If you go on the gun forums, you\u2019ll find that a recurrent theme is \u201chow much is enough to use for self-defense, and how much is too much?\u201d\u00a0 And you\u2019ll discover that there\u2019s some ego investment in those discussions.<\/p>\n
The meme seems to be, \u201cIf you carry more (more powerful ammo, more cartridges, even more guns) than I do, you\u2019re paranoid.\u00a0 And if you carry less than I do, you\u2019re a pathetic sheeple.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh, good Lord\u2026<\/p>\n
First, if you\u2019re carrying a seven-shot .380, you are better prepared to defend yourself against a homicidal armed criminal than a high 90th<\/sup> percentile of the population, who are carrying nothing at all which could realistically stop such an attack.<\/p>\n But, second, if that attack actually comes, <\/i>you might wish you had something a little more than than a .380.\u00a0 The saying is: \u201cYou\u2019ll never meet a gunfight survivor who says he wishes he\u2019d had fewer, less powerful rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n Having shot the new Glock 42 with more .380 rounds than most folks outside the Glock factory, I was impressed with its ease of operation, extremely <\/i>mild \u201ckick,\u201d and accurate delivery of rapid fire. There are a helluva lot of people \u2013 petite females, the elderly, the disabled \u2013 who will shoot faster and straighter with this gun than with something more powerful. There, I think, is its market niche\u2026wait a year or two, and see, but I expect it to become a best-seller.<\/p>\n Will I <\/i>carry one? Probably not. Whenever a gun magazine asks me to test a .380, I feel like Ralph Nader test-driving a Corvair for Motor Trend. <\/i>But as someone who trains others to shoot, I am going to see about buying my test sample to keep it on hand so students who don\u2019t think or function as I do, can try it.<\/p>\n As I write this, I\u2019m wearing a different Glock pistol. It\u2019s much more powerful than a .380, and holds far more cartridges than the slim little G42, and I have a spare \u201chigh capacity\u201d magazine on the opposite hip.\u00a0 That works for me, but I have to accept that some other people need something different to fit their abilities, their lifestyles, their dress codes.<\/p>\n God save us from BS memes.\u00a0 A center hit with a .380 beats a miss or even a peripheral hit with a .44 Magnum.<\/p>\n Something<\/i> is better than nothing<\/i>.<\/p>\n Discussion invited.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Firing one handed, I found recoil quite controllable with the new little Glock .380.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
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