05-15-2022, 05:28 PM
Looks like I'm late to the party.
I don't have any specific recommendations, but I do have some general observations.
Since you specified you've never shot a gun, and are a bit scared of them (which I don't think is a bad thing - it encourages a healthy respect for machinery that can make permanent health changes to your immediate surroundings), I wouldn't go for the .357's and .45's right out of the gate. Those might make matters worse for you, what with all the sound and fury and recoil they can generate. Instead, maybe look to a 9mm or smaller, maybe a .380. An added bonus is that those calibers have a lighter recoil and can be found in a smaller frame for easier concealment.
Just having a bigger gun is no replacement for putting the bullet where you want it to hit. I think it was Jeff Cooper or Elmer Keith who once said that a solid hit with a .22 was a lot more discouraging than a really loud miss with a .45. I've known 3 people who were shot with a lowly .22, and none of them were very happy about it. One was a Rockingham County NC sheriff's deputy who got hit just below the edge of his vest, one was a guy who had to be carried out of the wilderness after getting shot in the leg with one, and still uses a cane to this day, and one carried the bullet next to his heart for decades before he died, because it was too close to his heart to remove. None of them reported it to have been a pleasant experience. You don't have to actually kill an attacker to put them out of commission, but it may help at court time for them to be dead enough to not contradict your testimony.
Back when I was training cops, and this was decades ago, there was a debate raging about whether it was better to shoot to kill or shoot to merely wound, so I asked one of the students who had worked the streets for years, and was there for his annual two weeks of in-service training, whether he would shoot to kill or shoot to wound, and his reply was classic - "I won't say which, but I will say that dead men tell no tales".
Regarding the badger walk with a 12 gauge shotgun, I'd like to add that I think an eye-patch and some leather clothing would add to the ambience of the situation. On you, not the badger.
There has been debate as to calibers since shooting began, with one camp being of the "bigger is better" opinion, opposed by their opposite numbers, who prefer smaller calibers and more precise shooting with them. I've always been of the small-caliber camp, which has led me into some lively discussions over the years. I like smaller guns because I can carry more ammo for them, thus allowing me to be obnoxious longer in an affray. I generally go no larger than 9mm myself. I had a government issue 1911 .45 for a long while, but immediately when I was done with it, I actually gave it away. I wanted rid of it so bad that I wasn't even willing to charge money for it. Why carry just 8 rounds when you can carry 14 or more in a 9mm? I then proceeded to get a Browning HP-35, "High Power" in 9mm, because it carried 13 in the magazine and one up the spout. That was back in the days when that was the highest capacity pistol you could get.
Technology has increased over the years. That Taurus I carry has 17 round magazines as standard, although I have a few 20 round and a few 32 round magazines for it, for special occasions. Those are not for everyday carry - they stick out too far, and make awkward, hard to explain away, lumps in a fella's clothes. I carry one magazine in the pistol and two more stashed about my scrawny person. If anyone gets hurt in a ruckus, I don't want to be the last one.
As for concealment, I concealed carry in the appendix carry, or more usually at the small of my back, and, every now and then if I'm going to be sitting a lot, in a shoulder rig. I'm not a bulky fella, I'm tall and stringy, but I can still concealed carry in any of those positions without any trouble. All it takes is a light jacket to make them work, and I carry a Taurus PT-92 which has a fairly large frame, about the same as a government M9. There is no end to the places I could stash a smaller framed pistol.
.
I don't have any specific recommendations, but I do have some general observations.
Since you specified you've never shot a gun, and are a bit scared of them (which I don't think is a bad thing - it encourages a healthy respect for machinery that can make permanent health changes to your immediate surroundings), I wouldn't go for the .357's and .45's right out of the gate. Those might make matters worse for you, what with all the sound and fury and recoil they can generate. Instead, maybe look to a 9mm or smaller, maybe a .380. An added bonus is that those calibers have a lighter recoil and can be found in a smaller frame for easier concealment.
Just having a bigger gun is no replacement for putting the bullet where you want it to hit. I think it was Jeff Cooper or Elmer Keith who once said that a solid hit with a .22 was a lot more discouraging than a really loud miss with a .45. I've known 3 people who were shot with a lowly .22, and none of them were very happy about it. One was a Rockingham County NC sheriff's deputy who got hit just below the edge of his vest, one was a guy who had to be carried out of the wilderness after getting shot in the leg with one, and still uses a cane to this day, and one carried the bullet next to his heart for decades before he died, because it was too close to his heart to remove. None of them reported it to have been a pleasant experience. You don't have to actually kill an attacker to put them out of commission, but it may help at court time for them to be dead enough to not contradict your testimony.
Back when I was training cops, and this was decades ago, there was a debate raging about whether it was better to shoot to kill or shoot to merely wound, so I asked one of the students who had worked the streets for years, and was there for his annual two weeks of in-service training, whether he would shoot to kill or shoot to wound, and his reply was classic - "I won't say which, but I will say that dead men tell no tales".
Regarding the badger walk with a 12 gauge shotgun, I'd like to add that I think an eye-patch and some leather clothing would add to the ambience of the situation. On you, not the badger.
There has been debate as to calibers since shooting began, with one camp being of the "bigger is better" opinion, opposed by their opposite numbers, who prefer smaller calibers and more precise shooting with them. I've always been of the small-caliber camp, which has led me into some lively discussions over the years. I like smaller guns because I can carry more ammo for them, thus allowing me to be obnoxious longer in an affray. I generally go no larger than 9mm myself. I had a government issue 1911 .45 for a long while, but immediately when I was done with it, I actually gave it away. I wanted rid of it so bad that I wasn't even willing to charge money for it. Why carry just 8 rounds when you can carry 14 or more in a 9mm? I then proceeded to get a Browning HP-35, "High Power" in 9mm, because it carried 13 in the magazine and one up the spout. That was back in the days when that was the highest capacity pistol you could get.
Technology has increased over the years. That Taurus I carry has 17 round magazines as standard, although I have a few 20 round and a few 32 round magazines for it, for special occasions. Those are not for everyday carry - they stick out too far, and make awkward, hard to explain away, lumps in a fella's clothes. I carry one magazine in the pistol and two more stashed about my scrawny person. If anyone gets hurt in a ruckus, I don't want to be the last one.
As for concealment, I concealed carry in the appendix carry, or more usually at the small of my back, and, every now and then if I'm going to be sitting a lot, in a shoulder rig. I'm not a bulky fella, I'm tall and stringy, but I can still concealed carry in any of those positions without any trouble. All it takes is a light jacket to make them work, and I carry a Taurus PT-92 which has a fairly large frame, about the same as a government M9. There is no end to the places I could stash a smaller framed pistol.
.
Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’