Just got mine

M

martywinston

New member
Tuesday was bad weather but it was the day I could finally pick up my CCW, so I did.

Next week, I'm going to be "unfaithful" to my usual practice range and toss a few rounds out of a stall in Las Vegas - it's considerably less wintry there - and I'll be a full week ahead of the Shot Show crowd.
 
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Welcome to the club and the forum... here in the hallowed halls of USA Carry you will find the wisdom to keep you safe and smart- you will also find that you are now going to have to do your homework because there are a lot of "misguided" people here.:crazy_pilot:
 
As a reporter, I've only been covering gun-related products for a few months, but your point about homework really resonates.

Here's a simple question that will result in 30 opinions from any 5 people you ask: what are the best products for cleaning handguns? (Please - I'm not asking - I spent 6 weeks going through all the opinions and lore and got more chemistry in for review than you can find in a 50s sci-fi movie).

Or ask which is "better", a semi-automatic or a revolver (and when you give just those 2 choices, about 20% of all responses come back "shotgun").

I appreciate the advice about homework because that's exactly where I've needed to immerse myself.

I have the CCW, but it will probably be Februry or March before I buy a gun. (The gin will be a Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm full-length with 4.25" barrel and I will be adding tritium sights, a laser and a bright LED light). I already have half a dozen holsters for it, even more hearing protectors, a spinning metal target, several locks and vaults and lockboxes, an Uplula (which certainly lets me shoot more rounds per hour at the range), a collection of paper targets, several extra 17-round magazines, more tactical flashlights than I can count, a box of snap-caps, 3 BB guns (for near-silent practice - but I'm now looking to donate them and would love some ideas of appropriate places for that), several silica gel dehumidifiers - and that's just so far.

In a few weeks, I have several eye protectors coming in, a laser bore gadget, laser ammo, and samples of almost a dozen kinds of personal protection ammunition that I intend to range-test (for clothing penetration using 10 layers of canvas sandwiched by fore and aft targets to let me compare entry/exit holes).

I decided against getting the threaded barrel for the M&P - I was initially concerned that muzzle flash might cause problems when shooting in the dark, but my homework showed me that there's a lot of personal protection ammunition that reduces muzzle flash.

The thing that right now is impressing me the most is the amount of skilled and clever engineering that goes into advanced factory rounds - and I'm a guy who spent his career covering technology from vacuum tubes to transistors to integrated circuits to microprocessors - last year I built 6 computers from scratch - so it's not that technology has an easy time impressing me - the ammo really is that brilliant.

Thanks for the welcome, everybody.
 
Welcome! CCW is not a club. There are no dues or secret handshakes. Read lots of Ayoob, and vote often. Your freedom depends on it.
 
weekendskp said:
Welcome! CCW is not a club. There are no dues or secret handshakes. Read lots of Ayoob, and vote often. Your freedom depends on it.[/Q

Not a club? I had to fill out an application, pay dues, and if I screw up they can kick me out. That makes it a club in my book. LOL
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martywinston said:
I have the CCW, but it will probably be Februry or March before I buy a gun. (The gin will be a Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm full-length with 4.25" barrel and I will be adding tritium sights, a laser and a bright LED light).
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This setup will be for concealed carry?

It's obvious you have indeed immersed yourself in research, but I have to ask, have you calculated a weight/size/gadget-to-comfort ratio yet?

I'm not asking because I have anything against lasers or weapon-mounted lights. I also have a S&W with a rail and a Streamlight TLR-2 attached to it, and I have tried carrying it configured as such. Even bought three different concealable holsters that accommodate the light/laser, but man, that thing is like being tied to a boat anchor trying to pull my waistband to the bottom of the sea! And I'm a big guy, some would even say I'm a huge guy (6'-6" - 260 lbs.). That weapon comes out of the safe when I get home from work, and goes on the nightstand until I leave the next day.

I suppose a shoulder rig would alleviate a lot of the discomfort, but that requires a fairly substantial cover garment, and that gets rough if you live where it's real humid and/or gets very hot.

I'm just suggesting that if this is your first experience with concealed carry, you may end up rethinking your weapon/accessories choices.

That said, it sounds like you have a great jump on putting together a good tactical bug-out-bag! Link Removed

I'm not trying to be condescending or discouraging at all. Glad that you're joining the "club." Just trying to save you some expense and time in getting set up to be able to carry comfortably and consistently, because when the former is lacking, the latter usually is too. Best of luck, and welcome to the boards!

Blues
 
I never paid 4 anything here, in fact that's why I left the other forum. Couldn't see paying Money 4 something I can get free..
 
crowsnake said:
I never paid 4 anything here, in fact that's why I left the other forum. Couldn't see paying Money 4 something I can get free..
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I was referring to the "club" of concealed carry citizens, not the forum. Heck they even sent me a "membership card" in the mail and it has an expiration date. :triniti:
 
martywinston said:
(The gin will be a Smith & Wesson M&P ....)
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snipped for brevity....
I have London Extra Dry in my wine cooler. One of my guests from game night prefers it with with a little bit of soda water and lemon...:biggrin:

Listen to Blues...I was the same in my early days and bought all the accessories my money can buy for my gun then had some problems with weight. As I had already said I am just a short legged mom but I got too excited with my second gun at the time. Later on in the peace, all accessories off, I can use my gun properly and carry it too quite comfortably. Manual learning is a process but it pays off better in the long run than easily get taken with accessories. It's not the gun with the most accessories attached to it that you hope will work but one that goes kaboom each time you press the trigger.

Fly safe...drive safe...be safe...
 
martywinston said:
Tueasday was bad weather but it was the day I could finally pick up my CCW, so I did.

Next week, I'm going to be "unfaithful" to my usual practice range and toss a few rounds out of a stall in Las Vegas - it's considerably less wintry there - and I'll be a full week ahead of the Shot Show crowd.
Click to expand...


Congrats, fill out your profile...What state are you in?
 
BluesStringer said:
This setup will be for concealed carry?

It's obvious you have indeed immersed yourself in research, but I have to ask, have you calculated a weight/size/gadget-to-comfort ratio yet?

Blues
Click to expand...

Your point is excellent and points out where I should have been more explicit.

The rail-mounted light is mostly for home protection; it's a night device.

I am trying out several very clever holsters that can accommodate it - in a few days, the guy from Conclealed Comfort is meeting me at my favorite Las Vegas bar in a few days to hand me a Cell Pal holster (very cool for carry without that accessory) but I'm also getting a SptingTacHolster that can handle the accessory.

I learned through decades of dealing with computers that off-the-shelf is just a starting point. I think there are lots of opportunities to meld good ideas from among several of the innovators out there and provide better solutions (and more purchasing) for many of them.

But back to your point: daytime carry, nighttime carry, car carry and home protection are 4 contexts with sometimes conflicting requirements. I'm still slipping my transmission belts when dealing with one and lsiding into others - my apologies.

I'm also finding that I have to separate my considerations in terms of ammunition. For example, in home protection, do I really want to be able to shoot a guy on the other side of a wall or can I wait for him to emerge (it depends in part, of course, on what he can get to from that side of the wall and what dangers I'd face to come around the wall myself). The gun I've chosen cums with 3 magazines; while I haven't yet bought the gun I have bought 3 more magazines - not yet sure how I'll deploy them, just seems like a good idea.

But - and this goes for everybody - don't hesitate for a millisecond to challenge my findings or my statements.

I don't ever want to stop learning.
 
Tucker's Mom said:
snipped for brevity....
Manual learning is a process but it pays off better in the long run than easily get taken with accessories.
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I agree about the need to practice - I'm at the range a couple times a month shooting an average of 100 rounds - it will be more next year when a new range opens just 10 minutes up the street.

I've been covering tech for too long to go after gimmicks just because they're available. There are really only 3 I'm looking at.

The tritium sights are because (so far) I need to aim to hit anything and in a home protection context, chances are the lights will be off.

The laser and light come from the same in-the-dark context - but I think in these terms - if a coyote goes after my dog or cat, I want to know which one I'm shooting at and which one I'll hit - and for moving targets I don't think my "naked" sight-aaiming will necessarily get the right one. (That little scene is also why I didn't choose a shotgun for hime protection - but that's hardly a Concealed Carry topic).
 
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