped a man from dragging a 16 year old woman into the woods while I was driving home from the gunshop with my brand-new 1911. It still had the tag hanging from the trigger guard when I stuck that in his face (so much for waiting periods).


In every instance (except for the knifepoint mugging where I happened to be in a "gun-free zone") I was saved by whipping out a nice big hand-cannon. I escaped Houston in 1979 and have only witnessed one crime since (if I don't count the bad driving on IH-35).

I've had my CHL since the year they started and my luck has turned. I just don't run into things like that living in Cedar Park. I consider that a very good thing. But, thinking back on all those instances I can say that more is better.

 

[F350-6]

Lots of good points. My opinion is it's easy to feel confident and comfortable while carrying a weapon. It's when you have to draw the weapon the questions begin. Seven rounds or thirty rounds won't make a bit of difference if you never hit your target. If you hit your target correctly, then anything after one round is not needed unless there are multiple targets.

I'm also not a fan of the weapon mounted light, or the light held close to the weapon. Good light discipline goes out the window even faster than good sight picture when the bullets start to fly. Everything you think you know is out the window in that situation unless you've got lots and lots of training, and then it's only a 50 / 50 shot. A flashlight is only something for the other guy to focus on and aim at in those situations.

Maybe it's the training, but I'll agree if I have a light, it will be far out to my left, not anywhere near the front of my body to present a target.

 

[Texas42]

Lots of good points. My opinion is it's easy to feel confident and comfortable while carrying a weapon. It's when you have to draw the weapon the questions begin. Seven rounds or thirty rounds won't make a bit of difference if you never hit your target. If you hit your target correctly, then anything after one round is not needed unless there are multiple targets.

. . .

I was agreeing with you up untill this point.

I think we can all agree that
1. All else being equal, more rounds in better (5 < 8 < 15 < 30) Whether we need all those rounds is irrelevent. We can't predict the future. I'm not going to try. You don't know if your going to need 1 round, or 15 round. You should carry as much or little ammo as you personally feel comfortable with.
2. Being able to shoot your chosen gun is better than not being able to hit the broad side of a barn.
3. A hit is better than a miss. Different than above, but connected.

Even a good hit, in the center of mass, takes time to make a bad guy stop. That is why many bad guys shot by the good guys will have LOTS of holes in them. Many good, lethal shots. This isn't hollywood. You don't just expire because you hit him with your PPK while wearing a tux. You have to take good hits to the CNS or loose blood volume. This is true for all, non-proto-plasmic ray guns.

I'd like to add to our list of aggreements.

4. More holes is better than one hole.

Sorry if I kind of went off.

I need to get back to studying cardiology.

 

[M. Sage]

TexZaa: A shotgun won't pattern that widely indoors. If you get buckshot that the shotgun shoots well, it should pattern the size of a baseball or softball at across-the-room ranges. The widest you'd probably find would be the size of your hand with your fingers spread.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't want my light attached to my pistol...if someone shoots back, where do you think they will aim??? I hold my light far left of my body and the 1911 out front....MG

I'll bring my gun light next time I see you. A good light is powerful enough that you won't want to take a bead on it. That would mean you have to look it and at close range, in the dark with your eyes even half-way adjusted to darkness, that's a painful proposition.

I can actually take a look around a room by pointing my pistol at the ceiling and flipping the light on. I can see the whole room very clearly that way, though I have to shut one eye or when the light goes out again I'm blind for a few minutes.

 

[txinvestigator]

4. More holes is better than one hole.

Bigger holes are even better.


When I cannot access the phase plasma rifle, I use a 90mm AA Gun. it is unwieldy, but effective.

 

[TexZaa]

A good light is powerful enough that you won't want to take a bead on it. That would mean you have to look it and at close range, in the dark with your eyes even half-way adjusted to darkness, that's a painful proposition.

You may be right about that. The light I placed on the XD-45 is a Streamlight TLR-1. The specs say: "Up to 7,000 candela peak beam intensity and up to 135 lumens". The night I brought it home I stayed awake after all the lights had gone out and allowed a good thirty minutes to allow my eyes to be dark adapted, I went into the bathroom and shined the thing in the mirror at myself. I physically couldn't keep my eyes open to look at it.