When Flying Saucers Attack!

[Celesta]

Hey Stan,

I'm psyched for it because it looked new.

We don't have near as many personal stories on here about UFOs as we used to. Seems like people ran out of energy when the site crashed.

I think my husband is thinking about getting me a gun for Christmas. I'm not sure what to think! My eyesight is not so good anymore. I was serious about getting a shotgun back when I was walking our dog because we kept having bad experiences with pit bulls and other dangerous animals. One day we had a really bad experience and that is when I quit walking the dog at all in the neighborhood. But I wanted a shotgun anyway. I don't know! I'm chicken.

[sdreid]

Hi Cel,

If your husband is thinking about buying you a gun then he must be truly sure of your affection!!

I just bought a new xM-15 with muzzle brake and 40 round magazine last week. My intent is to get a 100 round double drum magazine for it. Keeping my fingers crossed for Christmas.

[Celesta]

Hey Stan,

I guess I was wondering if you thought it would be futile for someone with my crummy eyesight to think of taking up target practice.

I don't know. Maybe he's not thinking of it as a gift for me but for both of us. He has been eying my packs and bags to see if a gun would fit! I don't know if he's kidding or not but the other day he drove us past an indoor firing range, just to see if they were still there.

It's been years since I did any shooting. I could hit the target---most of the time! But I was firing a 38 one time and it somehow pinched my thumb down in the palm and it was the worst bruise I have ever had. Hurt like crap and I could hardly use my hand for days. I was very nervous about shooting again. I did but I was really leery of it happening again.

If he really does get one, I'll gut it up and do it. It's just that usually I receive computers or other technology type gadgets for gifts. The switch to a gun would be---ahem---different. Still, I guess living where we do we really ought to have one. I grew up in a generation or culture or whatever that thought that everyone ought to know how to shoot and how to drive, I guess.

[sdreid]

Hi Cel,

I don't know how bad your sight is but you can adjust the distance of the targets in many places to make an allowance. Hopefully you'll never have to use a gun defending against someone breaking into your home but if you do, you're going to be shooting at a pretty big target that is probably only about ten feet away.

[sdreid]

Correction - In post #1135 that should be Melvern Noll not Knoll

[Celesta]

Hi Stan,

Thank you. I wasn't thinking of it that way. I was seeing that target several yards away in a firing range. You're quite right.

Best,

Cel

[Mike Covell]

All this talk about guns is scaring me, in the UK we have no right to bear arms, which is a blessing and a shame!

[Celesta]

Mike,

I can't explain it. It's just an American thing, or at least for a large number of us. I believe a responsible person can own a weapon and use it responsibly. I don't think they should be in the hands of criminals but I don't think the rest of us should have to pay for their bad behavior. It makes me nervous, yet I still think, living where we do right now, that it would be better to have one for our own safety. It is frightening to most Americans that the government would restrict their rights to have a weapon because there is the lingering and not unrealistic notion that an armed people is safer from their own government or from invaders.

Spoken like a true liberal. Stan will get a smile out of this! A gun-toting leftie!

[Mike Covell]

All this reminds me of the case where some family where living on a farm that was besieged by little green men, a gun battle followed for some time!

[Celesta]

I guess I sound a bit paranoid, Mike. It's a high crime area. Most of the people are okay, but there's bad ones here, too.

I know we Americans sometimes seem contradictory.

[sdreid]

All this reminds me of the case where some family where living on a farm that was besieged by little green men, a gun battle followed for some time!

I remember that one. It seems like the aliens would have been so much more advanced that the hillbillies wouldn't have had a prayer.

[Mike Covell]

Stan, I think I would use arms if an anal probin' was on the cards!!

[Vila]

Maybe he's not thinking of it as a gift for me but for both of us. He has been eying my packs and bags to see if a gun would fit! I don't know if he's kidding or not but the other day he drove us past an indoor firing range, just to see if they were still there.

Celesta, may I recommend a useful little tool that I carry when working in the yard? It's a Bond Arms company derringer, the Texas Defender model. It fires both .45 Long Colt pistol cartridges and/or .410 shotgun shells. It is a very solid piece of workmanship, two barrels, single action - that is, for the uninitiated, the hammer has to be pulled back every time one wishes to fire the pistol. It is roughly the same size and weight of a .38 snub-nosed revolver or a .32 automatic. For a derringer, it's big. There are photos of it one of my hobby threads over on How's Forums:

http://www.jtrforums.com/showthread.php?t=2288

Just scroll down the thread and the photos are labeled.

I keep .410 shotgun shells in it when I'm out in the yard and stand a good chance of walking up on a rattlesnake or copperhead. The holster I made for it has cartridge loops for 8 rounds. I keep 4 or each type in there.

There is also a revolver called the "Judge" that is a little longer than a .38 snubby, but can carry six rounds of .45 Long Colt or .410 shotshells. I forget who makes that one, but a bit of google fu should tell you and your husband any info you wish.

Feel free to contact me privately if you want more info, or just want to take the firearms discussion off-Casebook.

I hope I've been helpful,

Vila

[sdreid]

I'd recommend a .40 S&W single/double action 6 shot revolver if you are only going to have one gun. It will fire single action for accuracy or double action for speed sort of like an automatic. Also, it has better stopping power than a .38 or 9mm but isn't too powerful like a .357 magnum or the like. A .45 ACP S/D action revolver would be my second choice with a little more power but they're mostly only 5 shot. If you want a less reliable but higher capacity automatic then get that for your second gun. You can get a .40 S&W or .45 ACP that would use the same ammunition as your revolver if you wish.

[Celesta]

Hi Dan and stan,

Thanks so much, guys, for the recommendations. I'll go online and look at these. I don't know if Tom is serious about this, but he's been bringing it up lately. I appreciate your advice. I'll let you know what goes on with this. I wasn't kidding about the pit bulls.

Best,

Cel