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What's your favorite pistol?
ExpendableYouth
Posts: 2,105 ✭✭✭✭✭
I would have to say my Springfield professional light railed 1911 has a special place at the top of the list right now. How about you guys?
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ExpendableYouth
Posts: 2,105 ✭✭✭✭✭
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If I'm outside the house, it's the Kimber Super Carry Pro inside my belt at 4:00.
If I'm sleeping, it's the Walther PPQ with rail-light on my nightstand.
Both shoot wonderfully, but if forced to choose a favorite, it'd be the Kimber. That was my first gun, bought after the home invasion that happened here Nov. '10, and I was thinking if I could only have one gun, I wanted something that'd make a big hole (I know, 9mm's holes are big enough) had night-sights and a bobtail to avoid printing... but then I found there's no such thing as 'only one gun'.
I also have a Walther PPS for hot-weather carrying, and a S&W 686+ which just sits downstairs where I roast coffee; that's my "panic room"... if I get down there first, I'll have the .357 in hand and anybody that wants to follow me down the stairs will be a sitting duck.
I don't want to hijack this thread, but... you asked. This is a copy of the e-mail I sent out that night at 3a.m. to my friends;
"Hey. For you that pray, I'd appreciate it. Im sending this to several dear friends, just to fill you in.
First off, I'm OK. Maybe it hasn't sunk all the way in yet.
Around 6:45 tonight (Tues. 11/23) I was sitting in my living room watching TV with the curtains open like always, and just finished supper and waiting for my pastor, Tom, to arrive at 7:00 for a every-other-week prayer time. I noticed a couple people walking down my sidewalk and then thought I saw one of them walking toward my door. They didn't ring my doorbell, but it didn't strike me as odd because I had been collecting money from the 24 houses along my alley, as I am the alley captain and hire the person who does the snow plowing; I had asked the neighbors to drop the cash/check in my mailbox, so it didn't seem real unusual for this person to be at my door.
Then the bell finally rang and when they knocked at my door, I made the mistake of thinking it was Pastor Tom, and didn't look. Soon as I opened the door, a young black guy had a gun in my face and pushed his way in, followed by two more perps. At first I thought someone was pranking me (this sort of thing just doesn't happen around here), but as they were yelling and swearing and pushing me to the back of my house I realized this was no joke. It was still so unreal; it just seemed like a bad dream. I just didn't know how to react, other than to cooperate and hope they'd leave. I believe now, that if I had reacted with force, they would have shot me. Admittedly, my main error was allowing them entrance by not checking who was at the door before opening it, but this has been such a quiet and safe neighborhood, I didn't think along those lines.
They asked who else lived here, closed all the blinds, and before they could duct tape my mouth shut (they brought their own roll of tape) I let them know that I was a Christian and that Jesus would be protecting me so they should just take my money and leave. That just got me a punch in the cheek bone. I also let them know that my pastor was on his way over in ten minutes. So they taped my face, my hands behind my back and my ankles, lying on the floor and facing the wall. While one kept a gun sternly on my face and skull, beating me with it and uttering threats to kill me, the other two ransacked my house. They came back to me to force me into telling them where my money was, and where I kept my gun. I convinced them that I don't own a gun (I don't) and told them my cash was on top of my dresser. I think the one guy had two guns, because there was a barrel on each eye to keep me from getting a good look at them
I had a couple hundred of my own cash from coffee sales and yard work I do for some widows in the neighbor hood, but also had a few hundred in cash for my church's offerings; I'm the treasurer, taking the offerings, but I only go to the bank at the end of the month. They took the diamond/nugget ring off my hand, that was my wedding band from my late wife, and that was pretty sad. Then they took the down comforter from my bedroom and covered me with it (I was on the office floor), and proceeded to look through every drawer and cabinet, throwing everything everywhere.
So knowing they were going to have a visitor, I guess they set off to get what they could and get out. Two of them took my 58" plasma from the living room out the back door. From what the cops pieced together, those two were at the back, and one of them was waiting at the front door for Tom. Tom thought it was odd that my upstairs lights were on, which distracted him as he walked to my house, because as soon as he rang the doorbell, this guy put a gun to his ribs and told him to get in the house. I'm thinking they were going to hold him hostage too so they could continue loading up whatever they could fence. Just out of reflex, once Tom was in the door he quickly slammed the door shut before the guy could follow him in. The guy shot through the door and just missed Tom by an inch. The two guys in the back door then commenced to shooting too, at least 5 shots based on the holes, I'm thinking to convince us that chasing after them down my alley would be a bad idea.
By this time, I'm still under the comforter, bound, but I head Tom's voice and the house was eerily quiet. He saw me and thought I had been killed, but stayed at the front door, thinking this guy was going to shoot his way in. Back while the one guy was taping my wrists together behind my back, I held my hands and wrists so that there would be enough slack in the duct tape for me wriggle one hand out. But I didn't want to free myself until I knew for sure that they were all out of the house, thinking if they know I can get free they'll either shoot me or tape me up real good so I can't do that again. Once I realized Tom was the only one in the house I got a hand free, and used my little pocket knife to cut the duct tape off from my ankles and face.
Tom called 911, and over ten minutes later, the boys in blue finally show up. I was still concerned that one of them may be in my upstairs bedroom or in my basement, as they were up there and down there, and the lights were still on. Once the cops arrived they cleared the rest of the house, taped off the house, etc. The detectives arrived to dust for prints, take a zillion photos, and get our stories. My poor little dog, Abby the Shi-Tzu is still pretty much on edge. She was, I'm sure, fairly terrorized too. She gets all panicky around Independence Day with the all firecrackers in the neighborhood, let alone gun shots in her house. Tom said I need a pit-bull or a Doberman, instead of this little fur ball.
Everything was over by 11:00, and I have things somewhat back in order. I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight anyway, so I figured I may as well give you all a heads up. They took my phone, so my pastor left his. The local news was here, but just filming from outside while the cops were here, and nobody talked to me. Tomorrow I'll call my insurance agent to see what they'll do for me. I'm pretty sure I have $1K deductible, so I might be out some money, but at least I'm typing this from my desk and not from a hospital or e-mailing from heaven. They'll have to replace a couple doors, hire a painter to patch holes in the walls, replace the TV, the cash, and my ring, but I can live with that. Patching holes in the walls is better than patching the holes in this guy or his pastor.
Who knows why things happen? We just don't have a lot of answers for the stuff life throws at us. But I know that I know that God has this, and everything else about my life and yours under control. I'm glad God has sufficient grace for me and for you, and in a way I can rejoice that He thought me strong enough to deal with this. I know it's not about my ability to hang on to Him, but rather it's all about His ability and promise to hold onto me.
Signing off... see you all in the morning! You local guys, don't try calling. The bad guys got my phone, and you don't want your name coming up on my caller ID. The police said they may be able to use the tracking thing in my phone to follow them. Either way, I wont know 'til later on Wednesday if I can replace the phone with the same number.
Thanks for your prayers and concerns. A quote from Oswald Chambers; On the top of those very billows, which look as if they would overwhelm us, walks the Son of God."
Peter"
The four punks (one stayed in the getaway van in the alley) were caught that same night. They were using a stolen mini-van, and cop in another district matched the description from an earlier bulletin, pulled them over and arrested them. By then, all my goods were already ditched.
I couldn't pick them out of a line-up, but there was enough evidence to charge and convict. It turns out two of the four tried car-jacking a fella two days prior to my scene, shot the driver and left him for dead. I saw their guns, but figured they were too young and green to use them, so I wasn't afraid (in fact, I spent the time on the floor praying for them to grow up, and get saved)... boy was I wrong.
They all landed in prison, with sentences ranging from 6mo. to 17 years. I told the court that I had $1500 in costs that weren't covered by the insurance, and the ones still serving time are being made to pay it off, with about $600 repaid to date. I got a new front door, and new interior door, and a completely remodeled kitchen and hallway out of the deal. The insurance company was paying to replacethe vinyl floor and remove the wallpaper and repaint due to bullet holes, so I went the rest of the way with cabinets, granite, etc., thinking if they're paying for half I could pay for the rest and do it all the way.
It took about a year of soul-searching to decide on buying a handgun, asking myself if I really have the guts to shoot/kill someone, which I decided was a 'yes', thinking if it's gonna be me or them, it'll be them. I was a little jumpy for a while when a car drove by slowly, or when the doorbell rang, but I'm OK now. And I decided to not move; this kind of stuff can happen in any locale, and I'm not giving in by leaving the home I love.
There you have it... the Lord knows what He's doing, and I just leave it at that.
That being said I carry a 30S. IF you havn't shot it yet I would put a few rounds through it before buying it. The recoil can take some getting us too.