[0Jarlaxle0]

ok so i'm new here and i need a little advice from all you expert people out there.

the neighborhood i live in used to be really nice, but over the past month there have been three shootings within throwing distance of my town house, one was just last night and one person was critically injured and the other died. the shooters (there were two seen) haven't been found. the moment i found out i decided it was time to get a pistol.

so why do i need help? well it's a stupid reason, really. i'm a skinny guy. more muscle than you think but still weaker than your average person. I want to get a revolver, and am looking at the Taurus 608 large frame .357 magnum with an 8 1/3 inch barrel. I don't know if the kickback would be too much for me to handle reliably though.

I want a revolver, and something with some barrel to it, not some little snub-nose toy looking thing. If i have to point this at someone i want them to be so scared shitless that i don't have to fire.

think i could handle it? it's been a long time since i fired a gun, but i can fire a 9mm no problem. i just don't want one. if i have to get a gun, i might as well get one i like, not just some random self defense tool, right?

 

[Bunnyman]

I take it you're planning to carry this gun? Is it legal in your jurisdiction? (i.e. is it a "shall issue" state, not a "may issue" or "no issue" state...check packing.org if you're unsure...also, your local laws, since a fair number of big-city politicians and/or LEOs
don't much care for guns...)

Stickmen of the world unite! (5' 11", 145lbs here). Rest assured, recoil is 90% subjective and has more to do with experience than body mass. Many new shooters mentally put recoil and noise together, so try doubling up your hearing protection (muffs + plugs) for the first few sessions, especially if it's indoor. Since .357 makes plenty of noise, this goes double. Once you've separated noise from recoil, neither will bother you as much.

Also, develop a real bone-crusher of a grip...try gripping the gun as hard as you possibly can (it should be trembling at this point) and back off slowly until the trembling disappears. This will come with time, but if you have any grip exercises (even a tennis ball) definitely use them. A chunky revolver soaks up recoil pretty well. Barrel porting helps, but this can cause problems on a serious gun - night blindness from the wall of flame blocking your front sight, or flash burns when firing from odd angles - so try and avoid it.

Practice, practice, and practice some more. This is a good reason to get a gun you like - if it's fun to shoot, you'll want to shoot more, and therefore get better. Try this drill a few times: If you get a revolver, you don't need dummy rounds, but they help (and save your firing pin). Have a friend load up a few chambers with live rounds and leave a few empty/load with dummies. This way, you don't know if you're getting a bang or a click. Watch where the front sight goes on a click. If it dips, you have a flinch. Dry-fire ten times and try again. Once you've ensured you don't have a flinch, you'll feel much more confident about shooting big boomers (and .357 is certainly loud).

An 8" revolver is 1) way heavy and 2) way slow to draw from concealment. However, a 4" .357 is a nice compromise between shootability, power, and concealability (under a light jacket in an In-WaistBand [IWB] holster, in any case). the 8" guns are for handgun hunting and sometimes target shooting. Not familiar with the Taurus revolvers, so I couldn't tell you whether the six-oh-eight is any good. Keep in mind that an eight-times revolver is built on a larger frame and has a wider cylinder, which makes concealment that much more difficult - this is why snubbies usually have five-round cylinders. The various .357 4" Smith & Wessons are nice, as is the Ruger GP100. As for kickback...find someone with that gun (or an equivalent) and give it a whirl. Feel free to practice with .38s if it's too much at first - you don't want to start off with a flinch.

As for scaring people, generally a gun's a gun. Any revolver of decent size should get the point across. But then be careful where to draw the line - this can get you slapped with a brandishing charge if you're not careful (and everyone survives). The legality comes into play here, too - you pull a gun, someone reports it, you get posession along with brandishing. Poof, no guns for you.

It's good you want to carry, just be prudent about it.

Sorry if this comes across as harsh or callous. Just want to make sure you know what you're getting into. Welcome aboard! I hope you find shooting as enjoyable (and comforting, in your case) as we do.

Cheers.

 

[0Jarlaxle0]

damn that's informative, thanks a lot man.

i still got you beat. i'm the stick-man king at 6'1'' and 127lbs here. disgusting right? only .04% body fat though.

i don't really plan on concealing it, and i'm pretty sure it's legal to have, i'll re-read the laws again. I'm going for intimidation factor, so i'd rather have it on my hip in the open (which IS legal here in VA) to help deter events from happening to begin with. there are pluses and minuses to both concealing and not concealing.

yea, 8 1/3 is kinda large, they have a 6 incher that i think i might go with.

noise is a small issue. i was deaf until i was 3 years old so now i have hyper-sensitive hearing. it's a great help in most things, but the downside is that supremely loud noises cause me actual physical pain.

guess it's not really possible to get a big quite revolver though, is it?

lemme see if i can find the site so you can check out the taurus.

here's the 6.5 inch barreled

http://www.thegunsource.com/item/9824_T ... Compa.aspx

 

[0Jarlaxle0]

think a .22 might be a better idea? i know next to nothing about guns.

it may sound kind of childish but i really don't care about the caliber so long as the gun itself is a double action revolver with a semi-large barrel and won't destroy my eardrums.

like i said i might as well get the gun i want if i'm going to get one, and i want a sexy big revolver.

 

[kdavey]

You dont want a 22 because they dont have any knockdown power when you need it. You also dont need a long barreled revolver you can go for a police issued beretta. If they are good enough for the cops patrolling your neighborhood they are good enough for your home defense. If you are set on revolvers and taurus check out the model 4510. they shoot a 45 or a 410 shotgun shell. The shotgun would cause a lot of damage up close and the 45 can reach out a little further. http://www.taurususa.com/products/gunse ... ?series=41

 

[Rev.]

OK, you have received some good advice. What I recommend is that you check with a local gun shop or phone book or whatever, and find a shooting range that rents handguns. Go to the range and try out different guns. If possible get some instruction on stance and hand orientation and you will soon know what you'll do best with.
Just buying what you perceive to be intimidating is just not enough, you might still have to use it. Hitting your target is what it all comes down to.
Good luck on your quest. I’m sure you will find the right gun, whether revolver or auto.

 

[ArbrnInf]

I agree with Rev. If you carry a handgun, you must have the mindset that you may have to actually use it to save your life some day. Just the sight of a gun alone may not be a deterrent to determined criminals. If you do not prepare yourself mentally and physically for actually using your weapon in selfe defense, it becomes more of a liability to you than an asset.

 

[0Jarlaxle0]

oh i'm more than capable of using it if i need to, but every little bit helps, right? the fact that a big gun will intimidate a least a portion of people i might have to get into it with makes it more than worth it to me.

but yea, my neighbor's an MP at the army base up the street and he's gonna take me out shooting with him and his buddy a couple doors down. they practically own an armory themselves and we're gonna find the right kinda gun for me.

thanks for the advice everyone i'll keep everyone posted and reveal what my final choice will be when it's made.

 

[Bunnyman]

Damn, I feel downright tubby now...

One last bit of advice: if you can find it, NRA First Steps Pistol is the best $75 I've put into shooting. Even if you've shot a bit, a 'basic' course gives a lot of perspective on safety and marksmanship. I believe the NRA website has a handy search-by-zip-code locator, too.

Keep us posted!

Have fun.

 

[darkgael]

OJar: Lots of good advice in this thread, especially about practice.
Learn to shoot whatever you buy. Learn to shoot it well. There's no substitute for rounds downrange.
The advice about trying before you buy...if you can...will right away answer some of your questions.
I, also, advise against the eight inch barrel. I think that six inches is probably still too long. A .357 with four inch barrel is as intimidating as you want - that big hole facing the bad guy is a great attention getter.
I own Taurus and Ruger firearms. The GP100 is a very nice piece and about the same money as the Taurus.
Curious, though....no autos? Why? I know the old caveat about revolver reliability but modern semi-auto pistols are super reliable.
I shoot frequently and own a number of autos (Glock, Colt, Springfield, Makarov, Beretta) that have NEVER not worked. If you want intimidation, a muzzle almost half an inch wide on a .45 is very much in the game.
Pete

 

[0Jarlaxle0]

yea i've heard all about reliability and all that of revolvers over others, and that's part of the reason.

The other part is that revolvers have been in my family since they were first made. one of my great great (etc) grandfathers was one of the first revolver-smiths, i've got ancestors that were cowboys, marshals, and even native americans. Hell my grandfather's only alive today because he kept a backup .357 magnum revolver on his leg during WWII. My father had a pistol explode in his face right after i was born and he's only touched revolvers ever since. So i guess all those influences kinda put together have just naturally inclined me towards revolvers.

that, and they just look so much cooler...

 

[Sigp250c]

Hi 0Jarlaxle0

I went through something similar a few months back so I kinda know how you feel. I had been kicking around being a gun owner for a while but circumstances compelled me to take the leap. GET YE TO A RANGE! Shoot and talk to gun owners and read the forum and shoot and shoot. You will pick up a gun at some point and know it's the one. Then shoot some more. Good luck and stay safe.