357 Magnum As a General Purpose or Universal Cartridge for Both Rifles and Pistols

 Regarding a topic that I've gone over quite a few times, I attempted to go back in my writings and find where I laid out my complete execution of deploying the .357 Magnum cartridge along with selected factory loading in what I call the General Purpose concept. Other people have called this the Universal Cartridge. The idea is simple, a cartridge where your sidearm and rifle use the same ammunition. I know under "357 Magnum - My New Love Affair and a Cartridge for Many Guns" I give some coverage to the idea and that in other articles I discus the utility, but I don't remember where I truly sat down and provided the full details as to why I have come to regard, at least currently, the .357 Magnum cartridge as the ultimate, practical expression of the idea.

Over the years, I have seen people refer to this idea with different names; Perfect Pairs by IraqVeteran8888, The Universal Cartridge by both Duelist1954 and InRangeTV. I've read it as "The Two-Gun Man Comes Back" in the 1956 January edition of Guns Magazine. If you search the internet enough, you'll find numerous discussions on the topic. In any case, the idea tends to be attributed to frontiersman and cowboys wielding repeating rifles such as a Winchester 1873 while packing a revolver in a belt. Both rifle and pistol are chambered for something such as 44-40 though the idea has been seen as far back as the .44 Henry. The intent is to keep logistics to a minimum. Today, with our improved powders and engineered bullets, this idea becomes more and more useful.

Originally, I had planned on the .45 Colt cartridge being that for me, however, it morphed into the .357 Magnum after several years of buying and selling off select firearms. The .357 Magnums stayed and the .45 Colts went. Personally, I think that was simply because I bought the wrong .45 Colts. I know many people would argue that the .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum cartridges will do all these things and I accept that as true. Ultimately, what has sold me on the .357 Magnum as the king of the Universal Cartridges is concealed carry. The larger cartridges just don't have small guns chambered for them. Even the Smith and Wesson 69 isn't all that small being an L-frame. I don't know how big the Taurus 415 is but I suspect it's about the same size as an K/L frame.

Historically, concealed carry has played an important roll in my life. That's probably an understatement. The ability to properly conceal a firearm for self defense is a major factor in today's society. Open carry of a large revolver doesn't play nicely in the urban sprawls that are dominating regions. There is a reason the name Charlanta has become a thing. The rural spaces between Atlanta and Charlotte are disappearing and are being filled by suburban neighborhoods. It's partly why we moved to South of Atlanta. Even our little section of rural America is being threatened with expansion. The tracts of land are getting smaller and smaller. Thankfully, there is still lots of great space outside of the megaregion here on the East Coast.

Before I go too far, I want to cover what led me down the .357 Magnum path. Back in 2020 and the start of COVID, things had started getting very interesting. Ammunition prices had gone through the roof. I remember seeing a box of Winchester white box 9mm NATO for $45. I usually bought it for $9.99 at most. By 2022, I got very concerned that the world wouldn't hold together and that having a revolver in .357 Magnum was a good idea for logistics reasons. Something I could pair up with my Marlin 1894 CST which I had taken too nicely and a Taurus 66 I had had for many years. Not long before we committed to buying our 19 acre property, what we call the Little Farm, I had found the Taurus 605 Defender. It was an inexpensive stainless steel revolver to match nicely with the stainless steel 1894. I also settled on the Remington HTP 158 grain semi-jacketed hollow point for use in both of those. I think I did a decent job loosely covering the idea the that above article but I think it's time to go over the finer points of what makes this setup just about perfect. More specifically, I want to over over the chosen load and the deployment of that load for general purpose.

I think my favorite aspect of this has been the round count. It wasn't planned like this but a single box of 20 rounds makes the Two-Gun setup ready to go. First up is the Taurus 605. The 605 Defender is a 5 shot, 3 inch stainless steel Brazilian made tool with fixed sights, a radioluminescent front sight and a full underlug for the barrel. The Marlin rifle only holds 8 rounds in the tubular magazine but with the addition of a Mason Leather cartridge cuff, I can hold an additional 7 rounds on the stock. Without a round in the chamber, the rifle has a total of 15 rounds on board in what we will call Cruiser Ready. It's an older police term to describe the carry condition of a long gun. With a single 20 round Remington box, I can load 5 rounds into my revolver and holster it. Next I can load 7 into the cuff and 8 into the rifle's magazine for a grand total of 20 rounds. It's perfect and I very much appreciate it. Sadly, the perfection stops there as once you start loading up speed strips and speed loaders, the numbers fall apart. You could carry two 5-round speed loaders and a 8-round speed strip from TUFF leaving 2 rounds in a second box. It's not unusual for me to have that speed strip in a pocket with that rifle. 

What made the Remington load so interesting was a video a came across on YouTube. 

What made me like this is at how short of a range the bullet did a good job holding together at the higher velocities. While some of the bullet's weight was shed, the bullet's expanded diameter stayed large at .5 inch and continued to penetrate into the 18 inch range. I was impressed then. I later referenced the companion revolver video finding that the bullet did even better from a 4 inch barrel. Simply put, from a common revolver length barrel, the velocities around 1300 fps net around 19 inches worth of penetration while expanding to half an inch or so. Eventually, I found the Lucky Gunner also tested this load in their ammo test series and got similar results from the 4 inch test gun they used. Ultimately, the 1300 fps velocity with 19 inches of penetration and great expansion is confirmed with with corroborating data to support this load as being a good choice for what I have in mind. Additionally, Lucky Gunner tested a 2 inch barrel with great expansion results and around 14 inches of penetration at 1117 fps. There are other people who have done similar testing with similar results. 

Going over all the available data, my rifle pushes these 158 grain bullets to 1796 fps per my Caldwell chronograph. With a BC reported by Remington of 0.145, 1300 fps lands at the 116 yard mark. In another test I found, the 1241 fps mark shows that we would still have great penetration at around 135 yards which is about 3.45 inches below point of aim when zeroed at 100 yards. For hunting, I think this stacks up very well but for self-defense, the lower velocity of 1117 fps is achieved at 181 yards and may not have enough penetration to be effective on whitetail. That indicates that the rifle could function for defensive purposes at much longer distances if needed. If I stick with focusing on the penetration depths, the 1241 fps still achieves +18 inches worth of penetration in gel. If we split the difference between 1241 and 1117 for 1179 fps and split the difference between 14 inches of penetration and 20 inches from that test at 1241 fps, we end up with 1179 fps achieving around 17 inches of penetration. This is extrapolated and therefore unproven but I figure that's fine for whitetail with broadside shots with what I think should be a hard minimum being around 16 inches. That's a top I want to research more. Getting back to the numbers, the calculator puts 1179 fps around 155 yards. In my 30-30 vs .357 article, I had similar numbers, close, but they weren't as precise. I may have forgotten to include some of the thought processing to get you the reader to where I got.

As it were, if my numbers are correct, 155 yards is still quite the feat for a small pistol caliber rifle but I maintain that someone could have a setup with a Marlin 1894 Classic and a good scope with the correct zero and take full advantage of this Remington HTP load for most of their hunting. Interestingly, while writing this, I found a study done by the South Carolina DNR that concluded that 132 yards was the average distance a shot was taken. Our rifle setup coves that and more. That said, I'm not convinced the Remington load is great for hunting with a typical revolver. If we accept my 1179 fps as the minimum acceptable velocity for expansion and penetration on a whitetail deer, a 4 inch barrel will achieve that velocity around 38 yards if we get 1300 fps. If you are hunting in shorter distances from a stand or a blind, you might find this works just well enough for your purposes. Maybe it would be fine. Ultimately, I wish I could find more 2 inch barrel tests using the HTP load to find out if I am correct. I would test it myself but I only have the 3 inch 605. 

While I could use the HTP for handgun hunting, I would feel better using another bullet, the Hornady XTP. Using the same methodology for assessing performance, the XTP seems to expand just a little less but penetrates much more. Additionally, it does so with a lower velocity envelope. I am currently in the process of developing my own handload using the 158 grain XTP and H110 specifically for handgun hunting and I suspect the rifle performance will do very well. Personally, I don't know that once I have a suitable load for the XTP, that I will make the complete switch from the Remington factory load over to the XTP based handload for daily use. I have a rather ample supply of the Remington HTP load and the distances observed in my deer hunting are met with the HTP. At the current rate of consumption that I am successfully taking deer, a sizable percentage of my stock could result in around 200 deer taken. I suspect that's a life time of deer. I should go shoot more.

Getting back to the topic of generalization, instead of specialization, the HTP does a great job. We see in the gel testing that the 158 gr SJHP achieves between 14 inches and 20 inches in common concealed carry type revolvers. For some people, the 18 inch maximum for self defense loads is a hard stop. If that's you, you may want to stick with the 2 inch barrel. I still think the 3 inch is just about perfect. It gives me a little higher performance for outdoors defense but it's still small enough to conceal. Interestingly, the over all size of the 605 Defender 3 inch is about the exact same as my P365XL with just a little barrel length poking out. I find that to be a practical size for everyday carry. 

So far, in everything I have covered, I have solely relied on the Remington HTP to do everything from self defense to putting food on the table. What I don't want people to think is that there is only one way. Clearly that's just not true and in practice, it's not necessary. The firearms capable of running .357 mag can also handle .38 Special. Instead of using full power .357 Mag for self-defense and only sticking with one thing, it's reasonable for someone to use a great .38 Special load in their carry revolver and have a fantastic magnum load for the rifle. I would still recommend that whatever revolver you purchase be chambered for the same as your rifle but your choice of ammunition is your own. 

Outside of the Remington SJHP and the Hornady XTP, there are a few rounds that could do well that I haven't verified through cross-referencing. Target Suite on YouTube tested a variety of loads in 2024 and found that three JSP loads work very well from a rifle. Since I am unable to find pistol velocities for these loads that confirm expansion and penetration. The Barnes 180 grain Pioneer load is interesting in that if the advertised pistol velocity still expands and drives deep, the Pioneer load could be a better choice as it could still function out to the 165 yard range. I can't find enough information to make an educated guess on the Federal HammerDown load. The Federal American Eagle JSP has been tested by some folks from revolvers but I have not seen where a barrel length long enough from a handgun actually got good expansion and should be limited to longer barrels, though I can't say for sure what that minimum length would be. It's possible they would still work in a Mare's Leg at shorter distance. 

What I am trying to highlight here is that you could have a good load for the rifle and a different load for the revolver that could still be interchangeable but may not function optimally beyond putting a 36 caliber hole into something. 

Beyond self defense and sporting applications, the .357 Magnum and by proxy the .38 Special, has proven to be a good platform for target sports. By rolling a third pistol into the mix would allow for Bullseye or a similar sport. Alternatively, Cowboy Action with a pair of single action .357's and your lever action, plus a shotgun, allows for a fun ecosystem inline with my current configuration.

In summary, my basis for the .357 Magnum cartridge being such a good choice for the candidate of General Purpose relies heavily on the ballistic gelatin testing parameters and a ballistic calculator to prove it on paper. In the real world, the results are turning out to be pretty good. My first attempt at taking a whitetail back in 2023 was successful and so far, the subsequent years, I haven't hunted with anything else. While I have aspirations of hunting with other projects, I keep going for my Marlin rifle.

I've toyed with the idea of purchasing a new Ruger made Marlin 1894 Classic with the 18 inch barrel to see if any velocity is picked up compared to my 16 inch but I don't have much room at the moment to justify spending the $1000 needed to buy such a rifle. This is especially true when my 16 inch CST does what I need it to from a general purpose perspective. Maybe I can justify it for Cowboy Action with a pair of Vaqueros or Taurus Deputies. I already have the side by side.

As it sits right now, I have not been able to realize a better cartridge that matches the .357 Magnum's practical applications like I have highlights above. I suspect the 10mm Auto could be configured to achieve similar results but for the semi-auto firearms available. As of now, I haven't confirmed it yet. I'm currently leaning to a CMMG Banshee rifle with a Glock 29 combination and some unverified load for 10mm will be just the ticket to achieve this goal. Even if I am successful with the 10mm, the .357 Magnum looks poised to just do the job better over all. There is, however, a curveball. Something for you to think about. I have one parting piece I want to throw out. Just as in Star Wars, as Master Yoda said "there is another." The .327 Federal Magnum. What happens when we stuff that into a Henry Big Boy 327?

Stay tuned to see what I find next.

Source Citations

South Carolina DNR Study - https://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/deer/articlegad.html

Guns Magazine Citation - I am unable to post the Guns Magazine link because Google says that their domain is unsafe which triggered a Community Guidelines take down. I have removed the URL but if you want the source, you can find it in the January 1956 publication of the periodical. 

The Indiana Defender - Teaching Us How to Do the Job aka We need to Talk About Terminal Ballistics (Commentary)

**Warning: Don't read if you don't want to hear about bad things**

I've been combing over the Googles and I haven't been able to find anything more substantial about what handgun the Defender in the Indiana mall mass shooting attempt had used to save lives. So far, all the sources are saying a Glock 9mm but I want to know which one. It matters because of capacity and barrel length.

Either way, there are three components in this incident I very much appreciate. Firstly, our Defender took shots at what people are saying was around a 40 yard shot. Secondly, our Defender fired 10 rounds and lands 8 of them. Thirdly, our Defender did it in less than 20 seconds with people saying around 15 seconds. That's fast, accurate and meaningful shooting. I still have concerns and questions I want answered.

**Gruesome description below**

A picture that leaked onto the Internet of the body of the supposed attacker appears to show that around 4 to 5 rounds landed in the attacker's elbow and center and left-side chest area. I can't tell where the other 3 to 4 rounds impacted. If they are to be believed, despite the several hits, the attacker walked off according to Open Source Intelligence sources (The Internet). If the OSINT data is accurate, this demonstrates a few things but mainly that handgun rounds are still capable of incapacitating a person but that the impacts may not be immediately incapacitating. The attacker took 8 rounds reportedly. It appears that maybe two were in the right elbow, one in the upper right lung and maybe two in the center area around the chest below the heart and one around the left collar bone area. I don't have the autopsy report so I can't confirm any of this. It sounds like the incapacitation was due to blood loss as opposed to a nervous system shutdown. 

**End gruesome description**

The question becomes this. What took so long? Why were 8 rounds of 9mm with several in the hits in the vital zone not immediately incapacitating? Part of that is due to handguns just aren't that greatly effective according to a study. The best information I think I can provide you can be found in a study done and published. That pertinent information can be found in the video below. 

My Questions

How can we improve this situation? My concerns can be summarized by several questions. What ammo did our Defender have? What barrel length did he have? What was the capacity of the magazine? Did the Defender's bullets expand?

The ammo selection matters significantly if we believe that a reliably expanding hollow point design is more effective at stopping an attack than that of an FMJ or something else. This is called terminal ballistics. If that statement is true, then we want to make sure that the hollow point designs we are using in our carry guns are good and that those designs will work from our handgun's barrel length. You need both. 

Hollow point bullets only expand when they impact the target as long as they do so within what I will call the velocity envelope. If the bullet impacts at too fast a velocity, the bullet will open up but may break apart and might not penetrate deep enough. If too slow, the bullet won't expand making it no more effective than an FMJ. A good design is one that meets the the FBI's testing requirement. Note there is another standard called IWBA which is the International Wound Ballistics Association. They have different testing than the FBI for the layers testing. On impact of ballistic gelatin, the bullet will pass through through 4 layers of denim or clothe to simulate clothing and expand quickly then penetrate between 12 inches and 18 inches. Usually testing should use at least 5 bullets to confirm reliable expansion and penetration. You can find great examples of testing at the Lucky Gunner Lab. They provide great information. There are others that you can find on YouTube such as ShootingTheBull410's incredible saga of 9mm and 380 ACP ammo testing. There are many folks who test this stuff so take advantage of the free data and cross reference your questions and choices with that OSINT data.

Barrel length is important in this topic because many people prefer to carry a smaller gun with shorter barrel but with the shorter the barrel, the less velocity you generate. A good design may work well in guns with a 5 inch or 4 inch barrel but by putting that round though a 3.1 inch barrel, the design may not expand reliably. For example, in the STB410 Ammo Quest, the Speer Gold Dot 124 grain load (3618) did not expand reliably in the test pistol with 3in barrel. However, that same load in the +P variant (3617) DID work correctly. By increasing the velocity, the design worked well. If the standard pressure round had been fired from a 4 inch or maybe a 3.5 inch barrel, the design may work just fine. See TNOutdoors9 video for comparison. 

By confirming our ammo choice with good testing practices, we can find if we need to keep looking or start stocking up. 

Back to our Indiana incident, if the Defender had used a good design and fired those rounds from a 4 inch barrel then it's possible that those bullets did expand as desired. That said, at 40 yards, they may not have had enough velocity to expand. 

Most of the gel testing done is at shorter distances. By shooting with shorter barrels, we can see where performance starts to taper off. This demonstrates how a bullet will perform after it's travelled some distance. Say 40 yards.

For example, if STB410's 124 gr Gold Dot (23618) test is accurate, then the average velocity of the 5 shots was 1030 FPS. With a poor success rate at those speeds, it would seem that the Speer Gold Dot 124 gr bullet produced back then has a minimum velocity of around 1030 FPS to get some kind of expansion. Lucky Gunner, however, got around 1067 FPS with reliable expansion from a 3.5 inch barrel. If we split the difference, then somewhere around 1050 FPS is the lowest at-target velocity we would want to run these bullets. We would not want to start our muzzle velocity that low. I assume that Speer didn't make any changes to the bullets used in the 23618 loading but I could be wrong. It's possible they updated the design/manufacturing. I do know they have a +P variant and a Short Barrel version of the 124 gr load with both standard pressure and +P variants. If I was going with anything less than 3 inch barrel and chose to run Gold Dot 124 gr bullets, then I would go +P or either Short Barrel variants.

At 1050 FPS, those bullets may only work reliably at shorter distances but if we run a longer barrel, than we can increase those velocities. TNOutdoors9 used a 4 inch barrel Glock 19 and got around 1141 FPS. That's a 74 FPS increase compared to Lucky Gunner's 3.5 inch barrel. 

If we run the velocity from TNOutdoors9's test through a ballistic calculator, we can see that around 40 yards, the Speed Gold Dot 124 gr from a 4 inch Glock 19 will hit around 1050 FPS. This means that our Defender in Indiana may have had reliable expansion IF he had carried a Glock 19 with Speed Gold 124 gr (23618) loaded. I used GunData's default ballistic coefficient data for those numbers if you're interested. 

Many people had operated under the pretense that the FBI previously stated the average distance of engagement was around 7 yards. I have no idea if that's true but clearly this incident happened well outside that distance. I had been mulling over the idea for a while but the Indiana incident brings up that we should be concerned that we may ACTUALLY have to take a long range shot. I know I can take a 50 yard head shot if need be but it's not easy. I have a red dot on my carry gun. Yes I've tried shooting a 6 inch target at 50 yards. It's how I validate my 25 yard zero by holding about an inch up from center.

If I'm taking a long range shot, I want to know if my bullets are still in the velocity envelope. I'm not going to pull out a laser range finder to find out in a situation but it's good to know that I may have to take extra shots or hold over a bit if an attacker is at 50 to 75 yards to end that attack. If I'm carrying a 3 inch barrel gun, then I may have to consider that at distance past 7 yards or so, my bullets may not expand at all. If our Defender had a Glock 43x with it's 3.1 inch barrel, those shots at 40 yards may have only been as effective as FMJs because they never expanded. I ran the Lucky Gunner velocity of 1067 FPS and the numbers drop to 1050 FPS at 8 yards. That may work for close in but it may also explain why our Defender had to put 8 rounds into the attacker. Not that he could see if they were effective hits or not. Really, you should keep shooting until they stop.

Honestly, this is starting to make me want to go back to a 4 inch barrel gun but I've run my own data and found I should good out to about 50 yards. I really like my ammo and P365xl combo but I'm wondering if I should see if the Federal HST 147 grain is any better. Doesn't look it. 

But what about capacity?

If our Defender had a Glock 48, Glock 43x or Glock 26 with the standard capacity magazines then he would only have had 10 rounds per magazine. If he topped off, then +1 that capacity. This is a concern for me because he fired 10 rounds. While clearly this worked out well, it highlights that if there had been another shooter (think Columbine) then he would have had to reload. 

If our Defender had carried a Glock 19 or a Glock 19X, 45 or 17 then he would have had 15 or 17 rounds in the standard magazine. This would have left him with at least 5 rounds or as many as 8 rounds depending on the variables. That's not a lot of wiggle room.

Alternatively, he may have had a embiggened magazine in one of the smaller guns, such as the S15 mag in the 48 or 43x or a 15 round G19 mag sleeved in a G26 or a +2 extension on any of these guns. Simply put, we don't know.

"But how often to people need to reload?" Great question. Sometimes, it's not about running out of ammo. 

I try to carry a spare magazine with my P365xl. Not because I think I'm gonna get in a big ol' gun fight but because sometimes things happen. Once I found that I had lost my magazine from my gun when I got home. I reached down to unholster before changing clothes and found the magazine was missing. I knew immediately when the gun was in hand. Had I needed my gun, I would have had 1 round in the chamber and needed a reload. Had that happened, I would have been able to pull the spare 15 round magazine I keep and charge the weapon. I found that magazine in the truck shortly after. I don't use that holster anymore since it clearly doesn't protect the magazine release. 

Summary

There's a lot of missing information I'd like answered. Did he have a red dot? What setup did he run? We won't know for a while, if ever. We do know this, he was successful in stopping that attacker. I am extremely grateful he was successful. I am very pleased to see such accuracy and speed in this situation. I wish he never had to deploy his gun. Evil exists in our world. We have to put it down when it shows up. If you ever have to help out, I hope that you took the above information and questions and put it to use. God Bless. 

SCOTUS Gun Ruling and You - If you’re reading this, it probably doesn’t directly impact you.

The ruling is very simple as it does two things. Firstly, it confirms that you have the right to carry a gun in public and secondly, the last of the hold out states like Maryland and New Jersey who’s carry permits required a good reason can’t require a good reason any more. That’s it. They can still demand training, fees etc but can’t demand you show a good reason. That’s it. 

Of the 50 states, 42 of those states are Shall Issue or Constitutional Carry and in most cases, both of those. Most of America lives in those 42 states. The last of the 8 states use a May Issue system. Some of those states have counties that are fairly permissive on issuance and there’s a high chance you’ll get a permit but it's dependent on the location. The problem is mostly with a few of those 8 states like New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Hawaii and a few restrictive counties who simply never or almost never issue everyday citizens permits for general self defense reasons. The ruling forces those states into a Shall Issue system instead of a May Issue system. They can still deny a permit to violent people or persons with mental health issues and are still subject to background checks. 

Why is this a good thing? Let me give you an example. Someone I know is a realtor who has a carry permit in a Shall Issue state for specific instances. In Maryland or New Jersey, she wouldn’t be issued a permit because she can’t show a good reason. She has a good generalized reason and if she explained that reason to the average, everyday person they would likely agree it's common sense but she can’t provide tangible evidence to prove it such as court documents or police records and thus these states would deny her a carry permit. 

In reality, this ruling does affirm the in-public thing but it’s mostly focused on impacting those last few political regions where the ruling class doesn’t want you to carry a gun.

No, there won’t be Wild West gun fights on every street corner. It's not going to be Gunfight at the OK Corral (which BTW was a failure of gun control). I've had a few people say that to my face over the last 12 years and it's NEVER come true. We’ve had something like 30 years of Shall Issue permits and the Wild West argument hasn’t turned in to a thing. Making NY state fall in line won’t change that suddenly making it true. If you want to know what'll happen, take a look at Illinois after they started implementing a Shall Issue system after a similar court ruling. People got permits and almost immediately started defending themselves from criminals. It's been a big win. 

That said, there is a real probability that the mechanisms this case operates on will have a major impact on gun laws like magazine limitations and the Left's favorite boogie man, Bans on Features and Accessories for Common Rifles also known as an Assault Weapons Ban. I say this as the text of the Opinion makes room for "common" guns. At 10's of millions, I would say that semi-auto, centerfire rifles with Features are common.

What I am hoping for is a new fight in the court system that focuses on these Gun Feature Bans that ultimately results in NFA Title II weapons like Short Barrel Rifles and Shotguns and hopefully silencers being removed from the NFA. Interestingly, there are already cases in the system that we're waiting on this case to be argued. 

Fundamentally, this is a HUGE blow to Controllers here in the US. Hawaii, New Jersey and California are already getting applications for permits and have noted their head folks have instructed permitting agencies to by-pass the old Need requirement. New York is acting like a spoiled brat so we'll see how long it takes them to comply. 

2022 - Will 2022 Be the Year of the Restoration of Gun Rights?

There are several court cases against the various firearms restrictions implemented by States against their People. 2021 and 2022 have the potential to be ruinous for the forces of Authoritarianism in states like California, New Jersey and New York who, for decades, have labored yearly to envision new ways to regulate firearms and infringe on the Second Amendment. It's like these states are a think tank for an infringement strategy.

The Supreme Court has opted to take several of the most important cases from these states such as a magazine ban limiting magazine capacities to 10 rounds, restrictive issuance policies regarding pistol carry permits and the ever hated but incredibly popular "Assault weapons" that are available in 90% of the rest of the US.

This could be so ruinous for Authoritarians such as Michael Bloomberg that the current President Joe Biden has created a commission to "investigate" changing the number of Supreme Court justices. Basically, the idea is to add something like four more justices to the Bench so that Biden can pick all four, stacking the deck against any "Conservative" ideals. Can't win? Cheat.

Concealed Carry Permits

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen is the case from New York state that is changing the restrictive concealed carry permit issuance policy that has been in place for decades. For me, this is the most important case since it will impact the average everyday Citizen in these Slave States the most. The unhindered ability for the People to exercise their Right to self-defense in those Slave States will help drive down the wildly out of control crime rate in said places.

When I did the math on this, a favorable vote for the People and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms would potentially add an additional 4 to 7 million concealed carrier permits in the areas where No Issue is the policy. The US is reportedly to have around 19 to 21 million carry permits. I'm looking forward to an additional bolstering of those numbers.

Magazine Bans

This and the AWB are the darlings of gun control in the US. They are low hanging fruit and easy to target with cheap propaganda and media manipulation. Association of N.J. Rifle PistolnClubs, Inc. v. Attorney Gen. of N.J is one of the cases that is dealing with a blanket ban on magazines with capacities over 10 rounds. Previously, a person could posses previously acquired magazines but the newest law and a similar one in CA require disposal or modification of those magazines. 

"Assault Weapons" Ban

Assault weapons is a term created by gun control advocates based on the same term for a different weapon. Generally, assault weapons are semi-auto firearms that have specific features, those guns are bad according to may Authoritarians and need to be banned. They claim it's about making it harder to commit mass shootings but these are the same people who track incidents with BB guns as shootings and ANY mass shooting with something like a traditional handgun under the guise those incidents are Sandy Hook repeats. You can commit a mass shooting with a cowboy cap and ball revolver but that doesn't really matter does it? The magazine ban case is James Miller v. Bonta. A win in the Supreme Court for the People would immediately crush the push for gun control in the US on the Federal level pretty much whole-stop. There just simply isn't much more that is as big as semi-auto firearms with those banned features that gun control advocates have pushed. 

I know I said that the carry permit case is the most important case and it is because it impacts more people on a daily basis. There are literally 10s of millions of American's who can't exercise their rights because they live in CA, HI, NY, NJ, MD, etc. Most people don't care about magazine capacity or semi-auto rifles until they need one. If it really came down to it and I needed to fight for my Rights, I can make a featureless goblin of a substitute for an AR-15 pattern rifle work. If I had to fight with a muzzle-loading rifle or club, I'd do it. Screw your anti-American, anti-Republic, Authoritarianism and your gun control.

03 OCT Update: The NY case for concealed carry is getting huge. The list of groups both pro-freedom and anti-freedom who have filed briefs is LONG. See the below page for the list.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/20-843.html

09 NOV Update: The Supreme Court has listened the oral arguments for the NY carry permit case. According to folks who know more about this sort of thing than I do, it isn't looking good for New York. We shouldn't expect to hear back from the Justices until sometime around summer 2022.

07 DEC Update: The California magazine ban case was upheld in the 9th Circuit which isn't a surprise. No details on if the Supreme Court has opted to pick it up yet.

CZ 75 P-01 - 2 Years of Service

I've had the CZ P-01 for over 2 years now. It's been my primary carry gun for the most part during that time. I'm still going through holsters and made a few changes to the pistol and the way I carry it but it's continued to be fantastic. Some days I swap out for another pistol such as the P-10c or M&P9 Shield but I almost always end up going back to the P-01.

The pistol's current form is wearing a set of tritium fiber optic TruGlo TFX Pro iron sights and an Inforce APL-c. This seriously limits my selection of holsters to custom made deals but given that I spend half my year on night shift, it makes sense to have a white light to illuminate the dark corners of the world.

I've also switched my carry method to inside the waistband for day-to-day. The latest holster I'm using is the Gearcraft Holsters IWB made here in Georgia. It isn't the worst option but after several months of use, I've found issue with the canted clip mounting in combination with the belt clip design tends to leave the holster loose and on a few occasions, the holster came with the pistol on draw. It's a well made holster but I wish they had the option to change the cant. Update: It turn's out one of the holes is elongated to allow for adjusting cant. This are great holsters but I still wish they had a tuckable option for my setup.

I have no idea how many rounds I have through the gun. It's not a huge number but should be around 1,500 to 2,000 or more. I've shot just about everything FMJ wise that's immediately available and have had very few issues.

The only real complaints I have are my lack of skill with the double action trigger pull and the rubber coated base plate of the magazine has a sharp corner that pokes my fatty sides becoming painful after a while when carrying the spare magazine on the same side.

I need to spend more time with the pistol but CZ has solidified the P-01's position in my carry rotation as a primary, go-to option.

Gear Craft Industries IWB for the CZ P01 with Inforce APLc. #ccw #carrygun #thepewpewlife #cz #p01 #9mm #freedom #pewpewlife #gearcraft #gearcraftholsters #nsn #2a

A post shared by Ian Kocher (@der.yetti) on Jan 19, 2018 at 5:20am PST

My #EDC a #CZ #P01 #inforce #aplc #9mm #freedom #pewpew #2a #carrygun #gearcraftholsters #ford #mustang #thepewpewlife #gunsofinstagram #pewpewlife

A post shared by Ian Kocher (@der.yetti) on Jan 20, 2018 at 7:24am PST

SIG P365 - Quaint.

On Monday, SIG announced their latest entry into the concealed carry market; the SIG P365. Immediately, while laying in bed, I figured they named it to reflect some sort of carry gun you'd carry 365 days a year. Quaint marketing, SIG. That said, it doesn't appear to be all gimmicks.

It's basically targeting the single stack 9 market like the Shield and G43 but with a double-stack magazine giving it 10 rounds over the other two's single digit capacities.

This should turn out to be an interesting addition and I look forward to taking a look at one.

I guess the only real question is, does it take Glock mags?

Merry Christmas my fellow Humans or whatever.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, or if you don't care, have a nice weekend. This has been a crazy year for me but a good year, all in all. Don't forget to reflect on the positives that happened this year, folks.

Please be safe out there and enjoy your time if you can.

May your gun be with you always and your phone hold a good charge.

H.R. 38 - The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 - Do it. Just do it.

Recently, one of the House committees voted in favor of a very important bill. While I'm not pleased with the method of execution, states like New Jersey and Maryland are the reason this is happening. If those states had bothered to recognize their citizen's rights, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

 As a Georgia resident, I am not directly impacted by this legislation. The reason for that is because the states that surround Georgia and that states that I regularly travel to and through, all have reciprocity with Georgia. The only state that I have traveled into since moving to Georgia is Maryland and that was on my way to the Canaan Valley. I've also skirted D.C.

When I passed through Maryland (Oakland specifically) I stowed my sidearm until I got into the Canaan Valley. The funny thing I noticed on my drive was the small amount of signage that indicates that you've entered Maryland on those back roads. It would be easy to make a wrong turn and end up in an unfriendly state.

The way this bill benefits me is through requiring Maryland to recognize my permit. This would make it so that as I drive through Oakland from Morgantown down to the Canaan Valley, I would not be in violation of Maryland law by carrying my legally owned handgun and not having an impossible-for-the-average-citizen-to-acquire permit.

That is the main benefit of this law.

From what I understand, however, is that this bill may also make it so a resident of Maryland or New Jersey that isn't otherwise prohibited in another state, could receive a non-resident permit (provided they pass the background checks and meet the requirements) from another state (such as Utah or Virginia) and could still carry in their hyper-restrictive home state. If that is true, this finally gives those residents a much needed vector to exercise their natural rights.

It also, allegedly, protects you from magazine and ammunition limitations.

This needs to pass immediately. If it does, I would actually consider visiting states like New York for vacation.

CZ 75 P-01 - Cheaty McCheat-Face

I really like the CZ 75 P-01. It's probably one of my best guns. It's easy to carry and accurate. The trigger isn't too bad and is very smooth. It's possible to find holsters for it but it can be tricky. So what's the problem?

Well, the issue is me; basically my trigger control sucks. I'm having too much trouble mastering the double action trigger pull from a draw. I can be fast but my shots are poorly placed or I can go slow and be accurate. That would be the problem though, the accuracy is coming at a speed far too slow than what I'm comfortable with. Maybe if I got some professional training to help master the DA/SA but I haven't but the desire to seek out that training just yet.

In the mean time, I've decided to be a Cheaty McCheat-Face. I'm switching back to striker-fired guns.

The M&P 9 Shield, M&P9c, SIG P320 SC, Glock 26 and Walther PPQ M1 are now back in my rotation. With that, I will be able to go back to appendix carry (Shield) giving me more options on method of carry as opposed to the OWB method for the P-01.

Over the last few months, I'd been tracking my times and shot placement with the P-01, which led my to wonder if I would be any faster/more accurate with the striker guns. As it turns out, I'm not any faster but I am significantly more accurate. This doesn't really surprise me since my initial training was done on a striker gun (XD-40 Service). That and I think the triggers on striker-fired guns are inherently easier to shoot well, hence the cheating part.

I really wanted to master the DA/SA trigger but I just don't have the money to throw at getting past shooting the DA quickly. I'm managing around 50 rounds every weekend right now but I don't feel like that's enough to get past my control issues. If I can motivate myself to locate a class or professional instruction on mastering the DA/SA then I will look into switching back. Until such time, I will have to stick with striker-fired guns.

My Smart Gun Question - It Got a Reply. Or Two.

Not long ago I posted a question on here if people were willing to carry a smart gun in exchange for shall issue carry permits. This question really only applies to folks living in states that are May Issue and make it incrediblely difficult to acquire a permit. I would never expect any sane individual in a Shall Issue state to go for this sort of thing. Well, I opted to ask that question to the folks over at The Truth About Guns. TTAG is a blog I read almost daily. They have a very large following and are one of the top gun blogs out there. Their readers represent various groups of people ranging from the absolutists and hardcore gunnies to the moderate. It would not surprise me if they even had a few anti's that read them as well.

 

TTAG's post

You can see in the post my question (the editors appear to have shortened my email a bit which is fine as it's easier to read) was answered by many members of the community. I cannot believe how many people have commented in the first hour the post has been up; over 70 comments! Everyone commenting pretty much all said the same thing; NO or F*** NO! LOL. To be fair though, I think most people didn't bother to read the full thing. I probably wouldn't have either and just posted NO. I'm not saying I expected anything different from the readership but it's kind of amazing and a little exciting to see something of mine take off and get responded to. So far, many people have indicated one very specific reason (amongst others) as to why NO to smart guns; the potential ability of the/a government to "turn off" the guns. This concept is interesting and is worth being worried about as the state could very easily prevent folks from using their firearm in a time of need; such as a natural disaster. Additionally, many of the comments are in regards to giving up part of our rights; the "give an inch..." argument came up quite a bit. Also, the ability to track the gun via GPS was a major concern in addition to the firearm not being reliable and these laws being unconstitutional. The concerns about the state forcing a requirement to be able to track the gun and having any ability to disable the weapon remotely are, for me, automatic turn-offs. I would NEVER agree to the legislation if any level of our government had those abilities regarding my smart gun. 

Why Even Suggest This?

I don't disagree with anything they've said. I completely understand their concerns and I agree with them but my idea was simply one possible way to coerce these states normally unwilling to budge into Shall Issue permits. Then take the state to court over the legislation to remove the smart gun requirement due to it being unconstitutional (for any reason is fine with me). The state would then be forced to remove the smart gun requirement potentially leaving the Shall Issue permit intact. This process could be very dangerous for our rights but we could end up gaining ground if it won't happen by itself. Part of me thinks that Shall Issue permits are the future despite these elected politician's and their inability to recognize our rights.

The process likely wouldn't happen this way but at least I'm trying.

Note: I will check back over the next few days to see what others have said. So far the comments have reached over 110. Very nice.

The Maryland HQL - How Long and How Much for your Rights?

I finally finished the process one must complete to buy a handgun in Maryland. The entire process will have taken me about 6 months before I can take possession of any newly purchased handgun. However, before one gets all excited the ACTUAL time is 22 days. I took the class back in October of 2013 but I had waited before putting in the actual application, hence the 6 months bit. But from the day you take a training class to the soonest you would be eligible to pick up a newly purchased handgun after the waiting period ends is around 21 days. Are you interested in the minimum total cost? With NO GUN PURCHASED you are looking at spending a minimum of $124.50 for just the HQL. If you actually buy a gun the minimum total cost not including the cost the handgun is $164.50.

As I had stated earlier the class was back in October 2013 but I waited for personal reasons. I finally put in the application 26 March 2014 (a Wednesday) after having completed the fingerprinting requirement (my finger print receipt says 3/25/14). I watched the Maryland State Police license page everyday afterward except on Sunday. By Sunday all the sections had been completed except the MVA Photo, LiveScan and NICS sections (I imagine those last 3 are actually the easiest sections since NICS is instant). The page has a section that breaks down the various Maryland criminal and mental health agencies' databases the MD State Police reference when completing the background check. There are also sections for the fingerprinting part and the "MVA Photo" they need for the hard copy and of course the NICS checks. As each agency reports back, each section is reported as 'Completed.' Once all sections are complete then an "approval officer" completes the process. If all goes well, you'll have an active HQL number in about a week. Mine went active on 31 March (a Monday).

Once you have an active number though you still can't buy a handgun... You actually need the laminated card. That takes about a week to be mailed out to you; I got my card 7 April (a Monday). That means that it took 12 days from the day I put in the application to the day I received the card. But we're not done yet. I could have run out and bought a handgun on 7 April. Had I done that I would STILL have to wait at LEAST 7 days before I could pick up a firearm that I just bought (Maryland has a 7 day waiting period). If I had taken the class on 25 March and if the store allows "8th day pickup" then you are looking at 21 days before you a able to exercise your right to own a handgun.

But what about the cost? The ACTUAL minimum cost to purchase a handgun with all the fees and taking the cheapest class I could find plus the cost of a chamber lock (more on that later) is $164.50. Below is the breakdown:

Cheapest class I could find* - $20.00
Cheapest LiveScan fingerprinting I could find - $54.50
Maryland State Police HQL Application fee - $50.00

Minimum Initial Cost - $124.50

*Please note that the $20 class is offered by one group otherwise the classes offered by other groups are usually around $100 to $120. This brings you to a cost of around $204.50 and upward.

Purchasing a handgun, however, requires a little more money to go to the State Police plus one other requirement State law says is needed: the chamber lock. A chamber lock is a device that is inserted into the chamber of the firearm then the key is inserted into the muzzle and rotated to lock the device in place. This locks up the action so one can't pull the slide back. The State says that you have to have a chamber lock before you leave the store. If you can't get one from a buddy then you have to buy one. The fee that goes to the State Police is for something that I'm not sure about. I've seen where it says Government Background on a receipt from BassPro for $10 but I've heard it was a transfer or registration fee. Additional Costs below:

State Police transfer/registration fee - $10.00
Chamber Lock - $30.00

So, in total, if you want to exercise the 'KEEP' part of your right to "keep and bear arms" (specifically a handgun) as a resident of Maryland you will wait around 3 weeks and you will pay a minimum of $124.50 in addition to the cost of the firearm of your choice plus sales tax, fees and required accessories. The total cost of that new $550 Glock 19 GEN4 you want? Around $747.50 without any extra mags, ammo or other accessories. But remember, not all of the HQL classes are that cheap. Many of the classes available are around $100 to $120 but some of those classes offer more that just the basic class. From what I have heard, some of the more expensive classes have you shoot various handguns giving you experience with those firearms to help you choose which gun you may end up buying.

When you buy the gun you still have to do several pages worth of paperwork in addition to the standard form 4473. Everyone does form 4473 no matter what state you live in; its a federal requirement when you buy from a dealer. But Maryland has about 3 or 4 pages you still have to fill out which, incidentally, those pages are basically the same as form 4473 AND the questionnaire you had to answer when put in the application for the HQL. TRIPLE REDUNDANCY!!! Thankfully once you have the HQL you can buy all the handguns you want (you'll still have fill out all the pages for each purchase). I would strongly suggest you buy as many as you can so as to help offset that initial cost. Additionally the license lasts for 10 years; I'd like to move out of this idiotic State before then but only time will tell.

I just want to say that it boggles my mind to think that people are willing to set dangerous precedence by requiring lengthy delays and monetary costs that the ordinary, everyday citizen has to jump through before exercising what is a fundamental, Constitutionally protected right.

Don't believe owning a handgun is a right? Don't take it from me The Supreme Court says it is (see the 2008 Heller Case).

Update: I may have some of the days wrong. The dates are correct but the math may not stack up just right. Either way, your still looking at about 21 to 24 days before you can actually legally pick up a newly purchased handgun from the store.