[Kevin Gibson]

I posted this on another forum, but I think this group wold be much more interesting to hear from...

So we all like to brag on our favorite handguns, so let's take it another way...what DON'T you like about your primary carry gun?

I carry the S&W M1911PD (Lightweight Commander). I don't like the beavertail that S&W has chosen, kind of a Wilson-ish copy. I much prefer the Ed Brown.

And while I like a black gun for self defense, I'll admit that I've never seen a better finish for a daily carry gun than hard chrome...I may hard chrome my blaster at some point. I'll be doing some Ceracoat in the coming weeks, I may just Ceracoat it in the interim...just depends on if I get a wild hair.

I think S&W could have done better on their choice of finish (blue/anodized). Guns that are in and out of a holster on a daily basis will wear finish pretty quickly.

I don't like that it came with a FLGR, but I corrected that.

Little gripes aside, I'm happy with the gun and it has performed flawlessly thus far.

 

[Diamondback]

I don't like that the 1911 has a left-hander's magazine catch and a right-hander's thumb safety and ejection.

Other than that, I carry mine daily without a problem, just means I have to choose between a slightly slower Condition One readiness or going to safety-off empty-chamber Condition Three.

 

[Tim Burke]

I specified everything on my carry gun. I don't like that the ammo is expensive.

 

[stand watie]

I cannot think of a thing that I do NOT like about my little Sig-Sauer P225/P6, except that I failed to buy another one at the same price when I could have.

Of course, I "went through" about 6-10 handguns (that for one reason or other didn't meet my perceived needs) before I bought this one about 6.5 years ago.
(YEP, I'm one of those "odd folk" that doesn't tend to change my CCW handgun, as I believe "muscle memory" is IMPORTANT to my SELF-preservation.)

yours, satx

 

[Snake45]

For a long time I thought my limited-run 3" Smith 66 was the most perfect carry revolver ever built. Last few years I've decided that for carry, I'd like it better with fixed sights--in other words, a common 3" M65. (NO, I do NOT want to swap with anyone, so don't bother me.)

Actually, I don't like the M65's fixed sights, but I like the idea of fixed sights. Why couldn't Smith have made the rear notch a little wider/deeper, then dovetailed the front sight for windage zero? Sounds like the best of both worlds to me. (I think they might actually make some guns like that now, but not, sadly, the M65.)

Better yet, I'd love to have a stainless Colt Dick Special, 3", with "fixed" sights of that sort. Sort of a modern version of Chick Gaylord's "Metropolitan Special." Now THAT would be a perfect carry launch platform for six .38 +Ps.

 

[Kevin Gibson]

Snake, check this out: Ruger® GP100® Double-Action Revolver Model 1753

 

[Snake45]

Snake, check this out: Ruger® GP100® Double-Action Revolver Model 1753

Yah, I know all about that (being a celebrated member of the Ruger Forum), but the GP100 is a bigger, heavier gun than the Smith K. If anything, I want to go the other way.

If I were head of Smith, I'd have the engineers working on a modern lightweight K frame (titanium or scandium or even a good modern alloy), with the butt chopped about 1/2 to 3/4", rated for .38 +P.

 

[dfariswheel]

One man I know has a 2 1/2" S&W Model 66 and installed the Cylinder & Slide fixed rear sight in place of the adjustable sight so it would be "tougher"??
I just don't see it, although you could widen that notch.

I have a S&W Model 66 2 1/2" AND one of the limited production Ashland 3" versions.
Either is about as good as it gets with the preferred one the 3".

What I CARRY these days: A Kahr Arms K9 stainless.
What I don't like, only the slide, frame, and a few small parts are actually stainless steel. The barrel and most everything else is hard chrome plated carbon steel.
No real reason for the dislike, I just prefer real stainless.

 

[Snake45]

I have a S&W Model 66 2 1/2" AND one of the limited production Ashland 3" versions.
Either is about as good as it gets with the preferred one the 3".

I also have a 2.5" M19 and think the 3" 66 is a much, much better gun in every possible way. For the life of me I don't know why they didn't standardize on the 3" length decades ago. I can't think of any other gun where a silly 1/2" of barrel makes such a significant positive difference.

Last winter my son got a bug up his butt to shoot that shorty M19 so we took it out and did. He liked it so much he went out and bought himself a 2.5" 66 and seems to be quite happy with it. He'd have bought a 3" if they'd been available, of course, but good luck finding one. (He'll have TWO of them when I'm dead, a thought which I'm sure sustains him.)

 

[Kevin Gibson]

One man I know has a 2 1/2" S&W Model 66 and installed the Cylinder & Slide fixed rear sight in place of the adjustable sight so it would be "tougher"??
I just don't see it, although you could widen that notch.

I have a S&W Model 66 2 1/2" AND one of the limited production Ashland 3" versions.
Either is about as good as it gets with the preferred one the 3".

What I CARRY these days: A Kahr Arms K9 stainless.
What I don't like, only the slide, frame, and a few small parts are actually stainless steel. The barrel and most everything else is hard chrome plated carbon steel.
No real reason for the dislike, I just prefer real stainless.

Hard chrome is tougher and more corrosion resistant than stainless.

 

[Kevin Gibson]

I also have a 2.5" M19 and think the 3" 66 is a much, much better gun in every possible way. For the life of me I don't know why they didn't standardize on the 3" length decades ago. I can't think of any other gun where a silly 1/2" of barrel makes such a significant positive difference.

Last winter my son got a bug up his butt to shoot that shorty M19 so we took it out and did. He liked it so much he went out and bought himself a 2.5" 66 and seems to be quite happy with it. He'd have bought a 3" if they'd been available, of course, but good luck finding one. (He'll have TWO of them when I'm dead, a thought which I'm sure sustains him.)

I've considered building up a 3" model 12 many times along precisely the lines you detailed. A 3" Colt's Cobra would work as well.

 

[WaltGraham]

I've finally settled on something I can carry everyday without (much) compromise.

My gubmint models are my first choice, but I've come to the realization that if I actually have to deploy one in a social situation, I may lose it.

I pocket carry a j-frame a lot, but a larger round gives me a warmer feeling.

The M&P fits me well, I shoot it adequately and it doesn't not function. The only problem for me was the size and keeping it concealed while at work (sometimes in Mennonite country) during hot weather while in awkward positions. Lying on your back in a barn welding a round bailer while wearing a gun can be problematical.

At any rate, the M&P compact is a perfect fit, just enough smaller to conceal properly in summer, and more importantly... it's a .45 ...

What I don't like ?

I don't have another... yet.

 

[Charlie Petty]

Walt has a very valid point... if you have to use your PDW it is very likely to be gone for a long time and come back with some cop's initials on it... if it comes back at all.

I really like the M&P and IMO is the best of the polymer pistols.

 

[William R. Moore]

What Charlie said.

 

[stand watie]

WaltGraham,

You bring up again a point that I have several times pondered. = IF the LEO takes a person's firearm in a "good shooting" as "evidence" in a police investigation and the citizen has NO other suitable firearm, has society not left an innocent person defenseless against other possible violence?
(Btw, several peer-reviewed studies indicate that a person who has HAD to defend him/herself against an armed criminal is 2-4 times MORE likely to have to AGAIN defend him/herself from yet another act of violence.)

Therefore does the police agency have a responsibility to either provide the citizen another suitable firearm (OR to provide the citizen protective services until their firearm is returned) so that the involved citizen is NOT left DEFENSELESS???

yours, sw

 

[William R. Moore]

SW: brief answer- NO!

Unless there is an established special realtionship, a law enforcement agency has no obligation to protect any specific person or persons. Nor, by extension, does it have any obligation to provide that person with the means to do so. This is established law.

Depending upon circumstances and location, the citizen may be doing well if they're able to keep posession of other firearms not used in the incident under investigation.

However, also depending upon circumstances and location, ways may be found to provide such means on a good will basis. In some other cases a polite suggestion to relocate for "awhile" may be made.

 

[stand watie]

William R Moore,

I wouldn't argue at all what the established law IS - I'm well aware of the relevant court decisions on "duty to protect". - Instead, I'm talking about what I wonder if it SHOULD be.
(Remember we are talking about a JUSTIFIED use of deadly force & where an innocent party may still be in imminent danger of death or grievous bodily harm.)

In point of fact, the SCOTUS said in a decision involving the MPD of the District of Columbia that the police have NO responsibility to protect ANYBODY, even when the officers KNOW that a particular person is in grave personal/immediate danger.
(In the DC case, the MPD failed to respond to repeated calls for help from 2 women who were raped seemingly because the police didn't believe the report. - It may also be true, based on an independent investigation, that the 2 units dispatched to the scene intentionally CHOSE to NOT respond to the call for help.)

yours, sw

 

[shep854]

Tim Burke nailed it for me: expensive ammo. .38Spl is getting scarce.
----
sw, back when my guns were stolen (recovered the same day), the responding officer thoughtfully asked if I still had one. I did.

 

[stand watie]

shep854,

Here in The Alamo City we are "awash with" .38SPL of most sorts. - The biggest missing item seems to be "relatively inexpensive" 148 grain wadcutter ammo.
(Note: I wish that somebody would start loading 200 grain lead in .38SPL again, like the old Winchester Super Police.)

When I did my required CCW range time in FEB, one of our class-members went 11 places to buy 100 rounds!

yours, sw

 

[WaltGraham]

I get my .38 ammo here.