Mrs. CJ wants a home defense & carry option for herself.

[CoyoteJack]

Sunday afternoon, sunny and pleasant and shopping for the upcoming muzzleloader season and Mrs. CJ tells me she liked to look into a CCW option and home defense piece for herself.

Well the Gander Mountain selection isn't bad overall but it isn't really tailored to women with small hands. Yet I'm fairly certain those pink handled Taurus Pt-111 aren't too popular with the men. I can't them as too popular with the women for that matter. But she wanted to see how it fit her hand. Still a little big. Next was a Kell-Tec .380. Well it certainly was small enough. Scary small in my opinion. The guy at the counter said that in order to keep the price down the metal was such that range practice would cause them to quickly overheat and often jam. I realize they are a pointblank self defense only type pistol but reliability is the most important aspect of that need to me and I also feel one should practice with their carry weapon frequently.

Next up a S&W 642 Airweight. .38spl +P rated alloy and Stainless. DA only on this particular one but I understand you can get models of it with a hammer or a stubby hammer. Well the size and weight felt good to her. I liked the rubber grips better than the slick wood usually found on the Ladysmith lineup.

She seemed to feel more comfortable with a revolver as well. Probably because they are all she has every really shot with me.

So does anyone have one of these alloy framed .38's? I foresee a lot of standard .38 loads going thru it as she the type to want to practice something important till it is second nature. Once the mindset and motion is ingrained she'll likely setup to +P loads for defense and practice with those as well.

At 15oz. it would seem to be an ideal carry option for her and the +P I feel is enough caliber without making recoil an issue.

My concerns are the visibility of the sights and durability of the alloy frame. Any thoughts? Opinions?

Thanks in advance.

Coyotejack

[dgg9]

I have zero experience with the alloy frame models, but generically: a new shooter needs to shoot, often and with enjoyment. A gun that is ergonomically wrong (too big or too small); a gun whose recoil is too harsh; a gun too fragile to take the ongoing pounding = NFG. Practice becomes a burden, and then is discontinued. Or worse, practice is continued, but recoil creates flinching problems.

The alloy sounds like a promising carry gun -- not sure it's a learner's gun, though. Revolvers are super-expensive, and I can see getting a light alloy carry gun, and a separate practice gun, the latter being some big comfortable steel revolver, or even -- going the other direction -- one of those 8-shoot .22LR revolvers.

[Charlie B]

Take a look at KTOG.org (Kel-Tec Owners Group) where you will find everything you need to know about break in, fluff & buff, etc.

They say to reduce FTF problems you need to polish the feed ramp and FTE’s can be caused by roughness in the chamber. But the general consensus is with a little initial prep and 250 rounds break-in, you have a reliable carry piece.

I picked up my P-3AT at Heberling’s in Prompton in May. They had the black frame/blued slide for $232.

I was a bit pressed for time and only shot 50 rounds through it at their indoor range out back. As is, out of the box, it is greased up fairly heavy and should have had a good cleaning before firing it. I had 3 failure to feeds on the 2nd round of 3 mags respectively, and 1 FTE (out of 8 – 6 round mags).

I gave it a meticulous cleaning when I got home, polished the barrel feed ramp, chamber, slide rails, hammer/slide interface, and the inside of the barrel lug with some 400 W/D paper. I re-cleaned it, lubed it and racked the slide probably 50 or so times.

I put 250 rounds through my P3AT at Sunset Hill two days later. I had 2 Failure to Feed on the cheap range ammo (about 8 rounds per box was aluminum case and those were the only problems).

I was just looking to put some rounds down range to finish breaking it in. The first 150 rounds shooting at the bowling pins 30 yards out I’d hit them 1 or 2 out of 6 shots rapid fire. At 20’ two handed rapid fire the next 50 rounds were all in the critical mass in the silhouettes. The next 50 were white box Winchesters rapid fired at 15’ one handed, all in the critical mass.

So these were all shot in about 30 min. Load 6 in mag, fire 6, load…. This thing got a little hot but not too bad. If you prep and break it in as described on the Ktog forum, it's a reliable little carry piece.

Again, I gave it a meticulous cleaning when I got home, re-polished the barrel feed ramp, chamber, slide rails, hammer/slide interface, and the inside of the barrel lug with some 400 W/D paper. I re-cleaned it, lubed it, etc…

I’ve put over 3000 rounds through it and I feel comfortable carrying this as a primary weapon for CC in the summer or as a backup anytime.

My Snubby is my most carried piece (next to my P3AT BUG), been carrying a .38 since ’80. I have a S&W model 37-2 Airweight. Light, Accurate, Concealable.

[CoyoteJack]

Originally Posted by dgg9

I have zero experience with the alloy frame models, but generically: a new shooter needs to shoot, often and with enjoyment. A gun that is ergonomically wrong (too big or too small); a gun whose recoil is too harsh; a gun too fragile to take the ongoing pounding = NFG. Practice becomes a burden, and then is discontinued. Or worse, practice is continued, but recoil creates flinching problems.

The alloy sounds like a promising carry gun -- not sure it's a learner's gun, though. Revolvers are super-expensive, and I can see getting a light alloy carry gun, and a separate practice gun, the latter being some big comfortable steel revolver, or even -- going the other direction -- one of those 8-shoot .22LR revolvers.

This particular S&W retails for about $500. I have a larger Rossi in .357 that was pretty inexpensive.

[dgg9]

Originally Posted by CoyoteJack

This particular S&W retails for about $500. I have a larger Rossi in .357 that was pretty inexpensive.

Ok, alloy carry pieces are not cheap. BUT, workhorse practice revolvers like a Ruger or Rossi or Taurus are not expensive. .22 revolvers are all over the map pricewise, but you make up the cost in ammo savings in no time.

There's something to be said for not putting huge mileage on your pricy alloy carry gun.

[Karys]

My only concern about an alloy reveolver for her would be the recoil of a .38 +P. Those airweights are nice and light but she's going to have to shoot it often and with enjoyment, like dgg9 said. If the recoil is too much for her, she'll never enjoy it.

If the recoil of an airweight is an issue then an all steel .38 would be the way to go. If you absolutely have to have a lightweight alloy, an option would be to get something in .32 H&R Magnum. They have less recoil than a .38 and I know Taurus makes an airweight. I assume Smith & Wesson makes one too.

[Charlie B]

BTW, because the P3AT and Airweight are so lightweight, they kick like a mule.

I’ve been taking my son-in-law to the range, he gave me the 3AT back after 6 shoots and hasn’t tried it again. He shot 25 rounds through the Airweight but didn’t like it either. He prefers my Sigma, Bersa 380 and Glock.

Have you looked at the Bersa Thunder 380? Very Accurate!

[CoyoteJack]

I've never shot +P .38's. I've run regular .38's through my Rossi as well as full .357 loads. I'm guessing the +P's fall somewhere in between?

She has shot the Rossi with .38's in it as well. While it is heavier do you think the recoil is that much more significant in the airweights? The barrels are about the same length.

[Charlie B]

I’ve shot .38 for years… I don’t feel a significant difference between .38 and .38+p in the same gun, not much difference with same loads in a 5 shot 2” Airweight or steel. Just my opinion.

[medicjz]

My girlfriend tried my Rossi .38 and did not enjoy shooting it, however she enjoyed the .357 she owns and really wants a 1911 after shooting mine. She said she did not like the recoil of the .38. She said that she thought that the because the gun was so small it moved to much in her hand when she fired it, but had more control with the large framed weapons. Just has a side note she does have smaller hands and it was still more comfortable for her with the large firearms.