GS Loop Hole buy...... couldn't pass it up!

[xtriggerman]

 Well, last month I was at the Knoxville Show and This little gem caught my eye. Its a 3" Taurus 941 8 shot 22mag. I already have the same gun as a M94 that was a 9 rd 22LR but I bored it out to a mag altho it does not have the full barrel underlug as the 941. The 94 is my wife's home/auto defense gun. The 3" J frame clones are not an easy find via internet or otherwise. So when I saw this on a table tagged at $350, I had to see what his best OTD price would be. 325 was it. Private sale....cash n carry with only a viewing of my TN carry permit. God Bless this place! Free America.
  Well, as with any Taurus, you need to look em over very closely as QC can be a hit & miss with Taurus. But at 325 in near mint condition, its well worth it. Side note, I just saw an older S&W 651 22mag 4" 6 shot at a gun shop with a $950 price tag on it! Crazy inflation on those S&W's. Anyway, the big thing on these is the forward n back cylinder play and barrel cylinder gap. Chamber walls need a good look for roughness also. The action will suck but that's cake to straighten out as long as those cylinders are head spaced and firm on the cylinder rod. This particular gun was surprisingly good in all those ways. Timing was right on. Only the star recess milling on the frame was ridiculously rough but stoned out so,so. The single action is now just over 3 lbs and dbl is slightly better than stock at 13 lbs with a stock hammer spring. All the grittiness is out by way of basic stone & polish work. The little gun will put all 8 in 2.5" at 40 feet off a rest and group the same off hand at 20 feet on DBL Action. The rosewood grips came out of Taiwan Ebay for $52 bucks and I could not be happier with them after a little wood to frame bedding.
  Shooting these little magnums is big medicine in keeping the flinch demons at bay. Interesting story... When I used to work in the Prison, we had an outfit come in and put in all new 1" thick bullet resistant plexy glass in the main sally port arsenal control room. We ended up with some left over cuttings to play with up at the range. We hit those plates with everything from a 22LR to a 50BMG. That was a pure no ****s n giggles day for sure! Well, that stuff did great at stopping all the big 45's by bouncing them right back at you! the 40's did a little better by dimpling the plastic a bit, 38 JHP was about the same and 357's would actually embed. I have a Grendel 22mag 4" that would match the 357 embedded hits with either JHP or FMJ's while 22LR hi vels just put splatter marks from either handgun or rifle on that plate. Folks underestimate the 22mag all the time as a defensive weapon. It will bleed you bad and low bullet frontal mass can still get to a vital organ or 2 with Hi Cap firepower. Iv got bigger cals to carry as CCW but I certainly don't feel compromised using this little mag as a carry gun either. Ok, I'm off the soap box..... 

[Loose}{Cannon]

Thats one sexy revolver XT...  And thanks for the writeup and interesting read!

[Phosphorus32]

Very nice looking wheel gun! 

I never realized how much more ballistic energy the .22 mag had over .22lr until your post.

[Phosphorus32]

I just got the American Rifleman "year in review" email and here is a related article:

http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2015/6/8/the-22-magnum-for-self-defense/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=insider&utm_campaign=1215

[xtriggerman]

I just got the American Rifleman "year in review" email and here is a related article:

http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2015/6/8/the-22-magnum-for-self-defense/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=insider&utm_campaign=1215

  Thanks for putting that in here. I just read it and its a nice write up. Back when I had a store front gun shop, the question of small cal carry guns was just as prevalent as it is today. Massad Ayoob wrote about the subject and his bottom line was mental conditioning of the shooter must focuse on one strategy alone. That was to practice rapid fire in the face of the target while closing to as much of point blank as you possible can. Obviously many folks don't think of wanting to be close to your intended target but in real life, much of them are just that, close quarters shootings. I still like my K40 Kahr for carry but something about this little J frame gun is just cool.... as a general purpose outside gun.
 Thanks for your comments!

[Loose}{Cannon]

I wouldn't be afraid to carry a 22lr.   

Nobody wanna get hit by a 22lr either.   

[xtriggerman]

I wouldn't be afraid to carry a 22lr.   

Nobody wanna get hit by a 22lr either.   

 
  Hmmm, seems I remember some folks over yonder would turn their nose up at that LR and grab a sharp stick! Good thing most don't feel that away, or we would need a new CCS permit to REALLY feel safe in these troubled times
 

[carls sks]

that is nice, have fun with it.  .......... I have a few Taurus hand guns, all great buys for the money. they have come a long ways in QC.

[firstchoice]

  Nothing wrong with the smaller calibers. There are times when the larger, more powerful calibers are needed, but they will all pretty much do the job with good shot placement. I've always heard the .25acp degraded as a worthless caliber that will just piss off whoever gets shot with it. When I was 9yo, my mother and father were divorced and my 33yo dad had a new girlfriend. After a time, he decided to cut ties with her and she calmly walked over to her purse, pulled out one of those cheap little .25acp pocket pistols and shot him within a 4-6' distance. He fell face down and she stood over him and fired a second shot into his back. Later in life, (about 40 years later), I found the court reporter that recorded all testimony at the Arraignment and the Trial. (believe me, that was a surprise to find her at her age, and that she had held onto all those records for all those years.) The Coroners report was surprising. Both bullets had passed through his heart and out the other side of his body. One, front to back, the other, back to front. One of the bullets was found on the gurney at the hospital, apparently fallen out of his shirt. The Coroner testified that either shot would have been fatal.
  Now keep in mind that I would rather carry a .22LR or .22magnum than a .25acp. But all the "bigger is better" hype doesn't mean squat when you know, personally, what any of them "can" do.

firstchoice

[xtriggerman]

  Nothing wrong with the smaller calibers. There are times when the larger, more powerful calibers are needed, but they will all pretty much do the job with good shot placement. I've always heard the .25acp degraded as a worthless caliber that will just piss off whoever gets shot with it. When I was 9yo, my mother and father were divorced and my 33yo dad had a new girlfriend. After a time, he decided to cut ties with her and she calmly walked over to her purse, pulled out one of those cheap little .25acp pocket pistols and shot him within a 4-6' distance. He fell face down and she stood over him and fired a second shot into his back. Later in life, (about 40 years later), I found the court reporter that recorded all testimony at the Arraignment and the Trial. (believe me, that was a surprise to find her at her age, and that she had held onto all those records for all those years.) The Coroners report was surprising. Both bullets had passed through his heart and out the other side of his body. One, front to back, the other, back to front. One of the bullets was found on the gurney at the hospital, apparently fallen out of his shirt. The Coroner testified that either shot would have been fatal.
  Now keep in mind that I would rather carry a .22LR or .22magnum than a .25acp. But all the "bigger is better" hype doesn't mean squat when you know, personally, what any of them "can" do.

firstchoice

  Wow, Thanks for posting that but most of all I'm sorry you lost your Dad at such a young age.
I hope the wench is still in prison if not off the count by the Capitol hammer