Now I understand snubby pocket carry!

[CoalTrain49]

I just bought a S&W model 36 a few days ago and I'm slowly getting the grips worked out. I don't like the factory RB grips so I need to find something else. I've carried a Taurus 85 for many years but recently found that the POI is about 6" low and left of the POA at 10 yds. That discovery was a little disturbing so I replaced it with the 36.

These really are ideal for pocket carry. I prescribe to the thumb over the hammer draw. I really like having the SA capability. Seems the shrouded hammer models are pretty pricey, especially the used ones. Most of the new models are 357 also. Just can't get my head around a J frame 357. Excess weight and length that I would never use.

 

[ThomasT]

Adcoch1 I liked your little 22 so much I took my own advice and bought the same gun in 32 long. I reload for this round and have a big bunch of lead bullets cast up already so ammo will cost me almost nothing. I just won the auction today so don't have the gun yet but here is the page from GB.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/739917628

I have no plans to ever cut the hammer on the gun.

 

[bikerdoc]

I have a 649 like Banockburns for pocket carry with a homemade holster

 

[adcoch1]

Adcoch1 I liked your little 22 so much I took my own advice and bought the same gun in 32 long. I reload for this round and have a big bunch of lead bullets cast up already so ammo will cost me almost nothing. I just won the auction today so don't have the gun yet but here is the page from GB.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/739917628

I have no plans to ever cut the hammer on the gun.

Very nice! Sure would like to pick up a 32 handgun one of these days... That one's a peach!

 

[robhof]

I carry an Airweight, about the same wt as your 22, but with 5 rounds of wadcutters, very accurate and easy on the hand.

 

[Panzerschwein]

I carry an Airweight, about the same wt as your 22, but with 5 rounds of wadcutters, very accurate and easy on the hand.View attachment 776839

Wacutters cut a deep and wide wound channel. They cut like a cookie cutter through flesh, unlike the round noses that just slip through the meat. This causes far more wounding and more rapid incapacitation of the target. They also kick pretty light too.

 

[straightshooterjake]

I will readily admit that I do not know anything about these H&R revolvers, and I would be quite interested to learn more. But with that said, I will still offer the same advice I give whenever anyone asks me about carrying older handguns. My response is always "Does it meet modern drop safety standards?"

I personally will not carry a handgun unless I am absolutely certain that it will not fire if dropped. If there is any question, I would not carry the firearm with a round under the hammer, and would most likely designate it for range use only.

For many older guns, it is difficult to get a good assessment about drop safety. My choice in these situations is to choose something else. An experienced person can make a partial assessment of drop safety with a detailed inspection, but even with a careful examination, it is difficult to determine whether a gun really meets modern standards.

Some people think that drop safety is not critical as long as you are not clumsy, but I strongly disagree on this point. When we talk about a handgun taking a hard drop, that does not necessarily mean it has been separated from its owner. The handgun could be safely in its holster when the owner is knocked down, hit by a car or kicked by a horse. With bad luck, any of the impacts could directly impact the firearm. I have confidence that my firearms will not discharge in these situations, and I recommend the same to others.

Regarding the H&R revolvers in this thread, I will be very interested if people can offer more details about the internal safety design. I am always interested to learn more about the engineering of firearms.

 

[adcoch1]

I will readily admit that I do not know anything about these H&R revolvers, and I would be quite interested to learn more. But with that said, I will still offer the same advice I give whenever anyone asks me about carrying older handguns. My response is always "Does it meet modern drop safety standards?"

I personally will not carry a handgun unless I am absolutely certain that it will not fire if dropped. If there is any question, I would not carry the firearm with a round under the hammer, and would most likely designate it for range use only.

For many older guns, it is difficult to get a good assessment about drop safety. My choice in these situations is to choose something else. An experienced person can make a partial assessment of drop safety with a detailed inspection, but even with a careful examination, it is difficult to determine whether a gun really meets modern standards.

Some people think that drop safety is not critical as long as you are not clumsy, but I strongly disagree on this point. When we talk about a handgun taking a hard drop, that does not necessarily mean it has been separated from its owner. The handgun could be safely in its holster when the owner is knocked down, hit by a car or kicked by a horse. With bad luck, any of the impacts could directly impact the firearm. I have confidence that my firearms will not discharge in these situations, and I recommend the same to others.

Regarding the H&R revolvers in this thread, I will be very interested if people can offer more details about the internal safety design. I am always interested to learn more about the engineering of firearms.

This model h&r has a hammer stop that is deactivated by the secondary trigger at the rear of the trigger guard. Without hitting that the hammer can't drop on the cartridge rim. Maybe not perfect, but several orders of magnitude safer than if it didn't have it.

 

[Walkalong]

Old school pocket carry. (With the hammer down of course.)

 

[hd5]

I always carry my LCP, but my wife saw a NAA with the folding handle and bought me one for Christmas. Now I carry both, I like that the handle serves as a holster. While it's cold the .22 just goes in my coat pocket. The handle clip is awful right so far


Btw the lcp rides in a galco pocket holster.

 

[somethingbenign]

I just fixed up a H&R .22 revolver for my step dad last year. I want to say it was a m922? Was missing the cylinder pin but otherwise all together. Gun wasn't worth much but it was his old trapping gun and I wanted it up and running. I also wanted to prove him wrong when he said you couldn't hit anything out past five feet. He was half right, the front sight was bent so it shot way right. The barrel also wiggles a little and need a new pin to tighten it up. Fixed the sight but couldn't justify the cost of having the barrel repinned.

 

[GBExpat]

No reason to lose the hammer. All you need to do is place your thumb on top of the hammer when drawing the revolver and you can't catch on anything. ...

Ayup, that's the way to do it ... if you choose to neither alter nor replace the hammer.

 

[CoalTrain49]

I will readily admit that I do not know anything about these H&R revolvers, and I would be quite interested to learn more. But with that said, I will still offer the same advice I give whenever anyone asks me about carrying older handguns. My response is always "Does it meet modern drop safety standards?"

I don't think anything with a firing pin on a hammer meets "modern drop safety standards". That's why carrying on an empty chamber was the drop safety. These are truly Saturday Night Specials. That's why I never carry mine on Saturday night. Not rated for plus P either. I'm living in the 60's.

 

[adcoch1]

I don't think anything with a firing pin on a hammer meets "modern drop safety standards". That's why carrying on an empty chamber was the drop safety. These are truly Saturday Night Specials. That's why I never carry mine on Saturday night. Not rated for plus P either.

+p 22lr? Is that the cci stingers? Jk, I really don't intend to carry this gun as a personal defense gun on a regular basis, but it would be better than no gun at all if I had to have a gun. Mostly it'll be a camp gun for plinking.

 

[straightshooterjake]

I don't think anything with a firing pin on a hammer meets "modern drop safety standards".

All post WWII Smith & Wesson revolvers meet modern drop safety standards. Most of those revolvers have hammer mounted firing pins, and they are fine to carry fully loaded. However, you are correct to be suspicious of revolvers with hammer mounted firing pins, some of them certainly have safety issues. It should also be noted that Ruger 3 screw single action revolvers in their original configuration have a frame mounted firing pin, but are still unsafe with the hammer down on a live round.

In post #33 of this thread, user adcoch1 has explained that these H&R revolvers are designed with a safety system to keep the firing pin away from the round unless the trigger is pulled. Without further details, I cannot know whether this system is robust or sufficient, but it may well be. I will still be interested to hear more about the internal workings of these revolvers.

 

[ThomasT]

Not rated for plus P either. I'm living in the 60's.

If you remember the H&R revolvers were the first guns chambered fro the new 32 H&R magnum round. I don't think you have to worry about any +P ammo blowing them up. +P is a joke anyway. +P 38 is just loaded to what the original 38 Special was loaded to when it first came out.

 

[ThomasT]

The barrel also wiggles a little and need a new pin to tighten it up. Fixed the sight but couldn't justify the cost of having the barrel repinned.

That should be an easy repair. Remove the barrel and set it in the red loctite gap filling glue. Reinstall the pin until dry. You should be able to remove the pin. Measure and drill a slightly bigger hole and repin with a piece of drill rod or hardened rod. Heck even a non hardened rod would be fine.

 

[somethingbenign]

That should be an easy repair. Remove the barrel and set it in the red loctite gap filling glue. Reinstall the pin until dry. You should be able to remove the pin. Measure and drill a slightly bigger hole and repin with a piece of drill rod or hardened rod. Heck even a non hardened rod would be fine.

I'll have to look into that as I would love to out shoot my step dad with his own gun. Already gave it back to him so I'll have to find an excuse to snag it again.

 

[If1HitU]

A pocket holster needn't be fancy- a piece of leather folded in half and five rivets.

View attachment 776679

I'll second that.

 

[CoalTrain49]

+p 22lr? Is that the cci stingers?

Yep. High velocity 22 ammo. I seen a Phoenix Arms blow apart using that plus P 22 ammo.

 

[adcoch1]

I will NOT be shooting hyper velocity ammo in any 22 pistol. 22 shorts though are a different story.

 

[ThomasT]

Hyper velocity ammo will not hurt your gun. It would be stupid on the part of CCI, Remington and others to sell it if there were a chance it would damage a gun. And the Pheonix people warn against using anything but standard velocity ammo in their guns. And thats why I will not buy their weak built guns.

And your gun is rifled to shoot 22 LR rounds. Shorts with the 29gr bullet really need a slower twist for best accuracy. Rifles made for shorts only have a 1/20 twist instead of the more common 1/16 twist.

I don't know where in the world some get their information on guns?

 

[PabloJ]

Aren't the H&R .22s considered... cheap? As in not lasting too long?

I had nine-shot .22 target type H&R with key lock that finned into bottom of gun butt. It was the worst handgun I have ever owned. It tended to rust like old nail in bucket and plastic part that couples trigger to hammer broke soon after I bought it. Local gunsmith had to make the part because small parts like that are no longer available. Avoid like a flu virus.

 

[CoalTrain49]

All post WWII Smith & Wesson revolvers meet modern drop safety standards. Most of those revolvers have hammer mounted firing pins, and they are fine to carry fully loaded. However, you are correct to be suspicious of revolvers with hammer mounted firing pins, some of them certainly have safety issues. It should also be noted that Ruger 3 screw single action revolvers in their original configuration have a frame mounted firing pin, but are still unsafe with the hammer down on a live round.

In post #33 of this thread, user adcoch1 has explained that these H&R revolvers are designed with a safety system to keep the firing pin away from the round unless the trigger is pulled. Without further details, I cannot know whether this system is robust or sufficient, but it may well be. I will still be interested to hear more about the internal workings of these revolvers.

Just a question here, not pretending to know the answer. I just looked at 4 S&W revolvers. 1962, 1973, 1990, and 2012. Only one had a flat hammer face and a bar. That was a change sometime between 1990 and 2012. Why did S&W change the firing pin set up if the hammer pin was safe? Again, I don't know.

 

[straightshooterjake]

Just a question here, not pretending to know the answer. I just looked at 4 S&W revolvers. 1962, 1973, 1990, and 2012. Only one had a flat hammer face and a bar. That was a change sometime between 1990 and 2012. Why did S&W change the firing pin set up if the hammer pin was safe? Again, I don't know.

Around 2000, S&W changed their revolvers from using machined internal parts to using parts made with metal injection molding (MIM). At the same time, they changed all their revolvers to use a frame mounted firing pin (FMFP). It is my understanding that the changes made at that time were to improve manufacturing costs. There is no deficiency with earlier revolvers, in fact many people prefer them.

In the revolvers with machined internal parts, the centerfire revolvers used hammer mounted firing pins, and the rimfire revolvers used frame mounted firing pins. Both designs used the same internal safety mechanisms, and all S&W revolvers made after WWII are safe to carry fully loaded. Smith revolvers made from ~1905 to ~1945 also have drop safety systems that are better than many other guns of the era, but there is a least one documented case of a pre-war revolver discharging when dropped.

I will also note the many people strongly dislike the MIM revolvers, but I do not share that opinion. I own quality revolvers from both eras.