I bought this primarily for carry and home defense. I haven't owned a handgun for defensive purposes since I parted with my S&W Modell 66 many years ago, to my eternal regret.
I bought this fully aware that the 40 S&W was designed by French women, so they'd have something to shoot while their husbands were cooking. Not having a French woman to take shooting, I had to test out the French Lieutenant's Woman's pistol on my own.
I started out in the back yard, punching holes in paper at 25 feet. I could hit the paper most of the time. The recoil wasn't as bad as I expected. But the report was loud enough that I took the kids to the range to fire off the rest of the box of Speer Lawman 165 gr. ammo.
We shot at 75 feet, and hit the paper some of the time.
I'm not a handgun guy, and my crappy shooting today says more about me than it does about the gun. Yes, I need professional help. But I am savvy enough to know that the 10 lb. trigger pull is doing nothing to help my accuracy. A trigger job is a must. But a 13 year old boy can operate the pistol and send shots down range. And at personal defense ranges, I expect that that round could hurt somebody bad enough to end as an adverse encounter as I'm likely to encounter.
I summary, this little pistol, with its 10-rd magazine, is an acceptable
carry gun for my needs, and accuracy beyond 25 feet can likely be improved with trigger modification and practice.
But can Mrs. theGringo shoot it? She's not French (well, maybe a little), but we'll test her out next time.
Tonight, as I sit on stool fashioned from an elephant's leg, sipping Jack Daniels and smoking a pack of Basic Menthols, I know for a certainty that I wish I still had that Model 66. What is not so certain is whether or not the 40c is a keeper. I'll have to get a holster and ... walk it around for a while.
I bought this fully aware that the 40 S&W was designed by French women, so they'd have something to shoot while their husbands were cooking. Not having a French woman to take shooting, I had to test out the French Lieutenant's Woman's pistol on my own.
I started out in the back yard, punching holes in paper at 25 feet. I could hit the paper most of the time. The recoil wasn't as bad as I expected. But the report was loud enough that I took the kids to the range to fire off the rest of the box of Speer Lawman 165 gr. ammo.
We shot at 75 feet, and hit the paper some of the time.
I'm not a handgun guy, and my crappy shooting today says more about me than it does about the gun. Yes, I need professional help. But I am savvy enough to know that the 10 lb. trigger pull is doing nothing to help my accuracy. A trigger job is a must. But a 13 year old boy can operate the pistol and send shots down range. And at personal defense ranges, I expect that that round could hurt somebody bad enough to end as an adverse encounter as I'm likely to encounter.
I summary, this little pistol, with its 10-rd magazine, is an acceptable
carry gun for my needs, and accuracy beyond 25 feet can likely be improved with trigger modification and practice.
But can Mrs. theGringo shoot it? She's not French (well, maybe a little), but we'll test her out next time.
Tonight, as I sit on stool fashioned from an elephant's leg, sipping Jack Daniels and smoking a pack of Basic Menthols, I know for a certainty that I wish I still had that Model 66. What is not so certain is whether or not the 40c is a keeper. I'll have to get a holster and ... walk it around for a while.
![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
I was behind the camera.
