So what you’re trying to say is that you have good taste?
**In any case, Tripler need to expand his reading list.
I raise my glass of not-so-rotgut bourbon to SLK, who knows his noir.
I stole that from the master of the genre - Bill Watterson. “Yeah, that’s me - Tracer Bullet. If business was as good as my aim I’d be on easy street, instead I’m on 49th.”
Anyone remember what that Japanese automatic was that Pierre Cavell carried in “The Satan Bug”? All I can remember is that he kept a bit of tape on the end of the barrel, and he was the only PI that I can think of who carried an auto.
Ah! I see now! 
I wasn’t aware of the reference. It sounded film noir to me, but I was too unfamiliar with the reference. All I know even remotely related to the genre is that, “It was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June, in a Kenworth haulin’ logs. . .”
Tripler
–my apologies to C.W. McCall
Slight hijack here folks.
As a Briton I know absolutely bugger all about guns apart from the obvious.
Does the US Military still issue side arms to its soldiers?
Can’t see them being much use if they do
Can’t believe that I am the first to mention this…
That is not completely correct. The Desert Eagle (as popularized in The Matrix) takes a 50 cal magnum, IIRC. I’ve been told that this is easier to handle than the .454 Casull, which does not have the momentum of the recoil to counter the momentum of the charge. Having shot a .50 DE, I can honestly tell you that I have no desire whatsoever to even bother trying the .454 Casull. I completely agree that the only thing these hanguns are good for is stopping elephants and boats.
Also…
To my knowledge, yes. As has been mentioned, Special Forces reportedly use them frequently. As to how useful they are to the regular troops, I have no idea.
Out of curiosity how much do these mega bullets cost (per bullet) if bought at retail? If you go out and shoot 100, 50 caliber rounds in a Desert Eagle or .454 rounds in a Casull how much are you going to lay out vs say, shooting 9mm or 38 caliber ammo?
If you buy CCI ammo, .50cal AE will set you back about .65/round. High-quality 9mm will cost about .16/round.
Yes, they do.
Most of it depends on availability and job specialty. For example, officers usually get a sidearm and a rifle (part tradition, part usefulness). Medics, who are not considered offensive combatants, are issued a sidearm to give them something to defend themselves or their patients with. To my knowledge, Chaplains are not armed, but their assistants are.
I’m an officer, and was issued a sidearm for daily carry this past year while out in Afghanistan. When I was deployed from the States to the Middle East, I checked out my rifle and sidearm, but because the requirement in Afghanistan was only to carry one firearm, I was allowed to carry my M9–I left my M-16 down at our hub at Al Udeid AB. And thankfully so! I used to think carrying a pistol on your hip daily would be kind of cool. . .
. . . yeah, right! It kind of sucked. But then again, I wasn’t lugging around 8 lbs worth of M-16 and ammo.
Tripler
One drawback: pistols are a bit easier to lose/forget about that a “giant” rifle.
You have your fifty-cal bullets confused. The .50 Desert Eagle takes a .50 Action Express (1,650 ft-pounds of energy on a hot load). The .500 S&W Magnum is substantially larger and generates (on average) about 1,000 ft-pounds more. You can compare the pictures in the Wiki articles; the .50 AE is a little fatter than the .44 Magnum but about the same length, while the .500 Magnum is both thicker and quite a bit longer.
Revolver is a much better album name than automatic handgun.
i have posted this opinion before, but it bears repeating: if you can’t kill it with six shots from a .357 magnum, you probably shouldn’t be shooting at it
Everyone is John Wayne in their fantasies.
The reality is that firing a pistol well under ideal range conditions is a skilled task that requires practice.
Introduce a lot of stress to the situation, it becomes extremely difficult.
Cops, who are supposed to be trained to handle gun fights, have a lower than 20% hit rate on their first shots in even short ranged gunfights (I read the cite a while ago so I forget the exact details). So you can’t expect casual civilians to hit bullseyes at a whim when their life is in danger and they’re panicked and shaking.
If you put 5k+ rounds per year through your guns, and you practice practical combat situations, then yes, 6 will usually do fine. But expecting people (including yourself) with a more casual familiarity to be John Wayne under pressure is just ego-driven fantasy.
I meant “yourself” in the general sense - as in the people who proclaim “I don’t need more than X rounds!”
Thanks. This is an excellent example of why I think the best gun to have is the one you’re most comfortable with. “The one with which you are most comfortable”, I mean. Apparently that’s “double action revolver” for most people, but I don’t like the long pull of DA nor walking around with a cocked revolver. Eh, that’s just me.
Also, remember that not every autoloader is a dbl stacked 9mm. I have one, maybe two more shots from my .45 than the average revolver, and S&W makes a 7-shot 686 .357, so that matches the OEM mag in my 1911’s.
Heck, you really shouldn’t need more than two shots…
Do revolver-wielders practice double-taps?
Yes, it just takes a fraction of a second longer to complete is all.
I gotta start playing with S&W rather than Ruger. A 15 lb stagey trigger made me wonder if double-taps were even possible - I imagined this giant popeye-forearm looking trigger finger. 
I didn’t want to start yet another gun thread, so I’ll ask here: how much target practice is considered adequate to gain and keep proficiency? 100 rounds once a week?
I stand corrected. :smack:
I still retain my conviction of usefulness of these rounds. Elephants and boats.
Since no one else seems to want to venture an opinion, I’ll make one up.
To gain proficiency is subjective as all getout and could take any number of sessions. I shot a barrel out of a Llama .45 and several thousand rounds through my Colts before I felt as [del]cocky[/del] [del]arrogent[/del] confident as I do. Maintaining a certain level of proficiency depends on the level you want to maintain - I can’t keep a tight group like I could even 5 years ago, but 5000 rounds/year is a thing of the past (and, I hope, the future). First shot in the 9 ring is easier, first shot in the 8 is easier yet. Confidence in tactical skills requires far more than spending time at the range, a lot of practice drawing and going through drills.
If you’re already a decent shot, 100 rounds a week will probably make you a far better shot than I, especially if you listen to people who know what they’re doing (something I don’t always excel at). I shoot maybe 100 a month right now, and my targets show it. Still can keep all my shots in a chest at 15 yards, but I usedta could keep them in a head at that range.
For me, once a month isn’t enough.