In today’s world, the semi-auto pistol reigns supreme. It seems that in a world with 11+1 micro-compacts, people today often turn their noses up at small-frame revolvers. Make no mistake, small-frame revolvers still have their place in deep cover applications. Especially in non-permissive environments for those who choose to carry anyway.
Sure, some will no doubt scoff at the idea of carrying a five-shot revolver. They have a long double-action trigger pull and a short sight radius. Some people might consider them effective in an elevator and not a lot farther away than that. And besides, they’re so 1960s and ’70s…right?
First off, if you can master the double-action trigger of a revolver or a double-action semi-automatic, you can shoot any handgun well. In fact, even in handguns with terrible triggers, those skilled in the art of the double-action trigger can perform at least passably with them. Single action is always an option, too given enough time.
Yes, J-frames like the 642 (or similar-sized guns like the Ruger LCR, Taurus 905, Colt Cobra, Kimber K6s), with their sub-2-inch barrel lengths, have short sight radii. So what? Couple the fundamentals of sight alignment with the art of the double-action trigger pull and combat-effective hits to 50 feet — the outer limits of most self-defense situations –should come almost as easily as using your favorite semi-auto.
Years ago, I won a couple of $20 bills at the Urbana Sportsman’s Club from people who didn’t think I could hit a water-filled milk jug at 100 yards even once with my Ruger SP-101. Little did they know that two hits in five-shot cylinder was my typical performance when warmed up.
Anyone who tells you a snub-nose revolver can’t hit beyond room-length distances doesn’t know of what they speak. Or they’re trying to sandbag you.
Yes, reloads come slowly. You can carry five extras in a speed loader, but deep cover means just that. In pocket carry or an IWB holster, people around you have no idea you have a gun secreted away. Whether you subscribe to the theory or not, Frank McGee of NYPD fame talks about the “Rule of Threes” — the “average” gunfight involves three shots or less in three seconds or less at three yards or less.
Tom Givens stretches that out to five yards — a car length — but you get the idea. A five-shot revolver in capable hands can easily dispatch even a pair of bad guys if the worst should happen.
For me, from a draw, the revolver adds about fifteen to twenty one-hundreds of a second to my first shot over a GLOCK. Why the extra time? That’s the time it takes to control that longer, double-action trigger. After all, for me, only A-zone hits count. With additional practice and skill, I could probably shave a good chunk of that time off, but spare time grows increasingly precious for me as it probably does for most other folks.
Meanwhile, small-frame revolvers excel in many ways, especially in a deep cover role. Revolver users seldom encounter malfunctions, even if you’re pressing the muzzle into the gut of an attacker (think the Trayvon Martin close quarters situation). And contact gunshot wounds usually inflict horrific damage.
As for concealment, short-barrel snubbies with their small frame size are excellent. Slip one in a jacket or pants pocket and no one will be the wiser.
These little wheel guns perform wonderfully when fired from a coat pocket, too. Especially those with bobbed hammers or the hammerless variety. Ditto for ladies discharging from a purse.
No, you won’t get hits out to fifty feet that way, but remember McGee’s Rule of Threes. Let that attacker get the surprise of his life when you let your little friend do the talking. Five rounds of .38 Special or .357 Magnum from Messrs. Smith & Wesson will get their attention every single time. The look on their face: priceless.
We often give the women (and eventually the men too) in our GSL Defense Training Essential Carry class an opportunity to shoot from inside a purse. It brings a lot of smiles and we make a lot of believers. In fact, they eat it up.
Wheel guns don’t leave your brass lying all over the place. For those carrying in non-permissive environments, that can be extra helpful. Before Illinois had legal concealed carry, more than a few career armed robbers and rapists turned up dead on Cook County Forest Preserve properties over the years. Obviously their intended victims chose not to notify authorities.
Additionally, these small revolvers also conceal well in the hand. Remember, a lot of deadly force encounters take place in low-light or no-light conditions. An attacker usually can’t see any better than you can. Again, let them experience the shock of their lifetime as they experience the bark and flash of your snubbie discharging at bad-breath distances.
You can also hand one off to someone who has never shot before in an emergency and it can save their life. Even rank novices can figure out how to make a revolver work. As a close friend and retired FBI agent I know loves to say, revolvers are the ultimate point-and-click interface. Old Frank Wright also says that when God shoots recreationally, He uses a revolver. I don’t know about that, but I’m not as old as the retired G-man.
If weight bothers you, Smith and other manufacturers make wheel guns in lighter, exotic metals such as the Airweight and AirLite S&W models or Ruger’s .38 LCR.
These concealed carry revolvers weigh next to nothing — 12 to 14 ounces — but expect stout recoil. You carry these to save your bacon, not to shoot recreationally. Unless you’re God.
Yes, the J-frame revolver still has a place in the 21st century. Don’t underestimate the man or woman using a small-frame revolver in a pocket holster as their carry gun. Especially in today’s world, they probably know how to use it well.