God told me to carry a brace of snubbies (two snubnosed revolvers) as my carry configuration. I like it. If one gun fails, I have another.

I got a new one today, a Charter Arms Undercover Lite .38 special. It’s so light it feels like a toy – it weighs 12 ounces, is made of aircraft-grade aluminum alloy, and can handle +P rounds. It’s a nice backup for my .357 mag Taurus 605 snubbie. Yay!

I love the brace of snubbies configuration:

It this works for concealed carry with an open shirt:

which makes the snubbies very quickly accessible:

I love revolvers. I actually sold a semi-auto 9mm to buy this new lite snubbie now rather than waiting for the next royalty check.

I usually don’t like photos of people pointing loaded guns at the camera, because they often end up being used elsewhere to imply that the person is crazy or violent. But I am not crazy nor violent, and these are pretty pictures, so dig ‘em. (note, no one is holding the camera, it’s a camera on a timer. I would never point even an unloaded gun at anyone for a photo, and certainly not a loaded gun, like these.)

–Michael W. Dean

(“You talkin’ to me, kitty? I’m the only one here….” lol…)

Check out “How safe do you feel knowing there are people around legally carrying concealed guns?” (survey, with results and discussions. 18% said they feel “very safe” knowing people are carrying concealed guns.)

Even ultra-liberal MSNBC says Record numbers now licensed to pack heat, Firearms deaths fall as millions obtain permits to carry concealed guns.

And for those of you who think only cops and the army should have guns, check out Cop accidentally shoots himself in store

or this wonderful YouTube video of a cop shooting himself in the foot in a classroom full of kids, after bragging that he’s the only person in the room “professional enough” to use a gun.

I used to carry a 9mm. It’s much easier to carry, concealed or open, and doesn’t weigh as much as the hog leg revolver. But the ability of .357 to punch through stuff is unquestionable.

(click on each photo to see it big)

Guns used in test: .357: Ruger GP-100 (six-inch barrel model- I picked the longer barrel for extra power and accuracy):

9mm: Springfield XD:

Targets: steel plates, 3/32 of an inch thick (between 1/8″ and 1/16″ thick):

Shooting distance: 11 yards (33 feet.) Targets were not clamped down and were allowed to fall when hit.

AMMO: 9mm: Winchester 9mm Luger, 115 gr. FMJ. .357: Hornady, 140 gr. JHP

RESULTS:

Hole is from .357 mag. Dents are from 9mm:

CONCLUSION: If you’re a good shot, and willing to deal with the extra weight and learn to use speedloaders quickly, a big .357 hog leg is probably a better carry gun for the Rocky Mountains than a small .9mm with more rounds. At least in winter. I have a friend here in Wyoming who says “9mm before Labor Day, .40 after Labor Day.”

I know there’s the whole argument of “penetration vs. expansion”, but JHP .357 expands once in. My point is it’s not going to be slowed down by heavy clothing. And .357 is the smallest caliber that can cause remote wounding by Hydrostatic Shock.

We have four-legged beasts here that can kill you, like cougars and bears. I’d rather face one with .357 than with 9mm.

From the FBI’s notes on the 10 mm:

“The fear of over-penetration is a misconception, which was created back when law enforcement was trying to overcome misinformed public resistance to the use of hollowpoint ammunition. In the process, we began to believe it ourselves. First, our lawyers are unaware of any successful legal action resulting from the injury of a bystander due to a round over-penetrating the subject. We are aware of numerous incidents of Agents/officers being killed because their round did not penetrate enough (Grogan and Dove, for example). Further, if you examine shooting statistics you will see that officers hit the subject somewhere around 20-30% of the time. Thus 70-80% of shots fired never hit their intended target, and nobody ever worries about them – only the ones that might “over-penetrate” the bad guy. Third, as our testing shows, even the most frangible bullets designed specifically for shallow penetration will plug up when striking wood or wallboard and then penetrate like full metal jacket ammunition. We are aware of successful legal actions where an innocent party has been struck by a shot passing through a wall, but as we have proven, ALL of them will do that.”

And from
http://www.lesjones.com/posts/003216.shtml :

“Grogan and Dove were the two FBI agents killed in the 1986 Miami shootout with a pair of bank robbers named Platt and Matix. Five other agents were wounded. Matix fired only one shot, which missed. Platt did all of the rest of the fighting against the FBI agents and arriving Metro-Dade police officers. He soaked up numerous bullet wounds, including several rounds of 12 gauge 00 buckshot that hit his legs as he wriggled out of a wrecked car, and one 9 mm hollowpoint round that entered through his arm early in the fight and stopped just short of his heart. Platt was pretty much everyone’s worst nightmare – ex-military, well-practiced, and unrelenting. “As a result of ammunition failures in Miami, the FBI undertook a program of extensive ammunition testing. The FBI concluded that a minimum of 12 inches of penetration in ballistic gelatin was necessary for reliable incapacitation, and “18 inches is better.”

ALSO: On a note related to self-defense, but not related to the above tests, I’ve added an aftermarket front sight, fiber optic HiViz brand. Really helps find your target in low light:

Got my Wyoming concealed carry permit today. Meant more to me than when I got my driver’s license. (I didn’t get a driver’s license until I was 21, and never really drove much.) Getting a concealed weapon permit is a large part of the reason I moved to Wyoming….getting one is pretty much impossible in Los Angeles County, unless you’re a movie star or a judge.

You have to live in Wyoming six months before you can apply, and it took a month to get it. I’ve been here seven months, and have been open carrying the whole time. It was a trip to actually conceal carry, walk down the street, go to the library, go eat lunch with the wife. It felt good, like walking on the moon.

The libertarian in me doesn’t like the idea of needing a government-endorsed card to practice an inalienable right, but the Republican in me digs being able to get the card, and getting it.

Ironically for me, the Wyoming legislature is currently mulling a bill that would allow concealed carry without a permit, and that bill may pass. (Yay!). But my permit will still allow me to carry in Utah, the Dakotas, Montana and a bunch of other states. (Not New York or California though! Those places are no friends of freedom.)

Also ironic is that my permit was available yesterday for pickup, but it was Presidents’ Day, so the office was closed. “President’s Day” is what they call it, but it’s officially called “George Washington’s Birthday”, and I think George would have been appalled at the idea of needing a permit to carry a gun. He didn’t need no stinking papers to carry!

Anyway, it’s a really good day, and I’m very happy!

–Michael W. Dean