Charter Arms .44 Special. Image via Oleg Volk. a-human-right.com used with permission.

I’ve been a fan of the five-shot compact revolver for years. They’re small, reliable and plenty potent. They don’t throw brass all over the place and they work great from a pocket or a purse, capable of creating a priceless look of surprise from a criminal predator trying to take the room temperature challenge.

While I’m typically kitted out with a capable 9mm, on some occasions I’ve run errands with little more than a .38 snubbie in a jacket or coat pocket. And I used to carry one in the console of my car for my “extra” piece.

Not any more, and I’ll tell you why: it surely seems like a sole attacker today is the exception, not the rule.

These days, brazen bad guys seem to prefer traveling in packs. And oftentimes they roll up in a (stolen) SUV, hop out and announce a robbery or carjacking. They’ll even boldly rob groups of three, four and more intended victims.

Here’s an example. Fair warning: GRAPHIC, NSFW

This took place in Puerto Rico, but the similar incidents take place here on the mainland. With alarming regularity in some places. Here’s one from closer to my world, Chicago.

And another.

Oh wait, and another.  All in the space of a few days.


What’s more, these young teens value the currency of violence. They have no respect for life. Being a “nice guy” is seen by them as weakness. Jobs are for suckers. Meanwhile, beating a victim only enhances their reputation.

Among their peers, shooting people earns them gold stars. Shoot a bunch of people and they’re a rock star among their fellow scumbags.

Not only that, but full-auto drop-in sears for GLOCKs from sites like Wish.com seem increasingly common even in communities outside Chicago in Illinois. Unless you have nerves of steel, facing down a full-auto pistol with a five-shot revolver seems somewhere between foolhardy and suicidal.

Many years ago, when I trained with both John Farnam and Massad Ayoob, both mentioned that ammo is like bubblegum. You better have enough to go around or you’re going to be in trouble.

If, heaven forbid, I see two, three or four sets of eyeballs staring intently at me as they’re approaching me on foot or in a car with evil in their hearts, I want to have enough bubblegum to go around. That means plenty for seconds, thirds and more.

While I can’t say I’ll never have a J-frame in my jacket pocket again, I can guarantee that if I do, it won’t be the only firearm on my person.

If you’re old school and carry a little J-frame revolver (or a single-stack .380 pistol), I’d urge you to consider upgrading to a larger-capacity bubblegum dispenser. I have.

In its place, I now typically carry a Ruger LCP MAX. 12+1 beats five any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

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106 COMMENTS

    • All the more reason to get out of cities. That’s where all the wild animals are.

      “Come out of her my people…”
      -Revelations

      • That’s what I thought. I can’t imagine living in a place like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, or even Seattle or Portland. I normally just carry my 642 or LCP and feel totally fine (though I also have more potent carry systems such as my Glock 19). We don’t have that type of crime in my (more rural) area.

        I’ve been giving a lot of thought about that “come out of her my people” passage from Revelation 18. I think it is mainly spiritual, but there also seems to be a physical and geographic aspect to it as well. The further I can get from Babylon the better.

        Also, I think the real reason John Boch is retiring his snubby is actually the LCP Max itself more than the changing nature of crime.

        The LCP Max looks like an awesome pocket gun. I could totally see it replacing both my LCP and 642 in the carry rotation. Five rounds of .38sp or seven of
        380 ACP are probably good enough, but why not have eleven instead? The more the better.

        I just bought a new Ruger Max 9, but have also been considering the LCP Max.

  2. OK that first one in Puerto Rico was hit, not a robbery. They had no interest in the money or valuables of the victims. The attackers knew those guys and did not like them.

    • Dead on with a drive-bye hit, can’t imagine why anyone would include that one, except for shock value. You can be sure that both sides of that bunch weren’t “the good guys.” I have heard this sort of thing described as misdemeanor murder or mutual combat; the only negative to one bad guy killing another is the likelihood of an innocent catching a stray bullet.

      • We have noticed around Albany, Troy, Schenectady that any gang erm “groups of associated people” violence does not make the papers or news so long as it only gets other similar groups or people with a record. Because of that unless you listen to the scanner or have any access to police incident reports (good luck with the latter short of FOI) you miss hearing about 80+% of the incidents in the Capital region. Now even with everything we are no where near the numbers or per capita of Philadelphia let alone Camden or Wilmington but we absolutely have had incidents involving full auto, nfa, and organized crime (thankfully DEA/Marshalls stomped on those last year).

  3. It’s hard to argue against mo is mo-betta. But what handgun would you want to counter a carload of full auto? That’s just a losing proposition. Time for plan b: Feet don’t fail me now.

    Oh, and also don’t hang around a liquor store at night.

    • The entirety of the first video is horrible, but what stuck out to me was how the idiot (the overweight man in the blue jeans and light shirt) comes right out into the open to see what’s happening, as three men are lying at his feet wounded. Then after more inbound gunfire, he comes out again to lounge in the doorway. It’s a wonder he didn’t end up in the body count.

      Also, yeah…don’t hang around a liquor store at night.

    • KJ,

      When you have at least four people with full-auto who advance on you (as in the graphic video), you are pretty much screwed no matter what you have.

      As for three or four opportunistic armed robbers, 99% of them will immediately retreat when you draw and start shooting at them. If you have a 5-shot revolver and shoot all five rounds (and thus stop shooting because you need to reload), your criminal attackers who retreated will not suddenly stop and double back on you because the shots stopped.

      At any rate, no one has ever wished that they had less ammunition during an attack so carry a handgun with as much capacity as you can.

  4. Like Mr. Boch, I have carried a snub revolver a/o a 380 pocket pistol for years. While I don’t live in the dangerous places he highlights, I do take these violent attacks seriously, and have no delusions that “It won’t happen to me.” I’m not quite ready to dump my snub revolvers yet, but I am thinking of adding a LCP MAX to my “wardrobe”.

    • I live south of Chiraq. My minimum carry is 12+1 9mm. When homie roves around in gangs you can’t have “enough”. My AR doesn’t conceal well either. The gangs are “smart” ennuf to target Lincoln Park & The Gold Coast where da $ is. I see no solution save a nuke…

        • Until they start building apartment complexes to increase diversity and bring people out of poverty.

        • @SAFEupstateFML…..Do really think they care about “diversity”, that is just a word, not applicable to humans! There is nothing new in this video above but newer weapons; this same scenario has been playing out since the beginning of time! There will never be a “perfect Lala-Land” (without fault) where everyone is equal sitting around in the sunshine counting their love beads and smelling the flowers….it will never happen in anyone’s life time. Just like the phrase says….. it always was and it always will be, that is the fact of our human existence.

        • “Someone” built subsidized apartment complex a couple of blocks away from our older, very quiet addition a few years back. We immediately started having problems when those apartments were occupied. Armed robbery, shootings. Police never found the perps. We moved well out in the country, like 300 miles away.

          Still a few druggies around but they don’t cause that kind of trouble, everyone carries a gun.

  5. “Unless you have nerves of steel, facing down a full-auto pistol with a five-shot revolver seems somewhere between foolhardy and suicidal.”
    “In its place, I now typically carry a Ruger LCP MAX. 12+1 beats five any day of the week and twice on Sunday.”

    I’m sorry but I just can’t wrap my head around this thought process. A .380 compact is really going to have any better outcome against a carload of full auto? But hey, kudos for carrying what you are comfortable with.

    • Good point. The LCP Max carries more rounds, but it is still a mouse gun that won’t do much against a whole carload of guys with full autos.

        • The Beowulf was deliberately designed to take on vehicles, but not so good with groups outside. What can work is a 22mag due to other variables: distance and marksmanship. Training helps get the bullets-on-target (lookup: Sailer’s Law) and situational awareness helps the standoff separation.

          My preference is ’12 miles separation’. Avoid crowds and get out of the cities.

  6. I suppose it depends a great deal on where you are. Plenty of places in the US that are not essentially active combat zones. Ironically, or not, those safer green zone areas don’t tend to restrict your ownership or carry of firearms.

    Perhaps a pattern may emerge upon deeper scrutiny.

    • When math is hard and/or racist what would one call pattern recognition? Not at all arguing against your point as it is one data set I have seen a strong correlation of crime reduction with (more so than income). However acknowledging reality is in some areas is a “racist delusion” (insert other labels as needed to stifle dissent).

      • Whatever the pattern may be I figure people who refuse to acknowledge fire is hot deserve to burn to death.

        • In any sane household a lesson would be learned, in some households the fire is innocent and it is the neighbors fault for owning cigars. Yeah not many good analogies for just how silly this gets and I am very used to most of my reports going right to the ignore pile.

  7. Yes, this was a hit but the fact you might be face people with full auto Glock’s is scary. I thought that they had taken care of the selling of these switches for Glocks?

    • 3-D printing. These ‘upstanding individuals’ can be found posting videos of themselves making and using said item in question. As the saying goes, “You can’t stop the signal.”

    • I always had the impression that full auto pistols climbed excessively, hence the factory Glock 3 round select.
      Is this something a person (like the gang shooters) can reasonably accommodate or do the strikes follow a vertical string ?

      • It’s why you turn your hand sideways. The rounds now scatter across your target group, instead of into the sky.

  8. Carry the biggest caliber with the highest capacity you can shoot well. There is much to be said for something small like a .38 revolver but at this point I would likely use it as a backup for a semi that holds 13 to 18 rounds with an extra magazine.

    Regardless of whats carried, spend the time to practice.

    • Carry a full size handgun if you actually will. That is awesome! Most people won’t, and a little pocket gun is much better than no gun. I’m one of those lazy gun people that generally just pocket carries.

      • In a cooler climate I would probably carry a five inch 1911 or a 17 round Beretta in a shoulder holster. Pocket carry just isn’t my thing.

        • Prndll,

          Now that the weather is cool/cold and I am consistently wearing jackets or coats (even indoors), I started trying/wearing a shoulder holster for the last three weeks or so. I am really liking it so far.

          For reference I always carry a full-size semi-auto handgun with 4-inch barrel and 15-round double-stack magazine on my hip. It is nice transferring that to a shoulder holster.

          Now that I am feeling pretty confident with a shoulder holster, the really fun question is whether or not I start carrying a second full-size handgun on my hip in addition to my full-size handgun in my shoulder holster!

  10. Local carry in my small town may just be an XPS in .45 ACP. With a spare mag. But yesterday I went to the big city of Bellevue, WA. It only took a moment of decision to load up my XD Compact with 12 rounds of .45 goodness and a spare mag.

    While shopping at Whole Foods, who would predict that some tweaked out skinny bastard would attempt to steal some tiny Asian woman’s purse in the produce section? She shrieked, hung onto her purse, and the assailant took he to the ground, then jumped up and was literally dragging her across the floor, still trying to steal the purse in a store full of people!
    As I made me way towards them, assessing how to help her out (I was thinking of pelting him with cabbages) a brawny store employee and a similarly built customer pulled the assailant off the lady, ramming his head into the carrot display a few times for good measure and heading to the door to eject him. Cops were on the scene within moments and frog-marched him to the patrol car.

    Glad this one was solved without bloodshed. But I was armed and could have at any time intervened with a weapon more potent than vegetables – the situation didn’t yet call for it. Definitely had a clear shot at times. But – the other bystanders jumped in quickly, got Mr. Tweaker off the lady and restrained him. Now, had those guys not jumped in and had the assailant gotten more violent, put her in a choke hold, or did something other than trying to wrestle away the purse, deadly force would have been justifiable. I’m 67 and not exactly a wrestler, and not inclined to get involved in a physical altercation with a tweaked young guy on drugs. Or – if the asshole had attacked my 65 year old wife, who has back issues, my tolerance would likely have been expended much faster. At any rate, both my wife and I were glad to have some measure of protection, and I subscribe to the bubblegum strategy.

    • Yep…and he could have just as easily been armed with a firearm, a knife, or even a skateboard.

      To the left, it would have been better just to let the guy do what he wanted. All it takes is for more people to step up and be responsible enough to fight back. Your self restraint is to be recognized.

  12. This is why I always carry not just one but two, thermonuclear handgrenades. Aside from giving you better balance with one in each coat pocket, it gives you redundancy. I usually prefer to carry one enhanced radiation device that can kill any bad guys within a few hundred yards and one shaped nuclear charge for enhanced effects against deeply buried bunkers.

    Seriously; the only rational response to this intensity of anarchy is an anonymous, preemptive campaign to systematically hunt down and exterminate these vermin. Unfortunately; some would characterize this as murder.

  13. Living in the greater Chicago area comes under the ‘being in stupid places…”. I still EDC a 6 shot .357 revolver but I live a few miles outside of town of <800 in rural Wyoming where it makes more sense, however a group of 5 aggressive dogs showed me that more is probably better anywhere. Luckily they let me off with a warning.

    • At some point a large number of attackers who keep attacking even though you already shot one of their compatriots will overwhelm you no matter how many rounds you have in the gun. One person inside 21 feet is bad enough, but multiples… if they don’t do the wise thing and scatter, it looks really bad for you.

      That said, I still have my Glock 19 and sometimes my 17… I am big enough to conceal the 17 without too much trouble, though the 19 is easier. It’s about having enough “grip” for all my fingers more than the extra two rounds.

      • I had 5 rather fearless looking assailants all within 12 feet. My dog was thankfully staying right up against my legs. If she had run off, I couldn’t have helped her if they choose her instead of me and I was not at all sure she could out run them. You are right too, they could have taken me down before I got more than 1 or 2 shots off if they attacked in coordinated fashion. I imagine I would have had to have started shooting first to have any chance at all but didn’t mostly because there was a suspicious looking fellow about 60 feet away that I think owned them even though he didn’t do anything to intervene. I worried that if I started shooting his dogs, I would have to contend with him as well. I was a gun unfriendly jurisdiction at the time and it really seemed like a no possible good outcome situation for me if violence erupted. In the end, the dogs didn’t attack and we were able to retreat.

        • “I imagine I would have had to have started shooting first to have any chance at all but didn’t mostly because there was a suspicious looking fellow about 60 feet away that I think owned them even though he didn’t do anything to intervene.”

          Did you ask around if he was a local, Vic?

        • Dogs worry me. I had one charge me from the owners garage while the owner looked on. I hesitated to draw as the dog charged, probably for too long. It if had not stopped at the radio fence I would have had to rely on jamming a winter coat protected arm in its jaws before killing it. I really don’t want to draw a gun and spend a weekend in jail for “brandishing a gun.”

          Now, when I walk, I carry a heavy stick so I can beat the crap out of any average size dog. One looks like a cane, another like a snow pole. Both are heavy fiberglass. Potentially useful against a sudden knife attack from close range. Better than a gun in a holster.

  15. I still carry a S&W 442. It was my backup since ’91. I recently bought a Glock 43 and installed a set of big dot night sights intending to retire the Smith. Didn’t happen. The Smith with Spiegel Boot Grips and a reload in a Rosen pocket holster with a Chris Reeve Sebenza goes out the door with me every day. And a Surefire. I have also began to keep a Glock 19X in a Galco butt pack in the truck when I venture out. Of course, it also has a spare mag, Spyderco, Surefire, extra batteries and what Renee’ calls my McGyver tool. (Letherman). Further than a tank of gas from home? Throw in a Galil ARM and a four cell chest pouch. I will not be killed for lack of shooting back.

  16. What’s the problem? Unless your State has an proscription against carrying two firearms simultaneously I don’t see an issue. Is there a caveat in IL law that forbids a CWP holder to only carry one firearm at a time?

    I have routinely carried a Ruger LCR in my front left pants pocket and a (concealed) holstered semi on my right hip for years. It helps to be reasonably ambidextrous….and to PRACTICE with what you carry.

    IMHO, Paper pie plates just don’t provide the proper mind-set to engage realistically. If your range allows the practice…try some of the photorealistic targets marketed primarily to LE agencies @ 1-7 yard engagement distances. Use a timer (CED 7000 for me) to simulate stress, hone accuracy and response times. Hostage-style targets are a humbling experience for most shooters when you realize that you are not as good under pressure as your imagination has told you. Be creative (and always follow the four rules of firearm safety) when setting up scenarios. Try shooting steel if you have the chance…it rewards you with immediate audio / visual feedback.

    Training for your own defense should be serious…and fun. Don’t be the guy who launches 250 rounds through his (insert favorite semi-auto name here) in fifteen minutes from 3 yards into the same pie plate and walks away with an unrealistic expectation of his prowess.

    • I have a set of judo throw dummies stuffed with all manners of clothes and carpet. I dress them in blue jeans and shirts and have used them to train wife and daughter before they took ccw classes.

      They last long enough for a few shooting sessions. And when they are shot up, fix bayonet and workout some frustration.

    • If your range allows it, try running in place and doing some pushups before firing. It will get your adrenaline up and put at least a small amount of fatigue into your muscles – training for a real fight.

  17. The gun you have with you is the best one regardless of calibre or capacity. I’m most likely to have my j-frame with me even for the shortest of errands.

    I’ve looked at what crimes–the non drug, non gang ones–have occurred around the places I go. Majority were 1 assailant, at most 2. I don’t feel under gunned as long as I have one with me.

    If i go ‘out of town’, i take a 9mm as well and sometimes a 12g, but the j-frame is my constant companion.

    • Ill never part with my stainless model 60 in 357. Drop one bad guy with one round and his friends won’t hang around to see if you can do it twice.

  18. Montana, that was good advice. Especially the shoot on steel. All my defense shooting is on steel.

  19. Made this switch a while ago. No more tiny pocket .380 or my 6-shot XD-S.

    Now I pack (at minimum) a 14-shot 9mm XD Subcompact and, if going to a heavily populated place I’ll carry the 10mm XDM in a Kangaroo Carry shoulder holster too.

    16 rounds of 10mm backed up by 14 rounds of 9mm should be enough to deal with today’s threats.

    Y’all remember back in the old days (i.e., just 2 years ago) when Trump was talking about being the “Law & Order” President? Things change very quickly nowadays.

  20. Yeah, these days the violence is an eye-opener. I still carry the GP-100 in the rural area where I live, but when I go to the “big city” (rarely) I carry a Glock 32 with 13+1 rounds of goodness plus a spare mag.

  21. The bright side of facing someone with a full auto Glock is that 80% of the magazine will probably be flying by way above your head.

    • Cloudbuster,

      I had the same thought. Sadly, if you watch the graphic video closely, the aggressors seem to be putting most of their rounds into their intended human targets.

      My intuition tells me that someone with good grip strength will put most of their rounds on target if they are fairly close (which the aggressors were) and the rate of fire is fast enough (which it was).

      (A super-fast rate of fire will launch several rounds on target before recoil and muzzle rise pull the barrel off target.)

  22. Well how bout that.
    Gangbangers exercising their second ammendment rights.
    They got machine gunms.
    None for me though, I’m not a law breaker and the second ammendment doesn’t apply to me.
    Too bad, that would kinda even the score.
    By golly when I go down I’ll have a double barrel shotgunm, fire a warning shot and die like a man.
    Dead using the presidents advice is honorable is it not?

  23. It still comes down to what can you carry without getting into social or legal trouble and what can you shoot well enough to stop the bad guy you do shoot at. If you can make it work, by all means carry a full size service pistol with a spare magazine or two. If you’re more restricted, carry what you can and practice enough to use it effectively. Right now, an LCP Max with a spare magazine offers the best combination of concealability and capacity.

      • I’d consider one with a manual safety. I’m surprised Ruger didn’t offer one. I’m fine with a pocket carry 7 plus 1 .380 (with reload in the other pocket), but I live in the sane part of the country. 10 plus 1 9mm or 15 plus 1 .40 S&W on the hip as weather/clothing allows, and I’m looking into getting a .357 SIG barrel because reasons.

        * ‘plus’ symbol didn’t show up for some reason.

  25. I carry a 5 shot, with 3 reloads, as backup to a 1911 with 1 reload. “There are only two times you have ‘too much’ ammunition, when you are drowning, or on fire!”

  26. Does Puerto Rico have a shortage of medical professionals to deal with the mental illness or did they just spend too much time playing violent video games? /s

  27. Well, the 12 gauge with 3 inch, 15 pellet buckshot could put 15 30-ish caliber projectiles on target quicker than the full auto Glock, and maybe put 30 or 45 up faster. I would wager the shotgunner would have more hits out of 30 than the sign flashing autoGlocker.. I just have not figured out what holster fits a KS7 and if I can get it in an IWB model. Make sure your rotator cuffs have been properly rotated, balanced and aligned beforehand, though, or you might be limping home on the spare.

  28. I generally (but not exclusively) carry a 3″ GP100 loaded with Double Taps. So they better attack in groups greater than 7 (7 because I’d pistol whip 7th guy within an inch of his life) and they’d better not retreat and launch a new offensive since I also carry a speed strip with 6 more Double Taps.

    Bottom line is I feel perfectly comfortable with 15+1 rounds of 9mm, but the odds of needing to get 6 rounds off without a glitch are much greater than the odds of needing rounds 7-16. Still, if you’re going to limit your round count you need to make your rounds count. So I’m not a big fan of the 5 shot .38 snubby, except in comparison to the 6 round .380acp. I’d prefer the deeper penetration and reliability of the snubby in that case. In any case, it’s a good idea to carry a SHTF backup in your car. Say hello to my little friend!

  29. Watching that video it appears it wouldn’t have mattered what you were carrying.
    Them guys got bushwhacked mighty fast.

    • What the one guy who later ‘returned fire’ needed, was a RIFLE.
      Well-aimed shot at 50 yards would have easily defeated ghetto-retards with a G18.

      • When he fired at them, they stopped their cars, got out, and came back to finish them off. I strongly suspect that if he had not returned fire, he (and possibly his friends) would likely still be alive. It’s a good example of the idiocy of drawing fire.

        • Not sure they would still be alive. Return-fire guy laid down without being shot a second time and was expiring (after shooting back). The guy in black never moved after he hit the ground. Maybe the bigger guy laying by/in the doorway would have survived his wounds.

          (When they came back and re-perforated them, they bodies barely twitched. They were already dead. But now they were all-the-way dead.)

      • “Well-aimed shots”? The dude (when he retreated behind the car, after getting shot the first time) was holding his handgun up above his head and just popping off rounds downrange. It wouldn’t have mattered what gun he had – he was just flinging lead out of a sense of frustration and revenge. He didn’t even put down his fo’ty.

        • Yes. Well-aimed shots. From a rifle.
          Well-aimed rifle fire could easily have stopped the attack.

          Not dumb-azz gangsta sideways BS pistol shots.

  30. Yes, capacity may be necessary, even more so nowadays, but I’ve tried going big and I just. Any do it consistently. Maybe I’ll just upgrade to two snubs?

  31. “I’d urge you to consider upgrading to a larger-capacity bubblegum dispenser. I have.”

    Good advice. Many have never encountered a situation where more was needed so they think that little .380 or five shot is great. I have encountered such a situation, if I had a 5 shot I and my wife would be dead. I went though two 15 round magazines, that’s all I had on me, I was down to three rounds left and had the bad guys not finally gone down and continued aggression my wife and I would probably be dead. I started carrying three mags after that, one in the gun and two reloads and lately after a gang attack that happened here killing a person locally I’m considering adding a fourth mag.

    the young bad guys today roam in gangs and groups, overall their motto is to ‘shoot’ the victim. Although you may not have encountered one, there is a good chance that when you do encounter the bad guy that they will come in a group and be armed.

    • .40 cal Booger,

      I consider myself fortunate that I always faced a single aggressor in my four dicey situations. Needless to say, I hope I never face another dicey situation, whether that involves a single or multiple attackers.

      Serious question: it sounds like you fired about 24 rounds over the course of roughly one minute–what was the status of your hearing immediately after you fired your last shot, five minutes later, and long term (permanently)?

      • @uncommon_sense

        “Serious question: it sounds like you fired about 24 rounds over the course of roughly one minute–what was the status of your hearing immediately after you fired your last shot, five minutes later, and long term (permanently)?”

        This is actually a common question I have gotten numerous times since then.

        I did suffer some permanent hearing damage. I felt it every time I fired and it was a sudden short sharp pain. After I fired the last shot it was sort of like hearing sound underwater for almost an hour and I could not hear most noises very well. Then my hearing sort of came back to where I could hear some stuff if it was loud enough then recovered some more over the next few days, but I had trouble hearing high pitched sounds and there was a constant distinct ‘ringing’ but that ‘ringing’ faded and eventually settled down to a sort of a low level, what I call, ‘constant chirping’ like sound.

        The permanent hearing damage tally is I lost most of the higher end of my hearing frequency range almost a week after. After waking up one morning I discovered I could no longer hear most high pitched sounds in speech very well or some other high pitched sounds. A trip to the doc confirmed it. I can still hear, just not most high pitched sounds in speech or other sources very well.

        It didn’t help that we were in a parking structure. The sound of the weapons fire seemed ‘amplified’ but really what was happening was the sound pressure energy was bouncing off the concrete walls and hammering me a second time for each shot.

  32. All NFA laws were followed in the making of this video. All applicants were upstanding young men with clean records who went through the entire process to responsibly get their full auto firearms.

    ThE LaWs MaKe YoU SaFe, ThEy SaY………MaKe MoRe LaWs ThEy SaY….

  33. I did this change years ago after the flash mob thing surfaced. 13+1 plus two extra 13rd mags. beats 5 rounds and speed loaders.

  34. bring back public hanging.. speedy trials.. and a Permanent solution to those with criminal intentions like this..

  35. That first video from Puerto Rico certainly doesn’t do anything to justify changing from your 5-round revolver to the Ruger semiauto. Nothing short of an infantry squad at your back is going to get you out of that kind of situation. Or as the knights in Monty Python and the Holy Grail were fond of saying in the face of imminent defeat “Run Away!”

    • I’m literally a western cowboy and we have calendars. I am in fact aware of the year more often than not, it’s just the days of the week that get fuzzy.

  37. Ruger LCP Max is not my minimal pocket gun. I previously used a KelTec P3AT for this purpose, and also at times a Chart Arms Off-Duty .38 snubby. All the above when not able to openly carry a full sixed sidearm.

    So, some simple guidelines.

    1. Know the crime statistics where you live, work or travel.
    2. Do not reside in a major city.
    3. Do not work at a location where you must travel thru or into a high crime area.
    4. Having “enough” should not be a goal. Having “more than you think you will ever need” is wise planning.

  38. Totally understand the trade offs of carrying a revolver, which I prefer to carry as well for a number of good reasons. But as one comment points out, know the stats for, and how to read dirtbags where you live (out here I once ran off a guy just putting my hand in my pocket and looking him right in the eye). My own preference for first line self defense is to avoid and stay alert in situations and places where I’ll possibly need a carry weapon. Especially if cowards in a group are a high probability. One on 3+ at my age is absurd no matter how good a screenwriter I get to help me play the part of a bad ass. If necessary I’d prefer to carry, or have at the ready in my vehicle, two guns. Like the Kel-tec 3AT someone mentioned with an expanded magazine. If had to (two) I’m plenty enough ambidextrous.

  39. The video showed what was essentially a 4-man fire team armed with fully automatic weapons ambushing 4 or 5 guys standing around in the open. No, a 5-shot revolver is not going to cut it. Neither is a 15 shot semi-auto. And neither is one or 5 men in an open area. What is needed in this situation (at minimum) is a local militia that has road blocks controlling the neighborhood, armed with rifles to keep out riff raff and mobile hostiles. Like what was seen in S Africa a few months back.

    Yip-yapping about pocket revo vs pocket auto in the face of such a threat is like arguing which is better to scrub the gymnasium floor: a toothbrush or a nail brush.

    Also, the CONUS examples are in _Chicago_. Down in the southwest here’bouts, we may be on the wild side, but the general state of armed citizenry attenuates the threat from gangs of roving “urban youths” and “teens.”

  40. Mind where you live.
    My 5 shot 357 comes with shock waves that no one mistakes for “firecrackers”.
    Its commonly filled with hay, horse shit and sawdust and works every time.

  41. Nevr heard such crap in all my life, The fact is tha if you are ‘surrounded’ by a couple of guys pointing guns at you it does not matter a flying banana what gun you have because you are dead before you can use it Those bad guys are NOT pointing a gun at you for fun! They want you bloody wallet Take your example from the pros. What do the cops do? If they see a guy going for a gun they bloody well shoot them-that’s what they do. Best to put your hands up and hand over your wallet in the face of insurmountable odds . AND THAT IS exactly WHAT most of you make believe heros would do. I know I WOULD be and I’m a trained Armourer and Infantry with the UK Forces and a Small Arms Instructor with twenty years experience. HAND’S UP, GIVE WALLET and, hopedfully, live to fight aother day. Put yourself in the Bad Guys place. Would YOU give your victim the chance to get the drop on YOU if you had him or her at gun point??. As for some Granny being ‘pistol whipped’ at least the probability is that you old Granny is still alive If she’d attempted to pull a shooter she definitely would NOT be. You are a bloody amateur. Leave the real stuff to the pros oryou will be dead

    • Long ago I became friendly with cops shooting at my range. The range didn’t allow situational training or even holster draw but the cops made a case, closed the range to others, and invited me. I was surprised that there was no skill on display and it was explained that they had no budget for the video simulation training. Only due to years of plinking games I had acquired instinctive reactive skills like clearing fouls and could perform those without thinking and could “think” holes in targets selected (flash lights aimed by others at random targets). I became their benchmark. My point is the “pros” are just guys too and training with stress will get you a surprising amount of skill (like anything). Judging a situation (holdup? Mass shooter?) is probably a very difficult to acquire skill.
      Watch the Kyle videos. He had no training yet judged and reacted better than 95% of combat arms trainee (IMO). Some are born with skills. But sure, if you are swarmed by an armed street gang and try to draw on three guys who are aiming at you 99.5% you are dead. But explain a 17 year old who won a gunfight starting with an incompletely closed bolt. Looping back to Puerto Rico, when there on business I was warned that holdups were usually executions as “Los drogas” made the junkies heartless and also without surviving witness the crime solution rate was zero. I was advised to accelerate if people moved in front of my car as this was a known technique to get a victim to stop. In a dystopian scenario, you are dead anyway, so may as well draw.

    • Well sir, it really doesn’t matter for you, now does it. Your entire nation is disarmed and helpless. 20 years of infantry experience be damned. You can’t even carry a butter knife in public.

      It may be that the entire purpose of your nation is to serve as a cautionary tale for others.

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