Alphecca

You sure like those semis. I prefer a medium size revolver in .357 mag. Pick it up and pull the trigger thru. I don't know how well I would do in an intense situation,so I want to fire without playing with any controls on the gun. Jack

Jack.
If you should fire that .357 in the house, don't expect to hear anything for hours. The last time I shot a deer with one, without hearing protection, my ears rang for 3 hours. The high pitched bark is really rough on the hearing.

This year I took a deer with a .454Casull. No noticable ringing.

If you prefer revolvers, I'd recommend a larger caliber. They're not as bad on the hearing. Say a .45 Colt (double action) or a .44 special.

All a matter of personal preference; whatever you are most comfortable and efficient in using. Elmer Keith used to say, "Use the biggest damn gun you are comfortable with"; not bad advice.

I always loved those old TV shows where the cops or other good guys would be in some large "echo chamber" warehouse and get into a gun battle. Then, the shooting would stop and one would turn to the other and say, "Shhh, hear that?"

Right. Like they could hear anything other than the ringing in their ears after firing their guns. A .357 is simply too loud for indoor use. Granted, all guns are but a .45 seems reasonable, sub-sonic or something. You still won't hear anything, but only for a minute or two.

Trajectory, you are quite right about the bark of the .357. Funny thing about deer hunting. After 55 years and many a deer I never remember the sound of the shots or any recoil. The ears will remember,however. The .357 loaded with 158 gr. .38 spl rounds would be enough. Jack

Don't take a pistol to a gun fight. Take a rifle or a shotgun. And a friend with a rifle or shotgun.

That being said, for defensive pistol, I trust what begins in .4x - .40, .45 or big revolver cartridges (.480 Ruger, anyone?).

OK, Jeff, what the hell? I pride myself on being able to reverse-engineer any photo I see....but this??? Two pistols against the sky under a tall moose? Sasquatchand sky + pistolas?

Dude. You're an inscrutable visual genius! Oleg Volk, move OVER.

Robert, the guns are sitting on something that is probably a cloth on a table. There is a cat in the edge of the picture.

Jeff,

I have a PT 24/7 in 9mm. It came with a pair of 17rd mags, and is designed for a 17+1 configuration as well. I'm curious, because I haven't seen any mention of this anywhere. How do you get that 18th round in the chamber?

Rick,

It's easy:

1. Insert a full magazine.

2. Chamber a round. The mag now holds only 16 rounds.

3a. Replace the mag with a full mag, or

3b. Remove the mag, top it up with another round, and reinsert it.

I curently carry the PT24/7 12+1 in .45 acp. THe only thing you have to be carefull of is ammo. The 24/7 is very peculiar about amunition and really dislikes +p loads. I can shoot 200 rounds at the range (my sunday church) of cheapo wolf ammo without a hitch. But load it with corbons +p ammo and it will FUBAR quick. I keep it load it with XTs.
For home defense I keep a 12ga pump mosberg loaded with #1 buck.I prefer that load over the traditional #00 buck. It gives me 7 extra rounds of .30 cal goodness.

Robert: Heh! I rather liked the way the guns seemed to "float" in that picture. I really like the way my new cheapie Olympus digital camera is working out.

Rick: Kirk is, of course, correct. That's how I do it.

Actually, the toughest part is getting the 17th round into the magazine. I remember that when I had my Glock .40 caliber, I bought a nice 29-round magazine for it through Cheaper-Than-Dirt or some such place. I could never get more than about 26 in even with the "thumb helper". And if you leave magazines loaded to the max like that, the springs fatigue and when you need to fire, the bullets jam in the magazine or the spring gives out 2/3 of the way.

It's easy to "re-tension" the spring of course but not when you need it in an emergency...

My 24/7 is chambered in 9mm, and I have 3 17-rd mags. Jeff, what you said was what I had figured, altho I hadn't actually tried it. I was thinking there was a concern with the chambered round falling out if you removed the magazine--I guess that's not an issue.

I haven't tried my 24/7 with +P ammo--I use regular Winchester White Box, and I can shoot that stuff all day with no problems.

Ready to laugh? My "house gun" is my Mohawk 10C. I put a picture of it over on my blog.
Hey, it's acurate and I can shoot it.

Since there are no children at home, just my elderly parent, my "ready gun" is a Firestar .45acp with Glazers; and a 20-ga dbl-coach nearby with mixed "self-defense" and Forster-slugs in the butt-sleeves at the ready. I've been thinking about upgrading the .45acp to Federal's new Expanding Full-metal Jacket-loads, replacing the aging Glazers. And of-course a nice hefty (2)d-cell Maglite is always within arm's reach. A handy compromise between stuffing in the pocket and clubbing someone with REAL HARD.

Recently, I've been thinking about a Browning BDA 380acp for the office. Get one of those finger-code mini-safes for under the desk-top. Something small, light, and medium-powered for daylight-only. Probably loaded with Corbon Powerballs since we can't use JHP for self-defense here.

Ted: What state are you in that they don't allow hollow-points? I've never heard of that before.

After reading all these posts, I realise how under-gun'd I am with my puny revolver. I'll just have to resort to my 45 cal. Mac 10 with a 30 rd mag and Gemtech suppressor with the safety on and the selector on full auto. Will that do it ? Jack