Anchorite
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This post reminds me of one of my college room mates. He had a night shift job at a local car wash. When his shift was over, he’d go make the night drop deposit. He got mugged one night doing that. He never ankle carried again.
Do You Carry a Snubby? Why? Prove it.
- Thread starter Tallball
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This post reminds me of one of my college room mates. He had a night shift job at a local car wash. When his shift was over, he’d go make the night drop deposit. He got mugged one night doing that. He never ankle carried again.
unclenunzie
Contributing Member
Yeah, that would not be effective. The G19 on my hip remains primary whether the 642 is on the ankle or not.
Ugly Sauce
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Anchorite
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Beautiful revolver, Sir.
EMC45
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That looks like a Jovino
tubeshooter
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You know - I have been thinking about it and the reason I have carried "a snubby" all these years is mostly because I trust it "down there". Among other reasons, of course.
Can't prove anything, and won't try.
You'll have to take my (THR) word for it.
Can't prove anything, and won't try.
You'll have to take my (THR) word for it.
Ugly Sauce
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What is "Jovino"?
The first was a Smith and Wesson Model 10. Forgive my mental blank on the proper terminology but the cylinder pin backed out and the gun stopped working. Not a difficult repair but one that would be impossible in a fight.
The second was on a Ruger Vaquero when the transfer bar snapped in half taking the gun completely out of action.
Both of these are revolvers that are known to be very reliable and had been excellent guns up until the moment they failed. Both were repaired and continue to work just fine but it was definitely a spooky moment to realize that neither could have been fixed during a fight.
As a law enforcement firearms instructor I've seen a decent number of failures by semiautos but they've always been easily fixable by tap and rack. I love revolvers but for me I'll stick with semiautos for self defense. The only exception would be a big bore revolver in the back country for dangerous game.
Throwbackguy
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Yup. Model 640, with 38+Ps. That, and a strip (instead of a speedloader, for the profile) in a pocket... 'Cuz its kinda heavy. Or 'cuz I'm kinda a wuss, I guess.
Of course, can be topped off with 357s for The Big Outdoors...!
Of course, can be topped off with 357s for The Big Outdoors...!
sgt127
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@Tallball
I think I originally wrote this around 2000…
Much the same thoughts as you.
Revolver VS auto. Random thoughts.
I started out shooting revolvers, years ago. Revolvers are quite reliable. Autos came along and designs improved, bullet shapes improved. The reliabilty of the auto came up to what I felt was the level of a good well maintained revolver. And I carried an auto.
Some random observations I have discovered. Revolvers will occasionally malfunction. So will autos. Lets remove parts breakage from the equation for a bit. I can accept the fact that a high quality auto is just as likely, or unlikey, to break a part that stops the gun from functioning, as an equal quality revolver. I have actually broken more parts in auto's than revolvers, but, I can attribute that to sheer luck. Slide stops have broken, firing pins have broken, but, statistically, I would argue that neither one is likley to just "break" when you need it.
On the few occasions that I have had a revolver stop working, it was a cumalitive effect of shooting. It started to get dirty, crap under the extractor star, the barrel cylinder gap got lead and powder residue, the chambers got sticky from lots of .38's and then having to force a .357 in the chamber. In other words, most of the problems came on slowly. I knew, eventually, the gun was going to stop working. The trigger pull got heavier, it was harder to close the cylinder, something along those lines.
But, for no apparent reason, a clean well lubed auto, would sometimes just not feed, fire or eject a round. Bullet nose caught on the feedramp, empty failed to get out of the way of the next round, some other failure that seemed to occur randomly, and without warning.
Now, standing on the the line, at the range, neither gun failed very often. Nice firm grip, dry hands, locked wrists, all is well in the world of handgunning.
Recently, I have watched a few episodes of "Under Fire" on Court TV. Autos, good quality (and, hopefully) well maintained autos, sometimes crap out in the middle of a gunfight. Whats the difference? Weak one handed grip, rolling around on the ground, upside down, shoved against the bad guy, sweaty blood covered hands, whatever. The auto needs a solid platform to work off of. Something it can't get in a real world, up close gunfight.
At a distance, involved in a shootout, the auto's rarely seem to jam, much as I would expect. But, if its a fight, that leads to a gunfight, the auto may turn into a single shot.
A particular episode that comes to mind is the Officer that was fighting a real, no kidding boxer, that was about to beat the Officer to death. He finally drew his pistol and got off one shot, in the BG's midsection, with little effect, The gun jammed after one round and the BG grabbed the gun and beat the Officer with the gun, tossed it and the Officer picked it back up later in the fight. (Interesting video if you ever get a chance to see it)
(2022 edit: I have an entire folder of videos of Police shootings where autos jam in gunfights. The body cam has really shown me how often this occurs)
On duty, I have to carry a Glock 35. And, I'm not sure I am ready to give up the general reliabilty, mag capacity and ease of shooting of a good auto for the vast majority of shooting situations. But, as a back up, I carry a 642. And, it seems alot of others are big fans of the little revolvers as back up guns.
(another 2022 edit. I’m retired. I can carry whatever I want. Where I live, I usually just carry a Ruger SP101. Going into more urban locales, I often carry a P239 DAK in 357 SIG and a couple extra mags)
But, Off duty, I find myself carrying a 3" S&W M65 more and more. I envision an off duty encounter being a very fast fight that turns into a gunfight. Bad guy rushing you with a knife, BG jumping you, knocking you down and attacking you, two guys pinning you into a corner and the fight is on. Capacity becomes secondary to utter reliability for me at that point. I can still get good hits with a revovler out to 25 yards or so, if I have to, but, its not really something I see happening. Truth be known, the odds of needing a gun at all are pretty remote, but, we all plan for the unexpected.
SO, what are some others thoughts? Have you taken your favorite defense auto out to the range, held it with your left hand, bent your wrist and elbow and tried getting off as many shots as you could? Upside down? Cover your hands in soapy water and empty a magazine? Shove it into the target and see if it gets pushed out of battery? Does it jam after the first shot? I have, and, the reliabilty of a previously Utterly reliable auto went down hill.
If this little ramble gets a few people to thinking, and making you more aware of you and your guns abilities and limitations, great. If it just makes you train harder, for what YOU consider a real world gunfight, even better. Practice alot, and, best to all.
I think I originally wrote this around 2000…
Much the same thoughts as you.
Revolver VS auto. Random thoughts.
I started out shooting revolvers, years ago. Revolvers are quite reliable. Autos came along and designs improved, bullet shapes improved. The reliabilty of the auto came up to what I felt was the level of a good well maintained revolver. And I carried an auto.
Some random observations I have discovered. Revolvers will occasionally malfunction. So will autos. Lets remove parts breakage from the equation for a bit. I can accept the fact that a high quality auto is just as likely, or unlikey, to break a part that stops the gun from functioning, as an equal quality revolver. I have actually broken more parts in auto's than revolvers, but, I can attribute that to sheer luck. Slide stops have broken, firing pins have broken, but, statistically, I would argue that neither one is likley to just "break" when you need it.
On the few occasions that I have had a revolver stop working, it was a cumalitive effect of shooting. It started to get dirty, crap under the extractor star, the barrel cylinder gap got lead and powder residue, the chambers got sticky from lots of .38's and then having to force a .357 in the chamber. In other words, most of the problems came on slowly. I knew, eventually, the gun was going to stop working. The trigger pull got heavier, it was harder to close the cylinder, something along those lines.
But, for no apparent reason, a clean well lubed auto, would sometimes just not feed, fire or eject a round. Bullet nose caught on the feedramp, empty failed to get out of the way of the next round, some other failure that seemed to occur randomly, and without warning.
Now, standing on the the line, at the range, neither gun failed very often. Nice firm grip, dry hands, locked wrists, all is well in the world of handgunning.
Recently, I have watched a few episodes of "Under Fire" on Court TV. Autos, good quality (and, hopefully) well maintained autos, sometimes crap out in the middle of a gunfight. Whats the difference? Weak one handed grip, rolling around on the ground, upside down, shoved against the bad guy, sweaty blood covered hands, whatever. The auto needs a solid platform to work off of. Something it can't get in a real world, up close gunfight.
At a distance, involved in a shootout, the auto's rarely seem to jam, much as I would expect. But, if its a fight, that leads to a gunfight, the auto may turn into a single shot.
A particular episode that comes to mind is the Officer that was fighting a real, no kidding boxer, that was about to beat the Officer to death. He finally drew his pistol and got off one shot, in the BG's midsection, with little effect, The gun jammed after one round and the BG grabbed the gun and beat the Officer with the gun, tossed it and the Officer picked it back up later in the fight. (Interesting video if you ever get a chance to see it)
(2022 edit: I have an entire folder of videos of Police shootings where autos jam in gunfights. The body cam has really shown me how often this occurs)
On duty, I have to carry a Glock 35. And, I'm not sure I am ready to give up the general reliabilty, mag capacity and ease of shooting of a good auto for the vast majority of shooting situations. But, as a back up, I carry a 642. And, it seems alot of others are big fans of the little revolvers as back up guns.
(another 2022 edit. I’m retired. I can carry whatever I want. Where I live, I usually just carry a Ruger SP101. Going into more urban locales, I often carry a P239 DAK in 357 SIG and a couple extra mags)
But, Off duty, I find myself carrying a 3" S&W M65 more and more. I envision an off duty encounter being a very fast fight that turns into a gunfight. Bad guy rushing you with a knife, BG jumping you, knocking you down and attacking you, two guys pinning you into a corner and the fight is on. Capacity becomes secondary to utter reliability for me at that point. I can still get good hits with a revovler out to 25 yards or so, if I have to, but, its not really something I see happening. Truth be known, the odds of needing a gun at all are pretty remote, but, we all plan for the unexpected.
SO, what are some others thoughts? Have you taken your favorite defense auto out to the range, held it with your left hand, bent your wrist and elbow and tried getting off as many shots as you could? Upside down? Cover your hands in soapy water and empty a magazine? Shove it into the target and see if it gets pushed out of battery? Does it jam after the first shot? I have, and, the reliabilty of a previously Utterly reliable auto went down hill.
If this little ramble gets a few people to thinking, and making you more aware of you and your guns abilities and limitations, great. If it just makes you train harder, for what YOU consider a real world gunfight, even better. Practice alot, and, best to all.
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EMC45
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Ugly Sauce
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For me it's just a matter of the revolver conceals better (for me) no safety to flick off (I will not own a Glock or other striker fired gun)(no offense) and doing draw-from-concealment-first-shot-in-vital-zone under two seconds drills, I get more/better accuracy with the revolver. Yes, I could train harder and more often with the automatics and probably even the score. But, I think I already train "enough", for my purposes and chances of having to use a pistol in a social encounter, or getting into a real world gunfight.
Having said all that, when I travel or go into a city, I often carry the 1911A1, which I have a lot of trigger time on, and totally trust it's reliability. !!!! (yeah I know, someone somewhere saw a 1911 malfunction!) (but no one, not even meself, has seen mine fail)
Having said all that, when I travel or go into a city, I often carry the 1911A1, which I have a lot of trigger time on, and totally trust it's reliability. !!!! (yeah I know, someone somewhere saw a 1911 malfunction!) (but no one, not even meself, has seen mine fail)
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Ugly Sauce
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No, never heard of the Jovino. But now I know! My pistol, a 25-3 was worked over by the previous owner's gunsmith. Not sure what the black finish is. Action tuned and hammer bobbed, and chamber reamed to .44Mag. I'm not sure why he had it rechambered to .44mag. He stated: "to get the bullets closer to the forcing cone using .44mag brass". I don't fire .44mag in it, but I do use .44mag brass to keep my hotter .44 Special loads out my .44 Specials, although none are hot enough to hurt the 25-3, but perhaps might loosen up my Charter Arms Bulldogs. Or not, just being careful.
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Honestly I love revolvers and my last snubbie was a SP101, it's probably my favorite because while its heavy, it shoots great and I think they look good. That said, the smaller J-frames carry better but dont shoot as well. Either way though, while I do believe they are adequate for self defense in most instances, the poor capacity and slow reloads are a deal breaker for me. Granted, the chances of needing to use it are quite slim, but in this day and age, there are considerably better options for carry. For me carrying a revolver was more a nostalgia trip than anything, it'll likely be enough gun but it's far from the best option these days.
lee n. field
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.44 Special? .45 Colt?
Ugly Sauce
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25-3 .44spl re-chambered for .44mag.
wcwhitey
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He did some nice work with .44 Magnum Astra revolvers as well. Called the Terminator.
Ugly Sauce
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.41 mag...Sweet!
epags
Member
Haven't posted for a while, however something happened last week.
I have a CCW and normally had it approved for carrying a Glock Model 36 45ACP or a Ruger LCR 38 Special. Normally I carry the Glock (I have more confidence). Well, this renewal time I dropped the Ruger LCR from my CCW to save some money.
Of course, last week while drilling, my Glock had a major parts failure which cannot be fixed with a simple parts replacement (well I have had it since 2014 and used it extensively).
I contacted Glock and they had me send it back to them for repairs (which is a two-to-three-week turnaround).
Here in California, my CCW does not allow me to just carry another firearm while the approved one is being repaired.
Long story short, if you have CCW restrictions like California, it is best to qualify and register several. I must play nice for 3 weeks.
Not worth to requalify my Ruger since it takes a month or three to register another firearm for your CCW plus several hundred dollars for the process.
I have a CCW and normally had it approved for carrying a Glock Model 36 45ACP or a Ruger LCR 38 Special. Normally I carry the Glock (I have more confidence). Well, this renewal time I dropped the Ruger LCR from my CCW to save some money.
Of course, last week while drilling, my Glock had a major parts failure which cannot be fixed with a simple parts replacement (well I have had it since 2014 and used it extensively).
I contacted Glock and they had me send it back to them for repairs (which is a two-to-three-week turnaround).
Here in California, my CCW does not allow me to just carry another firearm while the approved one is being repaired.
Long story short, if you have CCW restrictions like California, it is best to qualify and register several. I must play nice for 3 weeks.
Not worth to requalify my Ruger since it takes a month or three to register another firearm for your CCW plus several hundred dollars for the process.
Anchorite
Member
Interesting. So, hypothetically if you were to carry your revolver and were to come into contact with LE. If you present you license, do they give you a ticket? Confiscate your revolver? You get a warning?
Just curious. IME law enforcement here in Alabama just wants confirmation you *have* your permit. We have no requirement that we disclose what our firearm of choice is. And if we don’t have a permit, you can get a charge and your firearm confiscated.
I like my Airweight Smith and Wesson .38 Special in a pocket holster and my Glock 27 .40cal in the center console when I go anywhere. The Airweight .38 is so easy to pocket carry even with the longer grip that I replaced the boot grip with. I needed it once on a wooded trail to take down what appeared to be rabid Raccoon in the middle of the trail. It was circling around and around acting very strange and unafraid.
I'm 73 yrs old and have developed arthritis in my hands and hips. In my hands, I have
especially my thumbs, I have a hard time with the slide and ejection release on a
semi-auto anymore. Also, the weight of my favorite .45, a Sig P220 hurts my hip and
lower back.
After Nam, I became a cop in 69 and carried a revolver exclusively until 1991
when a more knowledgeable Sherrif allowed us to carry a semi-auto. I chose
the Colt 1911 Combat Elite.
Anyway, now that I'm older, I have no problem carrying or working a revolver. I
have several to choose from my favorites are these:
S&W m66-2 3”: 36.3 oz Loaded with 135gr Gold Dot 357
S&W m60-14 .357Mag 24.5 oz w/125gr Critical Defense SB
S&W m36 .38 Spec: 23.3oz w 110gr Critical Defense
Ruger LCR 9mm 19.1oz w/ 124gr Gold Dot
Ruger LCLRX38 15.8OZ w/ 135 gr Gold Dot .38+P
I have others but these are the ones I carry and which one I carry depends on my right hip
and lower back on any one particular day. Most of the time, it's the m60-14. I carry all of these
except the M66, pocket, IWB, OWB. The M66-2 is IWB or OWB.
Some will scoff, but when the hit their 70's, they won't.
Dano
especially my thumbs, I have a hard time with the slide and ejection release on a
semi-auto anymore. Also, the weight of my favorite .45, a Sig P220 hurts my hip and
lower back.
After Nam, I became a cop in 69 and carried a revolver exclusively until 1991
when a more knowledgeable Sherrif allowed us to carry a semi-auto. I chose
the Colt 1911 Combat Elite.
Anyway, now that I'm older, I have no problem carrying or working a revolver. I
have several to choose from my favorites are these:
S&W m66-2 3”: 36.3 oz Loaded with 135gr Gold Dot 357
S&W m60-14 .357Mag 24.5 oz w/125gr Critical Defense SB
S&W m36 .38 Spec: 23.3oz w 110gr Critical Defense
Ruger LCR 9mm 19.1oz w/ 124gr Gold Dot
Ruger LCLRX38 15.8OZ w/ 135 gr Gold Dot .38+P
I have others but these are the ones I carry and which one I carry depends on my right hip
and lower back on any one particular day. Most of the time, it's the m60-14. I carry all of these
except the M66, pocket, IWB, OWB. The M66-2 is IWB or OWB.
Some will scoff, but when the hit their 70's, they won't.
Dano
Any info handy on that nice looking Old Timer? Probably like to have one of those of it is still in production.
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