LTNS Jr. Welcome back.
Thanks, tR. There's been a lot of changes here, and I'm learning how to use this new system. It looks like I can't go to the last post, but have to start at the top in order to get to the latest one?
Anyways, back to the carry. This morning the weather is just fine for a shoot; very sunny and no wind. Nice and cool outside. So I'm gonna head down to my 25m range and shoot a 4x4 with my 340.
Now, the 340 is very small in size and I always practice with .38 Special White Box. I practice quiet a bit, but not like a lot of people do; I go down there and put one round in the cylinder and squeeze slowly, going through each empty cylinder until I get a detonation. This saves a lot on ammo and results in better grip, sight picture and trigger control - because I don't know when it's going to pop. I'll do five or ten rounds this way and really enjoy myself.
The 340 is light weight, coming in at about 13 ounces unloaded, and the recoil from any .357 Magnum load is significant. And some of them are outright punishing. The 340 is made of a scandium alloy, which makes the metal very, very strong. I Googled scandium and read that it is a rare earth element and very expensive - $1,500 to $2,000 per kg currently, with wide fluctuations in price. There are only three mines for it on earth, one in China, Russia, and Ukraine, respectively.
Scandium lends tremendous strength to aluminum and makes it possible for a revolver of diminutive size like the 340 to handle a monstrous load like what it's about to do.
So, lets see what we are about to shoot into a 4x4 with...
Edit: Spelling
Anyways, back to the carry. This morning the weather is just fine for a shoot; very sunny and no wind. Nice and cool outside. So I'm gonna head down to my 25m range and shoot a 4x4 with my 340.
Now, the 340 is very small in size and I always practice with .38 Special White Box. I practice quiet a bit, but not like a lot of people do; I go down there and put one round in the cylinder and squeeze slowly, going through each empty cylinder until I get a detonation. This saves a lot on ammo and results in better grip, sight picture and trigger control - because I don't know when it's going to pop. I'll do five or ten rounds this way and really enjoy myself.
The 340 is light weight, coming in at about 13 ounces unloaded, and the recoil from any .357 Magnum load is significant. And some of them are outright punishing. The 340 is made of a scandium alloy, which makes the metal very, very strong. I Googled scandium and read that it is a rare earth element and very expensive - $1,500 to $2,000 per kg currently, with wide fluctuations in price. There are only three mines for it on earth, one in China, Russia, and Ukraine, respectively.
Scandium lends tremendous strength to aluminum and makes it possible for a revolver of diminutive size like the 340 to handle a monstrous load like what it's about to do.
So, lets see what we are about to shoot into a 4x4 with...
Edit: Spelling
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I forgot to mention that it has a laser. Now, I shot the .357 Magnum first, but I only shot it once using one hand. The other four I shot using two hands. It shot completely through the 4x4 on the first shot, and punched through with the followups.
After shooting the Federal .357 Magnum cartridges, I moved to the White Box .38 Special. I easily shot these one handed and while they consistently punch through a 2x4, they will not do so with a 4x4. I turned the wood around and placed 5 rounds closely together, so that there would be a chance of multiple hits allowing at least one of the jacketed bullets to get through. But none of them did.
I don't know if any of yall noticed or not in the pic above, but I shoot the snub using my middle finger, as opposed to index finger. It just feels right and despite what common rationale might suggest, I don't get ignition burns on my index finger, which follows along the cylinder. This is not a novel way of shooting a snub nose, as demonstrated by Jack Ruby, in the pic below, using a .38 Special Colt Cobra snubby.
Edit: Now, this is the way the snubby was intended to be used - at arms length. Ruby does not aim the snub nose or even bring it up to eye level. He point - shoots. One could argue that a .357 Magnum load is just too much kick for this little Smith, but in close, like this, you can't miss - even from a coat pocket.
I don't know if any of yall noticed or not in the pic above, but I shoot the snub using my middle finger, as opposed to index finger. It just feels right and despite what common rationale might suggest, I don't get ignition burns on my index finger, which follows along the cylinder. This is not a novel way of shooting a snub nose, as demonstrated by Jack Ruby, in the pic below, using a .38 Special Colt Cobra snubby.
Edit: Now, this is the way the snubby was intended to be used - at arms length. Ruby does not aim the snub nose or even bring it up to eye level. He point - shoots. One could argue that a .357 Magnum load is just too much kick for this little Smith, but in close, like this, you can't miss - even from a coat pocket.
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I've been known to carry a Mak every so often. It's certainly been effective enough for Mother Russia!
Also, Hornady makes Critical Defense rounds in 9x18 if you feel the need for hollowpoints.
Also, Hornady makes Critical Defense rounds in 9x18 if you feel the need for hollowpoints.
I don't know, Zaphod. Without stirring up too much controversy, I kind of like running hardball through the Mak, for two reasons; that is what it was designed to shoot, and it can punch through a 4x4. Truly, I did not think it could shoot through a 4x4 and now my whole perception of the Makarov as an underpowered defensive weapon has changed.
Now, I am a big bore man. But sometimes I have to carry small.
Both the Makarov and the 340 can punch through 4x4s. That is a big, big plus and a reassurance factor when I go light.
Edit: I'd like to test .380 on 4x4s. The .38 Special definitely cannot defeat a 4x4. Even 5 rounds through a hole the size of a quarter and they still can't punch through.
Now, I am a big bore man. But sometimes I have to carry small.
Both the Makarov and the 340 can punch through 4x4s. That is a big, big plus and a reassurance factor when I go light.
Edit: I'd like to test .380 on 4x4s. The .38 Special definitely cannot defeat a 4x4. Even 5 rounds through a hole the size of a quarter and they still can't punch through.
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While on the topic of carry. Two weeks ago I had to either get a flu shot or fill out a ton of paperwork. I was carrying - and I had to think fast. She asked me to take off my shirt...
Well I had the Makarov in the Kangaroo chest band, and so I asked if I could go outside real quick - I hustled out to the truck and locked up my rig.
And I got the shot. Now, that is the 1st time I almost ever got caught. What are the odds of that happening? Well, it happened, lol!
Kind of looks like a black brassiere you got there...It looks like one a friend of mine has...
Yeah hi there Junior. Good to see you back. I'll never forget that long ass story about that McGee creek adventure...back in the old days.
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When I had that Russian night vision scope & saw the pair of eyes watching me through the tree line? Yeh, I started sleeping on the boat not long after that.
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