I need a little advice
Given some of the situations I've been finding myself in of late (working late alone at a dental office across the street fron Greenspoint (gunspoint?) mall) I'm seriously considering obtaining a CCW. I've been reluctant to do so for cost reasons. And cost is still a factor as my wife is still out of work, therefore this might have to wait until she finds a job and some of the bills we've been running up over the last 6 months are paid back down.
I need some suggestions for both good places on the north side of town to obtain my CCW training, as well as the best weapon/holster combo to carry.
I currently own two handguns, a Taurus PT-58 12+1 in .380 Auto, and a Nickel S&W .357 Magnum Revolver (I forget the specific model, possibly a 686, although that doesn't sound right) with a 6" barrell. Neither of those is ideal I think for a carry weapon, the S&W has no safety and is a bit too big to stuff in the waistband of my pants. The PT-58 is inaccurate as hell, the barrel floats and each trigger pull causes it to be pointing in slightly different directions. You'd be lucky to hit the broad side of a barn from the inside of said barn with the door closed. While the PT-58 is a bit more amenable to a waistband holster, it is still a bit bulky. And .380 is not exactly known for it's stopping power either. I think I would prefer a Semi-auto over a revolver due to the smaller cross-section, although I admit Autos are a bit more prone to mechanical malfunction and in cases where every millisecond counts, this could very well be a life and death issue.
So my requirements are as follows:
Small and lightweight, smooth cross-section.
Enough stopping power to make sure I don't just piss the guy off.
Enough rounds in the magazine to make sure that the guy and his buddies goes down and stays down, even if I'm all hyped up on adrenaline and miss more than half my shots.
good accuracy if shot well.
comfortable holster for inside waistband that allows easy and quick draw for someone with limited rotator cuff range of motion (I can reach the small of my back fairly easily however).
Relatively inexpensive (I don't have a grand to spend on a gun)
Anybody have any suggestions?
I need some suggestions for both good places on the north side of town to obtain my CCW training, as well as the best weapon/holster combo to carry.
I currently own two handguns, a Taurus PT-58 12+1 in .380 Auto, and a Nickel S&W .357 Magnum Revolver (I forget the specific model, possibly a 686, although that doesn't sound right) with a 6" barrell. Neither of those is ideal I think for a carry weapon, the S&W has no safety and is a bit too big to stuff in the waistband of my pants. The PT-58 is inaccurate as hell, the barrel floats and each trigger pull causes it to be pointing in slightly different directions. You'd be lucky to hit the broad side of a barn from the inside of said barn with the door closed. While the PT-58 is a bit more amenable to a waistband holster, it is still a bit bulky. And .380 is not exactly known for it's stopping power either. I think I would prefer a Semi-auto over a revolver due to the smaller cross-section, although I admit Autos are a bit more prone to mechanical malfunction and in cases where every millisecond counts, this could very well be a life and death issue.
So my requirements are as follows:
Small and lightweight, smooth cross-section.
Enough stopping power to make sure I don't just piss the guy off.
Enough rounds in the magazine to make sure that the guy and his buddies goes down and stays down, even if I'm all hyped up on adrenaline and miss more than half my shots.
good accuracy if shot well.
comfortable holster for inside waistband that allows easy and quick draw for someone with limited rotator cuff range of motion (I can reach the small of my back fairly easily however).
Relatively inexpensive (I don't have a grand to spend on a gun)
Anybody have any suggestions?
posted by Rorschach at
2/07/2006 01:05:00 PM
11 Comments:
Get your licesne, don't wait another day, Ror!
For now, I think I'll stick to the Taurus, with 13 rounds, even as innacurate as it is, SURELY a couple will hit from 15 yards max range. if the guy is further away frm that, I probably won't be firing anyway. eventually I may look into a glock 19 or 26 or maybe one of the other plastic semi-autos out there.
now all I need is a good comfortable waistband holster and a instructor willing to teach me the course on the cheap.
Give Stanley Smith a call. He lives on Deerlick, not far from you. He is retired Harris County, and teaches several classes each year.
He is also involved with the Republican Party, and is pretty easy to get a hold of.
None of it is cheap. The classes are not the only cost....you have to send the license fee in with your application. I think I'll re-up next time at Guns and Ammo on Huffmeister. You can Google it and read about their classes. They shoot at Hot Wells. Or there's always Carter's Country sort of out that way. You want to qualify with at least a 9 so you can have both the SA and whatever the other designation is. Mind is misfiring tonight! I carry a S&W .38 revolver, but I sprung for the Cor-Bon ammo that's supposed to at least get their attention. :-) Carter's has layaway, ya know and they sell used, but seems like folks think their piece increases in value once it becomes their piece and then they want to sell it for serious cash. I like revolvers and the new hammerless ones are sweet. I qualified with a semi though because it's got a sight than even a blind woman can see! I'm a good shot too and just love the smell of gunpowder in the morning!
Thanks Tom, if you have more contact info for Mr. Smith, you've got my e-mail address, I'd appreciate you dropping me a line.
Txgoodie, I intend to qualify with a semi-auto so that I can carry either a semi or a revolver (or both!), If I were to qualify with a revolver, I'd be stuck with a wheelgun whether I liked it or not. I may want to rent a decent semi for quals so that the inherent innaccuracy of the gun doesn't torpedo my chances any. I also need to start going to the range a lot more often, I haven't been in ages and my accuracy is probably worse that the gun's at this point. =D One thing about it though, that S&W does shoot sweet, even if it does tousel the hair on the guy three lanes over from the side blast....
Yeh, I know it ain't cheap and I still can't quite figure out how this meshes with the "right to bear arms... shall not be infringed" thing.... seeing as how it is essentially a tax on bearing said arms (which is in of itself and infringement!) as well as backdoor registration. I mean who'd get a CCW and not own a gun? getting your CCW is an admission you own at least ONE handgun after all.
Is it possible to get used SIG guns? These were once manufactured in Switzerland and had sterling reputations (along with astronomical prices).
In any case, good luck with your search--although the Taurus seems like a decent choice.
No need to worry about qualifing no matter what weapon your choose...if you can't nail it in the 3ft and 6ft range then you'll always have the 9ft distance to finish the job! It's not like you're going up on the tower at UT and trying to take out folks. :-)
When you qualify they make you start with an empty gun and then tell you how many rounds to load and the bursts they want, etc. It's far easier than if you'd be at Gunspoint in the dark parking lot in fear of your life.
This is on Jim Pruett's Guns and Ammo site: Class fee for a new license is $125.00 instructor fee, $140.00 state fee and
renewal $85.00 instructor fee, $70.00 state fee.
That includes certificate, range fees, targets, finger prints, notary, get your passport photos taken at any Walgreens store and catered lunch, from El Charro Mexican Restaurant (Chicken Sandwich).
The link is http://www.jimpruett.net/texas%20chl%20class.htm#How%20much%20does%20it%20cost?
If you're looking at a Glock 19, why not a Glock 23 (.40 S&W)? It's the same size, but spits out a beefier round.
Cowboy, The Glock 23 is definitely a viable alternative, I do like the idea of large gaping wound channels after all. But I've been thinking about the lack of a real safety on the Glocks and that does have me concerned a bit seeing as how it'll be residing in my waistband a good deal of the time. I've heard reports that even seasoned PD officers have had inadverent weapons discharges with the Glocks. I may look at other plastic autos from people like Sig and S&W when funds permit. One downside of firing a big honkin round out of a plastic gun is the lack of mass in the gun tends to limit how well it absorbs recoil.
I carry a Sprinfield XD Subcompact. I modified a hogue grip for it and put a small extender on the clips and it is extremely confortable. They come in both 9mm and 40S&W. They are small, plastic, have and additional grip safty the Glock dosent have and fairly accurate for only a 3 in barrel. Ive shot many guns in the full size models, including H&K, Sig, Glock, S&W, Springfield,ect and out of all of them the full size springfield felt the most natural and both me an a buddy shot the best with the springfield, and it was the least expensive gun we shot that day. The subcompact version. was the same except I did shoot very well with a freind of mine's Kar. It was a little slimmer but much more expensive.
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