If you ever wondered

what would happen if you shot a blackpowder .45 Colt round through a Taurus snubby, Clint Smith has pictures here.

Take one old (but nice?) guy with a new Taurus model 450 2"-barreled .45 Colt revolver, add 32 grains of old FFg black powder and what do we come up with?

What you come up with is a flame-throwing, fire-starting, butt-thumping blaster with — believe it or not — no hand or teeth jarring recoil. This combination is more than accurate enough used in the double action mode to solve any problems at acceptable self-defense ranges. And, it provides several self-defense assets.

First off, there’s — literally — fire between you and the bad guy. Basically, this combo brings fire-starting capabilities toward anyone dim-witted enough to close the ground with you. Almost as an aside, a large caliber hole is also generated in your opponent. In the case of the Taurus, which is provided with the trendy, but questionable recoil reduction holes in the barrel, I believe I have finally found a purpose for said holes. With black powder, all that black goop and efus blasts out of the vent holes and re-blacks the front sight with every compression of the trigger. Yup, it’s sort of a built-in front sight carbon-black lamp. Oh yeah, they put out a really loud thump when you touch one off too, not some wimpy bangy-bangy sound like smokeless does. And last, but not least, there’s a built-in smoke screen to hide or move behind.