Post
by Bubbha Singh » Sun May 13, 2007 8:32 am
Some of what you may think about the subject of self-defense is most likely a function of where you live and the culture in which you have been brought up.
My take on it is this: if I find myself having to draw a weapon and point it at someone, it is because they are threatening my life, or the life of someone close by, and they have become a target, at least until they cease their aggression.
No warning shots, no first round blanks, simply a mental exercise of drawing an X across their torso, from opposite shoulders to opposite hips, and applying repeated gunfire towards the juncture of those two imaginary lines.
If that sounds cold and cruel, forgive me, but first reconsider why it is that you might be carrying a weapon, and look deep inside and ask if its presence on your person might be a liability, instead of an asset.
Now, as to recoil versus weapon mass: hits in the 10-ring count more than anything else with me, whether it's with my SIG P-229 in .357 SIG, or my little Beretta 3032 "Tomcat" in .32 ACP, your 7.65 x 17. If you can control it well enough to get accurate, rapid back-up shots, and hiding it on your person isn't an impossibility, use it for carry. If not, don't.
Finding your best combination of recoil control and caliber performance is vital in defensive shooting, given the constraints of the area in which you live and what might or might not be available to you. Nine months out of the year I carry the aforementioned P-229; the other three, I tend to carry one of two single-stack 9MM pistols, one that handles 9MM, the other 9MM +P.
I'd much rather face someone in an adversarial encounter with a large, heavy-recoiling pistol that they cannot control, rather than dealing with a determined foe carrying a smaller, lighter pistol that can be unholstered or otherwise deployed and fired in a rapid fashion with optimal accuracy. Each and every time I'll bet my life on the slower draw and the difficulty in reacquiring the target post-first shot on the hand cannon, rather than someone with a relatively dinky gun and a steady hand.
Of course, your mileage may vary.
