Lugers for Self Defense?

[Jim McArthur]

It's great to hear that at least a couple of our members rely on one of these old workhorses for protection.

Me, I confess to being biased against autoladers in general for self defense (though a new Kel Tec .380 is starting to ride in my front pocket as frequently as my old reliable, but underpowered and difficult-to-hit-anything-with. North American Arms .22LR used to).

I like the old wheelgun: I figure 5 or 6 shots that I can depend on should get me out of any jam that any pistol can get me out of.

Jim

[badsnakeii]

"Always treat a gun as if it is loaded, And What! good is a gun if it aint loaded" -Paul Zimmerman (My grand father)

All my guns are loaded. Some might say its stupid. But in the area i live in its best to have multipul guns to get to if needed.
I have my grand fathers 1911 fomr 1914 that he carried in WWII, not a prety thing, but its a tack driver for a GI 45. I oil it every week, and all my others get oiled about once every 3 weeks. I have a 44mag that is loaded, my first pistol a Springfield 1911A1 loaded with a 8rd mag, i have 2 beretta 9mm's that are always loaded, one in my head board. My M4 is loaded, my ak is loaded my walther 22 is loaded. But NONE have a round in the chamber. For one its hard on the mags not having it fully loaded, and two its just good practice to not have a round in there. I have all kinds of mags loaded for all of them as well.
No im not a nut, just lazy when it comes to havting to load mags, so i have a crap load of them and just keep them loaded.
Is having 1000's of rounds on hand bad....i see it as smart in these times, when ammo can cost $7 one day and be up to $9 the next.
Im not decided if i will keep my new luger loaded or not. If i do it will be the mecgar mag, and no round in the chamber. I would like to find a safe load, and hollow point rounds that work in it. All will tell when i actualy get her here.
Jarrod M

[Jim McArthur]

Badsnake, you may not be locked and loaded but you surely are armed and dangerous!

Me, though, I'd be worried about a slew of loaded pistols strewn around the house. If I have only one, I know where it is and where to get it. With several, I'd be worried that I'm inadvertently arming an intruder.

Jim

[Pvt.Joker]

Well, there's at least ONE more person here who keeps a Luger for a self-defense/carry pistol. Most of my gun collection is rifles/belt-feds/shotguns, and the ONLY two pistols I currently own are my 1939 42 matching Luger, and a reproduction ASM version of the old Civil War era Colt 1860 Army .44 black powder cap and ball revolver. Between the two, the Luger IS the more practical as a carry pistol.

Of course, propped up next to the nightstand that the loaded Luger sleeps on is also a loaded retro AR-15/M16, which would likely be the FIRST thing I'd grab at the sound of breaking glass in the wee hours. But it's not really suited for concealed carry, so it's back to the Luger in a custom leather holster that sits angled and high enough to be discrete. And as far as the Police taking it away after a shooting, well, IF I ever have to use it in a self-defense shooting, the relative monetary value of the gun is going to be the LEAST of my concerns, at that point.

[HerbZ]

Around these parts a state license to carry a concealed handgun is not too difficult or expensive to obtain. The required amount of training here is 12 hours; ten hours classroom and two on the range. There's a written exam and shooting qualification with silhouette targets at 3 and 7 yards. The training cost about $150, the license application fee is less than $40. Being prepared and legal, priceless.

[Jim McArthur]

Pvt. Joker, I agree that if it were a choice between defending myself or family vs. possible loss of the gun, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot, regardless of whether the gun in question were a family heirloom, a piece of junk, or worth a fortune.

But if you already own a big collection, you should consider adding a more modern, less valuable carry piece to it.

Jim

[HerbZ]

Tac san is obviously in the leading edge of the British response to their repressive firearms laws. His well equipped home armory is acculturated from the Japanese, who by the way, have exclusively used edge weapons in all their political assassination attempts in the post WW II years. Yet we don't see their government outlawing them. They're too important a symbol.

[raygun]

Originally posted by tacfoley

A late Edo-period Katana with a 28 inch blade.

A Meiji-period wakazashi with an eighteen inch blade.

A 'Cold Steel' tanto - not an antique, but quite modern.

And, more to the point [tee hee], over 35 years experience and training in their use - with the determination to employ them if necessary to preserve the life of mrs tac and me.
tac

I think I would rather face a loaded gun than a metre of razor sharp steel capable of moving faster than the eye can see ! ouch !

[John Sabato]

Tac, I am sure you could add a Cricket Bat, and a Louisville Slugger to your home defense arsenal without having to register either one... hopefully it will be a few more years before they are declared offensive weapons by your 'govermint

[Jim McArthur]

[i]

FYI - the UK, a country not renowned for playing baseball, buys more baseball bats every year than any country on earth except the USA and Japan.

Besp

tac [/B]

Jim

[Jim McArthur]

Originally posted by raygun
I think I would rather face a loaded gun than a metre of razor sharp steel capable of moving faster than the eye can see ! ouch !

It's also very hard to wrestle a rajor-sharp sword away from its wielder.

By the way, Tac, great to see you're on this list too: I usually see your posts on the AirgunBBS.

Jim

[Sieger]

Originally posted by tacfoley
In much the same way as I have little or nothing to contribute to the AirgunsBBS forum, so my posts here are also evidence of a man who knows little, but uses a lot of words to say it.

tac

Amen!

Sieger

[Michael Zeleny]

I never had any luck getting a standard P08 to run well enough for defensive purposes. Swiss Lugers work a little better for me, but for the cost of feeding them. By contrast, my LP08 cycles Winchester White Box ammo like a charm. I keep it loaded and wouldn't hesitate to use it for defensive purposes. My feelings in the matter are summarized here.

[HerbZ]

East Asia has a long and rich tradition of such Fools. (See, Taoism and Zen.)

[raygun]

Perhaps I have missed the gist of the current conversation , but I have never met any fools who truly understand or practise , zen , the tao or eastern martial arts . the level of discipline necessary to master these arts is extraordinary . I studied Judo , Jiujitsu and Hung Gar for over 25 years and only scratched the surface . It cannot be used effectively against a modern army , but for training individual specialists it can be very effective when you dispense with the more stylised aspects .

[raygun]

Dear mr. tac , me thinks thou knows a lot more than you let on!
please enjoy your sedative.

[HerbZ]

Well, there are fools, and then there are fools.

But what brought me back to make a posting here was the recent tragedy in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. "Seven dead in Tokyo knife attack." Here's a link to the story on the BBC's website.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7442327.stm

The point being that a mentally deranged man went on a killing rampage in a country with extremely tight gun control. He used a knife.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7442327.stm

[Sieger]

Originally posted by tacfoley
Dear Mr Sieger - every serious venture needs a Fool.

A serious and dedicated website like this is no exception.

If I can be the forum's Fool, well, that's fine by me.

tac

Dear TAC:

From what I have read about you here, your language ability, your business success, your former collection of Lugers, etc., I'd say that you are no man's fool, quite to the contrary!

Sieger

[RylanBrissette]

To be honest the 2 Lugers I have owned/shot both jammed quite a bit. So I would be a bit uneasy about trusting my life to a Luger.

If I did, the only mags I would use are the fxo ones, they seems to work a lot better than any of the others I have tried. And they are too expensive to keep fully loaded around the house.

I got an M4, and I'm sticking with that until I get a Glock 17.... YES that's the 9mm model

[raygun]

Im sure if your luger is in good condition and fed the right ammo , it will work fine . but it does make sense to keep a modern handgun for self defence .