well something i have always enjoyed are "J" frame smith und vessons. depending on model and caliber lightweight,concealable,and pack a HELL OF A POTENT PUNCH!
well awhile back we got a smith und vesson to complete soon to be wifeys family tree of firearms. her mom has a model 60 blue frame,her grandma has the zoomy scandium frame,crimson trace,night sighted version,and i bought her a stainless 5-shot.
plain and simple she doesnt like muzzle flash and recoil of a .38. its damn hard to get somejuan proficient when they pee their pants each and every shot. plus its a PITA to babysit them,when you want to shoot yourself.
so me being me and always looking for a solution............. so we went shooting with the ruger 22/45. she liked that and babysitting ceased. she could load it, rack a round,take off safety all by herself. she enjoyed it. she enjoyed it even more after blasting 200 rds the other day.
since the gears are turning we decide to go spoon shopping. we come across a sale. and buddah knows how much we love sales.
laid out the 22/45,laid out the buckmark and suddenly there was LOVE at 1st sight. the browning buckmark camper. on sale for 269$ out da door w/extra mag and tax $314.
so we traded straight across. i got the "J" frame stainless and i bought the buckmark for her.
out to the dez we go yesterday early am. found a lovely spot and proceeded to load mags. entire drill was for her to get 200 rds down the pipe. federal target rds of course(wally world).
not juan single FTF or FTE. and we now have a deadly women who can defend herself and write her name in a bad guys forehead or chest. the grin got REAL BIG during rapid fire drill.
now awhile back i took the "J" frame to nelson ford(the gunsmith.com) and had him wave his magic wand over the action on this smith. standard drill polish trigger smooth action, trigger is like butter.
well me being me had to shoot it and man i fell in love with this lil mouse on steroids. accurate as hell and just a pleasure to shoot with .38 remingtons.
as always we can leave NOTHING ALONE, i am looking for some pachymeyer grips or maybe some crimson trace grips as well as a front night sight. picked up a damn nice lil blackhawk holster for it yesterday. after shooting them we came back and i tore apart the buckmark as well as the "J" frame and cleaned and lubed them within an inch of their lives. pulled the dremel tool out and went to town on "J" frame cleaning up powder deposits and just a damn good flap wheel going over of the finish.
heres some pics and a comparison of walther ppk/s and the "J" frame.
now it doesnt take rocket science to figure out that ya really got to put some time and money and ammo thru these damn .380's to make them go bang every time. the most finicky round i have ever dealt with as far as FTF or FTE. i have (4) .380s from varous mfgs. and each and everyjuan had to be massaged big time to make reliable.
now my question???????????
would you rather have (7) rds of .380 95 grains or (5) rds of 140 grains or bigger of .38 or be a mega bad ass with (5) rds of .357 magnum mega grains JHP's???????
all i can say is ....................i cant wait to shoot this damn "J" frame at dusk with some mega bad ass .357 magnums and get some muzzle flash pictures with the old nikon.
the advantage of the steel frames blue or stainless is ya can shoot +p rounds thru them vs. the scandium frames which would not be wise due to metallurgical limitations.
my economic stimulus efforts so far this memorial day:
(1) browning buckmark camper(made in utah)
250 rds of remington .45 rds
1000 rds of federal target .22
1000 rds of .380 (on sale $11.07 a box)
(1) blackhawk "J" smith holster
(1) hoppes .22 bore snake for buckmark
(1) allen made in usa case for buckmark
and (1#) chocolate yogurt w/chocolate sprinkles while watching suns loose to l.a.
and YES we are going shooting AGAIN TODAY! happy trails.