The Big Gun

[JohnL]

>Demi Moore using a Desert Eagle automatic pistol. Heck, I think she even had
>two: one in each hand

I could be mistaken, but I think they were gold.

>Have any of these people fired one? The .50 cal version weighs in at 96 ounces!
>That is 6 lbs of handgun and it still kicks like a .44 shooting hot loads.

I didn't think it was that bad. My father owns two of them (he heard they would be banned and he wanted one, but only the black version was available, he bought it and then the satin finish became available, which is the one he really wanted) and I went to the range with him once. Now before you get the idea that maybe I'm just strong enough not to notice, let me assure you that I'm not. I actually have embarassingly skinny arms. I mean, it kicked, but not so much that I had a problem with it. A bigger problem was that since I only have sight in my left eye and I was holding it slightly to the left, the shells kept hitting me in the forehead!

>So, no. I probably wouldn't own a .50, or a .45, or a 30/30, or a 10 gauge or 12
>gauge, or even a .22.

I've got a .22 Ruger semi-auto pistol, a present from my father. It's been sitting in the box for the last decade or so.

[Andrew]

I will say that the ammo I was firing was handloaded, but the fellow said it was what he would call a medium load for the gun.  Still, my ability to get the weapon back on target had a big lag compared to my .45.  Between the recoil and the movement of that big, heavy slide moving back and forth - just not fun to shoot.  This coming from a person who shoots .45 ACP all the time and I know a lot of people who do not enjoy anything heavier than about 9mm or .38 (my wife is one).

And still, 6 lbs to lug around and one on each hip if you have two.  Not to mention the ammo, which is a good deal larger and heavier than .45 ammo.  Heck, the darn thing is three pounds heavier than a loaded .45, when the Desert Eagle is empty.

[Rob Phillips]

Andrew, as an old Army guy speaking to a current Marine I would expect you to know better than say something like this.

Being a White guy, I guess I need to say it's not the size of the gun, but what you do with it.

On the other hand, I know Andrew meant to say "Big Weapon", which also doesn't matter the size as much as what you do with it! Don't worry Andrew, I won't tell!

Do they still say the little ditty in the service: "this is my weapon, this is my gun, this one's for killing, this one's for fun?"

P.S. I never said I was a very good minister, I think I spent too much time in the military . . . but I do try to help people and they seem to appriciate it.

:-)

Rob

[Flangepart]

If you can't hit the target, you just makein' noise....and firecrakers are cheaper.

[ahab]

I think that a lot of people want the big calibre's because they think as Scott joked it will make them a tough guy, at least untill they fire it and land on there ass. i own 3 handguns, a ruger .45, a single action .22 and a black powder .44. about a year ago on of my roommates kept bugging me to let him go shooting with me so i took him. we shot the .22 first. then i let him try the .45. The one thing i like about the ruger .45's is that they have about half the kick of most .45's. anyway when my roommate shot it, it almost flew out of his hands and knocked him back a step or two. once i finished laughing and took the gun out of his hands i asked him what went wrong. he told me he thought it would be like movies.

Brother R. my mistake i think rutger refers to to the handgun as a glock but unsure of the number. Most of the guns in that movie are real ones with aftermarket add ons.

[raj]

Plus, those guns are too big for me to carry concealed.

I'd rather just have a plain old Colt .45, M1911A, much less work keeping clean than all the shiney gold/brass/chrome.

I did shoot a 2 shot derringer .357.  Now, I've shot .357, I have a .357, but this thing was so damn small that I couldn't get a good grip on it.  The thing flew back & hit me in the head. Had to get a couple of stitches.

[ahab]

If any of you want to see the money involved in owning one of these bag's check out:   http://www.forthehunt.com

kind of an ebay for guns. they have most anything you want to see including a whole section of automatic and other type 3 weapons including supressors.

[Funk, E.]

I don't think people understand the trade offs involved in handgun design. Everyone seems to think big calibur and lots of FPS make a gun effective. What makes a gun effective is speed and accuracy. If I can put a .22 through your eye. your dead. I personally prefer the .40 magnum. Good penetration and stopping power without feeling like a wild weasle in your hands.

[kdraut]

Funk, E. wrote: I personally prefer the .40 magnum. Good penetration and stopping power without feeling like a wild weasle in your hands.

Er, .40 Smith and Wesson, maybe?  ".40 Magnum" (Magnum is always capitalized) could be used to refer to 10mm, I guess, .40 S&W is sometimes referred to as "10mm lite."  

I agree with you on shot placement though.  True story:  A friend of mine runs a pawn shop in Florida.  A random nutjob came in the shop with a katana and tried to gut my friend.  While bleeding profusely from a massive stab wound, my friend retrieved his pipsqueak .25 ACP and put 6 rounds into the bad guys head.  FOUR SHOTS through the EYE SOCKETS.  Moral of the story: A .25 in your hand beats a .45 left at home. OR:  Don't bring a knife to a gunfight.

Raj:  I had a chance to shoot a friend's .38 Special derringer.  I loaded it, took my usual two-handed Weaver stance that I use in competition, aimed, squeezed.  BOOM!  Lotsa muzzle flame, recoil out the wazoo, shot went about about a foot wide of the target (at 7 yards!).  I put the gun down and realized that my left hand felt funny.  The hair was burned of my first two fingers!  I can only imagine what a .357 must be like.

Kirk

[Ash]

You have a shiny metal ass!!??

UGGH!!

[raj]

kdraut wrote:


>
> Raj:  I had a chance to shoot a friend's .38 Special derringer.
>  I loaded it, took my usual two-handed Weaver stance that I use
> in competition, aimed, squeezed.  BOOM!  Lotsa muzzle flame,
> recoil out the wazoo, shot went about about a foot wide of the
> target (at 7 yards!).  I put the gun down and realized that my
> left hand felt funny.  The hair was burned of my first two
> fingers!  I can only imagine what a .357 must be like.
>

As a self defense gun, really its only usage, it sucks, for me at least.  The guy who owned it is about 6'2", 200+ lbs.  I'm much smaller so the recoil affects me more.  Plus I am use to gripping with the whole hand-- especially with the pinky.  With this gun you can't do that.  What I need to do is get to a range with my .380.  Powerful enough, but manageable.

[Flangepart]

Kdraut: Heres an altermitive. A custom set of grips for the derrenger. Lengthen the grip so you can use the lower two fingers.Changes the grip profile, but it can't be worse then the grip profile on a .38 snubby.

[raj]

Actually that was for me.  And it was a friend's derringer.  I do like the grip on my .380, it fits my hand just perfectly.

Flangepart wrote:

> Kdraut: Heres an altermitive. A custom set of grips for the
> derrenger. Lengthen the grip so you can use the lower two
> fingers.Changes the grip profile, but it can't be worse then
> the grip profile on a .38 snubby.
>
>