Rifles and pistols and shotguns oh my!

[Bruce]

How fast can those "no speed loaders" load their magazines in a "real life altercation"?

I'm willing to bet that you are more accurate (and less wimpy) with a gun that doesn't cause you pain.

Greybeard,

Go Marines!!!

That was one of the funnier of Hitchcock's videos, and I have enjoyed many, many of his Youtube videos. The guy is amazing and I really like his up front honesty and what I feel are unbiased reviews. Sometimes I wonder if he has shot a greater variety of weapons than anyone else in the world!

My wife and I started to use the Maglula speed loaders after taking a number of 4 day classes each of which lasted 8 hours a day. So that was nearly 32 hours on the range, a lot of it shooting, with some good training too. We have done three classes in a row and it can add up to nearly 100 hours. My concern is I would not have any thumbs left...only nubs.

To be 100% honest with you, our thumbs were incredibly sore when we did NOT use the Maglula speed loader. After some years of being "spoiled," we use the Maglula speed loader for every class and I still use it in our backyard range.

Some people looked down at us for using the Maglula speed loader...many of them old schooler's, but it did not matter, my thumbs were good to go!

One of the main arguments against it was, "Well, you can't use it in a real life altercation."
My response was, "Well, if I cannot stop 3 or 4 perps using two magazines, no amount of reloading will help me!"

My wrists are not very thick, and my wife's wrists are even skinnier than mine. My wrists would begin to hurt if I shot too many .45 rounds...so I retired my Glock 21 and now exclusively shoot only 9mm in the Glock 17, 19, and tactical 34. Don't mean to be a wimp, but that is what works for me! I could not handle 8 hour training classes for 4 days in a row with the .45 [whimper, whimper tail between the legs].

I would say costs of the ammo also had an influence on our decision to move exclusively to 9mm. Thousands upon thousands of rounds can begin to add up real fast. 9mm is now my favorite.

 

[Bruce]

Babs,

I have not seen this neighbor is quite some time. Next time I do see him, I will ask for more details.

BTW, it is a confirmed mountain lion. Neighbor next to us lost a calf, others nearby have lost sheep. DFGW gave warnings to all school age students and their families that it is not a good idea to walk our road to the bus stop. Also my good friend and neighbor found tracks and brought in a professional tracker and he told us from the size of the tracks, the mountain lion is 13 months old. It is the real deal. Another neighbor just lost his first lamb of the year to coyotes last week.

Yes, we are still looking for a good deal on a LGD. While we are waiting, I often walk the property line looking for animal tracks and activity but find none. This is the best I can do for right now...Our extensive repair to the outer perimeter fence has shut down all or nearly all animals from coming on our property for now.

3-4 weeks ago had some wild dogs injure two of our ewes while in the back forest. I was not fast enough with the gun...they were out of sight before I could retrieve and aim the gun. The wild dogs were coming in at a breach in the fence. As soon as we fixed the breach, most if not all animal activity has ceased.

I also checked the old coyote dens on our property, everyone of them is completely filled to the top with flood water...

If you have mountain lions you don't need A LGD, you need a PACK of LGDs!

 

[soarwitheagles]

Latestarter,

Good points, but I am not comfortable carrying the speed loader everywhere I go. I am not a police officer, but I am a CCW holder. I am not comfortable carrying/concealing more than one weapon with 2-3 mags unless I feel I am going into a situation that has a much greater potential for adversity.

Bruce, I think using the speed loader in a real life situation would not be as fast loading unless you are loading 5-10 magazines, and that would be a real anomaly in most real life situations.

Yes, for me, I am much more accurate with a 9mm in moving timed competition [IDPA types of competition], as well as at Frontsight's tests and other qualifying events. I got first place in our last event and most of the people were shooting .40's and .45's and at times I compete with police, sheriff, and FBI personnel. To be honest with you, I think I was more surprised than anyone else there!

I do not share this out of a sense of pride or arrogance. I realize now if you train for 8 hours a day, for day after day after day, your shooting skills become honed far beyond the "let's go to the range every other month" type of shooting. Having trainers that have their act together [highly professional] and know how to teach is a huge plus too. Repeated training develops neuro pathways in the brain and I have discovered after a while, you respond without even consciously thinking about what you are doing. This has both positive and some negative ramifications.

Example: the gentleman that helped me a lot is a world class shooter and he often trains police, military, and special forces. Our first time on the range together, I watched him put ten 9 mm rounds through one 9 mm hole at 15 yards with a Glock 19. I have seen him do it a number of times. Before meeting him, I thought that level of accuracy was not possible and only seen in movies...like Jack Reacher BS!

 

[Bruce]

I couldn't agree more. Lots of practice on your part make you better than a 'generic' police officer because you have more practice than they do, at least once they graduate the academy. There is primarily one reason top biathletes can ski-stop-shoot repeatedly and rarely miss. Practice practice and more practice.

If he put 10 rounds through the same hole, how do you know he wasn't shooting blanks after the first? JK of course.

 

[greybeard]

Ican use one, and find them enjoyableI'm not really a big fan of hand guns. I don't carry.

I would say costs of the ammo also had an influence on our decision to move exclusively to 9mm. Thousands upon thousands of rounds can begin to add up real fast. 9mm is now my favorite.

How about you? Do you have a favorite?

Not really. I can use one but never had much use for a sidearm.

 

[NH homesteader]

I carry a .40, my husband carries a .45 but if we were doing all day events like that we would probably switch it up! Mine is great for self defense but hurts to shoot after a while and is rather expensive.

 

[CntryBoy777]

I've always preferred a rifle over a pistol, and with the lack of availability of .22 LR here, I'm thinking of getting a 30-30 there's no very many shots taken here over 100yds, so it will do for my purposes.

 

[Bruce]

If you can't get it locally (or by hanging out at the Winchester plant in MI ) can't you just order it online?

 

[greybeard]

.22lr is beginning to be pretty plentiful around here. I bought 6 boxes of 40gr Winchester SuperX @ 100 round boxes a couple weeks ago at Academy.
I like CCI hp most of the time, but I didn't see it except in the 50 round boxes.

 

[Latestarter]

There are a number of reasons for the .22 shortage, some dealing with plant buy-outs, some dealing with actual & potential legislation (that didn't happen) causing some hoarding issues. The stock is starting to increase again and it's getting easier to find ammo now, but it's almost doubled in price...I bought ~4000 rounds before Xmas as presents and for my own use. The son and grandson had a blast while they were here Of course I killed a few boxes as well.