“It’s just an intrusion on a man’s quiet…” ~ Kevin Costner as former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer in “The Highwaymen” speaking about the new fangled car radio.
I enjoy road trips, and I do find the sentiment expressed by Costner’s character to be valid. A person can cover a lot of mental ground while the covering the miles, and sometimes this can lead one down unexpected roads.
This year the Mrs. and I took a little vacation trip (See Lost Traveler ~ A Tale of Two Vacations ). This run covered Dallas, Texas to Nag’s Head North Carolina and back. Forty-eight hours of meditative contemplation on Life, the Universe, and Everything. During this particular ramble the topic of my meditations was “Rule 1” of gunfighting. As a religious practitioner of Rule 1 “Always have a gun.”, I have gone down many paths in the choice of hardware and the amount of ammunition I take along.
I love revolvers. There is something about the lines and curves of a wheelgun that semi-autos just never had. The Walther PPK, the 1911, and the Browning Hi-Power had vestiges of these artistic elements, but with the exception of Beretta pistols, modern pistols are just increasingly “industrial” in appearance and all aesthetics are long gone. That is not to say I have not carried semi-autos. A Beretta 92fs was probably my favorite, but I let it get away and I have never replaced it.
For going about my normal routine, a Ruger SP101 in .357 Magnum is easy to slip into a pocket or a Galco belt holster. A couple of speedloaders in my shirt pocket and a Cold Steel Secret Edge sgain dhu complete the outfit for going to the store or doing yardwork. Most crowded venues in my town are “Gun Free” (aka smorgasbords for active killers), so I just don’t go to those places.
A road trip takes me out of my usual haunts, and that presents a problem. How do you change your gear to handle the unknown?
In years past, all of my road trips were through west Texas into New Mexico and Arizona. For ten years, I packed a Ruger Super Blackhawk in .44 Magnum. This was the only handgun I owned at the time and it was perfect for the task because the chance of me needing to put down a large animal after a car accident was much greater than the probability of a criminal interaction.
My routes for the past few years have been dictated by time, distance, and hard deadlines. Those routes have taken my family through a number of eastern hot spots known for “peaceful protest” including some where we had to spend the night before resuming our travels. Fear said to load up the Tactical Tupperware and enough loaded magazines to make the zombie apocalypse come out even. My rational mind said my accelerator pedal would be a much more effective response to my car being rushed by a crowd of violent idiots, but the Mrs’ might be driving at a critical moment, and I cannot count on her to do what’s necessary.
Fear wins, but should it? I study the thoughts and opinions of fellow travelers who have been there and done that on the sharp end of human relations. The lessons these warriors impart have shaped my own thinking a great deal over the years. I offer these samples in the hope that they may be of use to others.
Michael DeBethencourt published some thoughts on his blog related to a revolver against multiple opponents “They came in for an ambush. They screwed off at Mach-3 when it became a gunfight, and they didn’t sign up for no gunfight.”
Charl Van Wyk was sitting in church July 25, 1993 when three terrorists with AK 47s and grenades stormed in and began to massacre the congregation. Van Wyk responded by firing three rounds of .38 Special from his 5-shot Smith & Wesson Chief’s Special wounding one attacker and causing all of them to flee.
Active Self Protection offers a large number of videos of criminal actions. You will not see people standing tall and trading shots. You see everyone running in every direction just trying to un-ass the area as quickly as possible. Take this example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te32vS0Y1pE&ab_channel=ActiveSelfProtection
Take Away: Rule 1 is an absolute because bad things happen. The ability to respond quickly can radically change the outcome of an event as it unfolds because criminals don’t like to be shot at.
Greg Ellefritz is a retired police officer and combatives trainer that publishes the Active Response Training blog. He recently had a guest post by Darryl Bolke regarding experienced gunfighters and the evolution of their every day carry handguns, and personal habits. Mr. Bolke describes the transition he has noticed among veteran officers from duty weapons to compact versions of those duty weapons, and often to a small frame revolver accompanied by a knife when not intentionally going into harm’s way.
Bill Jordan was a US Border Patrol officer, and his book “No Second Place Winner” should be required reading for anyone who packs a double-action revolver. He makes a point that an Airweight Chief’s Special in the pocket is worth its weight in gold if conditions prevent the carrying of a full-size pistol. In Jordan’s case, that duty weapon would have been a 4 inch S&W .357 Magnum.
Take Away: A change in mindset comes from years of experience. The people Mr. Bolke refers to obey Rule 1, and they make choices that minimize the chance that their weapons will need to be employed. On a personal note, I cannot say I agree with the idea of carrying a pistol chambered in .22 Long Rifle for defense unless/until I have become unable to handle anything larger. In such an unfortunate circumstance, I would probably opt for the Ruger LCR in .22 Magnum. Bill Jordan thought a Chief’s Special chambered in .22 WMR would be a great hideout, and the LCR is pretty close to that standard.
Gabe Suarez was a member of the Los Angeles Police Department’s gang unit. After retirement, he opened his own training center Suarez International, and has published a large number of books and articles. His recent blog post on snubnose revolvers is an excellent intro to Mr. Suarez’s writing style, and very thought provoking.
Take Away: Once again we see the theme of choosing a weapon that allows the operator to obey Rule 1, and the mindset regarding making choices and setting priorities regarding self-protection over the defense of others. Mr. Suarez has long advocated the need to circumvent the senseless restrictions imposed by “non-permissive environments” (aka Gun Free Zones). He clearly makes the point that this is a personal and often an extra-legal decision that could result in criminal charges if the person is caught carrying a weapon. My personal take: A free adult makes their own decisions and accepts the consequences of those actions. I choose to stay away from such places unless legally compelled to go there.
I found a video by a gent named Joe Paranee who talks about why he switched from carrying semi-autos to carrying a S&W 640 in .357 Magnum. Both parts of Mr. Paranee’s talk are worth watching. When he talks about the amount of training time he has available to keep his skills sharp it really spoke to me. With the current ammo situation, I can practice my revolver skills using snap caps at home. Yes, it is possible to practice semi-auto drills in the same way, but resetting the trigger on the Tactical Tupperware introduces hand motions that are not organic to the normal manual of arms, and this is a dangerous thing to have in “muscle memory” when your attention needs to be focused on a threat.
Even obscure heroes like Johnny Hopper followed Rule 1. Multiple accounts of Hopper’s life mention him carrying several handguns, but that is a different article.
The conclusions that came from my road rambling were:
Rule 1 is critical and should never be violated. Jeff Cooper, founder of Gunsite Academy , once opined that “if you cannot immediately lay your hand on your sidearm, all of your training is for naught.”
Circumstances may indicate one type of handgun is better suited to the present/anticipated situation than another, but the type of gun a person carries is really of no importance as long as you can lay your hand on it in the instant of need.
If the situation calls for deep concealment a snubnose revolver is a better choice than a micro-compact semi-auto because you can jam it against your assailant and pull the trigger.
Rule 1 was the center piece of a speech by another man some years ago, and his words are of critical importance to all American’s today.
Mao recognized that for his revolution to succeed, the people must have firearms. Of course to prevent Mao’s revolution from being overturned, the people must never be allowed to have firearms again once The Party took control. In today’s America, we have a unified social class pretending to be two political parties. These people imagine themselves to be a “ruling elite” entitled to reign for their lifetimes and beyond. Through open and covert means they are working to deprive the citizens of the United States of their civil rights as enumerated in the US Constitution. (Lockdowns, mask mandates, Do as We Say While We Do What We Want, on and on ad nausea) The people must retain control of their guns so “The Party” can never exercise a monopoly on political power in America.
Just for fun and educational purposes:
Snubnose.info has a number of articles specific to the snubnose revolvers.
Stephen A. Camp loves Hi-Powers and snubby revolvers. (Even if he puts the good stuff under “Other Guns”.)
Grant Cunningham has several books out.
Ed Lovette is a former CIA agent with an interesting take on short revolvers.