I believe that many folks are well-served with small- and medium-frame short-barreled revolvers. Five or six shots, in a cylinder, is “enough. until it isn’t,” but the same can be said for seventeen shots, in a Glock pistol magazine. Now that I am retired from police work, and no longer expected to intervene in the troubles of others, I am comfortable carrying revolvers. My fingers are skinny, especially my ring and pinkie fingers, so I can get a three-finger grip on a J-Frame, but though my hands are narrow, they are long, so I am better-served by something a bit larger than a J-Frame. As my right hand becomes increasingly arthritic, short-gripped handguns, that fire service cartridges, have become my enemies. So, J-Frames are not a best choice, for me, but they serve plenty of other people quite well.
I bought a stainless version of the 36, the Model 60, shortly before starting a police academy, in 1983. Its internal parts were horribly-fitted, which made the trigger pull worse than normal, but I didn’t know any better, at the time. Living a short distance inland from the Gulf or Mexico, in SE Texas, and spending much time right on the coast, stainless steel made plenty of sense. Later in the Eighties, I added a second Model 60, from a limited-tun for a distributor, with a 3” non-tapered barrel, and a squared grip frame. I could this this second one almost as well as a larger-framed duty revolver, except that reloading was slower, even with speed-loaders, as there is less “work space” when the cylinder is open. In the early Nineties, when S&W brought the concealed-hammer Centennial series back, in the form of the Model 640, I went for the DA-only 640 in a big way, which, sadly, resulted in my trading both of my Models 60.
I especially missed the 3” square-butt Model 60, with the non-tapered “bull” barrel. I found the perfect remedy, however, by the end of the Nineties, the Ruger SP101, with its square-ish factory grip, which is so very-well-shaped for my hand, and just long enough to reach the “heel bone” of my hand, for better stability and comfort, when shooting. The SP101, with its factory grip, was the perfect replacement for my 3” square-butt 60, with its Pachmayr grip.
I could not, and cannot, shoot better, in single-action, by cocking the hammer of a J-Frame, unless I use both hands, and I can place my hands firmly on a very solid object, for stability. The spur was/is so small, that the size and geometry of the weapon, just does not work well, in MY hands, for cocking the hammer, while maintaining anything resembling a proper firing grip. I was trained to shoot DA, and expected to do so, on or off the clock, anyway. With J-Frames, especially, this was never something that I felt to be unreasonable. Older S&W revolvers, in the time of what collectors now call the “Five-Screw,” had hammer spurs higher on the hammer, facilitating thumb-cocking. I recently bought a K-Frame, a pre-Model 10, made during that time. It is the only S&W revolver that I can cock, without seriously compromising my firing grip.
Lowering a cocked hammer is something that must be done carefully, in order to do it safety. The large spurs of large-framed single-action sixguns facilitate lowering the hammer safely. I would rather not deal with de-cocking the hammer of a small or medium revolver, while dealing with the physical effects of body alarm reaction, during a defensive encounter. I have experienced shots coming in my direction, though it was not safe for me to return fire in those cases, and I have fired a shot in defense of myself and others, when our opponent had two contact weapons. I have experienced body alarm reaction, a.k.a. Fight-or-Flight reaction, at such times.
