Yeah…the fact that I am going through a divorce with the same woman I slapped in 2004 has zero bearing on my decision to purchase a gun. I’m not going to kill anyone or myself unless they are trying to kill me first, or break into my place.
Anyway, I suppose that’s pretty much the case as you described it. They were happy to sell me a gun, and nobody uttered a peep over me checking “yes” to the “have you ever been convicted of a domestic violence, even a misdemeanor” item on the form.
I still wonder if its possible for the Feds to call them and say “You shouldn’t have sold that guy a weapon! He checked yes on the domestic violence thing! What were you thinking?”
Is there a precedent where your gun can be reclaimed without you ever having been convicted of a crime with it (heck, or even shot it yet)?
I, for one, am shocked. Back when I sold guns (when dinosaurs ruled the earth) there was absolutely no selling to anyone answering yes. My thought was that a “yesser” screened themselves out and no background check was needed. I think if they got audited that they might get written up for it but you’re no doubt in the clear.
Have fun! Now I’m going to have to go shooting tomorrow.
The S&W 1076 is the absolute favorite of all my handguns. When you pick it up it is just so there. It is so engagingly destructive downrange. I own handguns larger, smaller, more, and less powerful. It is the one I would keep if I could keep only one. Luckily,I do not have to make that choice.
It’s often compared to the. 41 magnum, but in most loadings is actually more comparable to the .357 magnum. More comparable, actually, than the. 357 SIG which was named mostly to chisel off the. 357 magnum’s name recognition. The. 357 SIG is a fine cartridge in its own right, though.
Why thank you! I feel the urge to “bust a cap in the air, like I just don’t care!”. Sadly, this is not an Afghani wedding scenario, I care where the bullets fall and I will get myself arrested doing something like that. So I guess I will just talk about the potential for shooting at paper targets in the near future!
I am talking strictly about the size of the round. Isn’t a .45 a larger round than a .357 (based strictly on the decimal system)? Maybe you are referring to grain charges in terms of propellant for the round. I’m just curious.
The. 357 drives its bullets at a substantially higher velocity than the .45acp. It is much more penetrative and generates more foot-pounds than the. 45acp.
Here’s a handy chart that gives you a pretty good feeling for the sizes and power of the various handgun calibers. http://www.sportsmansguide.com/Outdoors/resource/remington_charts/pr_ballistics.pdf. Gun people will argue to their dying breath about stopping power and whatnot but IMHO, the 45ACP is a good all around choice. If cost is an issue, you can get FMJ surplus ammo relatively cheaply.
My 10mm is a Glock 29. That is a seriously hairy experience firing that weapon, the blast and recoil out of a lightweight compact is not for the faint of heart. My Glock 27, for all of its snap, simply doesn’t compare. I have to fire some hot stuff out of my snub-nosed .357 Magnum Ruger SP101 to get anything comparable. But hey, that’s the trade-off you have to make sometimes to have a concealable 10mm. Why, you may ask, would I conceal a 10mm? Because I can.
On comparing calibers: in general a larger caliber bullet will usually be more powerful; but you can have a smaller, faster bullet like the .357 Magnum vs. a big, fat, but slower bullet like the .45 ACP. Multiply bullet weight by bullet speed and you get muzzle energy, which is a slightly more accurate measure of how much damage a bullet can be expected to do. Wikipedia has a list of handgun cartridges that you can reference.
Because for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, for a given size cartridge recoil will be less if it’s shot out of a larger, heavier gun. There are some guns out there chambered for large powerful rounds that are virtually derringers, with punishing recoils. If you expect to eventually carry your handgun you’ll want to decide how large and heavy a gun you want, especially if concealability is important. Smaller calibers will have less recoil and allow you to carry more rounds, larger calibers are considered to have more “stopping power”. Once upon a time the .32 was a popular “pocket gun”, nowadays the .380 is considered the smallest round that will consistantly stop an attacker.
In addition, the removable magazines of a semi-automatic can be either single-stacked (slimmer, fewer cartridges) or double-stacked (fatter, more cartridges), depending on how big a grip you can comfortably handle.
The .45 ACP was originally developed after soldiers in the Phillipines complained that their handguns were insufficient to stop a berserk tribesman. It’s undoubtedly up to the task but it’s cartridges are large and fat enough that people with smaller hands (like the wife of the guy who returned the gun you mentioned used) simply can’t hold them properly. Also the most common gun that shoots them, the venerable Colt 1911 only holds nine rounds.
9 mm has been the standard European handgun round since WW1, and is probably the second-most common caliber next to the .38 Special revolver round used for so many decades. Different guns chambered in 9mm have different magazines but anywhere from 12-19 rounds is typical.
The .40 S&W round has in recent years become a popular compromise between the 9mm and the .45 ACP.
Finally there are the particular features of the gun itself. A big decision is what sort of action you want your gun to have: single, single-double, or double-only action. This effects consistancy of trigger pull and whether the gun is carried in a ready to shoot mode or not.
