Call Me Old Fashioned

Well, I am old fashioned, some of the time. Other times I have the have the newest and flashiest. Well I don't know. The only way I am consistent is that I am not consistent. A few years ago it was bigger is better. I loved my magnums. I owned 2 .357's, 2 .44's, and a .22 mag. I was drooling over a .32 mag and a .454, and the .45 mag. You would think that with Smith's introduction of the .460 and .500 magnums, I would be in heaven wouldn't you. Would you believe I don't presently own anything that ends in ums?

I also used to be a .45 fan. My main carry gun was a Ruger KP90D. I loved that Ruger and could still kick myself for not keeping it. I shot well with it and never felt under armed with the Ruger stocked full of 230 grain hydroshocks. My main carry gun at the moment is a FEG version of the Hi-Power. It it stocked with 147 grain hydroshocks. I don't shoot quiet as well with it yet weak hand, but strong hand I am just as good, if not better. I had 3 clips with the Ruger and have 3 with the FEG. I carried 8 in the Ruger, with a 7 round back up factory mag and a 10 round aftermarket mag. This gave me 25 rounds. With the FEG I have 3 15 round Melgar mags. 1 functions fine with 15, one jams consistently if you load it that full, and one works sometimes and sometimes doesn't with 15. They all work fine with 14 rounds though, so I load em all three with 15, chamber a round and then drop the clip and replace it. This gives me 43 rounds. The holes might not be quite as big, but I can put 18 more of them into something, or someone.

I carried the Ruger mainly in cooler weather when I wore a jacket. I tried it in the summer with an untucked t shirt, but even with an IWB holster, if I was very active, it didn't stay concealed. In warmer weather I tended to carry either a Taurus Model 85, 5-shot .38 special, or a 6 shot Davis .380. The .380 I carried with 95 grain Winchester XTP's, the .38 I kept stocked with 125 grain Federal Nyclads, until I couldn't find them, then I went to 148 Winchester Silver Tips I think.

My first handgun was a Model F Starr .22. It was a single action autoloader. It carried either 8 or 10 in the clip. It's been a long time and I traded the thing for the .38 mentioned above. It was a compact little weapon, but made of steel. The sights were tiny and the rear sight kept breaking loose on me, until I had a gunsmith lock it down with some type of glue. I carried that thing crammed down in the top of a cowboy boot several times in condition one carry. I also bought my first shoulder holster for it. It was an Uncle Mike horizontal draw holster. It also worked for the .38, but it wasn't very comfortable, and the .38 usually ended up either in an IWB holster.

My second handgun was a Taurus .357 Magnum Model 66. This is a very close copy of a Smith and Wesson Model 19, although with an internal firing pin and transfer bar safety more like a Ruger. My 66 had a 6 inch barrel and I carried it in either a shoulder holster or a hard leather belt holster. The belt holster was hard to conceal and the shoulder holster was my last try at being James Bond. Those things are really uncomfortable, and with a revolver this size, it takes a winter coat, even on a big guy like me, unless you have your stuff tailored. My first try at ammo for this gun was Winchester Silvertips, 148 grain. I later moved to whichever 125 grain hollowpoint I could find. The same holsters served me for the Ruger Redhawk .44 magnum with the 8 1/2" barrel I later acquired. I never carried it for defense, so I think a few 180 grain Winchester hollow points were the only factory rounds that went through it. Mostly it ate handloads. I also had for a couple of years a Smith and Wesson Model 29 with a 2 3/4 inch barrel. I bought it off a friend, then later sold it back to him. There was also a few months where I had a Charter Arms Bulldog .44 special with a 2 inch barrel. My other .357 was a Ruger Blackhawk single action. That thing would fire anything you could cook up. I also owned a Ruger Super Single Six with the .22 and the .22 magnum cylinder. I also had a Ruger .22 Auto with a bull barrel. I miss both those .22 a lot. I had a Taurus Model PT-25 with the little tip up barrel too. I had a little double-barrel .38 special derringer I picked up at an estate sale. The only ammo that was even remotely comfortable to shoot in that little bastard was snake shot. Anyway, with the exception of a couple of .25's a Davis, a Raven, and a little Galessi. I think that is a pretty accurate accounting of all my old handguns.