‘Undercover’ guns…LOL

[AJMD429]

.
...NOT 'undercover' as in 'detective' - literally UNDER COVERS....

I really miss Paul Harrel, but continue to stumble across the many of his videos I’ve not yet seen…

This was a classic ‘Paul’ video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH7_7pJfoGU

[JimT]

The "hammerless" revolvers would be the best bet for underthecovers work.

[jeepnik]

The "hammerless" revolvers would be the best bet for underthecovers work.

Except you need to fit in. I doubt many bad guys are carrying small 5 or six shot revolvers these days. Seems high capacity "9's" remain the rage.

[Scott Tschirhart]

My “undercover” gun was a High Standard Derringer in .22 Magnum.

But nobody ever noticed it on my person to my knowledge.

Now I carry an “old man’s gun” and still nobody seems to notice it.

[JimT]

I carried a .38 Special derringer all through the 1970's and 80's. Sometimes in my boot. At other times in my pocket. No one ever noticed it that I am aware of.

Excam_Derringer_38.jpg

[piller]

Most people do not notice anything anymore.
I do keep a flashlight beside my bed. I change the batteries every 6 months, and the handgun gets wiped with Ballistol after cleaning and before being put back beside the bed after going to the range. A 2,000 lumen flashlight is not seriously expensive, and it is hard to see after it shines in your eyes.

[EdinCT]

One of mine is a S&W like Scotts I can hit bowling pins 4 outa 5 at 25 yards if I practice once and awhile. I find a S&W M&P Shield II 40 cal easier to see the sights but harder to be descreet when carrying.

[4t5]

It’s called an “old mans gun” only because the they lived long enough to be considered old .

[Scott Tschirhart]

It’s called an “old mans gun” only because the they lived long enough to be considered old .

There’s definitely some truth to that.

I know some guys who don’t carry a gun at all. They don’t feel like they need it and they are probably right.

I know guys who carry high capacity 9 mm pistols and multiple extra magazines. They think they might need all that ammo. They may in some way be right.

But I’m comfortable with my old man guns. Am I right? Who knows?

[JimT]

Me also Scott.
When I die they better search me before transporting the body.

[piller]

I am more comfortable in public knowing that there are good people around who can stop the bad men when it is necessary. The people who know how to use their firearm due to plenty of practice, and a mindset of preferring to live a quiet life are the the ones who are safest. They seem to be the ones who can hit their target in almost any situation.

[AJMD429]

.
I keep a revolver stuffed into a crumpled paper bag right in an open dashboard cubby, along with a crumpled soda can and other 'fast food trash'.

That's one way of dealing with having my CCW in the 4 o'clock position and inaccessible while driving.

Before I was old enough to CCW in Indiana (back then it was 21 yo for that), I worked nights and lived in a ghetto, so I had a short-but-legal Remington model 10 pump shotgun with a homemade pistol-grip, in a plywood scabbard roped to the front of the driver's side of the bench seat. It was covered by the blanket I had roped over the seat due to holes in the upholstery (the car was one I bought for $140 or so back then). The car didn't have AC and one night I was almost to my apartment but had the drivers side window still open, as I had been on the interstate. I was on a one-way street in a dark night neighborhood, in the left of two lanes as I'd be turning left in a block or so. I came to a red light, and stopped, noticing a guy walking towards me on the sidewalk to my left, trying to look nonchalant. As he passed me, I watched for him to appear in the side-mirror, he didn't..... About the time I was reaching to roll up the window, he grabbed the door handle and tried to yank it open. When that failed he tried to grab the pull-up door latch near my elbow. I blocked that with my left arm, but since there was a vehicle in front of me I couldn't just hit the gas. So I grabbed 'Remmy' with my right hand, and in getting it into position, wound up hitting the guy in the upper lip and nose with the muzzle, even before the gun was in full position to fire. However that seemed to be enough to 'distract' him as he grabbed his bleeding face and fell back. By then the light was green and I was outta there...!

[Bill in Oregon]

Peter Sellers used a bottle of champagne under the covers in "The Pink Panther."

[Steve in MO]

I've carried a J-frame of some flavor or another more often than anything else. Almost entirely inside my waistband with a Barami Hip Grip. The only other gun that comes close is my Lightweight Commander .45. I just ditched the Barami Hip Grip and Tyler T-Grip adapter for the Hamre Forge AFR Boot Grip.

What a lot of folks don't think about when it comes to carry guns is the word 'carry.' I see a lot of people who say "I carry this Glock 34 with an extended magazine, red dot sight and weapon mounted light all day, every day!' No you don't. I guarantee if you ran into one of them they'd either be carrying something like a J-frame revolver, a compact semi-auto, or nothing. My bet would be nothing. If people weren't buying them, Smith & Wesson wouldn't be coming out with new snubs, and Ruger wouldn't be selling so many LCRs.

I have nothing against someone carrying a high capacity 9mm with an optic. I do when I have to travel to the big city (in my case, St. Louis or Kansas City,) but in my small-ish town or even in Springfield, I'm totally comfortable with a small or medium frame revolver.

[JimT]

Well I will have you know I carry a Thompson full auto under my t-shirt without a sling! With a 50 round magazine!

I think you are most likely correct. Around the place here I usually carry a Ruger Shopkeeper Bearcat .22 Long Rifle. It fits for what I end up shooting ... stray cats, raccoon, armadillo .. a snake now and then.

[AJMD429]

.
I think it is definitely true that a lot of people leave their 'big gun' at home because they think they can judge when they are going to find trouble.

I've found out several times that the truth is that the REAL world is not at all like the movies - you can't tell when a bad thing is about to happen, just because the character goes into an unusually bad neighborhood, or because the 'scary music' starts...!

I've been in some terribly dangerous neighborhoods at terrible times of day, and. . . . nothing happened.

I've been in some very 'safe' neighborhoods during broad daylight, and. . . . violence happened.

So I don't 'triage' what gun I carry by just carrying something tiny/token "unless I'm going to be in a bad neighborhood". When it comes to firearms used for protection, overall size is pretty well proportional to capability, so that is really the determining factor - as it affects comfort and concealment. I pretty much learned to ignore 'comfort', so never have minded carrying a 7" Revolver or 5" Semiauto, and live in a place where 'concealment' is mostly something we do just to be polite, but isn't all that vital.

I guess my scheme of things is to consider my home a Jeff Cooper 'white' zone - super low risk (due to type and position of dogs, gates, lights, motion detectors, doors, locks, etc), but ALSO the most precious place - so I will indeed be armed with whatever is the largest most practical defensive firearm given my level of activity. So...what would I exactly 'upgrade' to when going elsewhere...? I STILL carry the largest practical CCW firearm for a given activity, and the only things that would make a full-size 'duty' gun an issue would be not wearing a belt or going swimming. I'm to old to not wear a belt (I've lost my girly thin waist), and I hate swimming (although I have clipped my NAA 22 WMR Mini-Pug to the inside pocket of swim trunks - 'just because I could' - a couple times )

So realistically I'm likely to have the same sort of firearm on my person wherever I go. The only difference might be which one - if I'm pouring a concrete patio or doing other grimy abrasive work, it will more likely be one of my Glocks or my AMT 1911 clone than my nicely-finished Para Ordnance or Ruger or Colt or Beretta or even the Ruger RXM Glock clone, just because I don't want to unnecessarily risk damaging one of the harder-to-replace or more-cherished guns.

I guess there is a 'third' situation other than home-versus-away, and that would be if I were to go into a clearly-dangerous neighborhood in clearly-dangerous times of day. Then I'd still probably be carrying what I'm familiar with, actually, although my STRONG inclination would be to not go there in the first place. If I did have to though, I think the MAIN difference wouldn't be in the equipment on my person, but moreso my level of vigilance.

Back to the "UNDERCOVER" topic though - it reminded me of the 'bathtub' scene in the Good the Bad and the Ugly - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk2-rfTbl-w

I do know several folks who specifically have a 'stash-gun' in their bathroom stored in a zip-lock bag or similar - one was a woman who got attacked in her bathroom in the past - if it happens to her ever again, the rapist is in for a surprise.

[Gunstore Commando]

I am starting to think of the Kel Tec P32 as the High Standard Derringer of a new generation. Bigger BB's and more of them, a lot less muzzle blast, lighter...what's not to like?

[Bob Hatfield]

To quote some of AJMD429's post;
.
So I grabbed 'Remmy' with my right hand, and in getting it into position, wound up hitting the guy in the upper lip and nose with the muzzle, even before the gun was in full position to fire.


So, in other words, you "harelipped" the guy LOL.

[piller]

To quote some of AJMD429's post;
.
So I grabbed 'Remmy' with my right hand, and in getting it into position, wound up hitting the guy in the upper lip and nose with the muzzle, even before the gun was in full position to fire.


So, in other words, you "harelipped" the guy LOL.

I do believe that would have caused pain and watering eyes. When it ends with the bad guy incapacitated and no shot fired, then it has been solved.

[samsi]

A now-departed friend was working undercover in Phoenix back in the '70's. Sitting in an unmarked car with the window down, some random miscreant (not associated with the case he was on) stuck his head in the window - right there face to face. Jim had a J in his lap and me stuck the muzzle in the guys mouth, miscreant withdrew with such haste that he scalped himself on the chrome window trim during his high speed extraction.

[4t5]

The hammerless j frame has the advantage of being able to shoot THRU a pocket , that no small auto has . Carrying one in each pocket ( new york reload )
Gives balance to a coat or vest . I recently bought a new 380 bodyguard 2.0 ( succumbed to the hype ) when I should have bought another j frame .
I ALWAYS wind up regretting my impulsive purchases .

[AJMD429]

The hammerless j frame has the advantage of being able to shoot THRU a pocket , that no small auto has . Carrying one in each pocket ( new york reload )
Gives balance to a coat or vest . I recently bought a new 380 bodyguard 2.0 ( succumbed to the hype ) when I should have bought another j frame .
I ALWAYS wind up regretting my impulsive purchases .

I like the way you think....

....are you related to a gentleman named Josey Wales...???

[AJMD429]

I am starting to think of the Kel Tec P32 as the High Standard Derringer of a new generation. Bigger BB's and more of them, a lot less muzzle blast, lighter...what's not to like?

I had looked at one of those before but it reminds me an awful lot of a gun that came out maybe 25 years ago called the Grendel. Looked like an ok 'toolbox' or 'fishing box' gun at the time.

[BobM]

I am starting to think of the Kel Tec P32 as the High Standard Derringer of a new generation. Bigger BB's and more of them, a lot less muzzle blast, lighter...what's not to like?

I had looked at one of those before but it reminds me an awful lot of a gun that came out maybe 25 years ago called the Grendel. Looked like an ok 'toolbox' or 'fishing box' gun at the time.

Same designer.

[Gunstore Commando]

I had looked at one of those before but it reminds me an awful lot of a gun that came out maybe 25 years ago called the Grendel. Looked like an ok 'toolbox' or 'fishing box' gun at the time.

I had ignored them for years because Kel Tec but it seems some thoughtful people (notably, noted trainer "Southnarc") are taking them seriously. I don't have enough rounds through mine to have an independent opinion yet.

The last round out of the mag consistently fails to feed (mag peculiarity? dunno, only have one mag so far). I can live with that for my intended use case.

That's all I know so far...

[Streetstar]

never got into it that deep

Currently have a Glock with a TLR-1 on the nightstand - but nothing completely "undercovers" -- its bad enough rolling over in my sleep and being jabbed in the back by the Vizio TV remote - much less a compact handgun

-- Also wouldnt want any of my silly canines to slip a foot through the trigger guard and contribute to a ND as they are often wrestling around on the bed --- that would probably get the heart rate up