A Nurse with a Gun
"I have a 1930 vintage Colt Detective Special that I inherited from my grandfather, and I want to know if it’s OK to use +p ammo in it. The factory won’t tell me anything."I couldn't have said it better than Syd did.
Labels: Gun Collecting, Gun Safety
posted by Xavier at 11:20 AM
Xavier is a Registered Nurse who specialized in complex wound care. He has practiced for over fourteen years in his community. He often provided nursing service in areas where law enforcement refused to enter without back-up. Xavier now works in surgery. Xavier has been an avid shooter for over 30 years. He strongly supports the 2nd Amendment, opposes gun control of any sort, and carries a weapon 24 hours a day. Xavier is known on various internet gun forums as XavierBreath. He is married with three children, and is moderated by an apathetic one eyed cat, a goofy Golden Retriever, and a stalwart German Shepherd Dog. One day, he hopes to be deserving of them all.
Domari Nolo
Xavier can still be emailed at
treatmewithbenignneglect@gmail.com
He might read your email.
He might delete it on sight.
He might publish it and comment on it.
The Four Rules
1. All firearms are always loaded
2. Never let the muzzle of a firearm point at anything you are not willing to destroy
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot
4. Be sure of your target and what lies beyond it
The Five Rules of Concealed Carry
1. Your concealed handgun is for protection of life only.
2. Know exactly when you can use your gun.
3. If you can run away -- RUN!
4. Display your gun, be prepared to go to jail.
5. Don't let your emotions get the best of you.
© 2009 Xavier Thoughts
All Rights Reserved
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
4 Comments:
Several points to be made here:
1) Do you really NEED Plus P?
When I carry a wheelgun, I carry Gold Dots or Hydra-Shoks in my D-frame Colts, but that is really just an attempt to wring the very last bit of performance from the .38 SPL. Good BULLETS are likely of greater significance than velocity - as long as they open. So - you might be just as well served in MOST situations by using good bullets in a standard pressure offering, coupled with accurate delivery to the target.
2) From a pure mechanical engineering standpoint, and as Grant Cunningham ( and others ) have pointed out - Plus P in an older frame gun is not likely to result in FAILURE, per se, but the gun will shoot loose quicker and will require a good deal more shop time. Colts are expensive to repair, and finding someone who knows how to do it difficult. This can be said about any small revolver, as well, even the modern super-dooper magic metal guns, and will be true until God repeals the laws of physics.
Suggestions:
If you simply MUST carry Granddads old gun with Plus P's - practice with standard velocity fodder and reserve the Plus P for familiarization fire and checking the point of impact - most Plus P loadings do NOT hit where the sights aim. As long as the gun is in good mechanical shape the 12 to 18 rounds a year of Plus P actually FIRED in the gun are not likely to injure anything significantly.
Consider the fact that your gun, if it is in really high condition, may be worth a good deal to a collector , and continued use will reduce the value. If you are a D-frame Colt fan, Detective Specials of late vintage are readily available at reasonable prices - retire your Granddads piece and carry a newer D-Frame.
Just examining through the lens of an engineering cost benefit analysis - your risks while unknown, appear to be reasonably low, but the benefits are low, as well.
Like every body else - I will say that its YOUR gun, and you bear all the risks from your decisions -but I generally think most questions in this vein are a tempest in a teapot.
DITTO sounds like jihad roulette.
and in a totally unrelated news item
tinyurl.com/6p4v8h
I can still breath...
I read a very long explanation once, http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-2118.html , it is extremely long and I do not know if the guy is a true expert but it made sense. Basically it stated that old lodes were hotter and the now supper loads are about where the old load use to be. This means +p would not be any worse than the old stuff. I did not write it and I am not saying it is 100% right, it was just interesting and made sense. I would say you should read it and decide for yourself. Also, why would you want to carry you grandpa’s old gun? Get a new one for a couple of hundred and save it for the memories (and antique value)…
What he said.
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