How Many...

Usually one....

I usually only carry one. Sometimes though, if I am on my motorcycle and am wearing my carry vest I will carry two but that is mostly for balance. Otherwise it will hang lower on the left side since I am right handed.
 
Deuce, you are welcome here and I have some questions

Let me preface this by saying that we can all learn from all of our own differences with one another. When I read about someone who has a differing opinion, I don't always automatically laugh at it or disregard it, I instead try to consider where they're coming from and why they do what they do.

When I decide to carry a 4th firearm, which isn't often I will take along my Ruger 454 Casull Super Alaskan Redhawk loaded with 5rnds of the 454 Casull and 1 rnd of 45LC.. don't ask WHY.. haha I just do it that way...
Click to expand...

I read this and was suprised and confused:confused:. So here are my questions:

1) Would this gun (if you carried it as a 4th gun) be your initial choice for SD or a last resort? The recoil and capacity to me would deem it to be unrealistic for such a purpose.

2) Is the 45 colt round your first round? So this way the first shot (which is almost always the most crucial) has less recoil?

3) How exactly would you carry the 454? You stated that the para 45 is a shoulder holster, so do you have 2 shoulder holsters? Are you right handed? If so, I would think a 45 acp be on your left (for a right hand reach) which then makes the 454 a right side shoulder holster for a left hand reach? Or do you have it on your hip but you said already had a 9mm on your hip which brings me back to the same question.

The next question is more of a general question:

If for instance you were in a SD situation, you would reach for your para 45 (correct me if I'm wrong) and lets say it was against 3 guys (which I think is a worst case scenario) is it rational to say that if you shot one, and incapacitated him, that the other guys would try to fight you knowing that you may have just shot and killed one of their buddies? Would they really risk their skin to get your wallet or something else? Wouldn't they run? Or maybe try to save their friend from death? What are the odds that ALL of them would have guns and ALL of them were also willing to shoot you? I mean I know its possible but how often does a scenario like that take place? And if it did, wouldnt your instinct of survival cause you to run away rather than take them all on?

My point is, if you JUST had the 45 and a reload or maybe the 45 without the reload, what kind of a situation would you have to be in for that to be not enough firepower?

I live in Pittsburgh and like other cities, there are bad areas. In a SD situation, I would like to have my glock 19 (1 or 2 mags of hydrashocks) or my S&W 686-3, loaded with 125 gr HPs, with a speedloader. If I had EITHER one, I would feel completely safe, or at least confident (in the gun + myself) if something happened. With either one I trust my shooting ability and I trust the lethality of the bullet, in both type and caliber. And if I was somehow in a situation were I needed more than 15 shots with my glock, or even more than 6 with my 357, I would probably be trying to run instead because something historic must be going on at that point. Thats just my opinion of it. I'm not sure that I would ever carry 3 guns for the above reasons and I would much rather reload one really good gun than pull out another which has its own possible failure frequency and its own idiosyncrasies.

If anyone else has any questions or comments on this post, go right ahead.
 
Last edited:
I usually carry 1 which may or may not have a reload. If im just runnin up to the store I feel totally confident that my 5 shot J frame puts me in a much higher percentile of survivng my trip than having nothing. I do have to admit that unlike "the Deuce" I have never encountered as many hazardous scenarios as he, therefore I probably wouldnt carry 3 or 4.

I dont care if someone wants to carry 3 or 4 thankfully that is their right, but I cant say that the reactions are unexpected as that seems like an awful lot of prepping just to go out for a day or night trip on the town.

I dont always feel comfortable carrying even 1 gun as when Im not working im usually wearing a t shirt and sweat pants or gym shorts. I know people say to dress around your gun but Im just not willing to do that.
 
Re: Soldier or Marine?
while he is still a Marine, I feel that I am a way Better Marksmen then that soldier.
Click to expand...

Marines are not Soldiers. Soldiers are in the Army and Marines are in the... well, you know.

Re: 454 Alaskan
The recoil and capacity to me would deem it to be unrealistic for such a purpose.
Click to expand...
That same gun is my carry piece. I load it w/45 Colt light hollow point loads for social events and 454 Casull 360 gr. hard cast for "non-social" use. I think six shots is plenty to get me & mine out of most any bad situation. As far as recoil, it's actually a sweetheart to shoot with light .45 Colt loads and recoil be damned when I'm packin' in Ephram's house, I want the hardest hittin' think it'll shoot!
 
Last edited:
There's those good questions again. Don't hold your breath.
Can some other people who "occasionaly shoot 3 or 4" please chime in. I'm not leaving untill I see the tactical mentality behind it.

Sorry I made somebody feel "unwanted" I certainly tried not to. Now I too feel like I need a tissue.
 
I only carry one gun, and an extra magazine. 13 rounds of +P .45acp should be more than enough for any CCL encounter, IMHO.

My reasoning is, in an appropriate CCL encounter the first 2 or 3 shots will resolve the problem 100%. Someone is DEAD, or someone is RUNNING AWAY. PERIOD.

If you engage someone at 10-15yards (reasonable to still be considered a deadly-threat IMHO) and you can't fix it in 13rds, you have no business carrying a firearm.



However, this is my philosophy in a CCW situation only, not in a war-time conflict.
 
Ryan - you are new and I don't want to be overly critical but what you said may not be the best advice.

2 or 3 shots may not do it. There are rare events but they do happen that need quite a few rounds.

We've discussed this into the dirt. I encourage folks to search on this issue and read Pax's new book - see her Sig - for some intensive incidents.

Folks do miss under stress, nothing works 100% of the time, telling folks they shouldn't carry based on one's view of appropriate high stress performance as compared to what we know about shooting under stress is not a good thing.

Just be friendly here.
 
Deuce,

Question for you...

You live in Clinton, Maryland, which is PG county.

How did you get a concealed carry permit for PG county?

It's my understanding that it's nearly impossible to "Jesus couldn't get one even with Pilate and a pack of Romans on his tail" difficult.
 
Mike,

Don't let facts mess with a good story.....:D

And if you carried it into DC, wouldn't that be a whole new level of doo-doo?
 
Just one on me. If I am in the car it could technically be considered up to three since I have a gun in the glove box of each vehicle and a gun in my survival bag in the trunk of my Mustang.
 
How many guns is one of those questions that always comes down to the same thing.

Those who carry fewer then me are stupid and unprepared.

Those who carry more than me are crazy and paranoid.

I usually carry 1. I have tried 2, but I don't really have the holsters to do it well yet.

I'd love to carry 3 for a while, just for fun. A "how many guns can I carry without anyone suspecting I'm carrying any" kind of thing.
 
Hahahaha "How many can I carry before somebody can tell" hahaha that sounds like a fun game Croz... It would get tough after 5 or 6... but you're on! I'll take that challenge. Loser buys the other..... a new holster? Hahaha and think about this: what about when somebody DOES notice! They're gonna freak out somethin fierce, seeing somebody lined to the teeth like that!

On a side note: Anybody notice how the questions being asked still aren't being answered? Just sayin...:rolleyes:
 
Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I've carried in DC before...

Not my first choice, but I was carrying legally in Virginia and my friend decided that he wanted to go to the polo fields to exercise the dogs.

It did help that he's US Park Police, but it still made me nervous.
 
i once saw a tv news demonstration using a smal, skiiny man dressed in loose fitting clothing like is popular today in some areas. lookin straight on he looked normal (if you call his manor of dress normal). he then started to pull out the guns he was carrying. i belive he had more than 20 guns on his person including a riot type shotgun. it was amazing the amount of guns he had concealed under his baggy type clothing. now the camera shot was frontal and he did not walk around as it probably have been a dead giveaway but still amazing.
 
Heh - some very interesting and very funny posts in this long thread.

For the record, one, with reload(s), and maybe a back-up in the vehicle. That is just my personal decision, and in no way reflects some received wisdom. Folks who carry one or more back-ups with them are fine by me. :D
 
how mny

The “Grandfather/Godfather” of defensive pistil craft, Col. Jeff Cooper stated many times. “The best self defense is to live in a good neighborhood, and stay out of bad ones.” Col. Cooper also stated, “if you are expecting a fight have a rifle or shotgun in your hand not a pistol in a holster.” Col. Cooper believed in this so strongly he never felt the need to carry more than one (1) pistol with several reloads for self-defense.
Please forgive me for the all inclusive and sweeping statements that follow. The armed citizen will NEVER be involved in a protracted gun battle; neither will 1 in 10,000 police officers. The above is based on my 27 years experience as working cop in a medium to large Western city with a history of a violent citizenry. As an armed citizen your first legal responsibility is to retreat to safety, if it is imposable to retreat you may use only the amount of force required to protect yourself or others. Remember if you blow up a group of thugs you may get a pass by the D.A. but you will NOT get a pass from the losers attorney. Just remember the “subway shooter” years ago. He was justified, criminally, in shooting the thugs but lost his A$$ in a civil lawsuit
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top