The Pocket Problem

When I bought my Smith and Wesson 642, I bought it with the intention of frequently pocket carrying. I thought I would pocket carry....all the time. The salesman at the gun store promised it would disappear into a pocket, and indeed, he produced a j-frame revolver from the front pocket of his jeans. I had no idea it was there. Perfect.

I, however, am struggling with pocket carry. It seems I have no pair of pants which accommodate the revolver in such a way that it "disappears" into a pocket. While I don't wear the biggest, baggiest jeans on the planet, I certainly don't wear skin tight cowboy jeans.

In an Uncle Mikes pocket holster, it seems to still print a fairly obvious pattern through a pair of jeans. I can always identify a cylinder and a grip.

However, most people aren't specifically looking for a gun, and may not see those things. However, it still seems to leaves a fairly large.....uh......bulge.....for lack of better term, in my pants pocket.

So, while I may be able to carry and not obviously have a gun, I still look like I stuffed a Cornish game hen down my pants. That is a far cry from the revolver that disappears into my pocket.

I do have several coats that work just fine, though my favorite coat does not have deep enough pockets, and the grip sticks out. To carry with that jacket, I must keep my hand in the pocket at all times.

So, suspicious looking hand in pocket at all times, or small fowl in the pants.....this seems to be my dilemma. It was hard to capture in pictures, but trust me, its quite obvious.

Hence, i carry IWB most of time.

Glock 23

After selling one of my guns I used some of the money to finance a new purchase. Glock 23.

Yes, thank you ladies and gentleman, Tarak has again joined the bandwagon. What? This is his second Glock? Pathetic.

Whatever, they work.







I bought this gun with the purpose of carry/self defense. I wanted something bigger than my J-frame and in a larger caliber, but a little cheaper to train with than a 45. It rides in my nightstand. It often has a place in the bag I'm carrying. Now that its fall I can carry in an IWB holster with a sweatshirt, heavy shirt or coat if I want. Also looking forward to taking it hiking/camping/backpacking as it holds up well in the elements.

Featured above is my strongside nightstand-type holster by Cheap-Target-Nightstand.

I plan on replacing the terrible Glock factory sights, of course. I'll be getting different sights on my Glock 17 for competition, and will pull the nightsights off of that and put it on my new G23.

Fit and finish is all fine and dandy. Came with the usual: case, 2 mags, speedloader, lock, paperwork. It cost $499. Its chunky in my hand- there are certainly any number of guns that feel better in the grip, but I'm used to my G17 for competition, so I wanted the same platform for a carry gun. Its comfortable enough.

Shoots as well as I can shoot it. I would have to say it does have quite a bit of snappy recoil that took some getting used to. Made my wrists hurt a bit after about 150 rounds.

After some slow fire I worked on point shooting at close ranges, as that's what I anticipate I would need it for. After a bit, my groups began to clean up. At first, they were all over.




I have a cheap nylon holster that it sits in in while in various bags, etc. I picked up an Uncle Mikes IWB holster for $10 that actually works fairly well, though the cheap Velcro release leaves much to be desired. I will be getting better holsters for it. For ammo I have 185 gr. Federal Hydrashocks, which is in pretty much any gun I carry.


Overall, I'm happy with the 23 and think it will serve me well for its intended purpose.

Loaded?

Recently, I made the decision to begin carrying a concealed weapon. If you are someone how knows me, and followed this link from facebook or something, and think I've gone crazy, check out My Stance on Gun Ownership and Use for a thought out description of why I think this is wise.

Anyway, my family was not so crazy about this idea, but I got them to accept it. They knew I was buying a S&W J-frame, etc. So my first weekend I came home after I bought it, I was carrying. No one noticed.

The subject came up, and somehow I mentioned I was ordering a better holster. "Holster?" Dad says. "Then everyone would see it."

I decided maybe we just need to take all the fear and mystery out of this, and talk about it. I revealed I was carrying, with the plan to unload the gun, show it to them, discuss it. I proceeded to safely unholster the gun, point it away from everyone, and unload 5 rounds of .38spl.

"Its loaded??!!" bursts out my sister. "Why would you carry a loaded gun?!"


........Why on earth would I carry an unloaded gun? That's called a $450 paperweight.

Smith and Wesson 642

As promised, I picked up an S&W arlite revolver in .38spl today. I actually got a 642 instead of a 637. Check out that story (and accompanying fiasco) here. This a review of the gun I purchased. I got it for $450. They sell the 637 (exposed hammer) for a constant "sale" price of $399. Bummer.

So, I bought my my 642, an assortment of ammo, and hit the range. I've only ever shot a .22lr revolver at this point. I was kind of in for a surprise.

The gun, at first glance and inspection, is quality like you'd expect from S&W. The trigger is a very heavy double action as would be expected on this kind of gun. Sights are nominal but, we're talking close range self defense. Everything is kosher as far as fit and finish. I suit up, head into the range, and load up.

Somehow, I expected the recoil to be just like my 9mm. It wasn't. This thing is defiantly for self defense....5 rounds, maybe one reload, and done. Any more than that, and a guy's hand starts to hurt! This light little aluminum frame doesn't stop much recoil. The guys at the shop recommended some Glaser 100 grain Pow'r Ball and I'll just say it.....Holy Crap! You could feel those in your chest even behind the gun. Those suckers kicked compared to what I was used to. Even my Kimber 45 has less recoil than this sucker! Guess that's what all steel will do for you. After 50 rounds, I needed a break! I found myself anticipating and jerking the gun like I haven't done since the first time I shot. I was almost afraid of the shot because of the pain it was causing, and my shots were flying everywhere. They all hit the body, but they hit every single part.

I put it down and switched to my Glock 17. Up to this point, I thought the stock Glock trigger was a heavy pull and wasn't a huge fan. Suddenly, this thing felt like a hair trigger. My first round went off almost on accident as it seemed like nothing to pull. It took me a couple clips to get things back together. Soon I was shooting fine again and getting good groups.

Back to the S&W. I collected myself, got back in long DA mode, stopped being a baby about recoil that was more than I expected and got back to work. Very soon I was shooting decent groups with fairly rapid fire at what I consider to be appropriate self defense range (10-15 feet). I shot some American Federal in 130 grain, Federal Hydrashocks in 129 grain, Black Hills Ammunition in 158 grain, and Glaser Pow'rball in 100 grain (kicks like a mule). After about 130 rounds of .38spl (plus 100 rounds of 9mm), I was getting a blister, my hand was sore, and it was time to be done.

As far as concealment, I'll have to say I find that it doesn't quite disappear into a pocket like you hear about. I bought a Galco IWB holster (clip style) and an Uncle Mike's #3 pocket holster recommended by Xavier. With a thin T-shirt the IWB holster provided okay coverage. Very often it was apparent there was something under my shirt, but not a gun. Honestly, the clip showed through the shirt more than anything else. I think I might look into a different IWB. I shopped for groceries with the IWB, and I could help but feeling a bit...exposed. I was adjusting my shirt constantly, only helping to draw attention.

The pocket holster in my shorts was quite bulky. It was very obvious there was a large something in my pocket, but again, not necessarily a gun. (spaaaare the puns and jokes) I've only tried this with one outfit combo (thin T-shirt and shorts) so we'll see how it goes. Unfortunately, no one in town seems to sell any leather pocket holsters.

Overall, I'm fairly pleased. Thus far, its just not as concealable as I'd hoped. I will have to work on that. Fall is around the corner, so all the shirts will help. But, it beats carrying my .45 or G17

Gun Shop Battle

Recently, I picked up my first concealable gun. For the review on the actual gun, click here. This post, is the story behind choosing it......

I headed down to the gun shop I frequent today, where they were holding a 637 for me. Bought it, along with ammo and a holster. I head back toward the range and stop at a table to get everything together. Who walks up but their shooting instructor who I had recently met and was planning on taking instruction from. I had discussed getting the 637 earlier with him.

So he strolls by and I say "Hey ____, I picked up my concealed gun finally".
He looks for two seconds, looks straight and me and says "Why'd you get the one with the hammer?"
"I thought you said it would be fine."
"If you're not going to pocket carry"
"I'm going to pocket carry a lot"
"Well you do whatever you want"

....well what is a guy supposed to do. I bring it back to the counter, say I might want to exchange for a 642. And so the battle began.
"Why?" The guy who sold it to me said slowly and obviously annoyed. I explained my conversation with the instructor, which I thought made sense. The salesmen proceeds to tell me how much I'll hate the trigger on the 642 and there's no point.
Okay, so......"You're telling me its a bad idea?" I say. "Yeah", he says.

About this time instructor walks up, they exhange glances at each other, and its obvious we are now engaged in a small battle with me in the middle. The solution is simple, just get what I want, and they both agree. Except, I don't know what I want. I have two different people telling me two different things, and I don't know who to listen to. It should be mentioned that the salesmen was actually rooting for a gun that was $50 cheaper. I'm standing there, angel on one shoulder, devil on the other, pulling triggers over and over, slipping guns in my pocket,pulling them out at varying speeds and angles, trying to make a decision. I'm going crazy.

As they both battle for who is right, they keep telling me to just pick what I want, while they both stare at me. Now I'm picking sides?

In the end I side with the instructor, and ask to exchange for the 642. Though cordial, the salesmen is obviously not happy, as his hands are shaking the entire time he is working the exchange.

Now, what right does he have to be mad at me, other than I picked the other guy's advice? It should be mentioned that both of these guys have been my patient in the PACU recently and they both remember it. I think, they should be extra nice to me! I gave them pain medicine in their time of need!

All I know is, I started a fight in a gun shop. That's the last place I want to be in the middle of a fight, especially when I can't shoot my weapon because I'm returning it.......

Feed the Children

Recently I pulled all my ammo out of my range bag just to see what I had laying around. I'm feeding a .45, a 9mm, .22lr, and Monday I'm picking up my .38spl. In fact, I already bought ammo for it, since ammo at the shop/range is a bit more spendy. So, I picked up some Hydrashocks and some cheaper ammo in the same grain so I can buy it and walk straight back to the range. : )

Not long ago, I was at a church service where they were showing pictures of what an average family ate in a week from several different cultures. It was a lesson in both the type and the quantity of food. Let's just say America eats a lot of....crap.....but we all knew that.

Long story short, I thought it would be fun to put up pictures of what my "family" eats.

I'm guilty of buying a lot of cheap ammo (WWB, American Federal, Blazer) for range time. It let's me shoot a bit more. I have Federal Hydrashocks for all my defense rounds. The gun in my nightstand is a Kimber Custom II, though I have not fed enough HP's through it yet to feel confident that they will feed when it counts, so for now there is roundball.

I also have CorBon DPX (made in my state) as well as some Remmington HPJ for the 9mm. Hydrashocks are recommended by everyone I talk to, but a lot of people here are really getting into DPX. The gunshop I frequent, as well as a former Secret Service agent/self defense instructor I met all dig DPX.

Like so many parents, I struggle to afford to feed my children as much as I want to. I find I must freqently skip meals because the cost of ammo is so high. I'd love to feed them 3 times a day, 7 days a week, but right now we're living off 1-2 times a month. Tragic. All my guns look gaunt, skinny, and malnourished. They lack the signs of serious wear that a yearn to give them. This life is not fair......

Carry Gun

Put some money down for my first carry gun. I'm going to pick it up next week. I'm doing a concert this weekend so I'll make a bit of money I'll put toward it.

Thought I'd just join the band wagon, so I'm getting a S&W 637 airlite (.38spl).

I know, I know. Everyone has one and its not a 45.

Should be a nice little carry gun, though. Eventually, I'll get something a tad larger, but right now I'm confident I can carry this in most circumstances. I don't really want to carry my full size Kimber or Glock 17, and I'm not willing to buy the biggest plaid flannel button-up shirt from walmart just so I can pack a cannon down the sidewalk. A .38spl will do just fine.

Hopefully in a couple weeks I'll be taking some instructions from a former Secret Service agent and personal defense instructor. Looking forward to that!

Taking suggestions on the "best" round to carry. (Xavier, you out there?)