By Syd

I buy new holsters like a lot of people buy new shoes on a whim, because I want to, to reward myself for surviving a hard week, to match a new belt, or just because I’m bored with the old ones. I don’t need much of a reason to buy a holster. I have a large ammo box that serves no other purpose than as a repository for old holsters. So, these are my two busiest holsters for the snubby this week. Next week, it may be something different.

Both of these offerings happen to be from Galco. Now, I like Galco leather, but this doesn’t imply any special endorsement of Galco products. My favorite gun shop happens to be a Galco stocking dealer so I can usually find the holster I want conveniently without chasing all over the country, and most importantly, I can buy them on impulse (cf. shoes above.). Galco makes solid duty-grade holsters, not terribly exciting, but functional, and a bit over-priced.

#1 The Galco Pocket Holster

This holster and I have a lot of miles together. It is a single-ply design with a suede-like unfinished finish. It does not have extra panels to try to make it look like a wallet in your pocket. It relies on its thinness to conceal itself in the pocket. For this holster to work properly, a little slack is required in the pocket. Dress slacks or cargo shorts are the ideal hosts for this holster. If you use it with very tight blue jeans, it may print. I make a habit of buying my jeans about one size too large so that they can accommodate my various holsters. I can wear a 36 waist, but I will buy a 38 so that my pockets are not too tight, and I can slip a pocket holster or an IWB into them if I want. In the hot summer months, this pocket holster in a pair of cargo shorts is ideal for easy concealment and hot weather comfort. In dress-up situations, this holster drops into the blousy front pocket of a pair of dress slacks and disappears. It works beautifully. Just make sure that your pockets are deep enough. I bought a nice pair of silk slacks from Men’s Warehouse that I really like, but the pockets are kind of shallow. When you sit down with the pocket holster in these pants, you will suddenly experience anxiety that the gun is about slide out of your pocket. Check the pocket depth when buy slacks.

#2 The Galco Concealable

I like this holster a lot. Its your standard pancake belt holster. It holds the gun in the classic FBI cant the grip tilted forward so its easy to grab quickly at a natural angle. Belt holsters are really my favorite kind of holsters. They’re comfortable and hold the gun in an excellent position for a quick draw. This holster is especially good at holding the grip next to your body. This is important for concealment. I have tried a number of pancake-style holsters that allow the grip to lean out away from your body. I call them floppy. The Concealable isn’t floppy. It holds the gun next to your body very positively. This holster is open on the bottom so it accommodates any J-frame regardless of barrel length. I bought it for the Model 60-15 with its 3 barrel, but it also carries the shorter barreled Model 637 just fine. A nice, firm 1.5 gun belt is a meaningful help to these kinds of holsters. Thinner belts let the holster move around more and get out of position. Most holsters, unless they are specially made, assume a 1.5 belt. A thick belt that is designed for carrying guns will improve the comfort of any holster. I get my belts from Haugen Gunleather. You’ll hear people say that if you’re going to use a belt holster, you should carry a bigger gun than a snubnose, because the belt holster will handle the weight of a full-sized service handgun. There is some validity to that. At the same time, if what you really want to carry is a lightweight snub, the belt holster makes for a very comfortable carry. Sometimes, I just don’t want the weight of a service auto and its spare magazines on my belt. With a lightweight snubby in the Concealable, you can almost forget that its there.

By John Taffin

Mention Smith & Wesson and most shooters will immediately think of one of two things, either big bore Magnum sixguns, or state-of-the-art semi-automatic pistols. As a writer I’ve spread a lot of ink discussing both of these types and as a shooter I’ve run thousands of bullets down the barrels of slick shootin’ Smith sixguns and fast-firing defensive pistols. But there are other Smith & Wessons such as the Model 41 .22 target pistol and the epitome of target guns from a few decades ago, the K-38 .38 Special and the K-22 .22 Long rifle, the famous Masterpiece revolvers.

All of these handguns are guns that I would label high exposure. They are seen at target ranges, in the hunting field, worn openly on the belt of peace officers, as well as campers, hikers, fisherman, in fact, all types of sportsmen. Chambered in .22 they are used not only for target shooting but by thousands upon thousands of families enjoying the great sport of plinking together. Larger calibers are carried for more serious purposes such as hunting and law enforcement.

There is another whole class of Smith & Wesson handguns, a group of revolvers rarely ever seen. These are the guns carried concealed by civilians and peace officers alike. These are the guns kept in countless bedside stands, under store counters, in tackle boxes, and day packs. These lightweight easily concealable handguns are the J-frames. Smith & Wesson has long utilized the alphabet to distinguish their revolvers: the N-frames, the largest .41 and .44 Magnum, .45 Colt, .45 ACP, and even .357 Magnum; the middle-sized K-frames, the .357 “Combat Magnum” and earlier mentioned Masterpiece revolvers; the L-frame, the newest intermediate sized .357 Magnum; and finally the diminutive J-frames chambered in .38 Special, .32 Magnum, .22 Long Rifle, and .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire.

History of the J-Frame

The first small frame double action Smith & Wesson, a .38, was built in 1880. This was not the famous .38 Special which would come later, but the less powerful .38 S&W. The first .38 DA weighed 18 ounces and would go through five design changes, thirty-one years of production, and number more than one-half million examples of top-break design. These were followed by the Perfected Model .38 with a solid frame/trigger guard combination , but still of the top break design, that led the way for the solid frame, swing out cylinder revolvers to come.

At the same time that the top-break .38’s were being made, the same basic design was offered in .32 S&W caliber with nearly 300,000 of the smaller caliber being made. Shortly after production began on the .38 and .32 Smith & Wesson Double Action Models, D.B. Wesson worked with son Joseph to develop a completely different style of revolver. Lucian Cary, a well known gun writer of forty years ago relates the following legend.

“When Daniel Wesson read a newspaper story about a child who had shot himself with the family revolver, his conscience hurt. He told his wife that he would make a revolver that could be safely kept in the bureau drawer. It was his custom to receive his grandchildren every Sunday. No doubt it was tough on the grandchildren. Daniel Wesson must have been a fearsome man, with his thick body, his great beard, and his virtue (Cary obviously did not understand grandfathers and grand children and the bond between them!) But on one occasion it was his young grandchild who put it over.

The Safety Hammerless

Daniel Wesson made a revolver he thought no child could fire. He gave it to his grandson, Harold Wesson, now president of Smith & Wesson (this was in the 1950’s) and challenged him to fire it. Harold was only eight years old but he knew that his grandfather expected him to fail. Maybe that gave him a shot in the arm. Harold tugged at the trigger with all his strength and fired the gun. His grandfather went sadly back to his shop–not that day, of course, which was Sunday, but on the following Monday. Some weeks later he again presented a revolver to Harold and asked him to pull the trigger. Harold did his best. But he failed.

The gun the boy couldn’t fire was the New Departure, also known as the safety hammerless. It had a bar in the back of the grip supported by a spring. You had to squeeze the grip hard enough to depress the spring and pull the double action trigger at the same time in order to fire the gun. No child of eight had the strength to do both at once. The New Departure was an uncommonly safe bureau drawer revolver.”

The Safety Hammerless, so designated by the fact that the hammer was completely enclosed by the revolver frame, became the first really practical pocket gun. Five hundred thousand of these were made in .32 and .38 caliber from 1886 until 1940.

With the advent of the I-frame Smith & Wessons in 1894, the basic design was changed from top break to a solid frame, swing-out cylinder style of revolver. Over the years from before the turn of the Century until 1960, the I-frame was offered in .32 Hand Ejector, .22/32 Hand Ejector, which became the .22 Kit Gun, .32 Regulation Police, .38 Regulation Police, and .38 Terrier.

The Chief’s Special

In 1950, one of the most famous of the Smith & Wesson revolvers arrived. A five-shot, compact revolver to fire the more powerful .38 Special instead of the .38 S&W was introduced at the Conference of the International Association of Chief’s of Police in Colorado Springs, Colorado and has been officially and lovingly known as the Chief’s Special ever since. This was the first J-frame revolver and was larger than the I-frames and chambered in .22, .32 S&W Long, and .38 S&W. In 1960, all I-frames became J-frames.

The Chief’s Special has been offered in a number of versions along the way: the standard Model 36 in both round and square butt versions, the Airweight Model 37, the Model 38 Bodyguard which had an extended frame that protected the hammer and exposed only enough of the tip to allow for cocking. The Number “39” was used for Smith’s new double action 9MM Semi-automatic in the 1950’s, but the J-frames resumed with the Model 40 Centennial, a J-frame “Safety Hammerless”.

In 1965, a most significant J-frame variation appeared. One that was to have far reaching consequences throughout the firearms industry as the Model 36 Chief’s Special was offered as the Stainless Steel Model 60. Instantly popular with peace officers and outdoorsman alike, the first stainless steel revolver revolutionized firearms and stainless steel revolvers are now a major part of the handgun industry. Stainless is so much a part of the handgun market, and especially with the small frame concealable firearms that are carried closest to the body, that of the five J-frames I have been testing, four are stainless, and the fifth has been custom finished to look like stainless.

Metalife was applied to a Smith & Wesson Chief’s Special, a two-inch Model 36 .38 Special. Depending upon the weather, it has been carried in an inside the pants holster, in an ankle holster, in a boot top, and in the pocket of insulated coveralls. This particular revolver has been further customized by sending it to Teddy Jacobsen. Jacobsen is an ex-cop now in the gun smithing business and he did one of his famous action jobs on the little Chief’s Special along with polishing the trigger smooth, de-horning the hammer spur, and also jewelling both hammer and trigger. When combined with the Metalife finish, these modifications make the Model 36 into a near-perfect pocket pistol.

The only thing left to do to finish off the round butt Chief’s Special was to fit it with custom grips. I just happened to be carrying this little gun when I visited Herrett’s. I soon had a pair of Detective stocks for the Chief’s!

The modification makes the little Chief’s into a beautiful close range double action defensive pistol and the hammer can still be cocked for a longer deliberate single action shot by starting the trigger back and catching the hammer with the thumb to finish the cocking procedure.

As a companion piece to the 20 ounce Chief’s Special, I have been testing the same basic gun, in this case a Model 60 Stainless Steel “Chief’s Special”. Friend and gun writer Terry Murbach certainly deserves at least some of the credit for suggesting the .38 Special Stainless Steel that Murbach feels should be known as “The Trail Masterpiece”. This little 23 ounce, round butted .38 sports a three inch full under-lug barrel and fully adjustable sights. The sights are exactly the way they should be, black both fore and aft. Yes, even though the newest Model 60 is stainless, the rear sight assembly is black and the front sight blade is quick draw style, plain black and pinned to the stainless steel ramp.

Anyone who has read many of my articles know that my usual forte is the big and bold, the Magnum and beyond sixguns and the big bore semi-automatics. But I have definitely found a place in my collection for this little five-shooter. A Plus P five shooter I might add as Smith & Wesson does classify this little .38 as one that is able to handle the hotter loads. No little strength certainly comes from the fact that the Model 60 carries a full length cylinder with very little barrel protruding through the frame unsupported. The cylinder also, being a five shot, has the bolt cuts between chambers rather than under them.

J-Frame Variations

When the J-frame Smith & Wessons came in, I went to the local gun shop, Shapel & Son’s, and found three dusty old boxes down behind the counter containing long-out-of-production Jay Scott Gunfighter J-frame stocks. At the present time they ride unaltered on three J-frames but all will receive extensive customizing in the future which will see the removal of the finger grooves and the checkering that adorns two pair.

The Model 60 Trail Masterpiece wears plain walnut Gunfighter grips that will clean up very nicely as time and ambition permit making the Trail Masterpiece an even more desirable little fivegun for hiking, fishing, camping, etc. And with the right loads, the three-inch barreled .38 will make a fine little close range varmint and small game gun.

I can only find one fault with the Model 60 Trail Masterpiece and that is strictly the result of my own preference for smooth triggers. All other test J-frames came through with smooth triggers but the this three-inch .38 boasts a grooved trigger that you can bet will become a smooth trigger in the future as it will be sent to Jacobsen for one of his action jobs after a check to Smith & Wesson makes it mine.

Chic Gaylord, New York leather worker and the father of the modern concealment holster, was a real fan of the three-inch .38 Special and promoted a “Metropolitan Special Adaptation” of the Colt Police Positive consisting of three-inch barrel, ramp front sight, nickel finish, bird’s head butt, grip adapter, and trigger shoe. Another favorite of his was the three-inch Chief’s Special with Fitz Gunfighter grips. He would have loved the Trail Masterpiece.

The firing tests of the Model 60 .38 Special Trail Masterpiece gave quite pleasant results. Considering the short sight radius the three-inch barrel affords, and also considering that the test groups were fired at 25 yards, and especially when one considers that the groups were fired by my hand and eye combination, some groups border on the phenomenal. The two-inch .38 Special Chief’s Special was fired double action only on combat targets and not for group size. It proved to be quite capable as a defensive revolver.

SMITH & WESSON J-FRAMES

CALIBER: .38 SPECIAL TEMPERATURE: 60 DEGREES

CHRONOGRAPH: OEHLER MODEL 35P GROUPS: 5 SHOTS @ 25 YDS.

MODEL 060 3″ HB – – – MODEL 36 2″

LOAD – MV – GROUP – MV

RCBS #35-150 /6.0 UNIQUE – 975 – 2 1/2″ – 961

LYMAN #358156GC /5.0 UNIQUE – 716 – 3″ – 691

LYMAN #358429 /5.0 UNIQUE – 758 – 1 5/8″ – 720

158 SPEER SWC /5.0 UNIQUE – 750 – 2 5/8″ – 735

BULL-X 158 SWC /5.0 UNIQUE – 782 – 3 1/2″ – 708

LYMAN #358429 /6.6 AA#5 – 890 – 3 1/8″ – 815

158 SPEER SWC /6.6 AA#5 – 830 – 3 1/2″ – 795

BULL-X 158 SWC /6.6 AA#5 – 821 – 3″ – 785

BULL-X 148 WC /6.0 AA#5 – 861 – 2 3/8″ – 841

SIERRA 110 JHP /8.8 AA#5 – 1067 – 2 3/4″ – 1017

SPEER 140 JHP /6.0 UNIQUE – 934 – 1 5/8″ – 913

CCI LAWMAN 125 JHP +P – 1019 – 2 1/2″ – 932

BLACK HILLS 125 JHP – 864 – 3 1/4″ – 792

The .32 Magnum, heretofore offered in medium framed sixguns like the Ruger Bisley and Single-Six, the Dan Wesson double action, and the Smith & Wesson heavy underlugged barrel K-Masterpiece, is a natural for the little J-frame revolvers. Unlike the five shot .38 Special J-frames, the .32 Magnum is a six-shooter. My original request for test guns from Smith & Wesson was for a .32 Magnum and a .32 S&W Long J-frame, but both guns came through as .32 Magnums. One is a “Kit Gun”, a four inch barreled, adjustable sighted, easy packin’ Kit Gun. The other is quite the opposite, a three-inch Centennial Airweight .32 Magnum. The latter is a 16 ounce concealed hammer sixgun, a very easily concealed and even more easily packed aluminum framed revolver.

The four-inch, 23 ounce Model 631 Kit Gun is meant for the woods loafer, fisherman, camper, while the totally dehorned and no-sharp-corners, double action only Model 632 is the concealment counterpart. A defensive gun designed for the shooter who wants a powerful weapon without objectionable recoil. A .32 that can be shot well is certainly much better than a poorly handled lightweight .38 Special; a gun that is easily carried is certainly better than a heavy gun that is left behind. And even at its one pound weight, the .32 Airweight handles very pleasantly and pokes nice little groups double action style at 10 yards.

The adjustable sighted four-inch .32 Magnum is a two to three -inch gun at 25 yards. Load development may help reduce these groups in the future. A load that would be capable of head shooting squirrels, rabbits, and grouse at reasonable ranges would make the little .32 into a real gem.

SMITH & WESSON J-FRAMES

CALIBER: .32 MAGNUM TEMPERATURE: 60 DEGREES

CHRONOGRAPH: OEHLER MODEL 35P GROUPS: SIX SHOTS @ 25 YDS.

MODEL 631 4″ – – – MODEL 632 3″

LOAD – MV – GROUP – MV

FEDERAL 95 LEAD – 941 – 2 5/8″ – 895

FEDERAL 85 JHP – 1020 – 2 1/2″ – 954

NEI 100.313 /8.3 #2400 – 1131 – 2 3/8″ – 1043

NEI 100.313 /5.5 AA#5 – 1122 – 2 3/8″ – 1027

HORNADY 85 XTP /8.3 #2400 – 1044 – 3″ – 942

HORNADY 85 XTP /5.5 AA#5 – 1074 – 2 3/8″ – 924

SIERRA 90 JHP /8.3 #2400 – 1100 – 3″ – 952

SIERRA 90 JHP /5.5 AA#5 – 1070 – 2 7/8″ – 885

The final J-frame tested is one of Elmer Keith’s favorite guns resurrected for 1991. Elmer is best known for his work with the .44 Special from 1927 to 1955 and the .44 Magnum thereafter. But Elmer also used other guns and one of his favorites was the Smith & Wesson Kit Gun chambered for the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire.

J-Frames and Handgun Hunting

Elmer writing in 1961 in the second edition of his famous book SIXGUNS BY KEITH had this to say about the .22 Kit Gun: “Last winter Jack Nancolas, our local Government hunter killed three treed cougar and ten bobcats with my K model S.& W. .22 rim fire magnum and this winter he killed fifteen bob cats and two cougar with my 3 1/2″ barrel S.& W. kit gun for the same .22 R.F. Magnum load. The last cougar, a big one, jumped out over Jack’s head as he approached the tree in the hope of a brain shot. As it was getting late and he had trailed the big cat all day, he simply took a fast double action snap shot at the brute as he sailed over his head. The tiny soft-point slug hit the big cat square in the chest, penetrating his heart and thence the spine; and he folded up in the air like a duck stricken by a dose of no. 6 shot. His head sagged on his chest and his tail carried nearly vertical, he dropped to the horizontal and rolled into a ball before he ever hit the ground. Jack ran down the mountain and poured two more into his skull to be sure he would not hurt the dogs but he was already dead and they were not needed.”

The latest edition of the .22 WMR Kit Gun, the Model 651-1 is a four-inch, adjustable sighted, stainless steel, square butted, 26 ounce .22 sixgun. The rear sight is fully adjustable and plain black, very good, but the front sight is stainless steel with a red insert, not so good for my eyes in bright light. The front sight is also much too tall for my eyes and shooting style requiring the rear sight to be raised clear out of its mortise to sight the Kit Gun in at 25 yards. Since this .22 WMR is a keeper, the front sight will be replaced with a plain black post that will be filed to the right height to allow it to be sighted in at 25 yards with the rear sight all the way down.

While the Model 651-1 is a sixgun, it works much better as a five gun with five chambers able to put five shots in less that one inch at 25 yards. I will carry it fully loaded with six shots but with the best five coming up first. Probably the most practical of all the J-frames for the outdoorsman, with the right load and chamber selection, this little .22 is definitely capable of head shooting small game and varmints, and even putting the coup-de-grace on downed big game.

SMITH & WESSON MODEL 651

CALIBER: .22WMR BARREL LENGTH: 4″

CHRONOGRAPH: OEHLER MODEL 35P TEMPERATURE: 60 DEGREES

LOAD – MV – 6 SHOTS/25 YDS.

CCI .22 MAXI-MAG – 1335 – 2″

CCI MAXI-MAG HP – 1355 – 2 1/8″

CCI MAXI-MAG +V – 1608 – 2 3/8″

FEDERAL FMJ – 1240 – 3 1/4″

FEDERAL JHP – 1046 – 1 5/8″

WINCHESTER FMC – 130 – 1 5/8″

WINCHESTER JHP – 1258 – 2 7/8″

The Lady Smith

Smith & Wesson J-frames are not only naturals for hikers, campers, fisherman, and even as packin’ pistols by rifle hunters, but they are also quite often picked as defensive pistols by women. In fact, Smith & Wesson has gotten quite a bit of mileage out of its Lady Smith program which began in the last century with a .22 designed to be carried by ladies for protection as they rode their bicycles. The story is that this gun was dropped from production when Joseph Wesson discovered it was being carried less by ladies on bicycles and more by ladies of the night.

A few years back the Lady Smith was resurrected as a variation of the Model 36/60 .38 Special and later as a Model 39 9MM variation. The latest Lady Smiths have been excellent sellers and not only to women. Men who wanted a lightweight, smoothed over concealable weapon have also gone to the modern Lady Smith.

To go along with the J-frames, I requested samples of the wares of

Feminine Protection by Sarah. Sarah uses a very catchy name to offer a serious product, namely purses and belt bags that double as holsters. The handbags and J-frame guns are naturals together and both the Patriot and Classic leather bags supplied accept readily accessible J-frame Smith & Wesson revolvers, and still leave room for all the other stuff that women seem to carry in their handbags.

Both bags open on the front edge to allow instant access to the concealed weapon that many women are going to legally as more and more states are providing licensing systems. The closure system consists of both snaps and Velcro, but they do open instantly when the two halves are parted.

Along with the leather bags came two belt bags or fanny packs. I’m not quite sure I’m ready for a fanny pack but I also remember how difficult it was to carry a concealed weapon last summer during our heat wave. Both belt bags supplied easily carry two- or three-inch .38 Special J-frames. I’m sure my wife and daughter will have something to say about whether these test bags are returned or purchased.

J-Frames and Concealed Carry

In recent years, semi-automatics have stolen the limelight from S&W J-frame revolvers. People often say that semi-automatics are fast, sexy, and common. They hold more rounds than a revolver ever could. Revolvers are old school, clunky, hard to shoot, and slow to reload. However, the J-frame should not be discounted for certain applications, particularly concealed carry.

First, consider a J-frame such as a .38 Special for concealed carry. The gun is small, light, and easy to stow in a waistband, ankle holster, pocket, purse, or bag. Accidental discharge is unheard of in a concealed carry scenario. Cops have an affinity for the revolver when it comes to deep cover since it’s harder to spot than a semi-auto. The bad guys will be used to checking for a Glock or 9mm. Likewise, the J-frame is ideal for civilians carrying on the down-low.

Some people scoff at the thought of carrying a revolver. They may be old school but still offer the best reliability in a handgun. Revolvers seldom jam. If they do, it’s because the shooter has chosen the wrong, or poorly made, ammunition. Revolvers can indeed be harder to fire because of the double-action trigger. Range practice takes care of that unless you have insufficient grip strength to shoot. J-frames are easier to shoot than K-frame revolvers because of a light recoil. This makes them easy to use for beginners and novices.

A short sight radius gives shooters the impression that snubbies are only worthwhile in close proximity. Not true. Although the accuracy is best at 20-25 feet, an article by a retired detective claims he could easily hit his target up to 25 yards. In a self-defense situation, 25 yards is more than sufficient. You don’t even need to pull your gun if the perp is that far away.

The revolver holds less ammo than a semi-auto magazine but considering that the average self-defense scenario requires three shots or less, you should be okay.

Top J-Frame Revolvers for Concealed Carry

Despite popular opinion, not all snub nose revolvers are the same. Here are my top picks for the top J-frames for concealed carry:

Colt Cobra

The Colt Cobra reared its lethal head at the 2019 SHOT Show. This snubby holds six rounds of ammo, has a 2-inch barrel with stainless steel finish, and a fiber optic, high-visibility front sight. The Hogue Overmolded grips helps to cut down on recoil when using +P loads.

Ruger SP 101

The Ruger SP 101 is on the large side for a J-frame but still worth mentioning. This .357 Magnum has a 2.25-inch barrel and a comfortable grip for those that want extra power over a .38 Special.

Ruger LCR

The Ruger LCR is a lightweight handgun that is sleek, stylish, and affordable. The DAO trigger has a predictable, smooth pull. The LCR is available in many styles and offers choices in .22 LR, .22 WMR, .357 Magnum, .327 Federal Magnum.38 Special, and 9mm. Users can opt for 5, 6, or  8 round capacity.

S&W Bodyguard

S&W Bodyguard is the top choice among law enforcement for backup. The semi-polymer frame makes this model a true modern revolver. It’s available with a built-in integral defensive laser for shooting in low light or awkward shooting positions.

S&W 638

The S&W 638 is the original Bodyguard revolver. It’s not easy to find but worth the hunt. It has a shrouded hammer with a thumb tab that allows you to cock the hammer into single-action mode. It’s a great benefit to have although decocking a gun isn’t something for everyone. Still, it’s easy to conceal.

Final Thoughts

After thirty-five plus years of shooting N- and K-frame revolvers, it is quite enjoyable to add J-frames to my shooting battery. The .38 Special three-inch Trail Masterpiece and the four-inch .22 WMR Kit Gun are destined to experience a lot of use in the future and my wife already has her eye on the .32 Centennial. Oh, well we can get ahead next month.

Article used by permission of the author
http://www.sixguns.com/range/jframes.htm

By Frank Borelli of Borelli Consulting

Twenty-five years ago it wasn’t a surprise for a snubnose revolver to be a common off-duty or backup gun. But in the 1980s a ton of law enforcement agencies started transitioning from revolvers to semi-automatic pistols and it became more common for compact and sub-compact pistols to become the mainstream off-duty or backup gun. After all, it only made sense to have your backup gun be a high-capacity weapon of the same caliber as your duty weapon. But in 2006 when a major holster manufacturer is prioritizing what model of weapon to make a new holster for, the snubnose revolver was way up on the list. Everywhere I turn – most especially in the northeast section of our country – the snubnose revolver is there in off-duty holsters. It made me wonder just what was so great about the snubnose – because I haven’t carried one for more than twenty years.

Those many years ago, the snubby I carried was a Smith & Wesson Chief’s Special as shown left. The little gun was one of my favorites for off-duty carry and I was careful to always carry a speedloader with an extra five rounds. I had many an “old timer” tell me that I’d never need more than five rounds – especially off-duty – but I just felt like I needed more. Thankfully I never did need that off-duty gun. On duty the gun sometimes road around in an ankle holster. On at least one occasion I had brain-farted and left my duty weapon in my locker – and when I realized that (out on the street) I reached down to grab the snubby and put it in my waistband. Hey… what can I say? I was all of about 22 years old at the time. We all have those moments.

Not one to ever be happy with the small wood grips that came stock on the S&W Chief’s Special, I quickly acquired and installed a pair of Pachmayrs. Of course, the minute I did that I realized that the gun was less concealable. Still, the two-inch barrel (measured from the back of the forcing cone to the front of the barrel) and the slim profile of the five-shot cylinder made it fairly easy to conceal. And it was far better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

Qualifying with it certainly wasn’t as easy as it was with my S&W Model 15 or the Sig P226 I was eventually issued. As I gained experience with firearms I realized just how important that sight radius – the distance between the front and rear sight – is. Still, basic marksmanship is basic marksmanship and I’ve seen some veteran officers qualify faster and easier with their snubby than with their full size semi-autos.

The other popular snubby at the time was the Colt Detective Special. One thing that I was taught in the academy was that the cylinder on all Smith & Wesson revolvers turned counter-clockwise while the cylinder on Colts turned clockwise. Colt starts with “C” just like clockwise. Of course, so does “counter” but no one ever said that to me so it never clicked. Colts turned clockwise. The Detective Special was impossible to find in stainless steel though and I just knew that any gun that was going to spend time in my ankle holster or pressed up against the skin would rust if it wasn’t stainless. A blued gun just wasn’t going to last. Still, there were folks – experienced cops – who swore by the Colt and cursed the Smith & Wesson. Other knowledgeable shooters I’ve met since then swear by the Smith & Wessons – two of them in fact: one in each pocket of an overcoat. That particular gentleman carries matched Model 66s – stainless steel .357 magnums loaded with .38+P+ loads.

For some cops the decision about which one to carry was made based on two simple things: The Colt carried six rounds as compared to the S&W’s five, and the Colt could be had with a full ejector rod shroud. To me it seems silly to base a decision on ONE bullet, but I’ve never been in a shooting that was one or lost by that ONE bullet. And the ejector rod shroud, while providing protection to the rod, is generally perceived as “better looking” rather than “more functional”. If you’re going to purchase a snubby based on how it looks then say so.

Then, a number of years back, Ruger came out with a snubby that was quite comfortable, offered .357 Mag capability and gained quite a following: The SP101. Although heavier and bulkier than its counterparts, the Ruger enjoyed a reputation for being reliable even under the harshest of circumstances. The softer rubber ergonomically shaped grips gained in popularity with some while others gravitated toward the slimmer profile of the S&W grips.

But here we are in the year 2007. BlackHawk Products Group has been making their CQC carbon-fiber SERPA holsters for a couple of years now. It was no surprise that the first holster they made fit the Glock 9mm and .40 caliber weapons. It WAS a surprise – at least for me – when they made the CQC SERPA for a j-frame revolver such as the S&W Chief’s Special. When I looked into why I found out that there is still a big demand for holsters to transport these little guns. Most especially in the northeast section of our country it seems like snubbies are far more popular for off-duty and concealed carry than any of the popular semi-autos.

So I started paying attention. Last month at the range I had a Chief of Police and his Deputy Chief both qualifying with their snubnose revolvers. Ironically enough, one had an S&W Chief’s Special while the other had a Colt Detective Special. Both had owned the guns for more than fifteen years. For the Chief, the snubby was his primary carry gun both on and off-duty. The Deputy Chief liked to carry his Government Model 1911 .45 ACP pistol on duty but off-duty he pocketed his snubby. Neither man had any trouble qualifying with the small revolver and both had practiced reloads so often that they could almost keep up with those shooting pistols. There were virtually no malfunctions with the revolvers and the confidence with which these men bore the weapon has to have played a role in how well they shot. Both shot scores in the upper 80s and lower 90s. That’s better than many shooters do with pistols.

For men such as those, who have been carrying snubbies for so long that it’s what they are confident and comfortable with, I strongly recommend that they continue to carry them. Five or six shots may be all they have, but five in the chest is still five in the chest and is a whole lot better than two or three in the chest with seven or eight more going downrange potentially hitting innocent targets.

By Gabe Suarez

Jeff Cooper once told me that, in the old days of training, half of a typical pistol class would be comprised of auto-loading handguns Typically Browning/Colt types. The other half, usually police officers, would be armed with revolvers. He said that this trend slowly began to change in the early eighties. By the time I attended his courses in the late eighties, it was rare to see a revolver-armed student.

This trend was also seen in law enforcement. I went through my original Police Academy pistol training, back in the old days, with a revolver (S&W Model 67). The most common sidearm for many officers, at that time, was some sort of Smith & Wesson or Colt revolver, usually .38 Special or .357 Magnum. Today, however, you rarely see revolvers in the field, and then only in the holsters of older officers, usually just months from retirement. Most of the newer breed sport Glocks, Berettas, and other ultra-modern handguns. The feeling among many officers is that the wheel gun is obsolete. For many, its only true role is that of last-ditch backup in the form of a 2 Barreled .38 snobby. Is the revolver obsolete? Lets think about this.

While, I am one of those who favors a modern handgun (Glock in my case), I am not so quick to dismiss a good revolver. The revolver is very effective as a fighting tool. All you need do to verify that is study your history. A fighting handgun, regardless of design, is intended for a specific mission. That mission, specifically, is to allow its operator to respond to unanticipated threats, quickly and in a powerful manner. That mission is the same today, as it was 50 years ago. These confrontations have always been characterized by high intensity, short duration violence, where so-called firepower is rarely an issue. Of greater importance is the ability to deal the adversary a solid and powerful blow, before he does the same to you. Most revolvers designed for anti-personnel use fulfill that mission as well as any other handgun, but no handgun is powerful enough to come with a 100% guarantee. Sometimes a follow-up shot or two is needed. So controllability becomes an issue.

Many fighting revolvers are of the .38/.357 caliber family. This will do fine as long as careful ammunition selection takes place. Some .357 magnum loads, for example, are dramatically over-penetrative and exhibit excessive muzzle flash. Other loads, which are just as effective against humans, do not share the same characteristics of penetration and muzzle flash.

Revolvers are also available in .40/.44 caliber. In my opinion, although larger than their 357 caliber cousins, provide a greater potential of creating damage to the adversary. Be careful with load selection again. It is a rare individual who can control a full-house .44 magnum in hammers and multiple target engagements. Don’t trust your life to magic bullet propaganda. A thorough study of the literature available from forensic specialists on wound trauma, and terminal ballistics should be your guide.

While on the issue of weapon control, mention must be made of the stocks on a revolver (No, Grasshopper They are not called Grips). Many of the wooden stocks originally sold on revolvers were there as almost an after thought. This has changed in recent years as revolver manufacturers attempt to regain a share of the market. These weapons are now being sold with more suitable stocks from the factory. Whether you retain the factory stocks or purchase some type of after-market stocks, be certain that the left-side panel allows clearance for speed-loader insertion and manipulation. If this is not the case, either change them, or modify them.

Additionally, any sharp edges or points on a weapon intended for combative use are to be avoided. Briskly rub your hands all over the revolver. Anyplace you find a sharp edge, remove it. Do this even if refinishing the weapon is needed as a result. This is not an issue with the stainless steel revolvers, but it may with a blue steel weapon. Skill requires practice, both dry and live-fire. This is something you’ll probably avoid if your gun tears up your hands so much that you need to keep some bandages and plasma around when you practice.

Along with control, accuracy is of great importance. The two things on a revolver affecting this the most, assuming that everything is in working order, are the sights and the trigger. Revolver sights come in adjustable and fixed varieties. Either one is acceptable, as long as they are easy to see quickly under stress, and in dim light. Avoid any sights that are extremely high profile, or which have sharp edges. Again, sharp, hand-slashing points may be rounded off with a file. For those who operate in low light environments, tritium sights are available for many revolvers.

The actual trigger on most revolvers is suitable as issued. It should not be excessively wide, nor should it have grooves or other additions on its face. Smooth and polished is the best type of trigger face. Remember, most combat revolver shooting will be done in double action, so a trigger that allows easy double action work is preferred. There is little that the individual can do in order to alter the actual weight of the trigger press. This is the realm of the revolver-gunsmith. Whatever you do, do not cut the springs on your revolver. If you wish a lighter, smoother trigger, you can have one, but there are no shortcuts here.

Revolvers are issued with all sorts of barrel lengths. Again, keep sight of the mission. These weapons will be carried in and presented from a holster. A very long barrel will be slow and difficult to maneuver. Similarly detrimental, an extremely short barrel will sacrifice other mission requirements. A good compromise is something in the 4 inch to 6 inch range.

Those are all the requirements of a fighting revolver. I have found that when compared to the auto-loading pistols, unless the test is slanted toward the auto-loader with excessive and unrealistic speed loading requirements, the revolver is just as useful. With proper ammunition, the revolver gives away nothing to the auto-loader in terms of terminal ballistics. The only area where it is surpassed by the auto-loader is when long strings of fire are faced, requiring constant reloading. Remember, however, that such scenarios are rare in the real world. Even when such problems arise, such as a North Hollywood Robbery type of incident, they are probably not going to get solved any better if you are equipped with an auto-loading pistol! No handgun equipped operator will do well in a rifle fight.

The revolver skills that an operator must have to be effective are the same ones he would need if equipped with an auto-loader. Constant attention must be given to double action trigger manipulation. This is the heart of the wheel gun, so dry practice the DA trigger day and night. Along with this, manipulating Speed Loaders is of great importance, as is developing ability to maneuver individual rounds during tactical reloads. This is the only weakness of the revolver, so make allowance for that. In order to be the best you can be with the revolver, it is essential to seek out and obtain professional instruction.

Is the revolver dead? In a word, no. I suspect that as we enter the next century, however, there will be very few revolvers in the duty holsters of police officers, or security personnel. For those who are required to carry it, or for those who favor its simplicity, the revolver will still allow them to do just as well in a confrontation as any space-gun, as long as the operator does his part. As we’ve always said, It is the man, and not the weapon which makes the difference.

Visit Gabe’s Site (Or better yet, take a course from him.)

Oftentimes when we go to the range, we see well-intentioned people “practicing” with their snubnose wheelguns by running the target out to about five or seven yards, thumb-cocking their revolver while carefully sighting at the target, and squeezing off a box or so of ammo. The ambitious will sometimes run the target out to twenty five yards just to prove to themselves that they can in fact hit the target at that range. While target shooting may be better than no practice at all, it does little to develop the skills required for defensive shooting, and may even engrain some bad habits that could reduce survivability in a defensive situation. So, what are methods of practice that will enhance our real-world survival skills? While this list may not be complete in every respect, it can form the basis of a practice regimen that can help to develop real-world skills.

Double Action Only:

Practice “double action only” fire. There are virtually no situations in which single action fire is appropriate in self-defense. Most self-defense situations unfold rapidly. There isn’t time to thumb cock a revolver and take careful aim in the way one would do while target shooting. A cocked revolver is dangerous in the adrenaline dump of a lethal force encounter. The trigger is just too light. It’s too easy to fire when you don’t mean to. For more on this, click here. When you are new to the gun, double action fire is harder. As you get used to the trigger through practice, the difficulty of double action fire goes away for the most part. Work at it until double action fire is the natural and preferred method of fire.

Range:

Self-defense handgun encounters are close-range affairs. One would have a hard time justifying a shot fired in self-defense at a range of twenty five yards. At that range, there are simply other options, and it would be very difficult to explain or prove that you needed to fire on someone at that range in order to defend yourself. The more realistic range for self-defense is between three and seven yards. Col. Askins said that one should not bother with “belly gun” practice beyond ten yards.

Draw:

One of the great things about snubnose revolvers is that there are so many ways to carry them – belt holsters, ankle holsters, shoulder holsters, purses, pockets, fanny packs, belly bands, etc. Very few self-defense situations are actually settled by a cowboy quick-draw, but it’s important to be able to bring the gun into action smoothly and quickly. The only way to get the draw smooth and quick is to run through it. Rigs like fanny packs may require some extra work. The goal is to get familiar with the system you use so that you don’t fumble with it in an emergency. A lot of ranges won’t let you draw on the firing line for safety reasons so you may need to practice your draw at home with an unloaded gun. Please don’t practice with a loaded gun in your home.

If you practice at a range that does not permit drawing from a holster, here is a basic drill to help you get on target quickly. Run the target out to about 3-5 yards. Hold the gun at “low ready” pointing the muzzle down at about a 45 degree angle. Snap the gun up until you see the front sight on the target and fire two shots, smoothly but quickly. Lower the gun to low ready and repeat. This leaves you with one round if you’re using a J-frame and you can apply your own creativity to that, perhaps a strong hand only shot starting from low ready. Another variation is to do the controlled pair and then do the “Mozambique” which is two to the center of mass and one to the head. That makes a tidy five. While performing this drill, give special attention to maintaining a firm grip on the gun. Control the gun; don’t let it flip and bounce around.

Reload:

The subject of reloads can spark some lively debate among hand-gunners. Some will argue that carrying a reload is unnecessary and, “If you can’t get it done in five rounds, you’re probably toast at that point anyway,” and, “Most self-defense shootings involve three rounds or less.” While these old chestnuts may be true in most cases, until someone proves to me that they will be true in all cases, I will carry a reload, and often two (and perhaps a second gun to boot).

Quick reloading of a revolver is difficult. It’s easier to reload a semi-auto rapidly. You must practice reloading a revolver if you want to get the procedure smooth and fast. Take three speedloaders to the range with you and load them to load the revolver with rather than loading from the cartridge box. Just the motion of using the speedloaders will help to familiarize you with their operation.

Basic Method for an Emergency Revolver Reload:

1. Remove the weak hand from its firing grip and with it grasp the revolver from under the trigger guard so that the two middle fingers of the weak hand and the thumb hold the cylinder. The index finger and the pinky finger should be against the frame of the gun.
2. With the strong hand thumb, press the cylinder release and open the cylinder using the weak hand which is grasping the cylinder.
3. Turn the muzzle of the revolver up and slap the ejector rod. Cases should fall clear. It is possible to bend the crane of the revolver it you hit it too hard, but in an emergency, you want a brisk slap of the ejector so that the cases are ejected. You have to hit a balance here between getting the empties out and not damaging the gun.
4. Turn the muzzle down and visually inspect the cylinder to be sure it is clear. (If cases remain in the cylinder remove them with the strong hand.) Grab a speedloader from wherever you have it with the strong hand.
5. Insert the cartridges into the cylinder using the speedloader and drop the speedloader.
6. Close the cylinder and regain the firing grip on the gun.

For those who use speed strips, see the procedure here.

Strong Hand Only and Weak Hand Only Shooting:

All sorts of situations may arise which can make it difficult or impossible to shoot with a two-handed grip. Your other arm may be injured; you may be fending off an attack, moving, or you may be trying to hold onto something. Being able to shoot one-handed is an important skill. Run through a couple of Mozambiques strong hand and weak hand only. Five yards is a good range.

Point Shooting:

This is a controversial technique. It involves bringing the gun up quickly and looking over the barrel, but not actually using the sights. Click here for a more detailed discussion of point shooting. Another excellent article on point shooting is here. Disciples of the Modern Technique of the Pistol will often insist that sighted fire is the only truly effective defensive technique for handguns. On the other hand, studies have shown that police officers tend to point shoot when faced with a sudden close-range attack. I would rather have more tools than less tools, and since I know that we tend to default to point shooting in certain kinds of emergencies, it may pay off to practice it.

The following require a range where you can draw and shoot on the move:

Speed Rock (Shooting From Retention):

Quoting Massad Ayoob, “My old friend and mentor Bill Jordan recommended “shooting from the hip” in this situation [close-in sudden attack]. Jeff Cooper and Chuck Taylor promulgated the “Speed Rock,” stylized from cowboy fast draw, with the shoulders rocking back and the officer firing as the gun clears leather. The posture keeps the shot from going downward, correcting a failing in hip shooting, but it’s still awfully tough to put the shot in the center of the opponent’s body. Rotating the pistol’s sights outward, toward your gun-hand side, helps angle the muzzle more toward the center of the opponent’s body, and also helps prevent a recoiling auto-pistol slide from jamming against your body or winter coat.” A closely related, but not identical technique is “shooting from retention.”

Shoot While Moving:

If you are fortunate enough to have access to a range at which you can shoot while moving, practice this, and practice it a lot. You don’t have to move a whole lot at first, just practice moving laterally, off the line of fire, while drawing and shooting a target. The master trainers such as Jim Higginbotham, Tom Givens, Clint Smith, and Gabe Suarez all speak with one voice on the issue of learning to move off the line of fire while accurately returning fire. It is perhaps the single most important self-defense technique in defensive pistolcraft. For a video of this technique, click here (May require broadband).

Parting Shots

It always drives me crazy when I’m in a gun shop and I see a clerk putting a newbie into a snubnose. Why? Because snubbies are hard to shoot and they don’t carry a lot of ammo. When I go to a match and want to act like I know what I’m doing, I’ll whip out the 34 oz. Colt Combat Commander and blaze away. Snubbies are not easy to shoot well, and if one chooses to carry one, it requires a lot of practice to handle them effectively. Yes, revolvers are easier handle for beginners and “non-dedicated personnel,” but using them effectively for self-defense is vastly different from punching paper at the range. Too often we do our practice and match shooting with guns that we don’t carry, and neglect practice with the gun we actually depend upon for self-defense. This is a dangerous practice. Until we are confident and sure of what we can do with the carry gun, we are taking a serious risk. Disciplined and regular practice with the snubby is the only way to reduce the risk factor of carrying a gun that we really don’t know how to use.

By Ronald S. Markowitz

When I obtained my “Pennsylvania License To Carry Firearms” I spent a considerable length of time mulling over what type of handgun to carry. Like most of you I read all the “how-to” articles in the popular gun magazines by all the so-called “experts” and spoke to people I knew that carried.

I came to several conclusions:

1. The gun had to be as close to 100% reliable with factory ammo as possible;
2. It had to be chambered in a caliber with good stopping power;
3. I had to feel comfortable with the piece, i.e., it had to have good ergonomics for me; and
4. It had to be easily concealable in the type of clothing that I wear.

You should know that I have a thing for Smith & Wesson revolvers, especially the L frame 586 and 686. While it is possible to carry these revolvers using any these revolvers using an inside-the-waistband holster covered by a jacket or photographer’s vest, they are really too large and heavy for the way I dress, which is usually in khaki pants with a tucked-in shirt. What I needed was a revolver that was small enough to fit in a pants pocket and chambered for a powerful, yet controllable cartridge.

But I have gotten ahead of myself, why a revolver and not a semi-auto?

I will not get into the revolver versus semi-auto argument; there are hundreds if not thousands of articles in the gun literature on this subject. In my opinion, with the current state-of-the art in ammunition and firearms manufacture there are no practical differences in reliability between the two types. The advantages of easier repair and greater firepower possessed by the semi-auto are only of concern in the military. The civilian needs reliability, good stopping power and the ability to get hits in the kill zone. My decision was to go to the revolver because of familiarity, but for you the same thought-process might lead to the semi-auto.

So I decided on a small revolver, but I wanted something better than a .38 Special if possible, although I could live with that if necessary. In the last several years all the major revolver manufacturers with the exception of Colt have developed small 5-shot .357 S & W Magnums. I decided to limit my search to the bobbed-hammer Ruger SP 101 and their SP 101 and the Smith & Wesson Model 640-1. If I had seen one, I might have considered the Smith M940 in 9 x 19 mm.

Both the Smith and Ruger were well built, felt good in the hand and had, to my surprise, equivalent trigger pulls. The 640-1 had the advantage of a totally enclosed action, important in a pocket gun as you don’t have to worry about lint getting into the action. The Smith had one other advantage. Because of being totally enclosed rather than being just bobbed, one can safely fire the piece in your pocket without worrying about jams due to the hammer catching on something.

Now the subjective enters in I just prefer Smiths. Rugers are good but they are not a Smith. Rugers remind me of Russian guns — strong and reliable, but without finesse. So I went with the 640-1. In a recent review of the Ruger SP101 and S & W 640-1 in Gun Test Magazine the authors chose the Ruger as number one in this category, but also spoke highly of the Smith. You might agree.

Ammunition

When the snubby .357 Magnums were introduced by Smith & Wesson, Rossi and Taurus (in response to Ruger who had started everything with its SP 101) all the gun magazines ran articles comparing the revolvers. A constant thread that ran through all the articles all the articles was how difficult it was to control the heavy and very uncomfortable recoil. It was suggested that maybe the smart shooter should not use the magnum loads, but instead use +P .38 Special loads. I thought that if this was the case, why chamber the guns for the magnum cartridge in the first place? All the reviewers had made the same error, they tested full blown 125 grain and 158 grain loads. They neglected to test the easier to shot 125 grain medium velocity loads of Remington and the still easier to shoot 110 grain loads available from most of the major manufacturers.

I have tested Winchester 110 grain magnum loads and Remington 125 grain Golden Saber loads. They are both manageable and within 7 yards shoot close to point of aim. Remember we are talking about fixed sight guns that are probably regulated for use with 158 grain bullets. At longer ranges my revolver shots low. I don’t consider this to be a hindrance as most gun fights are under 7 yards (or so goes the conventional wisdom).

I have done some shooting with 158 grain .38 Special P+ handloads out to 50 yards and find the sights to be well regulated for this bullet weight. If anyone tells you that snubby revolvers are not accurate they are wrong, it’s possible to plink clay targets at 50 yards and get hits a good percentage most of the time.

Using these reduced power magnum loads you will get approximately 350 ft./lbs. of energy, putting this class of gun in the same class as a hot 9 mm Luger. This may disappoint you, but we are talking about an easily concealable pocket revolver and not a full size service pistol.

Carrying the Revolver

I don’t like the idea of carrying a handgun loose in the pocket; rather it should be in a holster designed for the specific gun and for this specific purpose. I want the gun to be in the same place when I reach for it, not muzzle up or in some other position that will preclude a fast draw. Pocket holsters are available for snubbies from Kramer, Galco, Alessi and others. My 640-1 resides in a Galco made specifically for J-frame Smiths. I do carry on my belt if wearing jeans that are too tight to pocket carry. This is only if I am wearing a knit shirt, not tucked in, or when the weather calls for an open jacket. This circumstance requires a different mind-set. If carried under a shirt you have to remember to lift the shirt up with your weak hand first before drawing the revolver (pistol) or if wearing an open jacket you have to remember to sweep the jacket aside before drawing. Practice with an unloaded gun!

In summary: I chose a snubby .357 revolver because it provides reliability, power, conceal-ability and handling familiarity. I gave up firepower because I don’t consider this to be of major importance in a personal defense situation. The ammunition I use is more suitable than full power loads because it’s controllable and I made sure I knew where its point-of-impact was. I chose a holster that secured the revolver in my pocket and allowed easy access.

This was my solution to the problems of concealed carry, yours might be different, depending on your circumstances, but you need to give it a good deal of thought.

This article is republished with consent of the author.

By Syd

The gun under consideration here is the Smith & Wesson Model 60 J-frame with the 3″ barrel in .357 Magnum, a.k.a., the 60-15. The Model 60 is not a new design. Introduced in 1965, it occupies its own special niche in handgun history. It was the first regular production all-stainless steel revolver, and it was an immediate success. The original Model 60 was a .38 Special. Todays Model 60 is a .357 Magnum. It is available in 2 1/8 barrel, 3 barrel, and 5 barrel versions. Like all J-frames, it chambers 5 rounds. With its longer barrel and grip, it is as if the traditional short barreled snub-nose has been stretched for better performance.

Besides the fact that it was an all-steel J-frame revolver chambered for .357 Magnum, the characteristic which initially appealed to me about this gun was the grip. It felt like it was built for my hand. It’s just a smidgeon longer than the boot grip used on the smaller snubbies and it fills my whole hand. This gun weighs 24 oz. and balances nicely, although it seems just a tad nose heavy. While I like the boot grip on the small snubbies for concealment, it has always been a problem for me in shooting because, like the baby Glocks, I can only get two of three fingers onto the grip and the little finger is left flapping in the breeze. The black rubber Uncle Mikes Combat Grip on the Model 60 fills your hand and gives you much better support for firing hot ammunition. I eventually replaced the Uncle Mike’s Combat Grip with Hogue Monogrips because the Hogue grips are relieved better for speedloaders.

The 3 Model 60 has real sights which are adjustable, the ribbed top rail between the sights, the tapped and screwed-in black rear sight and rail along the top of the frame, and all surfaces are serrated to cut the glare. The front sight leaf is black and is pinned to the barrel. I can actually see these sights. The frame notch sights on the classic snubby really aren’t much use to me, although I have proven that I can use them if I really slow down and get my glaring blurs lined up right. The 3 barrel of the Model 60-15 allows the gun to have a 5 sight radius.

This gun feels more like a 5-shot Model 66 than a lightweight snub-nose. It’s beefy. It has the semi-bull barrel with full length extractor shroud and sights of the S&W magnums. It is, nevertheless, absolutely a J-frame. And it has the slim ergonomic contours which are so appealing about the J-frames. Comparing the Model 60 with a Model 637, everything lines up exactly, down to the smallest contour and detail of the frame: the frame, hammer, trigger, trigger guard, cylinder, and cylinder release are all identical. Where it differs is in the longer grip, longer extractor rod, and the beefier barrel. The longer extractor rod makes it considerably easier to knock the empties clear of the cylinder during a reload.

The 3 barrel and longer grip gives you a gun that performs better than the classic snubby. It has a better sight radius, better muzzle velocity, more reliable spent case ejection, and less punishment to your hands. For these benefits, you lose pocket carry. The 60-15 doesn’t disappear into a pocket like the classic snubby. I would imagine that it would be awkward in a jacket pocket as well.

After a considerable amount of surfing on the web, I have noticed is that it is hard to find holsters for it. Everyone makes leather for 2″ snubbies but very few build them for 3″ versions. Kramer, DeSantis and El Paso all claim to build IWB’s for 3″ j-frames but I’ll bet you they couldn’t do overnight delivery on one. It works with my other snubby holsters that are open on the bottom, like the Galco Speedmaster, Galco Deep Cover, and High Noon Secret Ally. It doesn’t work with the Galco shoulder holster for the snubbies because of the difference in the shape of the grip. Thumb break type holsters which are designed for the snubby boot grip will not work with the Uncle Mikes Combat Grip even though the actual frame of the gun is the same size. The thumb break strap does not reach around the back of the grips. I resolved to order an IWB holster, custom built by Rudy Lozano at Black Hills Leather. It is the subject of a full review found here, but for now I will say that I really like the holster and Rudy.

Aesthetics and Intangibles

I have been over this revolver with a magnifying glass, and like the other Smith & Wesson wheel guns I have known and loved, it is without flaw in fit or finish. It is good looking but not flashy, compact but very solid, simply good and right and the way it ought to be. Smith & Wesson has produced some weird iron handguns in recent years with exotic metals and day-glo plastic sights, but this isnt one of them. This is a revolver that reflects 149 years of handgun-building experience. Its not an experiment.

The first time I dropped cartridges into the cylinder, generic range ammunition I had never even heard of before, I knew it would fire. I bought some generic range stuff and a couple boxes of premium self defense feed different bullet shapes, charges, even different case lengths in .38 Special, .38 Special +p, and .357 Magnum, and it all fired without a single failure of any kind. I didn’t have to worry about bullet shapes or magazines that the gun didn’t like. There was no break-in period. No doubt, no concern, no need to run 200 rounds through the gun to make sure it worked behold the beauty of the revolver. This is not to say that one should not do reliability testing on a new revolver. On the contrary, one should test a new revolver as rigorously as one tests a new autoloader if the gun’s mission is serious work.

There is something enormously tactile about the Smith & Wesson all-steel revolvers. They feel good and solid in your hand. With an aluminum-frame Airweight, there is always an expectation for it to fall apart in the back of my mind, and with no good reason. My Airweight has literally had thousands of rounds put through it, and some of it has been pretty hot stuff, and it keeps on ticking. It has had much more shooting than these guns are really supposed to have. Dick Metcalfe did a 5000 round torture test on a couple of Airweights using +p feed and neither gun suffered any damage or distortion of the frame. But I still have this thing about the aluminum frame that one day I’m going to over stress it. With the steel guns like the Model 60, you get the feeling that they will still be sending rounds downrange 200 years from now, and probably won’t need service.

Systems which have stood the test of time appeal to me. Smith & Wesson has been building double action revolvers since 1880 a hundred and twenty years. The .38 Special cartridge has been around for a tad better than a hundred years. In that long sweep of time, Smith & Wesson’s double action .38 revolvers have served cops, soldiers, and citizens with distinction and an almost monotonous reliability and effectiveness.

These guns still evoke the cowboy times. The cowboys carried six-shooters but often left the sixth chamber empty so they could put the hammer down without the fear of accidentally setting off a round. So why not build a five-round cylinder with a safe ignition system which would allow the gun to be slim and easier to conceal and carry? Its .357 Magnum chambering reflects the advances in ballistics of the 1930’s. The Model 60, being the first stainless steel revolver, carries the metallurgical advances of the last half of the Twentieth Century. With its key-operated safety lock, it carries the mark of the gun control battles of the late 90’s. Lots of history in these little guns.

History won’t save your life in a fight if it is history alone and nothing is learned. The Model 60-15 imparts a feeling that much has been learned, and when you have it in your hand, there is a sense of quiet confidence and competence. In particular, these revolvers are built much stronger than the early models so that they can digest a steady diet of hot ammunition for better hollowpoint performance. The design has been through the fire time and again, and come through. Other handguns will load more rounds, reload faster, and launch powerful rounds, but you know what the Model 60 will do. If you do your part, it will do its part, every time, time after time.

The short-barreled revolvers have one purpose and that is self-defense. They’re not hunting guns, target shooters, or assault weapons. They are completely dedicated. If you’re going to hunt grizzly bears, assault fortified positions, or kick down doors and arrest criminals, the J-Frame revolver is not the gun you would pick for a primary. If you want a highly compact, easily concealed yet powerful personal defense handgun, these revolvers are hard to beat. They are simple, fast, and effective. They remain one of the easiest of all handgun designs to conceal and carry.

Interesting Lawyer-Friendly Stuff

The Model 60-15 has the integral locking mechanism with the little key-deal that fits in above the cylinder release. I guess this could be handy if my kids were still small. I know that many folks are offended by the imposition of these kinds of reasonable safety measures. They are seen as coerced concessions to states like California and Maryland who are increasingly demanding safety features be added to handguns. I resent being forced to do anything, especially by states that would really like to prohibit firearms altogether. On the other hand, I had small children at home once upon a time, and when they were still little doodles whose judgment I couldn’t completely trust, I used trigger locks on my pistols long before they were fashionable in some circles or mandated. I carried the key on my key ring so it would always be close by. The integral lock on the Model 60 could be useful in a number of situations, such as times when you might have to take the gun off and leave it in a locker or athletic bag.

There has been some discussion of these safety locks engaging when they shouldn’t. In the January 2005 issue of American Handgunner, Massad Ayoob published an article about three instances he knew of in which the internal locking device had failed and two of the failures caused the gun to lock up. All three cases were instances in which extremely hot ammunition, such as +p+ and .44 Magnum, were fired from ultra-light scandium and titanium revolvers. Ayoob’s analysis was, This is not necessarily an indictment of Smith & Wesson, nor even of the integral lock system that company uses. It may be more of a lesson that extraordinarily light handguns firing extremely powerful ammunition can be damaged by the battering of constant, extreme recoil forces. Still, it gives us pause. I have not been able to locate any anecdotes so far of the lock engaging during firing on a Model 60. Nevertheless, if this really worries you, it is relatively easy to disable the integral lock.

It also comes with a little sealed brown paper envelope which contains a single fired case. On the envelope is Smith’s FFL number, make, model, serial number, rifling characteristics, the tester’s name, signature, and date of test. Too bad this one won’t make it into New York’s database.

Range Report

The accuracy, weight, ammo versatility, good grip and good sights make this gun a sweet shooter. One of the charming characteristics of revolvers is their tremendous versatility of ammo. Your choices range from powder-puff .38 Special wadcutter all the way up to .357 Magnum. The longer sight radius and better sight picture had me immediately producing far better patterns than I do with traditional styled snub-noses. The additional weight makes it easy on the hands with excellent recoil recovery.

I can make 25-yard shots with a snubby with a hit average of about 3 out of 5 on a small Pepper popper, but if I have to make a 50-yard shot, I would prefer the 1911 or a Hi-Power. I could make a 50-yard shot with the Model 60 if I took my time and handled my trigger right. While I get much better hits with this gun than I do with a snubby, I am nowhere close to the kind of “ragged hole” patterns that I have achieved at times with the 1911. But this just gives me another excuse to go to the range.

I took the Model 60 to the indoor range and bought a box of Independence .38 Special 130g FMJ, Independence .357 Magnum 158g JSP, Remington Golden Saber +p .38 Special 125g, and a box of Federal .357 Magnum Premium HydraShok, 158g.

I was really pleased with the way the Model 60 shot. The most interesting revelation was that I shot it infinitely better double action than I did single action (still trying to figure out that one). Single action, I was really pitiful, all over the target; double action I started shooting nice grapefruit size patterns at 7 yards, rapid fire, without trying too hard. The tightest 5-shot string was with the Independence .357 a tidy little horizontal string about four inches wide.

The .38 Special was smooth and cream-puffy, nice, and pleasant to shoot. The +p was crisp and authoritative, and I came away with the thought that the +p Golden Saber was the best all-around load, and is the stuff that should be in the speed loaders. The .357 is predictably brisk. After 15 rounds, I was getting some sting in my palm, but I wouldn’t call it “hurt.” It was very manageable, even in rapid fire (“rapid fire” meaning the rate that the beats fall in “Stars and Stripes Forever,” or just as quick as I could regain the sight picture). (And no, Im no Jerry Miculek.)

The worst muzzle flash was from the Golden Saber, followed closely by the Federal, but I didn’t find either blinding.

It was a real delight to buy four boxes of weird-ass ammunition for it and know that all of them were going to work. They did. With a new auto, you really need to run at least 500 rounds through it to make sure it’s reliable and get it broken in. And even with that, you still know in the back of your mind that a bad magazine or an out-of-spec cartridge or poor support can cause it to jam. With several of my 1911’s, I have had to go through a period of working with them to get them to the point where I considered them 100% reliable. The Model 60 doesn’t have any of those issues. It just goes “Bang” every time. (And don’t give me a Glock pitch because they choke up and break parts just like any other gun. I have one shooting buddy who is on his fourth Glock because the previous three have broken.) I traded messages with a Special Forces type who was on his third tour in Afghanistan. His unit had rejected the M9 and adopted one of the Glocks. It broke out in the field and he couldn’t fix it. On his next leave, he bought a Ruger SP101 in .357 said he felt better with it than any of the bottom feeders. Of course, it was a secondary for him, but that spoke chapters and verses to me.

Carry?

Would you use this gun as a carry piece? As a police officer or soldier, no, unless it was a secondary to something with considerably more firepower. As a civilian who tends to mind his own business and not get into shootouts with armed gangs, sure. If you happen to be one of those folks who just prefer revolvers to autos for personal defense, you couldn’t do much better than this. Its not too terribly heavy, but its heavy enough that you can get in some good practice with it without tearing up your hands. If you have a bit of arthritis in your hands or arms and just cant stand the pounding of .45s and .40s, you can load this gun with standard .38 Special and have a soft shooting, but effective personal defense handgun. The extra barrel length will provide for somewhat better muzzle velocity and hollowpoint performance than a 2 snub-nose, usually 50-100 feet per second faster, depending on the load. The muzzle flip and recoil dynamics are not near as violent as with a 2 snub-nose, especially if you like to use +p or .357 loads. I really like to carry the Airweight snubbies but I hate practicing with them because they’re hard on my hands, and yet we know that we must practice with the guns we carry. The Model 60 can provide a vehicle to practice for snubby carry same reload, same ammo, same trigger, same leather without all of the abuse to hands and joints. And also, if you want to carry .357 Magnum in a compact package, the Model 60 in this configuration will handle it without inflicting pain.

With a 5-shot J-frame, the issue of firepower always comes up, and if you want to carry these guns, you have to deal with it. When the balloon goes up, five rounds is not a lot. Five rounds placed well will probably address most of the issues that a civilian will face, but you cant count on that. This means that you have to master the reload with a speed loader. I really like the Safariland Comp I speed loaders. They are spring loaded and kind of shoot the cartridges into the chamber. Another approach is to carry two J-frames, the proverbial New York Reload. When one gun runs dry, you simply draw the other. The New York Reload has some other tactical advantages: if someone manages to get your primary away from you, you have another weapon. Also, you can hand off a second gun to an ally in a situation in which you may be dealing with multiple assailants or have another person with you who you need to protect. Better yet, carry two J-frames and speed loaders. Better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them. In this era of autoloaders, is it possible that there are tactical advantages to revolvers?

Training With the Model 60

I took the Model 60, two speedloader pouches, and all seven of my speedloaders to Jim Higginbotham’s match and actually shot the first half of the session with the 5-banger. I only quit when I ran out of ammo and switched to the Commander for the remaining exercises. I got there early so I could talk to him. I opened the conversation with, “I’m going to annoy you today.” “Oh, really? How?” “I’m going to shoot my revolver.” He pulled back the left side of his vest to reveal a huge nickel-plated Model 29 .44 Magnum and said, “I’ve probably got more revolvers on me today than autos.” Another shooter was packing an Airweight as his BUG as well. I felt a little better.

The stages were more revolver friendly than I expected. Most were 3-5 round exercises, sometimes with reloads planned into them, but I didn’t actually have to reload at any time that others didn’t have to. My reloads were, of course, still criminally slow, but getting better. I would do a reload after every string just to practice it and get it smoother. By the end of 50 rounds, I was getting quicker. We did mostly variations on Mozambique and El Presidente with movement and reloads interspersed. I was very pleased with my hits. I only had to endure one, “Those of you who are deploying antique weapons systems are probably running low on ammo now,” after a 5-round stage.

Reloads are a major tactical issue regardless of what gun you use, but they are especially important with revolvers. While five rounds are usually enough for civilian self-defense situations, you have to plan for the instance where it wont be. This means working out a way to carry a reload, and learning to perform the reload in an emergency. Generally, this means using speedloaders. There are currently two speedloaders available for J-frame revolvers, the Safariland Comp 1 and the HKS 36A. Both of these speedloaders have features that commend them. The Safariland Comp 1 has a spring mechanism that releases and launches the cartridges into the cylinder when you push it against the ejector star. The HKS offering has a large knob which must be turned slightly to the right to release the cartridges which fall by gravity into the cylinder. I think the Comp 1 has the edge in speed of reloading, but the HKS is easier to grasp quickly on release knob.

On balances, I came away feeling much better about the wheel gun as a self defense option. The next step is to determine if the skill enhancements with the Model 60 transfer to the Airweight. In terms of reloads, I think it will, but I’m not so sure about marksmanship. The 60 is a whole lot easier to get good hits with than its short barreled cousins.

Summary

The Model 60-15 is a versatile and accurate revolver. It is somewhat larger and heavier than the classic snubby, but its size and weight enable it to be a pleasant practice gun without being too large for discrete concealed carry. Its longer barrel produces better performance in .38 Special ammunition, and its greater weight allows it handle full charge .357 Magnum without causing pain. The Model 60-15 is a solid performer which is a pleasure to shoot. For wheel gun fans, this is one that I would heartily recommend.

Smith & Wesson Models 40, 42, 640, 940, 442, 642, 340Sc, 342Ti and 340PD

The Smith & Wesson Model 640 Centennial is easily the most recommended variant of the J-frame line if the Internet counts for anything in gun selection. In 2006, the best selling firearm offered by Smith & Wesson was the Model 642, the Airweight version of the 640. It is often called hammerless which is a misnomer of sorts because it actually does have a hammer; its just completely enclosed within the frame, making the revolver double action only (DAO). It is a smooth, snag-free design which makes it ideal for pocket carry. Jim Supica, author of The Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, said of the 642 that it was possibly the finest pocket revolver ever made.

One might jump to the conclusion that the hammerless design is a new thing brought about by our litigious society, but in fact, the hammerless design is quite old. Smith and Wesson introduced the Safety Hammerless .38 S&W in 1887. This gun was often called The Lemon Squeezer because it had a grip safety on the back strap. One had to squeeze the grip in order to fire the gun. In 1888 they produced a few of the .32 S&W Safety Hammerless pistols with 2 barrels. It was nicknamed the Bicycle Gun and may be S&Ws first production snubnose, but the Bicycle Gun is very rare. The Safety Hammerless pistols were top-break designs.

In 1952, Smith & Wesson applied the concept of the Safety Hammerless to the J-frame Chiefs Special and got the Centennial. The gun was named in honor of the company’s 100th birthday. In 1957, when the switch was made from named models to numbered models, the Centennial became the Model 40. Also in 1952, an Airweight Centennial was introduced which became the Model 42. Some 37 specimens of the Model 42 were built with aluminum alloy cylinders, but the rest had steel cylinders. These two models were produced from 1952 to 1974.

In 1990, the Centennial was re-introduced but in stainless steel and without the grip safety as the Model 640. It was a .38 Special. In 1996 the 640-1 in .357 Magnum was offered. Airweight versions, Models 442 (blued) and 642 (stainless) were also brought to market. As noted earlier, the Model 642 has been enormously successful.

As the centuries changed, Smith & Wesson worked in exotic space-age metals such as titanium and scandium to make the guns even lighter, and yet strong enough to chamber the .357 Magnum cartridge. While it still eludes me why anyone would want to fire .357 in an 11 ounce gun, I guess some folks do it. The new metallurgy produced models such as the 340Sc, the 342Ti and the 340PD.

Between 1991 and 1998, S&W produced the Model 940, a stainless Centennial chambered in 9mm. A group of three hundred were built in the .356 TSW caliber (good luck finding ammo for that one), and a prototype Model 942 Airweight in 9mm was built but did not go into production.

The design is a winner. One of the J-frames greatest assets, its ease of carry, is further enhanced by the snag-free concealed hammer design. But do you lose anything by going to the double-action-only format?

DAO versus DA/SA

Ill admit to a preference for exposed hammer revolvers. I don’t know why really. Maybe its the traditionalist in me. Maybe its because I like to have the option to fire single action if I want to. Single action fire is generally thought to be more accurate than double action. When target shooting and hunting, people prefer to manually cock the hammer to get that wonderful crisp 1 lb. trigger that a good revolver firing single action can give you. The sights just move around less when you don’t have to apply the force needed to cock the hammer.

On the other hand, people who carry a revolver for self defense should practice almost exclusively for double action fire, as if the single action option wasn’t even there. Why? Because there are almost no situations in which single action fire is appropriate in self defense. Most self defense situations unfold rapidly. There isn’t time to thumb cock a revolver and take careful aim in the way one would do while target shooting. A cocked revolver is dangerous in the adrenaline dump of a lethal force encounter. The trigger is just too light. Its too easy to fire when you don’t mean to. There was a well-publicized case in Miami several years back in which a police officer accidentally shot a suspect he was holding at gunpoint with a cocked revolver. The suspect was killed and the officer faced a lengthy court process which ultimately destroyed his career. In a nervous situation, a cocked revolver is dangerous. When you’re really nervous or scared, the heavy double action trigger pull is an asset rather than a liability. I can hear you say, Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire, and that’s true, but we also know that people don’t always do what they’re supposed to do in the stress of a deadly encounter. The police officer in Miami is a good example. I’m sure he had heard the rules. A firm double action trigger can be a welcome piece of insurance against an accidental discharge. With the DAO Centennial, manual cocking isn’t possible, nor is it possible to be accused of negligently cocking the hammer in a civil action which could follow a self defense shooting.

Is there a case to be made for the DA/SA? A little imagination can generate scenarios in which single action fire could be an asset: a hostage situation, a survival situation in which a careful shot on a game animal might make the difference between living and starving, some kind of broken field situation in which there is an active threat but it is further away than a few yards. Admittedly, these all fall into the one-in-a-million category, but if its possible, it could happen.

As we have often seen before, all handguns are studies in compromise. For a self defense revolver, the Centennial seems to be an acceptable trade-off. Single action fire is sacrificed for superb, snag-free conceal-ability and the elimination of certain liabilities.

Reactions to the Smith & Wesson Model 640

The gun pictured here is the Model 640-3. It is the stainless steel .357 Magnum version with the integral lock. It is a beefy, solid snubby that balances well in your hand. With its solid construction and 23 ounces of weight, it will handle the hottest ammo without tearing your arm off. The sights are the standard notch type that are characteristic of this class of guns. They’re not great and I don’t see them too well, but they don’t snag and this is a close-range gun. The smooth organic contours of the 640 make it a superb concealed carry gun. It’s a bit heavy for pants pocket carry. If you like the Centennial but expect to do a lot of pocket carry, I would recommend the Airweight version, the Model 642 in .38 Special +p. If you like really hot ammo and/or intend to carry mostly in holsters and fanny packs, the heavier 640 is the ticket. I’m not sure about the dynamics of it, but the all-stainless J-frames seem to have better triggers NIB than the Airweights and AirLites do. The all-stainless versions are shooters. You can do extended range sessions or even matches (if you’re brave) with these without reducing your hand to a bloody pulp. It seems that most times I have watched people shoot Airweights and Airlites, they do about 15-20 rounds and quit because it’s uncomfortable. You can do a couple hundred rounds in the stainless guns and enjoy it. They’re also more controllable for rapid strings of fire because of their weight.

While I think the Model 60-15 remains my favorite tactical J-frame for it’s superior ballistics, sights, and ejector rod, the Model 640 is an easier gun to carry and has much to commend it. It is compact, powerful, robust, snag-free, and endowed with the legendary reliability of the Model 60 family of revolvers.

By Syd

This is not a totally fun topic, but I think its important. For older folks, compact revolvers may be a better choice for a personal defense handgun than autoloaders. There, I said it. At this writing, I am 54 years old, not exactly a dinosaur, but Im not a kid anymore either. My favorite shooting irons are all big autoloaders. They’re fast, accurate, and fun for matches and target shooting, and they and their extra magazines weigh a ton.

The watershed event for me that opened my eyes to the value of lightweight compact revolvers was a painful back injury I received in 2005 while unloading building materials from a truck. My son and I unloaded the truck and then took our German Shepherds to the park for a walk. As I was driving home from the park, I was hit with a pain that was about as bad as any I have ever felt. My son had to drive the rest of the way home. For the next three months I struggled with crippling pain in my back and numbness in my hands and legs. This was not fun. I was prescribed powerful pain killers and muscle relaxers to cope with the situation. Fortunately, Im much better now, but the episode got me thinking.

Many things cascaded out of this condition. I was in too much pain to carry a full-sized service auto on my belt. My hands were numb and I was not sure that I could feel the trigger or successfully manipulate the controls on my autoloaders. The muscle relaxers I was prescribed left me with a fuzzy feeling in my head. My memory and concentration were impaired. Suddenly, I didn’t feel comfortable with my service autos, and I was hurting too bad to carry them anyway. At the same time, self-defense concerns aren’t automatically suspended just because our backs are royally screwed up. I remembered the almost forgotten Airweight snubby. I could carry the Airweight without too much pain. It isn’t the gun that a Government Model .45 is, but it is endurable, doesn’t have controls that my numb fingers couldn’t operate, and it wouldn’t put me in bed after firing a few rounds.

Because I couldn’t stay at my computer for very long, I quit doing my newsletter for a time. Friends would write me wondering where the newsletter was, and I would explain my situation. This would often initiate an exchange on guns, carry, injuries and related topics. A lot of my subscribers are WWII, Korea, and Nam veterans. Some of them are quite elderly and more than a few are shot up. It was enlightening to me to learn how many actually carried some form of revolver for self-defense because of old injuries, arthritis, or related conditions. Even though they were fans of the M1911 and preferred it for target and match shooting, the revolver was more practical for self-defense.

So what are the issues? Autoloaders generally require a certain amount of upper body strength and fine motor skills to operate successfully. You need to have enough strength in your hands and arms to rack the slide and support the gun during the firing cycle, otherwise the autoloader will jam (and yes, you can even jam a Glock if you hold it loosely enough). Many elderly people and those with serious injuries may not be able to grip and rack the slide of an auto with sufficient force to operate it. They may not be able to support the gun firmly for firing. People who have suffered strokes and those who have undergone coronary surgery often suffer a loss of fine motor skills which can be permanent or at least last a long time. Operation of a thumb safety can become an issue for these folks. Arthritis affects many of us. If it strikes the hands or shoulders, most administrative functions with an auto, such as loading, unloading, operating the thumb safety, and malfunction clearances can become all but impossible.

Pain and medications is another serious issue that is delicate, but needs to be addressed. When I was hurt, I was in such pain that I could not stand to even wear a leather belt around my waist. I couldn’t drive a car or bend over to tie my own shoes. I was prescribed serious pain killers and muscle relaxers right up to the point that if I took any more I would begin to see things. During this time I didn’t carry a gun at all, but I enjoyed the luxury of having other members of the household who could do guard duty while I was down. Not everyone has that option. Even after the level of medication was reduced as I improved, the meds still affected my memory and coordination. The pain meds also contributed to the loss of feeling in my fingers. The net result of this was a general loss of confidence in myself that I could safely and effectively handle my autoloaders in an emergency. And beyond that, I couldn’t stand to carry them due to their weight. Having a service auto on my belt with a spare mag was sheer agony, and even a shoulder rig with a lightweight M1911 in it would have my arms tingling with numbness after a few minutes of wear. The autos just weren’t working for me. I found that I could carry my Airweight snubby in a shoulder rig without too much discomfort. I could also carry it in a pocket with the right pants. The snubby was simple: no safeties, no slides and magazines, no recoil springs to fight, and a heavy enough trigger that I didn’t worry about setting it off by accident because I couldn’t feel my finger tips.

Strong medications may force tough decisions. There is an element of social responsibility about being armed. We have an obligation to those around us to be safe and competent with our firearms. This requires some self awareness and honesty from us. No one likes to think about our powers declining, but it does happen. Powerful medications can affect our judgment and moods. Pain meds may give us comfort but they also may put an unexpected edge in our temper. Anti-depressants may alleviate the symptoms of depression, but they have also been known to cause suicidal thinking in some folks. Also, depending on the jurisdiction where you live, you may be in violation of the law if taking certain medications while carrying a firearm. Other medical conditions such as Alzheimers and arterial sclerosis may begin to diminish our capabilities. We need to be honest with ourselves about this stuff. A point may be reached where we have to make hard decisions about our guns. There can come a time in which being a man may mean putting the guns away and letting others take care of us.

Most of the time, were operating in more moderate conditions: some aches and pains, non-narcotic pain relief, and the normal annoyances of age and time. Stroke victims may recover almost completely in terms of their mental faculties, but still may not have the strength to operate an autoloader. After my fathers quadruple by-pass surgery, his fine motor skills were dramatically reduced, and stayed that way for years. In these types of situations, the revolver becomes the best solution for a personal defense handgun. (His choice was a Charter Arms Undercover .38 snubby.)

The revolver is easy to load, simple to operate, and reliable. Compact revolvers are generally more comfortable to carry and more flexible in their modes of carry than autoloaders. For those facing physical challenges, it is clearly the best option.

By Syd

Mission

The snubnose revolver is a close-quarters self-defense handgun. The design was a response to the need for a compact repeating handgun which could be presented rapidly and concealed easily.

Some Historical Background

The first compact revolvers were not the double action hand ejector revolvers we think of as snubnoses today. Colt, Smith & Wesson and others were building small revolvers from the 1850s on. Both Colt and Smith & Wesson introduced double action revolvers in 1877. The S&W guns were top break designs and the Colts were side-loaders. In 1894 Smith & Wesson introduced the hand ejector design, the cylinder mounted on a crane which swings out for loading and unloading, with the push rod and ejector star to eject the spent cases. With the development of hand ejector, the modern double-action snubnose footprint was pretty much established, leaving only the final touch, the sawed-off barrel to Colt. By 1927, Colt had produced its six-shot Detective Special based on their .38 Police Positive Special. Its entirely possible that the very first snubnose may have been a home-brew full sized revolver with its barrel sawed off. Well never know for sure.

In 1942 Smith & Wesson built a few Victory Model Military & Police revolvers with 2″ barrels. In 1946, they began commercial production of the pre-Model 10 (Military & Police) snubnose. In 1950, Smith & Wesson introduced the 5-shot J-frame Chiefs Special in .38 Special. It was much more compact than previous renditions of the snubnose, and it has become the archetype for compact revolvers. It remains in service and production to this day. Sadly, the Colt Detective Special and the Cobra (Detective Special with a Coltalloy frame) are no longer in production. The Model 10 snubnose is no longer in production either.

What we do know is that the snubnose emerged in the shadow of full sized service revolvers like the Colt Single Action Army, The Remington New Army, and the Smith & Wesson Schofield. These were large and powerful single action revolvers chambered in .44 or .45 with 4, 6 and 8 inch barrels. These large revolvers were replaced by equally large double action Colt New Service and the Smith & Wesson Military and Police revolvers. These guns had long barrels and full grips. With six and eight inch barrels, they produced respectable muzzle velocity and superb accuracy. So what would be the rationale for sawing off the barrel and grips, and thereby reducing the sight radius, muzzle velocity and general controllability of a handgun?

The Rationale of the Snubnose

We always talk about the conceal-ability of the snubnose how easy it is to carry and conceal in a pocket or purse, and this is true, but there is another reason for building a short barreled revolver, and that is speed. If you have ever actually strapped on a Colt Single Action Army six-shooter, drawn that gun and fired it, you will understand that this operation is not all that easy to do quickly. These guns are heavy and the long barrels have to be hoisted high to clear the leather. Now, I have seen guys like Bob Munden do amazing quick draw tricks with Colt SAAs, but even Bobs guns are 4 models, and Bob is a natural phenomenon. For the rest of us mere mortals, drawing a full sized revolver and getting its sights on target is a slow affair. Try it for yourself if you have the equipment: draw a 6 barreled revolver from a holster, and then put a snubnose in the same holster, and see how much faster and easier you clear the leather with the snubby. There’s just less distance to travel, and therefore, less time involved.
What exactly is a belly gun? It is just what the word implies? A kind of hardware you jam against the other man’s navel and trigger off a burst. It has to be done in a twinkling or else he is apt to take the gun away from you and that could be bad. Since the trick of the thing depends on speed, the pistol must be short and handy-short so that it comes out fast and lines up lethally and handy so that a man points it like he does his finger. Col. Charles Askins, Belly Guns, Guns Magazine, 1955

The second and perhaps most enduring glory of the snubnose is its ability to be easily concealed. When rendered with modern light weight metallurgy, you get a handgun that still ranks as one of the best combinations of reliability, power and comfort in carry of any handgun ever built.

The Art of Compromise

The snub-nose .38 Special is a study in trade-offs. The .38 Special is an excellent cartridge coming out of a 4″ barrel. Launched from a 2″ barrel, it can suffer velocity and expansion problems. On the other hand, a .38 with a 4″ barrel wont fit in your pocket. A snub-nose .38 can launch a bigger bullet than any other pistol of its size and weight, a 158 grain slug, but it can only launch five or six of them before you have to reload. Its small size and weight make it a dream to carry, but a pain to shoot. Modern .38 Special +p ammunition from Federal, Remington, Speer, Cor-Bon and Winchester has addressed the velocity and expansion issues fairly well. Nevertheless, when you select the snubby as a self-defense handgun, you have to come to grips with the compromises involved with them.

You trade ballistics, accuracy and shooting comfort for speed, conceal-ability, and carry comfort. That’s the deal. This is just simple physics. The issue is how to deal with it. What kinds of things do you need to do to compensate for the shortcomings of the snubby and accentuate its strengths? Here are my thoughts on this question:

1. Practice.

(Well, duh, I hear you say.) The fact of the matter is that most people don’t practice much with their carry guns. When we go to the range or matches, we engage our egos and shoot the big full-sized guns with their long barrels and superb triggers, but then, when we leave the range, the gun on our hip is some little compact revolver or auto. As Walt Rausch is fond of saying, We talk .45s, shoot 9mms and carry .38s. The big gun gets 300 rounds and the carry gun gets 10. This is really backwards. Shouldn’t the gun you bet your life on get the lions share of the practice? When was the last time that you actually did an IDPA match with a J-frame revolver? If you haven’t, you should. Its enlightening. Can you empty your snubnose into a pie plate at seven yards in five seconds? If you cant, you need to go back to the range and pop caps until you can. (And that’s five seconds drawing from realistic concealment) Can you do that while moving to cover? Can you hit anything with a snub gun weak hand only? I think you get my drift. Treat the carry gun realistically, because its the one that’s most likely to pull your bacon out of the fire.

2. Practice reloads.

Most times these days, when I go to a match, I’m running a Springfield XD-9 with 16 round magazines. I never have to reload unless I want to. Snubbies aren’t like that. My greatest complaint with the snubby is that it only loads five or six rounds. For the most part, you shoot 5 rounds and then have to reload. Can you reload your revolver under stress? Have you ever tried it? While it is true that most civilian self-defense encounters are resolved with 5 rounds or less, with my luck, Ill run into the four zombies from Hell, and if I survive the opening salvo, I will need to reload. Practice your reload until its smooth and fast. It can be done. I’ve watched Jerry Miculek shoot, and he can reload a revolver faster than most of us can reload an auto. (For that matter, Miculek can reload a revolver faster than most of us can do anything.) For the video of Jerry Miculek shooting the world record and reloading, click the play button on the player to the right.

3. Carry a reload.

Five rounds may not be enough, although it probably will be. I always carry a reload. Its usually a speedloader in my strong-hand pocket. Often I will carry a second speedloader in a pouch on my belt. When everything else is equal, more ammo is better than less. Work out the way you’re going to carry your reload and then practice actually using it. The chances are good that you will discover little screw-ups and problems with your reload procedure that only practice at speed will reveal. Ill share with you a big one: many of the grips that Smith & Wesson put on their J-frames are not properly relieved to handle speedloaders smoothly. Hogue Monogrips and Crimson Trace Laser Grips are relieved properly for speedloaders, but the default Uncle Mikes boot grips and Uncle Mikes Combat Grips are not relieved properly for speedloaders. If the reload defeats you, consider carrying a second gun. In gunfighter parlance, this is referred to as The New York Reload, and its faster than any other kind of reload.

4. Study and understand ammo performance in short barreled revolvers.

This is an important point. When a gun fires, the powder is not burned instantaneously. It continues to burn as long as the bullet is traveling down the barrel, and the longer it burns, the more pressure it develops. More pressure means greater muzzle velocity for the bullet. Greater velocity means better hollowpoint performance and terminal ballistics. The snubnose has a very short barrel so you need an ammo which burns its powder fast and develops some velocity. Know also that .38 Special revolvers are calibrated to 158 grain ammunition, and smaller faster loads will tend to shoot low because the bullet emerges from the barrel sooner in the recoil cycle of the gun. Some of our preferred loads include Remington Golden Saber +p, Speer 135 grain +p, and Cor-Bon 110 grain DPX. See also Snubby .38 Special Ballistics.

5. Practice point shooting.

I’m a Cooperite and I believe in aimed fire. At the same time, when you are threatened and drawing at close range, you probably will not have time to align the sights and fire that way. You will whip the gun up, looking over the top of the gun, maybe get the front sight on the target, and pull the trigger. One study I saw showed that most police officers tended to actually use the point shooting technique when under close-range attack. They aren’t trained that way; its just something we do under the stress of a close-in lethal assault. Also, once we cross the age of 50, few of us have the eyes of a 21-year-old fighter pilot. We may not have the visual acuity to see the sights in an emergency. Hence, while I believe that the sighted fire method is to be preferred, we may face self-defense situations which will preclude the use of it. Practice both.

What You Have Going For You

Speed and Simplicity

The snubnose indexes naturally, almost as if it were an extension of your hand. Being light, and compact, it draws easily and rapidly. I would hazard the guess that there are more snubnose .38 Special revolvers currently deployed for the purpose of self-defense than any other single type of firearm. They are simple and effective. They continue to work, so people continue to use them. The cartridge is powerful enough to be lethal when adequate hits are made, and the ammunition is readily available all over the world. Women and non-dedicated personnel like them. Better a .38 Special in your pocket than a 1911 .45 at home in a dresser drawer. The snubnose is simple and uncomplicated. There are no safeties to remember. There is no complex manual of arms to master and commit to muscle memory. Its point and click. I prefer revolvers for the home defense role because there is no confusion about them. I know that every member of the family has practiced with them, and there are no tricky safety sequences to explain.

Conceal-ability

I have more holsters for my snubnoses than any other firearm platform. I have more hours carrying the snubnose than any other gun. Why? Because they carry so well. An Airweight Smith & Wesson snubnose is the most comfortable gun to carry of any I have ever tried. They are light and ergonomic. A J-frame fits to the human body better than most autoloaders. Autoloaders tend to be blocky and square. The extra magazine also adds weight and bulk. The snubnose is a bit wider at the cylinder than a 1911, but everywhere else, it is thinner and more rounded. They’re just comfortable, and they’re light. An Airweight snub weighs about 15 ounces empty, whereas an empty Government Model M1911 weighs 39 ounces. The conceal-ability of the snubnose also contributes to its speed. You can carry the gun in the pocket of a jacket and have your hand on the grip without anyone noticing it. You can even fire the gun from inside a pocket if you have to, although I don’t recommend that technique. Even so, its a lot quicker than drawing from a holster.

Snubbies fit in purses, fanny packs, leg and shoulder holsters, pants pockets and belly bands. Don’t neglect conventional belt holsters and IWBs. A lightweight snub gun in a belt holster is a delight to carry.

Dependability

It is possible to jam a revolver. It is possible, but highly unlikely. I have been firing revolvers for going on 40 years, and I have yet to have one jam on me. (Generally, my autoloaders don’t jam on me either, but it has happened.) How can one jam a revolver? Mostly, it has to do with crud. If crud gets under the ejector star, it can cause the revolver to seize up when the cylinder is closed. Crud build-up on the front of the cylinder and rear of the barrel can cause the cylinder to stop turning. With very light-framed guns using lead bullet +p ammunition, the bullets can pull out of the cases during recoil and cause a jam (Always use jacketed hollowpoints in lightweight snubs), and last, the lock work in the gun can get messed up and cause the gun to fail to fire. All of these failures are very rare. Mostly, revolvers just work with almost monotonous reliability. If you can pull the trigger on a revolver, it will go off, regardless of whether you support it well or not. It doesn’t care about ammo much. It will fire and advance the next cartridge to the firing position. If you are weak or injured, the revolver will still work for you. The other learning at this point is the revolvers are not zero maintenance. They should be fired, cleaned and periodically checked out by a qualified gunsmith.

A Gun That Is Always With You

A gun writer whose name is regrettably lost in the crevasses of my faulty memory, once wrote an article about self defense handguns for hiking. He talked about the standard range of handguns from .22s to .44s, but the thing I remember about the article was that he related that on the two occasions in which he actually had to use a gun for self defense, the gun was a .38 Special snubnose. The reason? Because that’s what I had with me. The snubnose .38, and especially the lightweight models such as the S&W Airweight, remain, in my mind, the most comfortable guns to carry and the most versatile in carry modes. Since they are so easy to carry, you’re more likely to have one with you when you need it.

Far from being obsolete, the snubnose revolver remains one of the most important, versatile and utilitarian options for self-defense.