Talk me out of this?

[crusader rabbit]

And in a modest attempt to get back to the original question, THIS gun nut would recommend against carrying a .38 Colt or S&W for a couple of important reasons.  The first important reason is cost and availablity of ammo.  If you don't have a reasonable supply, you won't practice with your carry piece.  If you don't practice, practice, practice, there is a greater chance that the fear-stoked nervous system will have you shooting wildly.  And this leads to the second more important reason for not carrying a .38 S&W:  if you don't get a good hit, you will end up pi$$ing-off the BG without doing sufficient harm to make him stop.  It's just not enough gun.

Keep the heritage piece in the gun safe.  Take it out and polish it and clean it and show it to your friends while you tell them the story about the cop up north and the gun coming into your possession down in Florida.  But, get a weapon that you can use regularly at the range, and one that will do what it needs to do if (heaven forefend) you ever need to defend your life or the life of someone you love. 

I have a little .38 S&W Iver Johnson sitting in my gun safe.  It belonged to my late and beloved Father-in-Law and I am lothe to part with it.  But, I carry a Glock 27 in .40 S&W because it will do the job if I ever need it.

Thoughtfully submitted,

Crusader

[billt]

I've been a big wheel gun man my whole life, but I concede carrying an auto pistol is better because there is a much better choice of guns today, and the reliability of semi autos is excellent today in guns like the Glock and Sig, as well as all the different flavors of 1911's out there. Also, there is the firepower factor. 17 or 20 rounds of 9 MM is better than 6 of whatever. Concealed carry has helped advance the design and production of these modern semi's.  Bill T.

[blackwolfe]

My wife and I are planning on getting our CCWs this summer and I plan on carrying something a little different than most.

I'm strongly thinking of using my Colt Police Positive with a 4" barrel in .38 short colt.

Here's my reasons why:

1. It's a pretty small gun even with the non-snub barrel.  The frame is roughly the same as a J-frame Smith and the over size is shorter than the Ruger Bearcat and almost as thick.

2.  It holds 6 bullets instead of 5.

3.  Resale value of these Colts is very low for some reason so It's not like I'm risking a multi thousand dollar gun here.

4.  The muzzle velocity and energy may be slow at 685 and 150ft-lbs respectively, but that's more than the .32 calibers listed and has a very manageable recoil.

5.  While manufactures only offer lead ball bullets for this round, any .38 special bullet will fit in reloads so I can go with some nice 130 grain jacketed hollow points and have better defensive ammo than the officer that originally carried this gun in duty.

6. If I do have to go to court to defend my use of this weapon, it's going to be harder to paint me as a paranoid freak by holding up an old revolver instead of an "uber tactical polymer pistol" with a "sniper laser" and "military style, extra capacity clip" in it. (-sigh)

7.  It works well and it's paid for.

So why should I not consider using this revolver?

I'm no expert, but I doubt that hollow point would give you an advantage over factory lead loads at this speed.  I don't think the HPs would expand at this speed.