While I love October, I hate Halloween. My wife says it is because I am grump and is not happy unless I do something for the date. We compromise and I go about carving a pumpkin using exploding targets..
I got the idea from fellow Tennessean and YouTuber Hickok45.
This year I use an entire 10 pack of .22 sensitive binary targets from Last man standing.
I had experience using these targets singly, but I wanted more Oomphf, so I mixed all of the included target powder, compressed it and wrapped the mixing bag in duct tape before stuffing it in my pumpkin.
10 packs did not seem 10 times more than a single pack – my hair blew backwards and I felt a large shockwave.
James was taken aback and his first words were “TOO MUCH DAVE!”
Oh well – it was fun and no one got hurt.
I need to do it again once the trailer is gone and I dig a nice hole into the hillside. I wonder how much dirt would move if I packed a hole with 10 pounds of so? The problem is that anytime you can see and explosive it can see you – so by being able to aim a rifle at it shrapnel can hit you.
I love firearm training, especially instructor courses.
When running an instructor course I get to meet the best kind of people – smart, dedicated, and proficient shooters. Not only is it great fun, but I get to talk with people with all sorts of backgrounds.
I learned about the 300 blackout on a break at a course, got to discuss suppressors with a manufacturer, and today I get to share some training from a new NRA Pistol Instructor. We started talking and after class we decided to do a little video work.
The instructor in the video is Marcus Talley from Veteran’s Tactical in Mississippi. He is not far from my land in Waynesboro TN and I hope to have him come teach on occasion.
In the video he is giving an example of why proper stance is important for accurate shooting and good follow-up shots.
If the shooter tenses up as they shoot multiple shots can get the shooter rocking, but too loose makes for a slow second shop.
A good balance where your body can absorb the recoil but not be taken too far off the target is optimal, and his tip of having a second shooter tap you hand while in stance can help you find that balance point.
I realize that the idea of standing guard at a fixed point rather than actively searching for the bad guy in a situation where someone has entered your home is repulsive to many. In the article I wrote about “are you capable of using deadly force” I discusses the morality of personal protection and my feelings on it. If you read that article with this one you may come to the conclusion that the two views are incompatible and I am being inconsistent.
It’s not about being afraid to shoot the bad guy; my suggestion that you don’t clear alone is based upon the most effective way to protect your family. It is common military science that takes a larger force to defeat fixed defenses. If I am standing in a covered position with my flanks and rear secured, with a clear lane of fire and plenty of ammunition for my shotgun, it is reasonable to assume it would take more than a couple of burglars to get to the boy’s room.
If that’s not good enough reason, you can look at the video below for the other reason. I suggest that the typical homeowner (typical as in a normally trained gun owner) faces an impossible task to clear rooms while ensuring previously cleared rooms stay clear. As the video shows, as the defender leaves one cleared space to scan a new area an intruder can slip behind you and get behind your defenses.
There is a reason that room clearing is done by a team, individual members can clear rooms, while additional team members can watch their backs and ensure that cleared rooms stay secure.
I realize that there are some concepts and procedures for solo room clearing, however, they cannot be adequately trained with a short article and a 10 minute video.
This Home defense plan video starts as a scenario. We are in bed and my wife hears a noise. Being a traditional family she hears a noise, I have to figure it out.
She wakes me up and I get my gun. The rest of the scenario shows how we deal with intruders at our house.
Traditionally the man would get a golf club and go looking for the bad guy. In my post “Don’t clear alone” I discuss why I don’t think this is a good idea.
Rather than look for trouble we shelter in place.
I set up a protected spot where I can cover the entry way to the bedrooms while my wife grabs a second gun and protects the kids and contacts the police.
In this case, I would be justified to seek out the intruders, and based upon the laws of my state if I found him and feared that he was a lethal threat I could shoot him. However, I find it safer to let him come to me.
If an intruders came down the hall after being warned and seeing the 12 gauge shotgun aimed at him, no one would question the need to fire.
Apparently the Taurus Judge is the most popular selling gun in the Taurus lineup, I didn’t know that when I started researching this article, but I believe it because I hear more students, coworkers and friends tell me how much they want a Judge for personal protection/prepping/zombie killing because it has the ability to shoot both centerfire ammunition as well as .410 shotshells.
I also did not expect the level of disagreement when I posted my video on my opinions on using the Taurus Judge for self defense.
I will admit that does give it some cool points, and I think it is a great concept, but I try to distinguish between true and perceived benefits and make any purchases based upon a cost benefit analysis rather than getting wrapped up with and enamored by features.
People Don’t Buy Features, They Buy Promises
The ability to fire 45LC ammunition in addition to .410 shotshells is a feature. It is perceived benefit is increased flexibility. However when compared with the size and weight of the gun, (the snub nose 2.5 inch chambered Judge is larger than my Glock 19), the small amount of ammunition available (5 shots), and the inaccuracy (more on that later), I just don’t see it as a justified self-defense purchase.
Now, don’t think I am bashing the Judge, I think it is a cool gun, and was a blast to shoot. I also do not think there is a better gun for backwoods fishermen to use as a tackle box gun for snakes. – It would also be great in a shoulder holster for farmers on tractors out clearing brush. A .410 shotshell is much more effective against rattlesnakes that a .38 or .45 revolver shooting a shotshell cartridge.
You would think that a pistol firing shotshells would be regulated under the National Firearms Act as a Short Barreled Shotgun, but since the pistol has rifling in the barrel (shallow enough to allow it to be used as a shotgun) it is legally considered not to be a shotgun (except in Commiefornia where it is banned). While this great legally, what it does is make a barrel that does not live up to its potential as an accurate centerfire handgun, nor as an accurate shotgun. The rifling gives less stability to single projectiles, yet still causes a more rapid dispersion of the shot pellets when used as a .410.
Don’t buy a gun that promises flexibility, but only shoots well with special ammunition.
Shooting the Gun
I was able to shoot one of these pistols when a student at an NRA Pistol Instructor Course brought one in. The fit and finish was nice, and it felt good in my hand. Admittedly I was not able to fire a lot of rounds as I had to stick with what I had on hand, but as you can see in the video below I feel that when shooting buckshot (which is the round of choice for almost everyone that wants one ) the rifling causes the shot to “fling” out in a wide pattern – at almost contact distance I had about a 6 inch pattern – at 7 yards only one pellet hit anything nearing a vital shot on a human sized target.
If you have a 2.5 inch chambered Judge shooting OO buck you only get 4 .32 led balls – times that by the 4 chambers and you only have 20 potential projectiles – and the vast majority of them won’t hit a vital area of an attacker, and those that do are underpowered and designed to function best when paired with several other their brother’s hitting nearby at the same time. Speed loaders are rare and I only know one company that sells them.
For a comparable cost and size I can get another Glock 19 that shoots 16 larger, more accurate and more effective bullets that are easier and cheaper to purchase.
It seems to me that if you are buying a gun that shoots multiple calibers to prepare for a time when ammunition is hard to get, it is counterproductive to get two of the more rare calibers – when is the last time you have seen .45LC or OO/OOO .410 buckshot at the Wal-Mart?
If You Want One Buy One
I have more in common with someone that chooses a gun different self defense gun than I do with someone that chooses not to have a self defense gun at all. Please don’t take this article personal. I am not mad at people that love the .410 Judge. My reason for writing this was not to bash, but to inform.
I just want to share my knowledge on the matter and try to influence someone that wants a self-defense gun to get a gun that is more effective.
