Mercy, I had to go back and read post #1 to even remember where this started. First of all, my chief expects me to carry a DA revolver, or an SA or DA autoloader, so I don't normally use an SA sixgun for CC. With my present environment, and my duty to respond, rather than evade/disengage, my usual daily CC ensemble is a pair of P229 pistols. OTOH, I am in the twilight of my LE career, and recently purchased a Milt Sparks Summer Special II for an SAA. Someday soon, in the next two to ten years, I will once again be a private citizen, able to carry what I want. I know my abilities with an SAA, and also know that the first shot or two will almost always determine the outcome of a fight. I also plan to carry a well-tuned SP101 snubby for the rest of my life, unless a truly gifted gunmaker can develop and market something that fits my right hand better.
My left hand, OTOH, is most excellently served by the grip of the SAA. I am an unusual creature, left-handed, but right-armed, and naturally shoot DA best as a rightie, and SA best as a lefty. (I have indeed trained to be functionally ambidextrous with both DA and SA.) The SP101 snubby is limited by its short sight radius; the SAA, OTOH, has a wonderfully long sight radius, and in the 5.5" barrel length, is still nicely portable and concealable. For several years, when out of uniform, I carried a pair of SP101 snubbies on a regular basis, or sometimes one snubby paired with a 4" .357 sixgun. Substituting the SAA for that 4" .357 seems eminently feasible, once I no longer have a duty to intervene in the affairs of others. Out in the sticks, I just might feel OK with just the SAA as my only handgun.
A story: One afternoon, I was cleaning my (then-one-and-only) SIG P229 and SP101, when I remembered I was about to have to meet a colleague for dinner. Rather than hastily wipe and reassemble the SIG and snubby, I carried a USFA China Camp sixgun with me. Later, when I was conversing with my colleague in the parking lot of the steakhouse, two thug-looking young men drove up, circled us, and gave us that look. I did not worry about being armed with a mere SA sixgun, but remember thinking that my chief was going to skin my head for killing two, uh, disadvantaged young men with an unauthorized handgun. We gave them that look of our own, and they disengaged. The operative word in there was "killing." I was prepared to win that fight with the weapon I had with me, and it did not bother me that I was armed with 1873 technology. Had any weapons appeared in the hands of those young men, five doses of 225 to 250 grains of lead was going to be headed their way, and lead is lead.
I am not trying to convert anyone to the use of an SA sixgun for CCW. I don't care if anyone thinks I am a stone-age cowboy for doing so myself on occasion. I am certainly not saying an SAA beats DA sixgun or a P229, assuming equal skill with both weapons.
I think I am better-armed with an SAA than with a J-frame .38 snubby. The J-snub can indeed be reloaded quicker, but that is balanced by the greater range and power of the SAA, and being a lefty, I can reload the SAA quite handily while maintaining a firing grip. I can flip the loading gate open and closed with my left thumb, and rotate the cylinder with my left index finger, while my middle, ring, and pinky fingers maintain a firing grip.
I hope I didn't bore y'all to death. This is just my pointless, rambling $0.02 on the matter.
