A "Safer" Carry Gun?

A couple of posts back, I was analyzing the Bond Arms derringer models as potential self defense carry guns. Since then I've had a number of conversations about this topic, both in real time and on the internet via a couple of gun forums. And I've received a couple of news items involving self defense shootings that I think are relevant. But first, the gun forums.

Even though I moderate a small forum, and used to moderate a large one with over ten thousand registered members, I don't put a great deal of faith in what I read. Although some members are knowledgeable and helpful, and will even admit when they don't know about something, many more are willing to use the shield of the internet to jump in and comment, or pontificate, on topics they know little, and sometimes absolutely nothing, about. Derringers seem to bring this latter group out of the woodwork. They are similar to the same crowd that declares any caliber of pistol that doesn't begin with a "4" are worthless.

Now, back to the topic of derringers. Bond Arms derringers specifically. My previous post pretty much lays out the good and the bad for these little pistols, but to cut to the essence for their use as self defense carry guns, I have to say that the biggest negative that comes immediately to mind is their two shot capacity. Against this, it can be stated that most "self defense" situations that involve guns are those in which no shots are fired by anyone. Showing your firearm to a would-be assailant(s) is often enough to end the situation then and there. For other situations, I believe one or shots usually puts paid to the situation as well.

Of course, there are occasions when more than two shots are required even though these instances are infrequent. I have to comment here that when this happens it's not always because one is assaulted by more than two individuals who keep on coming even though the victim has fired three, four, five, six or more shots. In most instances, multiple shots are fired because the shooter can't hit what he or she is aiming at. Or isn't aiming in the first place. This means a number of bullets are flying around the scene, landing somewhere. A dangerous practice.

There are two ways to overcome this. Practice a lot. Practice defensive firing drills. Expend a lot of ammo getting proficient with your handgun. True, but seldom done. "It's too expensive." Yes, it is expensive. "I don't have the time." You can make time for something that important. "I don't have a regular place to shoot." And, that's because???....

The other way to deal with this is to use a close-range gun that will much more often hit the bad guy with enough force to end the situation in one shot with reduced chance of shots going astray. I'm not talking about carrying big caliber magnums. Shooting statistics don't support the big caliber theory anyway. I mean shooting something like a .410 shotgun shell loaded with 5 pellets of 000 buckshot. That will get anyone's attention and will more likely hit the intended target than a 9 mm hollow point, for example. And should one or two of those pellets sail on past, they will be rapidly losing velocity and offer a much greater chance of not killing someone or going through a wall, window or car door and into a person.

That is the main reason I am attracted to the Bond Arms derringers in .410/.45 long colt calibers. A two-shot hand-held shotgun seems like a pretty potent weapon in a self defense scenario.

One incident I learned about yesterday involved a gunfight near a Pizza restaurant. A 'civilian' getting out of his car, was confronted by an armed robber in another car who pointed a gun at him and demanded his money. The 'civilian', a legal concealed handgun carrier, drew his weapon and fired. The two men exchanged shots as the robber drove away. Neither person was hit, but bullets went into nearby building and windows. Fortunately, no one else was hit either

The second involved another attempted robbery of a man and his wife who were sitting in their car in broad daylight in a city street. The would-be robber pointed a 1911 .45 at the driver and demanded his money. The driver pulled a Bond Arms derringer and shot the robber once at six yards. The robber went down badly hurt. A bystander kicked the robber's gun away and the victim kept his gun, with the remaining .410 shell ready to fire, on the robber until the police arrived. The robber died. The man and his wife lived. No one else was hurt.


Of course, even so, should one be limited to two shots, it is necessary to have your reloading procedure down pat and be able to execute it in a hurry.

Or carry something like a Ruger LCP as a backup pocket gun, just in case.

I'm still awaiting my opportunity to put a Bond Arms derringer to the test - drawing, firing and reloading in an acceptable period before I would carry, or recommend them for self defense carry.

I'm still looking for that opportunity and when it comes, I'll report in detail here.

Stay safe.

The Endless Carry Argument: which gun? what caliber? what self defense round? which holster?

Uncle George's Wallet Holster

From my experience on a couple of decent firearms forums which primarily serve citizens interested in pistols for both shooting and self defense, this argument seems never to die. I think it is important to address because of the increasing numbers of people who are new to handguns and new to legal carry for self defense. These long-running discussions, which can unfortunately turn dictatorial and nasty when the so-called experts get involved, do more to confuse the issue than offer clarity. So, I'm attempting to interject a bit of basic information, and, hopefully, clarity into the topic of handguns meant for self defense carry.

I've illustrated this post with a photo of one of Uncle George's wallet holsters made for the Ruger LCP because carrying a handgun for self defense is a simple and basic act, and this is about as simple as it gets. Anyone - male, female, big, tiny, it doesn't matter - can carry one of these setups almost anywhere without being noticed or uncomfortable. The Ruger LCP weighs 9.4 ounces, 10.0 with a Crimson Trace laser sight installed (as above). It's a little over five inches long and less than an inch wide. It is built for concealment and for carrying. It, and other similar 'pocket pistols' usually are chambered for the .380 caliber round (also called the 9mm short). With a good factory load, designed for self-defense, such as the Hornady CD or perhaps the Speer Gold Dot (and similar ammunition), it is an effective self defense weapon.

So, what we have here is a lightweight (Light), small (Compact) Pistol designed to be carried for self defense by practically anyone. This, evidently, drives some self-styled 'gun experts' crazy.

They can't so much complain about the polymer frame, since many of the handguns they prefer incorporate that in their builds, but seemingly everything else is fair game to them: caliber (too small), bullets (not heavy enough, not designed right), sights (poor iron sights that aren't adjustable), small capacity (seven rounds is not enough), not durable enough (will suffer problems if it's shot too much), and so on. To further disparage these kinds of self defense weapons, they have labeled them "mouse guns". Must mean that they are only good for plinking mice, or that mousy people use them. Not sure on that. And, they probably aren't either.

A few examples of the "experts" recommendations for self defense carry:

• If the caliber of your pistol doesn't start with a "4" it isn't big enough.
• Double-stack magazines are required so you can carry enough ammo without having to frequently reload.
• Your self defense gun must be 100% reliable under all conditions.

There are more, but those will do for illustration purposes.

In my opinion, basically all of those arguments are bogus when it comes to self defense. The two critical factors are, 1. carry a gun. All of the time. It is a true statement that you better have one when you need one.

2. hit only what you intend to hit when you have to shoot.

If the caliber of your pistol doesn't start with a "4" it isn't big enough.

It is obvious that if you pull a gun and fire off a round (or twelve, even) and don't hit the threat, you've done yourself no good and possibly have injured, or worse, an innocent person. No matter what the caliber of the gun, velocity or impact of the bullet, your self defense gun is useless unless you can hit something with it. Reliably, accurately and repeatedly if necessary.

Unless one is a practiced, experienced shooter, shooting a large caliber handgun is harder than shooting a handgun of smaller caliber and power. Most people who carry for self defense are not practiced, experienced shooters and are not going to become one either. They, hopefully, practice enough to be comfortable with their weapon and to be accurate enough for the ranges and target sizes that would be appropriate for most self defense situations. Most of these people shoot a reasonably sized handgun - .38 special, 9mm, .380 calibers. They are big enough to do the job, but not so heavy, noisy and recoil producing to be hard to shoot.

Double-stack magazines are required so you can carry enough ammo without having to frequently reload.

Double stack magazine handguns are bigger and heavier than single stack guns. As a consequence, they are more uncomfortable and heavy to carry and more difficult to conceal. Hence, they tend to not get carried as a regular thing. Your double-stack .40 caliber pistol is doing you no good as a self defense weapon while it's in your car or home in the safe. Besides, when are you going to really need a fifteen, sixteen or seventeen round capacity in the self defense world? I supposed if you were attacked by a gang and were forted up behind a car, then, maybe. You'd likely be outgunned anyway so things wouldn't be turning out well for you.

I think the notion of being in an extended shoot out is common because that is what TV and the movies show us. But, that's really the rare exception when citizens are forced into self defense shooting. Read up on it. Most scenarios involve one or two rounds being fired. It's rare that more than five or six are expended in these situations. They start quickly and end quickly with people running away or stopping their aggressive behavior because they are suddenly dealing with a bullet wound or two.

You can easily carry a spare single-stack magazine along with your smaller self defense weapon so you'll have a reload in the unlikely event you will need one.

Your self defense gun must be 100% reliable under all conditions.

That would be nice, but face it, no machine is 100% reliable even under good conditions. It's the nature of the beast. It's the world of Murphy's Law. I know shooters who have fired thousands of rounds from their handguns and think this is a guarantee of reliability, that the gun is going to go bang the next time they pull the trigger. Think about it. Just because the machine has not experienced a failure before does not mean it's never going to fail.

Check your self defense gun by shooting regularly, but don't burn through hundreds and hundreds of rounds. Shoot it enough to be sure it's running well, like it should, then carry it. Maybe go out and practice once a month to keep your proficiency and to exercise the gun. You will soon know if it has an endemic or recurring problem. Send it back to the maker and have them fix it. Use another self defense gun in the interim.

The reliability factor is one of two that mitigate for carrying a backup gun. In the unlikely event that your pistol malfunctions at exactly the wrong time, you may have the opportunity to go to your backup. Odds are that the two guns won't fail at the same time. The second reason is that you may not be able to get to your primary weapon due to being injured, having the gun taken away, dropped, or perhaps your assailant in on top of you wrestling with your gun, or preventing you from getting to it. You may have the option of going for the backup.

In the real world, it is impossible to prepare for all contingencies, just as it is impossible to carry a gun that is 100% reliable. You can narrow the odds and put survival more in your favor by understanding that a reasonable and rational level of preparedness is attainable and sustainable if you only do a few things.

1. Find a handgun that suits you and which you will carry at all times where legally allowed.

2. Keep that gun in good condition.

3. Practice regularly so that you can access it and shoot it accurately under self defense conditions. Practice at short ranges, say, the distance between two walls in a regular room in your house. Become good at hitting an area the size of the human torso.

That's it. Shooting an assailant a number of times in the torso will definitely put the odds of survival in your favor. Of course there are true stories of men being shot multiple times with decent caliber handguns, mostly by law enforcement officers, who still fight back and don't seem to know they are shot. This is the exception however. And, when you think about it, if you should encounter one of those people, it doesn't much matter if you are toting a Model 1911 .45 automatic or a .380 LCP. But one thing for sure, I'd rather reach for and use my .380 in a circumstance like that and hope my accuracy was enough to stop the threat, than to be throwing rocks, glasses or chairs as my self defense weapons.

If you think the circumstances may demand it, you can always carry a larger gun along with your primary self defense weapon, but you don't have to make it a regular thing.

Realistic self defense carry will keep your armed and prepared in all situations. You probably won't be ready for the zombie apocalypse, but you will be ready to deal more effectively if you are seriously threatened. 

Reliability and Risk

One of the big questions about legal concealed carry for self defense is which gun will be the most reliable. Which will be most likely to go "bang" if you have to pull the trigger. Many people would say that a double-barrel shotgun is the best answer, but when you have to factor in other considerations the picture becomes much more complicated.

You cannot easily conceal a double-barrel shotgun for every day carry. Nor would most people want to. Given that a legal concealed carrier will desire to keep his or her gun concealed from others, yet have it readily accessible when needed, comfortable to carry so it isn't left at home, and reliabile so that it works when needed, the question of what to carry and how becomes thorny indeed.

Probably the most popular handgun for concealed carry is some version of the semi-automatic pistol, usually a center fire caliber since these have more power than a rimfire gun. Two questions follow on from that.

One, which caliber should I carry?

Two, what size gun?

Both questions are important and both have their adherents. You will find that many people consider anything less than a .45 caliber handgun to be next to useless for self defense. Their argument usually relies on what they call "stopping power", i.e., the ability of a bullet to generate enough energy into a target to "stop" that target from further action. There remains much debate about the idea of "stopping power" in the knowledgeable gun community.

The idea that one can shoot a full sized adult with a .45 caliber bullet and knock that person down is pretty far fetched. It might work sometimes, but mostly it probably won't for various reasons. The person shot is too cranked up on adrenalin or other stimulants to be much affected. Big animals, shot with large caliber rifle bullets will often not realize they are "dead" and continue to charge or run, as the case may be, for a relatively long period after being shot. So, a big bullet is no surety of "stopping power".

Also, one must be able to actually hit the target. If you miss, it doesn't much matter what caliber of bullet you use.

You will find that most law enforcement and military handgun applications have moved away from the big .45 caliber guns to smaller calibers, the 9 mm being the world-wide favorite at this moment. There are variations of course: .40 caliber, .38 special for certain applications, etc. But this shows that the idea of "stopping power" being the most important is no longer in favor.

Modern ammunition loads that are designed for self defense are very effective in sizes from .380 auto, considered the minimum self defense caliber by many, up through the larger calibers. This is important because the effectiveness of a self defense round is not restricted to caliber and power. The design of the bullet and it's characteristics relative to particular handguns is very important. For example, a well designed .380 auto self defense round, like the Hornady Critical Defense round, may have as much, or more, effect on an adult assailant as a basic .45 caliber full metal jacket bullet fired from a short-barreled .45 pistol. This is certainly true if the .380 bullet is better placed into the target than the .45 round.

Besides these factors, a person carrying for self defense must also consider size and weight of the handgun. Most people will not lug around a two-pound pistol every day, even though their intentions are good to start with. Gun manufacturers have recognized this and responded with a slew of "compact" handguns, both semi-autos and revolvers. The overall aim is to combine what the buying public will consider sufficient "power" with compact size and lighter weight in order to arrive at a perfect carry pistol. Such a gun does not exist, given that everyone has their own idea of perfect. However, there are now many more options to choose from for a daily carry handgun.

It is almost a truism that the best self defense gun is the one you have with you when you need it. No matter if you favor a full size model 1911 .45 semi-auto loaded with outstanding self defense ammunition. If it is home in the safe, or locked in the car because it's become a real pain to carry all day, it is for all real purposes useless as a self defense weapon. I think this is the fundamental reason behind the amazing sales of Ruger's little LCP (Light Compact Pistol). They seem to be selling them as fast as they can make them. They are small, light and very effective when loaded with modern .380 self defense ammunition. Even though many gun "writers" term them derisively as "mouse guns", a great many average people (and many knowledgeable gun owners) are buying and carrying them for self defense. I've yet to meet a person who snorts at these "mouse guns" who will volunteer to be shot with one. That says something.

With the success of the LCP and the LCR (the .38 Special and .357 magnum revolver versions of "light and compact") from Ruger, the market has responded by producing an increasing number and models of "light and compact" for concealed carry. There are many options now.

Perhaps a more crucial question of having a gun with you when you need it, is the one of reliability. If you pull out your compact semi-auto pistol and pull the trigger and it doesn't go "bang", things can turn ugly really fast. No one wants to have a gun that won't work.

The internet gun communications - sites and forums mainly - are rife with tales of malfunctioning guns. If one read solely these and did not put this talk into perspective, you would think a semi-automatic pistol was a fragile beast liable to malfunction at any time. Since most of the worlds police and military depend upon semi-automatic sidearms, this is manifestly not the case. But, it is true that at some times, some guns (probably all guns) will fail. The question is, can you depend upon a certain brand and type of gun to be reliable enough to trust for every day carry?

This question will require a lot of thought and research. My internet forum members will continue to be a great help with this question and I'll give it some deep thought as well. After all, I am personally very interested in this question.