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you may look at a ruger black hawk convertable. It will shoot 357mag, 38 special, or you can change the cylinder and shoot 9mm. I have one and have loved it, and changing the cylinder is very simple.

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If you have ever had a revolver trap a case under the star in a dark high stress environment, well, you'd be better off with a 5 iron. The gun is dead.

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If you have ever had a revolver trap a case under the star in a dark high stress environment, well, you'd be better off with a 5 iron. The gun is dead.

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Vernon, You have mentioned this situation before. Obviously it gave you an opinion on revolvers. But I have been shooting quite a great deal since I bought my first pistol in about 1972 and have never had a failure of any kind with a revolver period, whether single or double action.

I cannot say that about autos. I have stove-piped, or just flat jammed good clean Berettas, Colts, and my current Kimber. I haven’t had any kind of failure with a Glock or Springfield XD.

But take the number of available rounds, (high cap mags), out of the picture, and if I only had to depend on any gun firing a second shot without a failure, I will take a S&W or Colt revolver over any auto period.

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.45 ACP rules in semi-auto knock-down power, but....

9mm inflicts alot of damage and lets you have fun doin' it

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Vernon -
I guess it's pretty inevitable that whenever you advise against selecting a given weapon as a defensive tool, you're gonna rile those folks who happen to have chosen that weapon. Sometimes, people's need to defend their personal choices - logical or not - trumps objectivity.

While I depended on my Super Blackhawk for many years, I'd be the last one to recommend one as the ultimate defense weapon. But I shot mine enough that by the time the gun was up, the hammer was cocked. Not playing CAS-er, just technique borne of many hours' practice. Lacking that practice, I'd have been better off with something else.

I've been shooting since the early '60s, and the only failures I've ever experienced with revolvers were with a cheapie Rg and a badly abused Smith that a friend owned. Keep them clean and full of good, fresh ammo, and failure of a quality revolver is rare, to put it mildly. While modern autos have achieved a much higher degree of reliability, I still believe that all things being equal, they are more likely to malfunction than a revolver. But that's probably as much a statement of my own hard-earned bias as anything else, so while I'll continue to rely upon my FBI-issue Smith, I'll grudgingly acknowledge that others are welcome to make their own choices. I'll even try not to be smug in my assessments of their judgment! And I'll save the angry PM's for folks who push my buttons on other topics, like politics or the classification of chocolate as a major food group.

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Well said. Spoken like a true gentleman. I don't even get into politics much, no reason for me to debate it, I can't change and I don't think I ever changed anyone else. I'll answer direct questions about anything though.

On guns, I think I will start noting failures on our range and on others that I see. I also think that you are right that cleanliness is important, in all of them. Guess I have just been around a different "caliber" of revolvers over the years.

On the chocolate issue, are you for including it as a food group or against?

How about counting a coors light or two as part of your recommended daily allowance of grains and water?

Now there are some topics worth debating. As long as my wife is not here.

BTW, I just bought a Smith and Wesson revolver...really! Still got the sigs, just wanted this one for old times sake!

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Sig, you mention training and comfort levels. I think that is overlooked when someone is buying a pistol for home defense. It also leads into my next paragraph.

Lots of well considered posts regarding the merits of different actions, brands and calibers. However, the original post indicated that he wanted it for, among other things, home protection for his wife. It is a very rare person who will practice with a pistol long and often enough to make a pistol useful for home protection. It has to really become part of you. I think it provides a very dangerous false sense of security.

Do a test. Have both parties practice with the pistol. Then wake either from a sound sleep yelling BURGLAR. Most people will blow their foot off after wetting the bed. I have a bunch of pistols and have used them off and on for many years. I doubt that I could pass that test.

I have been asked many times about my choice of pistols for home defense. My response is to buy the prettiest one you can afford. That way, if confronted by a bad guy, you can offer them the pretty pistol if they won't hurt you. Keep some Vaseline handy for where it can get stuck.

IMO, for 99% of the public, a pistol is a toy. For home defense, I prefer a pump shotgun, any guage. Just the sound of of one going into the chamber will make perps jump plumb through perfectly good windows. Combine that with an absolutely useless little yapping dog to give a guy time to wake up and get his shotgun.

Just my opinion.

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No doubt. I prefer selective yield thermo-nuclear slugs in the shotgun too!

I was just giving opinions about handguns, based on his original premise. In my opinion, most women will never practice enough with a shotgun to get proficient (sorry ladies, jmo). Again I would rather see anyone, male or female, have something that they are comfortable shooting, and that they practice with.

Now, here's a whole new debate that I get to start. I know all of you purist will tell me I am wrong, but its not a pump shotgun that's out of the safe every night at my house. It's a Benelli M1 Super 90.

OK, now its time for someone to tell me it should be a pump or a hammered double barrel....


Ya'll have a nice day!