now your only problem is to decide what home protection gun you are going to buy on April 15th which is buy a gun day....

Ah well buying guns can be fun.

Glad you are getting your carry permit...

Great.

So you're coming to the next IDPA shoot out here? (4th Saturday of the month)

Kirk - On April 15, I will be down at Jekyll Island with Pumpman, Key, Catfish, Recondo32, and the rest of the Georgia bloggers, and some that aren't like Parkway Rest Stop and Velociman. It's actually called, and I'm not making this up, the Georgia Writers Workshop. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Addison (the other one) - More info on the shootout please.

Not too bad a choice for someone starting out. Wheel guns are better than autos in that if you have a malfunction, you just squeeze again. My hands down favorite is the 1911A1 .45. Mine is from Springfield Armory. Enjoy the shooting.

Well it's about time.
Now start going to the range 4 times a week.
When you go to the gym either going or coming go to the range.
Work when you go don't make noise.When you can dump 5 rounds in the "A"Zone at 7 yards with either hand,you can start to slow down.
Winchester white box at Wally World is good pratice ammoo or buy it by the case on line.
By the way you can't hurt the 640 by dry fireing it so while you are watching tv dry fire this will tend to break the gun in and smooth the action.
But I am glad you did it looking forward to a range report and you getting the shotgun.

Yea!

Denny:
http://wgtsclub.tripod.com/

Yes, I was at the Oct 04 match, too. :)

Addison

Oh, should have commented on WWB (Winchester White Box) - best place to get it is Wal-mart.

I don't remember what 100 rounds of .38 was, ($15?) but I've not seen .45 or .40 for cheaper online, even at Ammoman, etc. with free shipping. Remington has started countering by selling bulk in 100-packs, but they're using hollowpoints, and charging a few bucks more.

With the price of WWB, I've not been even thinking about reloading for my automatics. I am saving .357 and .44 Mag/Special cases.

Denny, it's none of my business what firearms you buy though I heartily endorse those little Smiths, or the Ruger SP101 which is my choice. I am curious, though, if you've tried handling a shotgun and your crutches together. You've written about falling down, presumably without the help of a recoiling shotgun.
I do not wish to get into a pissing match with anyone else giving you advice, I simply urge you to try handling a shotgun with both your crutches.
Your particular case, you might be better served by either your revolver serving double duty or, perhaps, a full size revolver in the same chambering, say an S&W Model 66 or a Ruger GP100.
I'll go back to minding my own business now.

I like the 1911 45 too I have black talons in mine I got them about a month before the ban I agree with the ban on this because in the wrong hands a lot of cops could die since there purpose is to cut through bulletproof vests,enjoy the 357 and good luck

Pharaoh:
(Sorry, Denny, but I've got to address some factual issues here)
1) "Black Talons" were never banned. Winchester withdrew them due to a massive campaign of disinformation led by NBC.
2) They still sell the same bullets under other names now.
3) They were supposedly more damaging and "bounced" inside repeatedly - not armor piercing.
4) If you agree with the "ban", then you have no business having them yourself. That's the whole crux of the current gun-grabber's strategy, to get people to say "Well, *I* don't use THAT gun, so yeah, it's OK to ban it". Thus the attacks on the misnamed "Semiautomatic Assault Weapons", and now on the .50, and the 5.7 FN. After all, who says *your* hands are the "right" ones?

Peter - Here's the long range plan. The 640 is for concealed carry when I'm out and about. My home protection weapon will be a shotgun and Airboss has pointed out a beauty that I can get but since it's covered by NFA, I have to jump through a few hoops and pay a $200 transfer fee.

I doubt if I'll be able to shoot the 640 on crutches until I get some of the strength back that I have lost over the past two months due to using my wheelchair on trips and being off my feet because of the cold and flu. The plan is to fall down and then shoot. I fall real well. If I'm in my car or my wheelchair, there will be no problem. I do have to figger out how to carry and Airboss has come up with some ideas on that also.

Sounds like you've got it all covered.

Congratulations.

Incidentally, you don't need an NFA shotgun for home defense, I don't think. It just adds a layer of complexity (not to mention having the ATFE crawl up your ass).

Take a good look at the Stoeger Coach "sawed-off" shotguns.

Nourishing 12ga goodness, oh my...

Tip of the hat Denny. Congrats on the S&W.

Greetings Denny,

I have been enjoying your blog for almost a year now but have never posted. I thought I would use the occasion of my first post to pass along a bit of advice wrt your Smith. I have the model 686 and it is one of the best guns I have owned, accurate and consistent as the day is long. I too bought a bunch of .38s to fire while I was breaking in the gun but soon found that the .357 rounds were not that much more expensive and the magnum loads really didn’t offer that significant an increase in recoil (although the 686 has a heavier frame than your model 640). What I found after firing a few boxes of the .38s in the brand new gun and then switching to the longer .357 mags is that the .357 casings were hard to slide into the cylinder and even harder to eject. Once I figured out the problem, it was relatively easy to correct but I was perplexed for a while and thought that perhaps the cylinders on my new gun had not been milled to the correct specs.

To make a long story short, firing the .38s with the shorter casings will cause a ring of lead deposits to form inside the cylinder walls that will make it harder to load and unload the longer mags. If you want to avoid the inconvenience of prying your .357 casings out of the cylinder than I suggest cleaning (bore brush with solvent and then a few patches) the cylinder before switching over to the mags and definitely before you intend to rely on the weapon for something other than punching holes in paper. I hope this is useful information, have fun with your new Smith!

Kim - Airboss turned me on to a neat little shotgun with a pistol grip. This will be perfect to fire from my bed.

Bulldog - Thanks for the info. I will start buying .357 exclusively.

Denny:

I'll let you look at my 686 - it had a prior owner who fired lots of .38 special in it. It's not a huge problem, but you can get some erosion in the cylinder that could bind the cases. If I'm practicing tactical reloads, I whack the ejector hard enough that it's not a problem. :)

If the .357 gets to be too much after a lot of shooting, you might want to start handloading, .38 loads in he .357 cases. Is the 640 one of the Ti-Scandium ones?

I've got a Mossberg 590 with a pistol grip, if you'd like to give that a whirl, too.

I fall real well.

Do you know if you are going out to Shooter's Choice (I think it is where your sister and Ryan got their firearms)?

Dude!!!!
Don't forget Kim du Toit's National Ammo Day...
And next time, try to buy from a private individual,
no yellow forms to fill out...

Addison - We're gonna go out to the country where Ryan's mom owns some land.

Richard - Will do. Hey, this was my first gun purchase. Do you know of a closer range than Goegia Range and Guns? They closed their range in Gwinnett. Did you read that I was in Dallas for Kim's birthday and actually got to meet him (and Airboss and others)?

WTG Denny! Best wishes to your nephew! Our son will stop home before getting his sub orders. He can't wait to go to the range, and hopes to go out with Gramps for some trap shooting.
We're lucky,Gram works for Federal Cartridge and we get our ammo at a discount.
A good resource for gun laws-packing.org and glock talk if you hadn't heard of them already.
Glock talk has hours of fun reading, actually.

Addison you make a good point I admit your point of view is correct. I have the talons for home defense only ,as for my hands I have a permit and have been checked by the FBI, CIA, and GBI (here in Georgia)thanks for the comment

Denny...do you know of a good range north of Atlanta around Gwinnett or North Fulton? I'm up in Duluth now...they used to have a good range over near the mall but I hear that one closed down or moved. I haven't been to a range in a long time and have been wanting to go back. Anyhow, please let me know if you know of a good one. Thanks!

(And have fun with the new guns!)