American Handgunner Jul/Aug 1981 - Jeffersonian

New! THE NEW HANDBOOK
OF HANDGUNNING by Paul B.
Weston, California State Univ., Sacramento.
This well-illustrated guide
demonstrates the safe and accurate usc
of pistols and revolvers. Each of the
ten chapters of the text presents a
step-by-step guide to one important
aspect of handgun shooting. Areas
covered inelude nomenclature and
functioning, safety, position, grip,
sighting, aiming, trigger finger motion,
self-study, breathing, and
planned practice. Each segment coneludes
with a list of common faults ­
problems that are likely to occur and
how to avoid them - and a summary
of the chapter. '80, 112 pp., 48 il.,
$12.95
New! PRACTICAL HANDGUN
BALLISTICS by Mason Williams,
Firearms and Ballistic Consultant,
Libby, Montana. Concentrating on
practical considerations, this volume
presents separate segments on interior,
exterior, and terminal ballistics. The
first section covers such topics as the
cartridge, the revolver and semiautomatic
pistol, and test conditions; the
second details noise, velocities, different
types of bullets, and chamber
and barrel length; and the third discusses
performance evaluation, footpounds
of energy, police handgun
ammunition, and the Glasser safely
slug. '80, 232 pp., 89 il., 2 tables,
$17.50
COMBAT SHOOTING FOR PO­
LICE (2nd Ed.) by Paul B. Weston,
California State Unill., SaC1"n111(>nto.
This text provides comprehensive CO\'­
erage of such basics as grip, sights,
aim, and trigger pressure and discusses
defensive firing, target training, safety,
automatic pistols, service revolvers,
off-duty guns, holsters, reloading,
combat tactics, selection of the combat
revolver or pistol, and related topics.
Directions for combat shooting in all
positions are detailed. '78, 184 pp., 71
il., 6 tables, $12.75
THE IDENTIFICATION AND REG­
ISTRATION OF FIREARMS by
.Vaclav Krcma, Consultant, Forensic
Firearms Field. Foreword by William
P. Brefka. Detailed information on serial
numbering systems and codes is
provided. Extensive tables and photographs
t'lxplain and show the location
of hidden serial numbers, and an alphabetical
index of more than five
hundred handguns is included. '71,
200 pp. (81/2 x 11), 115 il., $19.75
Prepaid orders sent postpaid, on approval
Catalog of 2924 tides sent on request
301-327 EAST LAWRENCE
SPRINGFIELD 'ILLINOIS '62717
26
COP TALK
MASSAD AYOOB
HIGHWAY VS CITY ISSUE-GUN CHOICE:
THE CONTROVERSIAL IDEAL FIREARM
I
t wasn't long ago when any police firearms
instructor would tell you, "A .3.57
Magnum is just the ticket for Highway
Patrolmen 'cause they have to shoot
through cars and don't have to worry
about bystanders. A .38 wouldn't work for
them, but it's the logical gun for city cops,
'cause a Magnum will shoot through a
felon and wipe out ten people before it
stops. A metro policeman won't have to
shoot at cars anyway."
Thinking is more enlightened today.
Some state police agencies have done
studies that indicate they're not terribly
likely to have to shoot endways through an
Oldsmobile, and more urban agencies are
issuing the .357 than ever before.
THE DEMARCATION LINE
How much of a demarcation is there,
really, between the duties of rural and
highway peace officers, and those of their
blue brethren in the megalopolis? Will it
require different guns, different calibers,
different ammo?
Well ...
Today, more state police and highway
patrol agencies issue .357s than .38s, but
the margin is about the same as the popular
vote difference between Carter and
Ford. In fact, it may tip the other way: at
least two such agencies require that .38
Special ammo be carried in the issue .357.
Iowa troopers carry 125-grain semijacketed
S&W .38 specials in the Model 13
Smiths that are slowly replacing their
Model lOs, though the Chief, Col. Ed
Dickinson, says he'll switch to a similar
loading in .357 once every trooper has
been issued a Magnum. Colorado State
Patrolmen, though they've been issued
four-inch Colt Python .357s for years, just
recently switched from the 158-grain
round nose lead .38 to a JHP in the same
caliber.
became the first SP outfit to adopt the
Model 66 Stainless Combat Magnum, and
took full advantage of the Magnum firepower
with 158-grainjacketed .357 hollowpoints.
Let's take a look at NHSP's experience,
because it's kind of a microcosm of what
the .357/.38 controversy is all about.
Ostensibly, they scrappeo the big-frame
.357s so they could do away with the bulky
flap holster, and go to a lightweight gun
with a quick border patrol scabbard, and
eliminate the Sam Browne shoulder strap.
Of course, they could have achieved the
same with a 4" Combat Magnum, as indeed
they did later. The fact was that many
officers couldn't handle magnum recoil
and were carrying their 27s and 28s with
.38 ammo in the chambers. Oddly enough,
the shoulder strap remained for some time,
though it's since been dispensed with. At
the time the Model 10 was adopted (it was
issued, incidentally, with 125-grain JHP
loads, an effective .38 formula), then-Lt.
Les Menzies, the department firearms instructor,
had completed a survey that
showed a New Hampshire trooper was
most likely to encounter a firefight at a
robbery scene or a family disturbance
call-the exact same circumstances that
initiate most metropolitan shootouts.
He felt that the .38 would be more controllable,
hence more effective as an antipersonnel
weapon, and that the ability to
(Continued on page 28)
THE HIGHWAY SPLIT
You might say that on the highway, .38
and .357 are split about down the middle,
not counting Illinois State Police with their
9 mm S&W Model 39 automatics. One or
two highway patrols went to the AI Magnum
shortly after it came out, but I understand
they switched back to .357. An .
agency that de-escalated and then changed
its mind was the New Hampshire State
Police. In the early sixties, their 6" 044­
frame Smith .357s were traded in for 4" Col. Doyon (NH State) loads standard
Model 10 .38s, but a few years ago they command officer's desk gun-2" .38.
AMERICAN HANDGUNNER • JULY / AUGUST 1981