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Anyway, your choice of weapon and loads may very well become the Civil Suit’s centerpiece.
Large-caliber handguns and enhanced lethality rounds may then become a liability as you defend yourself in civil court. And the rules of evidence and threshold of guilt (liability) are somewhat different than from criminal court.
**ExTank **, I think the actual incidence of cops being successfully sued (or punished) for doing their job is pretty rare.
But that’s another subject, eh?
Oops! You’re talking about civilians, not cops.
Same thing applies, though. In the few cases I’m aware of it’s when the shooter chases down or follows the shooted that there’s civil trouble.
If you “rack in” that 12ga, or .22, and the bad guy turns and runs, you gotta let him go.
Sheesh, huh? 
Yes. Not “sheesh” but “whew!” Your only goal in a deadly force scenario is stop the threat and come out alive, not to end someone else’s life. Yes, you may have to kill someone to stop the theat but that is a neccessity, not a goal. If the threat turns and runs you have succeeded and you did it without ending a human life which is really good thing in my book.
Sheesh, hell! I don’t wanna have to rent a steam cleaner and buy paint and rollers to get the blood and other assorted bits out of carpet and off of walls.
Not to mention the creepy factor of living in a house where someone has died. I don’t want my dead home intruder’s ghost haunting my ass.
I committed a little faux pas huh?
I thought it was pretty obvious that the “sheesh” was tongue-in-cheek, esp with the winkie right there. There are a few posters here who have expressed some reluctance to let the bad guy escape. My comment was aimed at them.
Me, I’m the kind of man who bawls (like a baby) after a fistfight, and I’ve rarely lost one. I don’t like to hurt people.
So,
Peace,
mangeorge
Sorry if I came across angry; I wasn’t. I was fairly sure you were joking with the winky smiley attached to the post. I was being fairly serious in my reply, but not angrily so.
I find it easier to double tap with a 1911 than with a 9mm, or a .357. The pistol is heavier, and bounces less.
I carry two mags on my belt, with my holster, one in the pistol, none in the pipe. If I shoot 14 times and they are still comming, It’s time to slow down, and go for head shots, cause these guys are wearing armor. Thank god they’re such lousey shots!
Tris
Would I have better control with a 1911 than the little .32 Beretta 1932 that jumps all over the place, or do I need to lift weights?
It is from them that we got the phrase “run amok”. They were the Filipino answer to the berserker. Very formidable enemies. Very vaulable allies.
And I should clarify as well. A .357, or any revolver is not suited to a ‘double tap’.
My father owns a Colt 1911 Officers Model. I think its a 5 shot with one in the pipe.
I asked him why not the Combat Commander? Or a full size 1911?
One of the reasons he bought up was the name. ‘Officers Model’ (as in Military Officer).
He felt that IF he ever had to use it, prosecution would not be able to pin the ‘scary dangerous gun’ label
on it. Even though it is still a .45. A Magnum on the other hand, to uneducated folks, sounds like you are out to kill.
Sometimes my Dad thinks too much (he’s in his late 70’ now) but sometimes, when you see how little anti-gun people know about guns…
Well, I know of one exercise that will help.
Lift the pistol, with a full magazine, fire two rounds down range, put it back down. Repeat as needed to establish the ability.
The 1911 imparts more energy into its kick, but the weight of the pistol reduces the amount of movement. The weight of the pistol is probably not enough to overwhelm a normal person’s strength, unless they are very small.
Tris
No harm, no foul.
Word is, they made freakin’ zip guns. Outta metal tubes and rubber bands cut from tire tubes. They didn’t like being pushed around. At all.
Could you elaborate how a double action revolver is not suited to perform a double tap? Speed shooting records are still held by double action revolvers because semi-autos don’t cycle fast enough. Single action revolvers for that matter, I know some national class SASS shooters who are scary fast.
mangeorge, my apology for the brusque reply. Please consider it to those who take deadly force lightly, not you.
[Personal Opinion] I would think that semi-autos would be easier to double tap, since your first shot is double action, but your second is single. With a revolver, both your shots would be double action, and that strikes me as more work and thus harder to perform. [/PO]
I could be wrong though. I haven’t tried it yet. . . I ain’t knocking the SASS or CASS shooters, but I would think the slide autococking your hammer/sear would be a helluvalot quicker than using your thumb or trigger. . .
Maybe I’m wrong though. . .
Tripler
Like I said, they’s just my observations.
Suprisingly it’s not. I’m not saying a novice is going to be better with a revolver but the potential is there. Ed McGivern was able to fire five aimed shots from a S&W revolver in 2/5 of a second back in the '30s. He used a revolver because semi-autos weren’t fast enough. More stuff has to move around in a semi-auto. The slide has to move back in recoil against a spring slowing it down then reverse direction and return to battery.
Ummm… Cite. 5 shots out a revolver in less than half a second?
I’m thinking of the situation where both shots from the semi-auto would be single action. The revolver would be semi-first and double second. That’s the way I’d go into it anyway.
Really? (not sarcastic) The human finger can cycle a round faster in a revolver, moving the triger a good 1/2-3/4 of an inch faster than a semi-auto can cycle?
I like my .357 more and more.
One of the reasons I think an auto is better suited to the double tap is that there is less hand motion, finger movement needed. Not as much stuff to through off your aim. That, and ft.lb per ft.lb. the semi-auto will kick less.
I’ll find a fully authoritative cite but for now just google “Ed McGivern.” Yes, he was an exceptional shooter but it shows the potential is there
I’m thinking you mean the revolver is cocked for the first shot, that’s called firing single action not semi auto.
I’m not saying there is a huge difference in how fast each can fire, I was responding to the assertation that revolvers are not suitable for double taps. Ed used a S&W revolver, as did the guy who fairly recently broke some of his records, because semi autos cannot cyle that fast.
The limiting factor is the skill of the shooter, not the weapon. Consider training with a DA revolver that has a heavier trigger pull and your regular gun will feel like a sports car.
A bit off topic but I learned from an article in the NRA magazine that under certain conditions a Colt’s Peacemaker can fire full auto, like a machine gun. If the firing pin bushing is missing from the frame and heavy loads are being fired the primer can be ejected from the cartridge. Since the firing pin is on the hammer it can actually cock the hammer and because of the design of the trigger the hammer will drop and fire the next round before the shooter can release the trigger.