# The Big Change



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

I just can't comfortably and accurately shoot a small and concealable .45 any longer. Arthritis is winning.
So today I've begun the changeover to something less painful to my hands.

Probably from now on, my EDC is going to be a Colt's M.1903 Pocket Hammerless in .380 ACP.
I'll be carrying it at about "4:00," in a OWB holster by Ed Buffaloe, on a Galco contoured belt, with either a Safariland clip-on (in a pocket) or a Galco (on the belt) magazine carrier for the reload.
The outfit conceals well under the vest I normally wear, winter and summer. (It doesn't get particularly warm, up here.)

The old gun is beautifully accurate and very dependable. Hollow-point bullets feed reliably.
According to last weekend's shooting practice, I can easily make quick head shots at 20 yards, and nice, tight center-of-mass groups.
Best of all: No pain.

We're going to a chamber-music concert, tonight. I'll see if anyone notices my new OWB rig.

Maybe I should change my forum name. Or maybe not: I haven't carried a M1911 for the past eight years.


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## chessail77 (Mar 15, 2011)

Steve
If you remember Geritol and Carters little liver pills I am right there with ya .......JJ


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

chessail77 said:


> Steve
> If you remember Geritol and Carters little liver pills I am right there with ya .......JJ


...and don't forget "_Serutan_: 'Nature's,' spelled backwards."


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## berettabone (Jan 23, 2012)

....and Milk of Magnesia.......


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

...Actually, I don't need Geritol, Carter's Little Liver Pills, Serutan, or Milk of Magnesia...or even that daily tablespoonful of cod-liver oil our mothers gave us, for that matter.
Instead, I now have Mother Nature's very own preferred anæsthesia: Bourbon whiskey.
Arthritis pain? Who cares?
Jush don' expec' me to make mush senshe, 'at's all.

And at my age, good sense really isn't expected anyway.


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## TedDeBearFrmHell (Jul 1, 2011)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> ...Actually, I don't need Geritol, Carter's Little Liver Pills, Serutan, or Milk of Magnesia...or even that daily tablespoonful of cod-liver oil our mothers gave us, for that matter.
> Instead, I now have Mother Nature's very own preferred anæsthesia: Bourbon whiskey.
> Arthritis pain? Who cares?
> Jush don' expec' me to make mush senshe, 'at's all.
> ...


just had a bourbon myself, lamenting the end of my carry days. the move has dropped me dead center of a county that is not issuing ANY ccw permits and california has banned open carry.... i went from heaven to california .....

as for your choice of a new carry piece, i think its top notch... and we know its not the size of the hole, its where you put the hole!


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## berettabone (Jan 23, 2012)

Sometimes, a bit of Makers Mark does the trick, for a while anyway....


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## niadhf (Jan 20, 2008)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> ...Actually, I don't need Geritol, Carter's Little Liver Pills, Serutan, or Milk of Magnesia...or even that daily tablespoonful of cod-liver oil our mothers gave us, for that matter.
> Instead, I now have Mother Nature's very own preferred anæsthesia: Bourbon whiskey.
> Arthritis pain? Who cares?
> Jush don' expec' me to make mush senshe, 'at's all.
> ...


But straight shooting is! 
I have recently rediscovered just how noce it is to carry my Makarov. This was a primary Cary for quite a bit, until things like competition and more ammo or bigger holes bece options. This summer I put it in my Grandfather Oak Hidden Companion for a day or two as cyatica was acting up with the double stack 9. I ended up carrying it for apathy steady. And soooo sweet to shoot!
Now good luck on remembering WHERE you are carrying Steve!


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## hideit (Oct 3, 2007)

dont change your forum name
if you do don't change your pic
i would loose you in the posts and your insights would be lost
that would be a shame
so 1911 is what you love and you changed guns - so what
I am 63 and shot a lot of guns and have owned toooo many. I too have experienced recoil that i didn't like so I got a keltec p32 - i will keep this for collection purposes but really have a desire to get back to the 380 but this time I am looking at the beretta cheetah or the bersa thunder - too bad Colt doesn't reproduce the M.1903 Pocket Hammerless in .380 ACP


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## Tip (Aug 22, 2012)

Take a look at the Sig P238 - especially if you come from the 1911 ranks - sweet little shooter - solid Sig build.


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> Bourbon whiskey.


And I had you figured for single malt scotch. Ah, well, bourbon is good, too, and much cheaper.


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## berettabone (Jan 23, 2012)

I carry a Bodyguard .380 w/laser.......has eaten everything i've fed it.......not that the sights are great on the Bodyguard, but the sights on my FORMER Cheetah fs that I traded for an SR40, are terrible....nice firearm, but a bit too large and heavy for carry...I front pocket carry.


hideit said:


> dont change your forum name
> if you do don't change your pic
> i would loose you in the posts and your insights would be lost
> that would be a shame
> ...


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

TedDeBearFrmHell said:


> just had a bourbon myself, lamenting the end of my carry days. the move has dropped me dead center of a county that is not issuing ANY ccw permits and california has banned open carry.... i went from heaven to california ...


As I said: "Into the jaws of death; into the mouth of Hell."
Where the heck are you? Los Angeles? (Shudder!)



niadhf said:


> ...Now good luck on remembering WHERE you are carrying Steve!


Good point.
Now then, where did I put my glasses?
(Ed Buffaloe's holster rides snug and close, is extremely comfortable for the entire day, and just about disappears beneath my usual vest. No problems at last night's concert. Let's see what happens today, at the cardiologist's.)



hideit said:


> ...[T]oo bad Colt doesn't reproduce the M.1903 Pocket Hammerless in .380 ACP


They're certainly easy to find used. Look at GunBroker, where I found mine. It wasn't terribly expensive, either, since I wanted a good shooter, not a pristine collector's piece.



Tip said:


> Take a look at the Sig P238 - especially if you come from the 1911 ranks - sweet little shooter - solid Sig build.


The SIG will always carry the stigma, in my mind, of having originally been designed by a Spanish gunmaker (Star-Echeverria).
Although the SIG is a little shorter in both dimensions than my Colt, the M.1903 is much smoother. Thus it carries and draws much more conveniently, particularly if I ever switch back to pocket carry.



Bisley said:


> And I had you figured for single malt scotch. Ah, well, bourbon is good, too, and much cheaper.


I was raised on Scotch.
But since I now drink only for the anæsthetic effect, rather than for the flavor, Bourbon does quite well for me.


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## chessail77 (Mar 15, 2011)

Still love my single malt scotch......JJ


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## TedDeBearFrmHell (Jul 1, 2011)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> As I said: "Into the jaws of death; into the mouth of Hell."
> Where the heck are you? Los Angeles? (Shudder!)


i am in the central valley in merced county, near a town called turlock


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Ah, yes—Turlock. I've driven through it many times.

You've moved to the wrong county, man.
Just a little further north, and you'd've been in Sacramento: they now issue carry permits there.
And then there are all of the so-called "cow counties" along Highway 49, all with really gun-friendly sheriffs.
Merced, too, used to be pretty gun-friendly. I guess it's getting gentrified and all Kalifornicated.

You have my sympathy, and my sincere hope that you can gracefully exit northward, sometime very soon.


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## TedDeBearFrmHell (Jul 1, 2011)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> Ah, yes-Turlock. I've driven through it many times.
> 
> You've moved to the wrong county, man.
> Just a little further north, and you'd've been in Sacramento: they now issue carry permits there.
> ...


i am stuck in the county and the state and the job for 3 years... made a commitment for that long... so in about 1090 days i will be longing to move north again


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