[blazer610]

A friend asked me for a recommendation on a revolver. I'm certainly no authority on revolvers so I thought I should ask those that know.

The requirements for the weapon are as follows. Barrel must be no less that 3 inches and no more than 4 inches with preference being closer to 3 inches. Should be chambered for .38 special (although a .357 might do). Capacity no less than 6 rounds. Lighter and smaller are desirable. Grips should be compatible with smaller hands.

Intended use is a duty weapon for a female probation officer. The requirements for the gun are those of her employer.

Thanks in advance,
Larry

[MikeJ]

I am pretty much a S&W fan when it comes to revolvers, but I am a huge fan of the Ruger GP100 with the 3" barrel. This is a .357, but of course you can shoot .38's through it as well. I prefer the version with the full shroud but either way this is one of the most comfortable and well balanced revolvers I have ever held or shot. The grips are smaller than those that come on the adjustable sighted 4" version and fit my hand perfectly. The one major problem, and I don't understand it, is that this model seems to be almost nonexistent on the dealers shelves, at least in my area. If you do a search on gunbroker or gunsamerica you will be able to see pics of them. The S&W model 65 Ladysmith is also another nice 3" gun that meets her requirements. Mike

[Old Fuff]

The six-shot requirement limits you’re choice in new guns to Smith & Wesson and Taurus. Of the two, S&W are better known in law enforcement circles so I’d look in that direction. However I don’t believe they still make a 6-shot, lightweight .38 Special, but you might find a used model 12.

Another possibility in a used model would be a Colt Cobra (6-shot, aluminum frame, .38 Special) with a 3 inch or 4 inch barrel.

If her employer would modify the requirements to include 5-shot revolvers a whole lot of potential candidates would be available.

[tbeb]

S&W model 13 with 3" heavy barrel is a blue finish, 6-shot, fixed sight, .357 magnum that weighs less than 34 ounces. (4" barrel model weighs 34.) The 3" model was once standard issue for the FBI. I believe they loaded it with .38 special +P 158 gr. lead hollowpoint ammunition.

[WebHobbit]

Here's my thing:

.38 Special is somewhat of a "weak-sister" in the first place so to load it up in a .357 cylinder is going to cost it a bit of velocity drop it cannot afford to lose.

If you plan to limit yourself to .38 only then you should get a .38. I am pretty sure Ruger still makes the GP series as a .38 ONLY version.

[Jim March]

I think the GP100 is too bulky for this role.

She needs a round-butt K-frame S&W of some sort. That includes the model 19, 66, 13, 10, etc. Some (slightly lighter) are 38Spl only, others are 357. I don't thing the loss in velocity shooting 38s out of a 357 is all that serious, myself, unless somebody has strong evidence otherwise. Barrel/cylinder gap probably matters more. Show her the "revolver checkout procedure" (linked in the first post, this thread), it'll help her pick out a good specimen, used or new.

[valnar]

Larry,
If you go to S&W's web page, you can select the model yourself from a pull down list. Select .38special or .38special/.357Magnum and go from there.

Looking at the brand new lineup, a model 64 with 3" barrel (K-frame) may fit the bill. Unfortunately, you won't get any lighter with the 6-round cylinder.

-Robert

[Blueduck]

I'm with Missouri Probation and Parole and we have similar requirments here.

The majority of our folks (both male and female) carry the S/W 3" model 65 .357. I own one and have nothing bad to say about it at all. A 3" 64 in 38 special would do just as well and might be chaeper on the used market. Ladysmith would likely work out well if she's just interested in new guns.

We have a couple of GP-100's around the office but oddly they seem to be more sensitive to our very dirty el-cheapo practice ammo than even the S/W J-frames, much less the K-frame 64-65's which just seem to chug along no matter what.

I would make very sure she checks the regs well before buying to make sure it passes muster. We've got a lot of semi-weird stuff in our choices- 2-4" bbl ok (they fudge on the 1 7/8" S/W's), must be S/W, Ruger, or Colt manufacture, new Titanium models ok but aluminum frames like the 642 or 12's are not:scrutiny: 5 or 6 shot ok but sevens not, J,K,L frames ok but N's are not even if they pass every other requirment.

PS, just in passing we once were not allowed to have 5 shot guns, until we hired on a new very short female Director. When she found out her fingers would not reach the trigger of any 6 shooters our policey suddenly changed overnight...

[NEtracker]

The Smith line is definitely worth a look.
I have a 686 4 inch, but that would probably be too heavy for the application. Great trigger out of the box.

[Jason Demond]

How about a 4" heavy barrel S&W model 65 in .357 magnum. The gun is a K frame {medium sized}, and has fixed sights.

[sm]

model 64 3" HB
model 10 2"