Concealed Carry
Over the years I have carried various guns concealed. I began in 1969 when I was discharged from the Army. There was no concealed carry allowed in those days, but I figured it was worth the risk, especially when we started having kids. I decided it was worth protecting my family. And, if I did it right, no one would notice I was carrying. At least not until it was needed.
My first concealed carry was a .38 Derringer imported by Excam. I carried that gun for quite a few years, either in my boot or in my pocket. I only had to pull it a few times.
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In the 1970's I picked up a pair of Astra Cubs. They were small, light, and easily hidden. They were in .22 Short only, but were pretty accurate and reliable. On one of them I installed a wider front sight and opened up the rear sight notch. I was able to make consistent hits at 50 feet with it and shot small game a lot using the little thing.
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In the late 1980's we were taking a trip to California and I wanted something with more power than a .22 Short so I borrowed a friend's .25 ACP Beretta. I carried it in a belly band holster and wore it everywhere, even to Disney Land. The .25 ain't much but it's better than a harsh word.
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After using the Beretta I got interested in the .25 ACP and picked up a Raven. You could buy a new one for $40 or so and used ones a lot cheaper. I ended up with 3 or 4 and experimented with handloading the little cartridge. At one point my Dad made me a 45 grain truncated cone flat nose bullet mold for it. I spent quite a bit of time working up hot loads for it. (HA! HOT .25 ACP's!) My top load ran the 45 grain bullet over 1000 fps out of the little bitty short barrel! It also wrecked the brass each shot. When you picked up the empty there was no primer pocket in it! I am not sure where the primer went, but those were screaming loads. Funny thing, the Raven held up to it. That's pretty good for a cheap pot metal thing.
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It was about that time I started carrying a real carry gun and gave up on the little cheap things. But it was quite a few years until we actually got Concealed Carry laws that allowed us to practice our Constitutional freedoms without risking jail time.
I TOOK THE FAMILY TO SAN FRANCISCO IN
1982.. RENTED A MOTOR HOME--HAD GRAND TIME. WOULDN'T EVEN CONSIDER GOING THERE NOW!! CARRIED A CHARTER BULLDOG .44 SPECIAL.
I don't remember not carrying something
I don't guess it was due to a bad crime situation where I lived. I carried just because. Back in the late 60s to early 70s there really weren't many concealed carry guns around. For a while I carried a Beretta Minx in 22 short.
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I never had to pull it. In Tennessee everybody wears cowboy boots so I had a friend that does leather work to cut out a little pouch in the top of the inside of the left boot, so being a right handed redneck I could get to it if I was on the ground getting the crap kicked out of me. But in the 60s and 70s Tennessee was a decent place to live, especially out in the country.
In the late 60s and early 70s I was still working at the radio station in Clarksville Tennessee and working part time at the local gun shop. The owner of the gun shop wanted all of us to carry a gun but said it couldn't be bigger than a 32 auto. We got a Mauser HSC in on trade in 32 auto so I started carrying it while at the shop. I sort of liked the gun so I bought it.
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I carried it for a few years until the late 70s. I was at one of the SHOT SHOW type shows in Atlanta and I saw one of the gun writers, George Nonte, behind a table talking to folks. To this day I believe he was talking to Bill Jordan as the guy was about 7 foot 14. He was also a good friend of Nonte's as they were bantering back and forth. At the time I wasn't familiar with but 2 or 3 gun writers and Jordan wasn't one of them.
Anyway I decided to be nosy so I stood there and listened to some of the questions folks were asking Nonte. He said he had just done an article on a new gun from Star called the PD. It was a lightweight 45 ACP and he said it was quite accurate and fed everything. He said he even put an empty case in the magazine and it fed the empty case. So that did it for me. At the time I was working at a different radio station in Nashville and working part time at a gun shop in Nashville. When I got back home I had the manager of the gun shop order me one of those Star PDs. From that day on I carried the PD as my main carry gun. I still have that original gun but have added 3 more thru the years as sort of a back up for my back up.
I only varied a bit on my carry guns and that was to carry a gun smaller than the Star PD. That gun was a 25 Auto made by Budischowsky. I had heard folks talking about the little Budischowsky and how it fed everything. At the time the gun cost around $450 or better so I figured it must be good. Like Jim Taylor I wasn't excited about carrying a 25 Auto but it was small, stainless steel and double action and the 25 auto had to be better than a kick in the nuts. The gun was flat, small and stainless and it fit in that pouch in my cowboy boot with no problem. I carried it when I couldn't carry the PD due to rules or due to tight fitting jeans where a small pistol wouldn't carry well.
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So my carry guns haven't been an exciting list of special guns and I didn't change from one gun to another overnight. There have only been maybe a total of 8 or 10 different small carry guns I have carried thru the years. So my list is boring to say the least.
I think a lot of people carried in the 60's ...
I know they did earlier than that because when I was just young kid in the 1950's my Dad and his friends all carried.
Awhile back I was having dinner with a local Pastor and we got to talking about guns. He told me, "Well, this is Texas and I am sure several people in my congregation carry." I broke up laughing because I know some of the guys who go to his church and there's quite few more than "several" ....
Very interesting, the selections. Few teeny options then.
It’s very interesting, the thread on little mouseguns. My very first handgun I bought with my own money was a little Beretta M1919 6.35mm with German markings on it. I cannot fathom a German officer being issued such a weapon for duty. It functioned 100% in my experience. I traded for it, a cheap Italian switchblade and $7 cash. The firing pin hits were light at first before I stretched the spring out and re-installed it. Sadly, I sold it at a gunshow for $85. Today they run $350-500.
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I too have carried the little Beretta 950 SA in .22 short and M21 SA/DA in .25 ACP (.22 LR also available). I tested the Glaser jacketed pellet core ammo at $2 a shot, said velocity was to be 1300 fps. It would not penetrate a 2-liter soda bottle filled with water and shot about 12” low to POA at 20 ft. I went back to the 50 gr. RNFMJ. It sailed right through. I surmised it would be like stabling someone with a pencil, John Wick style.
.25 ACP JHP are a total waste of time, ditto for .32 and .380 ACP JHP. Sorry Hornady but it’s not all that. I shot an ailing Goat with a .380 and the fancy defense ammo and it did not penetrate or expand as well as it should. A full bore deep penetrating slug would have been better. FMJ are notably more reliable too, in anything. FMJ in ALL my smallbore autos (most big ones too). If you want t do something file a flat tip on the end that does not foul with feeding.
I tried the little NAA mini-revolvers, and they are quite pleasing and novel. However, I don’t think they are as effective as a good .25 design. The small autos are just easier to use. The Kel-Tech .32/.380 and Kahr P380 are about the same size as some of the larger .25’s of old. We have a fantastic selection today compared to years ago. I think the pocket .380’s largely eclipses .25 auto viability these days. Other than the hat tip to tradition. All the small autos shoot a bullet 900-1000 fps, it only changes in weight and slight diameter. The 50,71,90 gr. being classic weights. I like the hydraulic displacing solids they offer these days but feel the velocity available minimizes the effectiveness in this application. The strange bullet shape feeding concerns far outweigh any gains. IMO.
I currently have a wonderful little Astra M200 Firecat that has almost filled my desire for a vintage Colt 1908 .25 ACP. It was totally reliable and is tiny, smaller than the Colt, just a little bigger than the Baby Browning/Bauer.
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Humorously it’s easy to keep all 6-rounds on a pie plate at 25 yds. with it! Of late my mag split at the top backside. I have bids on a couple factory replacements ($50 a pop!).
I would dearly HATE to use the small autos in a defensive situation. Likely a well wielded knife or bat might have an advantage. But few people WANT to be shot. Being armed in some capacity is a comfort to less likely be a helpless victim. As Jim said “it’s better than a harsh word”.
WB and carry guns
I may be wrong but I don't think that there is any handgun under a S&W 500 that you have not concealed carry.
Nothing wrong with that, you're still here.
Merry Christmas, Scotty.
After the Beretta .25 my SECOND handgun
was a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum! It was "pre-warning" and I remember it had a real pretty glossy blue finish, much better than later versions I had.
However it was a "truck gun" and I kept it for self defense most places I went. Once my (future wife) girlfriend and I were parking out in the country at the edge of a big field. Totally dark we saw movement outside about 6' from the door on the woods side. This was the late 1970's maybe 1980. Friday 13th and Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre era etc. We totally freaked and I covered the moving mass with the .44 from INSIDE the truck cab. After I recovered most of my composure I stepped outside. A black Angus heifer Moooooooo'd at me! Scared the crap out of us. Was just certain it was either axe murderer or Sasquatch about to move on a couple naked teenagers.
Does your son know you were a pervert flashing
female cattle at night? It probably took months for that heifer to get over the sight. And does your son know he could have been conceived while this pervert was flashing the local female livestock?
Not unless you tell him! I'd mention our ages
but I think it is still illegal in this state. lol It was in my 1976 GMC truck I drove in High School. 250 ci. straight 6 with automatic and AM radio, no power anything - manual brakes, steering, windows, that was all. 75 mph maxed out and 12 mpg.
Taking a picture back then was a big deal. Kodak Pocket 110 then a week for development.
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That Beretta reminds me of one of the oddest "fixes" I've
AmBraCol 
, The Center Of God's Grace
[subject]
Tuesday, December 20, 2022, 13:36 (1322 days ago) @ Gary Reeder
come across over the years. Way back when we lived in the Amazon Basin someone asked me if I could take a loot at his pistol, it didn't work right. I thought he was joking when he brought out a gold colored pistol shaped lump, thought it was some kid's toy. In hand, though, it felt "pistol like" and a quick examination turned out to show a 22 short caliber Berreta with the tip up barrel. Probably the same Minx as you carried, but I don't recall any model markings on it at this point in time.
Anyway, it was gold colored because some bright bulb rattle canned it with gold paint. Without removing grip panels or disassembling or anything. To say it was "gummed up" is an understatement. So I took it apart best I could and cleaned it up with steel wool and ... can't remember what oil or cleaner I used, but it cut through the cheap paint just fine and I got the pistol to working. Then I paid attention to the magazine. It would only allow for four or five shorts to be inserted and didn't function that well. A bit more work and I found out that the original spring had broken and some genius inserted a lima bean to hold the two pieces more or less together. This, of course, cut down magazine capacity.
So I ran a few shots through it with my private stash of 22 shorts (not a common round down there, mine had somehow migrated south - prior to all luggage being x-rayed) and confirmed it functioned - as best it could. Not having access to spare parts or spring wire the lima bean kept its employment and I turned it back to the guy who brought it to me. Personally I prefer the 22 LR version and even carried a Taurus version of the pistol in that caliber for a while as it was all I had available.
Hadn't thought about that Beretta in quite a while!
--
I'm a peaceful man and prefer the pursuit of peaceful sports. Those involving teams and balls of any sort tend to be deleterious to one's body and promote violence by both spectators and participants.