From the time in high school when I discovered Skeeter Skelton’s articles and his admiration for the Smith & Wesson Model 27, I wanted one. The big N-frame chambered in 357 Magnum made sense to me. I think it’s one of the best-looking double action revolvers ever made. Of course, Skeeter’s editorials infused a need for a five-inch gun that still eludes me to this day. I stumbled onto one at a gun show many years ago.

There was a time, back in the olden days, when point shooting was taught in just about every police firearms academy. The only reason that it wasn’t taught in citizen defensive schools was because there were no defensive schools for citizens. All of that changed when Jeff Cooper founded the American Pistol Institute, that we now call Gunsite, in 1976.

Back around the air-conditioned comforts of the coffee table, we continued our dissertations on packing guns. We both came to the consensus that the mid-frame Ruger Flattop is surely one of the best, especially when it comes to building a custom gun. I just happened to have along one such custom specimen that we handled and shot during our visit. It furthered our position on the subject, and we can find no reason to change our opinion.

One night on patrol I was the second officer to respond to a strong-arm robbery at a convenience store. The suspect was a large, angry guy waving a baseball bat at a thoroughly intimidated clerk—it was all clearly visible through the glass front of the store. The first officer to arrive was kneeling by her patrol car, stainless Colt 45 1911 out and ready. We’d worked together often, and I knew she was a gutsy cop. I moved up, and baseball-bat-boy dropped his bat and surrender

Just as I got in sight of the house where the dice game was being held...and all the squad cars were parked...I saw the back door open and one of our local characters come running out, clearly making a break for it.