Who Carries A Snub Nose Revolver

[bulinm]

S&W Mod 60, 2 1/8" every day loaded with .38 +Ps. Galco OWB at 4 o'clock.

[cheezit]

Sw mdl 37, appendix carry, speed strips. Monday tor friday. It's my to/from work gun.

[puma guy]

I haven't carried my Model 60 S&W since I began pocket carrying my Kahr PM several years ago. If I had a hammerless or shrouded hammer "J" frame sized wheelgun I might be tempted to use it instead of my Kahr. Back when I reloaded I would load reversed hollow base wadcutters for my bedside .357 revolver. I loaded some interesting hollow points as well, but you'll have to come to the forum S/SEQ breakfast to hear about those.

[Jeff B.]

The Ruger LCR .38 that my wife didn't take to is my dog walking gun. Drops into my shorts pocket or sweats nicely. Even has a couple of "shot shells" in it for snake charming, since Jethro got bit on the muzzle by a copperhead one evening last summer...

Jeff B.

[flechero]

I carried a little taurus titanium 5 shot for many years. It was a pleasant surprise with 38 and 38+p. Not to mention, so light to carry. I finally changed due to reload speed, not capacity. Many of the small single stacks only give you an extra round or two but you can reload in under 2 seconds, where as the snubby took me over 10 seconds- which is probably a death sentence in a gunfight.

[The Annoyed Man]

I haven't carried my Model 60 S&W since I began pocket carrying my Kahr PM several years ago. If I had a hammerless or shrouded hammer "J" frame sized wheelgun I might be tempted to use it instead of my Kahr. Back when I reloaded I would load reversed hollow base wadcutters for my bedside .357 revolver. I loaded some interesting hollow points as well, but you'll have to come to the forum S/SEQ breakfast to hear about those.

Like you, I used to carry my revolver a lot more than I do now, and like you, I more or less stopped after buying a nice flat, pocketable, 9mm SA.....also a Kahr PM9. I've since sold the Kahr in exchange for a Glock 43. Nowadays, my revolver - an M&P340 .357 - is something I throw in my pocket for a walk to the mailbox or something like that. I have another J-frame, a Model 640 in .357, but as an all stainless heavier gun, I consider it to be more of a "kit gun" for camping/fishing. But when I leave home, I favor a narrow single-stack 9mm with its slightly higher capacity and quicker reloads over a J-frame revolver whenever I need something really flat and pocketable. Otherwise, it's either a G19 or a G26.

My reasoning is thus: I have not forgotten that the statistics seem to show that, in most SD shootings, the 5 rounds in the revolver will be more than enough. BUT, I'd like the ability to reload quickly in the event that a reload is necessary - even if the statistics tend not to bear out that need. I am never about reducing my options. Being left-handed, I've always found it awkward to reload a revolver on the fly. It involves switching the gun to my right hand, so that I can hold it while swinging out the cylinder, then using my left hand to charge the cylinder by whatever means, then switching the gun back into my left hand to shoot........and that's assuming that I can quickly charge the cylinder (while under fire, else why would I need a fast reload?) while reloading. I have both regular speedloaders and speed strips. The speedloaders are easier to reload with, but they are more bulky in my pocket. Speed strips are easy to carry because they are flat, but on more than one occasion while emptying my pockets at the end of the day, I've found that one or two of the cartridges in the speed strip had come out and were loose in my pocket. In fact, that has happened a couple of times with pocket-carried speedloaders too. What happens if that's the case when I need a fast reload? To begin with, my G43 (and formerly the PM9) is flatter in my pocket or in its holster than either of my J-frames. The magazine reload carries the ammo more securely, and it reloads the gun faster than either the speedloaders or speed strips can - at least in my hands. That is why my J-frame revolvers have been relegated strictly to "BUG" or "Mailbox" duty........and I don't carry a BUG, so.......

That's not to say that I don't like the revolvers. It's just that, for SD purposes, I find the semiauto to be a more practical choice for me. And the weight penalties for a small single stack 9mm aren't much more than for a J-frame revolver. They tend to weigh a little bit more than the revolvers, but only by a matter of a very few ounces. The PM9 with an empty magazine weighs 15.9 oz, for a 6+1 capacity. A Model 642 weighs 14.8 oz unloaded, for a 5 round capacity. My M&P340 weighs 13.8 oz, for a 5 round capacity. When you compare that to the 15.9 oz PM9, the Kahr has a distinct advantage. My G43, unloaded with 1 magazine, weighs 17.85 oz......again, not that much.....and has 6+1 capacity. I've extended the backup magazine to 8 round capacity. Yes, it is heavier than a scandium J-frame, but its not THAT much heavier, and I get a lot of peace of mind from having 2 more rounds in the gun, and 8 more on tap.....and it is flatter, and easier to shoot than a scandium .357, or a .38 for that matter.

So it's not that the J-frames are bad guns. They're not, and there is a place for them for me. It's just that when I need something pocketable of reduced capacity, the G43 (or other guns in its class) fit that bill for me better than the revolver in almost every situation.

[rotor]

The Ruger LCR .38 that my wife didn't take to is my dog walking gun. Drops into my shorts pocket or sweats nicely. Even has a couple of "shot shells" in it for snake charming, since Jethro got bit on the muzzle by a copperhead one evening last summer...

Jeff B.

Have you tried shooting shotshells in your LCR? My experience with shells I reload is that since the LCR is so light the capsule will move forward and lock up the cylinder if more than the first shot is a shotshell. I carry my LCR with round one as shotshell and the other 4 as regular ammo. Try the shotshells out in advance before you really need this gun. CCI warns that this will happen in very light guns too so it is not just reloads. You just can't get a good enough crimp on shotshells. The other issue is that if a shotshell breaks and the lead pellets get into the crane you can't close your cylinder which puts a revolver out of commission. Been there and done that.

[JRG]

I carry my 642 IWB at 4:00 on occasion. It is so easy to just throw it on. I used to carry it everyday. Now it is only for quick trips, otherwise it is the Sheld 9 or the XD Mod 2 3" 9mm. I just like having more capacity available most times.

Joe

[talltex]

I've always liked the S&W snubbies. I keep one Model 34 .22 snub loaded with ratshot on a shelf by the patio door just for my wife to dispatch any snakes that decides to sun themselves in the open. I have two of them and they are amazingly accurate plinkers too. At my business office, I have a model 60 in a holster mounted in the knee well of my desk with a shotshell in the first position backed by 4 hand loads with hollow base wadcutters seated upside down. Another is mounted on the inside of the inner steel door of an old bank vault safe that is hidden inside a large closet behind a closed door just in case I was ever forced to open it. For most carry I stick with either an Officer's Model Colt .45 (my favorite) or now days, most often a Springfield 9mm with high capacity mag.

[puma guy]

I've always liked the S&W snubbies. I keep on Model 34 .22 snub loaded with ratshot on a shelf by the patio door just for my wife to dispatch any snakes that decides to sun themselves in the open. I have two of them and they are amazingly accurate plinkers too. At my business office, I have a model 60 in a holster mounted in the knee well of my desk with a shotshell in the first position backed my 4 hand loads with hollow base wadcutters seated upside down. Another is mounted on the inside of the inner steel door of an old bank vault safe that is hidden inside a large closet behind a closed door just in case I was ever forced to open it. For mosr carry I stick with either an Officer's Model Colt .45 (my favorite) or now days, most often a Springfield 9mm with high capacity mag.

I like the way you think!

[mloot]

I do not know if a 3" SP101 is considered a snubby or not, but that is my daily carry in a OWB leather holster, with a Polo-type shirt to cover it. If I am wearing shorts, then it is a S&W 360j in the pocket.

[parabelum]

This guy appears to have at least one snubbie .38 in his collection. Looks like it served him well at least once or so...


Oldie but Goldie....

[bnc]

I carry an LCR when I'm exercising since it is the smallest, lightest gun I have. I've been thinking about getting a small 9mm though, like a Kahr, Nano, etc. For me, the extra weight is offset by the thinner profile, higher capacity, and easier reloads.

[MrMcCullster]

I carry a snub nosed S&W 642 Pro with the lighter trigger pull set in a Mika Pocket Holster. It's the most versatile pocketable gun in my collection. Natch, I don't have a whole lot, but my wishlist is pretty long.

When I started paying attention to my self defense, and began the CHL/LTC process, one of the guns that I picked out almost immediately was to get a S&W snubbie revolver.

I had a 4 inch barrelled service pistol at the time that I could use immediately to carry that I had had for years and sent lots of rounds through it, but the next self defense gun to add to my arsenal was the snubbie. Sure, I liked the Kahr PM9 and the Sig P938. And those are great pocket guns too. They are on my list to eventually beat out the snubbie, but there was just something about that "don't breath on me" reaction of pulling out a .38 Special +P revolver. The revolver was a lot cheaper too, and got me carrying more.

Like others have said, the standard round count for a self defense encounter is 3-5 rounds. Now, I've seen police body cam footage of having to fire almost a full clip, but those were isolated police incidents dealing with very, very bad people. I don't see myself ever being in those type of situations and needing that. Sure, if I am going to a bad part of town, that's different, but like others have mentioned, if I'm going to go get fast food, or to the mail box, or anything that most normal people do, the snubbie can cover it.

The snubbie goes with me in the pocket holster, and mostly stays in the car. I have it setup for those close encounters (of the bad kind). Carjacking while stopped, people asking for money, gas station stuff. Its all covered by the snubbie for my use.

I put the black Hogue plastic grips on it with the finger grooves, so it's a little tight in my front jeans pocket, but I have carried it there and put my keys elsewhere.

Like I mentioned, it's perfect to put in a sweatshirt pocket, a light jacket, whatever. It's so versatile. I have those other 9mm on my list (the Kahr, Sig, S&W Bodyguard maybe), but for now, the snubbie serves a lot of uses, and most of the reason why I chose it first. It's the one that would get me to carry something, instead of carrying nothing.

[Soccerdad1995]

I carry an LCR when I'm exercising since it is the smallest, lightest gun I have. I've been thinking about getting a small 9mm though, like a Kahr, Nano, etc. For me, the extra weight is offset by the thinner profile, higher capacity, and easier reloads.

If you are willing to go with a .380, then look at the Kel-Tec P3AT. It is the smallest gun I own, and is extremely light. Pain in the hand to shoot, but mine has proven to be reliable and reasonably accurate.