No, I haven't bought one yet, but I'm scheming at this time for trading a gun and some somewhat hard to find gun parts for popular used guns I no longer have to a gun dealer friend of mine who can find me one of these in short order as I don't think they are currently made right now. They are of recent manufacture however, having seen several NIB guns on several auction sites for not too bad of prices. But I'd be happier with a more decent price and a lightly used gun in excellent condition.
So before I launch into my current fascination with this gun as a fall, winter and spring carry gun, let me explain a brief history of my me with revovers.
Of course, if you've read any of my posts about the GREAT shooting I've had with my S&W Model 22 Model of 1917 that I've droned on about elsewhere, you know I had long neglected this gun but find it an absolute joy to shoot and it has become highly accurate now that I have practiced somewhat with it. My friend El Bar nicked a coke can at 20 feet on his second shot with it a couple of months ago.
I've long loved the .45 ACP cartridge, carrying one of several Colt Commanders, A Star PD and a Detonics at times as a police officer years ago. I shot competitively with my Glock Model 21 when they first emerged in 1992 for several years, and for nearly 10 years replaced my 1911's as carry gun and frequent shooters, and now I tend to carry a Glock Model 36 in 45 ACP caliber, a single stack, seven shot, subcompact .45 that fits my hand perfectly.
My Glock 36, like the Model 21, has been flawless with my shooting of it. It is slimmer than the other Glocks, and a bit longer in the grip than the subcompact Glock .45 ACPs. For me, damn near the perfect carry gun.
And I've longed loved revolvers. My father's law enforcement days and subsequent prosecutor career led him to believe that revolvers were one of the few guarantees in life. Five or Six shots, Pull Trigger, Goes Boom. Back in his day, the only hi cap 9mm was the Browning Hi Power and later the S&W 59. He was unimpressed with either of thee hi cap 9mm's.
Growing up, we always had some kind of autoloader rifles, pistols and shotguns around, some old and some new. Rifles and pistols. But my earliest pistols were revolvers. An H&R double action 9 shot VERY LOUD .22 revolver and a Ruger Bearcat .22. In addition to guns my dad bought, he and his gun friends from college and law school often traded this and that and found deals for one another for what they were wanting.
So I got to shot an incredible amount of guns coming up of all kinds with my dad and his police, lawyer and fireman friends. We had deer aplenty on several tracts of land around Houston, and he let his buddies hunt and set up feeders and the like out there since we wern't much into deer hunting then. My dad and I liked a good saturday or sunday EARLY morning dove or quail hunt on our places, and some my earlier memories of hunting revolve around hunting on diverse properties we owned in and around Harris county. Plus, he had lots of friends with places near and far on the Gulf Coast and East Texas.
Of course, I always brought fishing gear even in elementary school on these jaunts as I was a fishing fool back in elementary school, but again, that's another story.
My father always favored the .38 Special, particuarly in +P loads in all steel revolvers. He came to like, for carrying on the family places for hogs and snakes and bobcats and the like Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Caliber and a Thompson Contender in .410/.45 Long Colt, and often had a .22 revolver of some sort in his immediate vicinity when carrying one of these big guns.
But his for his official duties and personal protection, he carried (legally, I add) generally a .38 Special of a great variety. He favored 3" Barrel snubbies with larger handgrips, but had favorite Chief's Specials too. And several of the Taurus variety.
So I guess in grained in my head was always this opinion, from my dearest father. And when I was in law enforcement, it ws revolver days. Me with a Python in uniform, a Colt Cobra or HK P7 or Colt Commander off duty. Later, I carried various autos on and off duty and then began to shoot in local police and civilian combat shooting competitions for many years.
I intitially shot these courses with my Python for some years, and with speedloaders and the frequent ammo changes required by many of the courses I shot, I was not at too much of a time disadvantage because I've spent a lot of training time with speedloaders.
But then I fell into the tuned race .45 guns, having a real nice one at one time, with a hair trigger far too dangerous to use a a carry gun, and besides, it was a full size Gold Cup model. I stumbled across one of those radical back leaning race holster rigs for a song at a used holster bin at a gun show, and for $20 and my old police belt I had quite a competition rig.
But then in early the Glock 21 came along, and it shot like a dream compared to any of my 1911's ever. That gun was used for many years in shooting competitions, mostly combat and police type competitions, flawlessly with somewhere near 10,000 rounds though it flawlessly.
I also shot some of these courses with a Browning Hi Power Practical model and an HK P7 later model with the heat guard.
But through it all, revolvers were often my personal carry choice, interspersed with a Beretta PX4 Storm subcompact and a Glock M36. I'm not slow at reloading a revolver under stressful or non-stationary circumstaces through training and some long ago (mis)adventures as an officer, both with speedloaders and with the more likely companion, speed strips. I can reload a revolver, through 30 years of training and experience, damn near as fast as an autoloader shooter, at least in competition where large capacity magazines hold no advantage over revolvers, and although my revolvers don't hold as many rounds as the autoloaders doesn't mean their superior accuracy won't stop bad guys.
But I prefer large caliber guns for stopping power, having seen and worked many police and bad guy shoots over the years. Many. Enough to be on the side of the debate that big bores have more chance of stopping with one or two shot stops in defense situations.
So some time ago when I got to shoot the 325 PD at a local range, I was highly impressed. It was equiped with rubber Hogue or Pachmayr and the recoil was not bad, not much worse really than my huge Model 22 Model of 1917 with Pachmayr Signatures. The 325 PD is an airweight coming in a 21.5 ounces, nearly half of the larger 1917. But far more concealable.
I used to plainclothes carry my Python for many years, both in a Roy Baker pancake and a Jackass Leather Shoulder rig. A large revolver can be concealed well.
So today it brought pangs of desire to see a fellow shooting the Model 325 PD and rekindled that feeling I had recently when I shot the Model 325 PD. I have a gun I wanna trade with a gunsmith dealer friend who is interested in it, and I might have to do some talking and get him to find me a nice 325 PD to do some trading on for some old gun parts and a pistol.
I envision it in some sort of old ultraconcealable Buchheimer mini-pancake or even a Galco Speed Scabbard or perhaps a Bell Charter Oak N frame snubbie belt holster. I actually have a N frame sized snubbie holster, a Buchheimer that just sort of came with a holster trading deal, and I suspect it would fit the 325 PD well. I've got a old Safariland upside down shoulder holster that will fit it as well, again from another trade. The Safariland had to be refurbished on the leather arm strap, but it's good to go now.
So I'm all ready to do some dealing, which is particularly appealing because it could likely involve little if any cash changing hand. I used to buy a lot of extra firing pins and springs from Numrich in the 80's for guns I had then that I no longer do, and there is some pretty cool revolver and auto parts that fit lots of guns in the used market needing repair. My buddy deals in new and used guns, in a small but high volume shop, and has a gunsmith there who has done good work for me.
Here's some stuff I wrote on this coolness of the Model of 1917 gun back earlier this year that reflects just how good of an alternative to a cocked and locked 1911 this gun can be.
THE SMITH AND WESSON MODEL 1917: FEELING THE LOVE
SHOOTING IMPRESSIONS: SMITH AND WESSON MODEL 1917 ...
And there may be a few others on the virtue of the Smith and Wesson line of revolvers shooting the .45 ACP cartidge.
So before I launch into my current fascination with this gun as a fall, winter and spring carry gun, let me explain a brief history of my me with revovers.
Of course, if you've read any of my posts about the GREAT shooting I've had with my S&W Model 22 Model of 1917 that I've droned on about elsewhere, you know I had long neglected this gun but find it an absolute joy to shoot and it has become highly accurate now that I have practiced somewhat with it. My friend El Bar nicked a coke can at 20 feet on his second shot with it a couple of months ago.
I've long loved the .45 ACP cartridge, carrying one of several Colt Commanders, A Star PD and a Detonics at times as a police officer years ago. I shot competitively with my Glock Model 21 when they first emerged in 1992 for several years, and for nearly 10 years replaced my 1911's as carry gun and frequent shooters, and now I tend to carry a Glock Model 36 in 45 ACP caliber, a single stack, seven shot, subcompact .45 that fits my hand perfectly.
My Glock 36, like the Model 21, has been flawless with my shooting of it. It is slimmer than the other Glocks, and a bit longer in the grip than the subcompact Glock .45 ACPs. For me, damn near the perfect carry gun.
And I've longed loved revolvers. My father's law enforcement days and subsequent prosecutor career led him to believe that revolvers were one of the few guarantees in life. Five or Six shots, Pull Trigger, Goes Boom. Back in his day, the only hi cap 9mm was the Browning Hi Power and later the S&W 59. He was unimpressed with either of thee hi cap 9mm's.
Growing up, we always had some kind of autoloader rifles, pistols and shotguns around, some old and some new. Rifles and pistols. But my earliest pistols were revolvers. An H&R double action 9 shot VERY LOUD .22 revolver and a Ruger Bearcat .22. In addition to guns my dad bought, he and his gun friends from college and law school often traded this and that and found deals for one another for what they were wanting.
So I got to shot an incredible amount of guns coming up of all kinds with my dad and his police, lawyer and fireman friends. We had deer aplenty on several tracts of land around Houston, and he let his buddies hunt and set up feeders and the like out there since we wern't much into deer hunting then. My dad and I liked a good saturday or sunday EARLY morning dove or quail hunt on our places, and some my earlier memories of hunting revolve around hunting on diverse properties we owned in and around Harris county. Plus, he had lots of friends with places near and far on the Gulf Coast and East Texas.
Of course, I always brought fishing gear even in elementary school on these jaunts as I was a fishing fool back in elementary school, but again, that's another story.
My father always favored the .38 Special, particuarly in +P loads in all steel revolvers. He came to like, for carrying on the family places for hogs and snakes and bobcats and the like Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Caliber and a Thompson Contender in .410/.45 Long Colt, and often had a .22 revolver of some sort in his immediate vicinity when carrying one of these big guns.
But his for his official duties and personal protection, he carried (legally, I add) generally a .38 Special of a great variety. He favored 3" Barrel snubbies with larger handgrips, but had favorite Chief's Specials too. And several of the Taurus variety.
So I guess in grained in my head was always this opinion, from my dearest father. And when I was in law enforcement, it ws revolver days. Me with a Python in uniform, a Colt Cobra or HK P7 or Colt Commander off duty. Later, I carried various autos on and off duty and then began to shoot in local police and civilian combat shooting competitions for many years.
I intitially shot these courses with my Python for some years, and with speedloaders and the frequent ammo changes required by many of the courses I shot, I was not at too much of a time disadvantage because I've spent a lot of training time with speedloaders.
But then I fell into the tuned race .45 guns, having a real nice one at one time, with a hair trigger far too dangerous to use a a carry gun, and besides, it was a full size Gold Cup model. I stumbled across one of those radical back leaning race holster rigs for a song at a used holster bin at a gun show, and for $20 and my old police belt I had quite a competition rig.
But then in early the Glock 21 came along, and it shot like a dream compared to any of my 1911's ever. That gun was used for many years in shooting competitions, mostly combat and police type competitions, flawlessly with somewhere near 10,000 rounds though it flawlessly.
I also shot some of these courses with a Browning Hi Power Practical model and an HK P7 later model with the heat guard.
But through it all, revolvers were often my personal carry choice, interspersed with a Beretta PX4 Storm subcompact and a Glock M36. I'm not slow at reloading a revolver under stressful or non-stationary circumstaces through training and some long ago (mis)adventures as an officer, both with speedloaders and with the more likely companion, speed strips. I can reload a revolver, through 30 years of training and experience, damn near as fast as an autoloader shooter, at least in competition where large capacity magazines hold no advantage over revolvers, and although my revolvers don't hold as many rounds as the autoloaders doesn't mean their superior accuracy won't stop bad guys.
But I prefer large caliber guns for stopping power, having seen and worked many police and bad guy shoots over the years. Many. Enough to be on the side of the debate that big bores have more chance of stopping with one or two shot stops in defense situations.
So some time ago when I got to shoot the 325 PD at a local range, I was highly impressed. It was equiped with rubber Hogue or Pachmayr and the recoil was not bad, not much worse really than my huge Model 22 Model of 1917 with Pachmayr Signatures. The 325 PD is an airweight coming in a 21.5 ounces, nearly half of the larger 1917. But far more concealable.
I used to plainclothes carry my Python for many years, both in a Roy Baker pancake and a Jackass Leather Shoulder rig. A large revolver can be concealed well.
So today it brought pangs of desire to see a fellow shooting the Model 325 PD and rekindled that feeling I had recently when I shot the Model 325 PD. I have a gun I wanna trade with a gunsmith dealer friend who is interested in it, and I might have to do some talking and get him to find me a nice 325 PD to do some trading on for some old gun parts and a pistol.
I envision it in some sort of old ultraconcealable Buchheimer mini-pancake or even a Galco Speed Scabbard or perhaps a Bell Charter Oak N frame snubbie belt holster. I actually have a N frame sized snubbie holster, a Buchheimer that just sort of came with a holster trading deal, and I suspect it would fit the 325 PD well. I've got a old Safariland upside down shoulder holster that will fit it as well, again from another trade. The Safariland had to be refurbished on the leather arm strap, but it's good to go now.
So I'm all ready to do some dealing, which is particularly appealing because it could likely involve little if any cash changing hand. I used to buy a lot of extra firing pins and springs from Numrich in the 80's for guns I had then that I no longer do, and there is some pretty cool revolver and auto parts that fit lots of guns in the used market needing repair. My buddy deals in new and used guns, in a small but high volume shop, and has a gunsmith there who has done good work for me.
Here's some stuff I wrote on this coolness of the Model of 1917 gun back earlier this year that reflects just how good of an alternative to a cocked and locked 1911 this gun can be.
THE SMITH AND WESSON MODEL 1917: FEELING THE LOVE
SHOOTING IMPRESSIONS: SMITH AND WESSON MODEL 1917 ...
And there may be a few others on the virtue of the Smith and Wesson line of revolvers shooting the .45 ACP cartidge.
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