Gunfight Survivors

[Bigtanker]

I posted this in the gun podcast thread but I think this deserves its own thread. The ProArms podcast has good people on it like Massad Ayoob. They have gun fight survivors tell their story. I've listened to most of them and the are quite eye opening. In the Ferris gun store robbery, a perp takes a load of 00 12 gauge buckshot AND a 1 oz slug to the spine and lives to commit another crime at a later day.

In the Almond Ave Pharmacy shootout, a perp takes a .45 Hydra-Shok to the face and drops instantly. He later gets up, leaves the store, sends a text then expires on a bench.

The Sikh Temple Shooting survivor is a great listen also. Mr. Murphy does an excellent job of telling his story.

http://proarmspodcast.com/category/gunfight-survivors/


There is also interviews with Indiana's own S&W master gunsmith Dennis Reichard from Sand Burr Gun Ranch.

 

[Steel and wood]

I know you have posted about them before. So after this time I went ahead and subscribed to the channel. Thanks for the heads up

 

[clelaj]

Can you direct us to the Sand Burr Gun Ranch Dennis Reichard interview?

 

[Bigtanker]

Can you direct us to the Sand Burr Gun Ranch Dennis Reichard interview?

Episode # 29. Is from 2009. Scroll down towards the bottom. It also includes another Hoosier gunsmith named Ray Saltzman out of Tipton.

http://proarmspodcast.com/029-a-tale-of-two-gunsmiths/

 

[Ark]

Some of these are really, really good stuff.

 

[Bigtanker]

Some of these are really, really good stuff.

I listened to episode 13 on "Snubbys" abd episode 15 on the 10mm tonight. Good discussion even if it is 10+ years old.

 

[Ark]

I listened to episode 13 on "Snubbys" abd episode 15 on the 10mm tonight. Good discussion even if it is 10+ years old.

Those are queued up. I'm interested to hear whether, even ten years ago, they have anything good to say about snubbys.

The descriptions of what some people can survive and continue functioning and fighting are crazy. It really ain't over until it's over.

 

[Bigtanker]

Those are queued up. I'm interested to hear whether, even ten years ago, they have anything good to say about snubbys.

The descriptions of what some people can survive and continue functioning and fighting are crazy. It really ain't over until it's over.

Listen to it and let me know what you think.

 

[Ark]

Listen to it and let me know what you think.

I spun it up for my evening run.

This group of people is roughly one generation above the people who make up my usual diet of gun content, which made it interesting. They come from this decades-long span in American history where revolvers ruled the roost, versus me never knowing a time without Glock. My diet of information has led me to believe that .38 is underpowered, 5 shots is pathetic, and revolvers are so glacially slow to reload that you're better off throwing them at your assailant when they run dry.

I am not entirely dissuaded from that viewpoint. But here's some things I took away:

-Mas and the others had a clear philosophy of use for snubbies: They are meant to be a backup to a primary weapon, and carried in an ankle holster or pocket. If they are carried as a primary, it's because they are better than nothing and better than the .380/.32/.25 mouse gun that otherwise would have been carried.

-They were all very specific about ammo. I was a little disappointed to jump on the computer and see that the Nyclad rounds had gone the way of the dodo.

-The panel readily acknowledged that snubbys had several traits that made them more challenging to shoot, but all seemed to believe they were very capable weapons in trained hands and that they were worth being proficient with.

-I had a good laugh at the moans and groans when the "pretty gun for a pretty lady" trope came up. Ten years later, people still say that crap, and still push nickle .38s into women's hands.

Still, it's difficult for me to pick up a Shield and see any reason to put it down in favor of a .38 snubby. My personal Shield holds twice the ammo of a J frame, has almost double the muzzle energy, is easier to shoot accurately than anything with a DA trigger, and can be reloaded as fast as I can swap a mag. My .380 mouse gun completely disappears inside my belt or in a jacket pocket at half the thickness of a J frame, and again can be reloaded faster. The price of good revolvers keeps going up, further making it tougher to justify as a purchase choice.

That said, I have absolutely no doubt any one of these people could burn me down with a .38 snubby. "Underpowered" or not, that round out of that gun has killed thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Americans. They're still being made, sold, carried, and used legally and illegally. They might be obsolete, but they aren't irrelevant. I don't see one being my primary carry any time soon, but I'm going to continue owning revolvers and training with them.