NMPOPS
Member
All my snubbies are DAO except for a 638 and I never use the single action on it. I even converted ny 4" M65-2 to DAO.
Snub Nose - DAO or DA/SA
- Thread starter marb4
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Blacksmoke
Member
The four snubbies I owned all had exposed hammers. Often carried in a pocket holster, never had a snag problem. There is a technique for drawing I learned. I can see adding an after market shroud, if one can be found. I would have no objection to owning a DA only or factory shrouded model.
kBob
Member
DA/SA because I like having options. One year way back I caught some flak at a man on man plate shoot with snubbies because I shot the four plates and bowling pin tie breaker at 15 yards all SA a couple of runs and some runs shot the plates DA and Pin SA. I just like being able to shoot either way.
I have heard all the arguments against shooting SA........
Hitting a man sized target at 25 yards DA is well and good, but what if all you can see is part of a head and gun arm around the back of a car at that range? What if it is Gonzo Rifleman in the parking lot or across the shop room floor is at 75 yards?
Neither is likely.....but neither is needing a gun in the first place.
Options are usually good things.
-kBob
I have heard all the arguments against shooting SA........
Hitting a man sized target at 25 yards DA is well and good, but what if all you can see is part of a head and gun arm around the back of a car at that range? What if it is Gonzo Rifleman in the parking lot or across the shop room floor is at 75 yards?
Neither is likely.....but neither is needing a gun in the first place.
Options are usually good things.
-kBob
Redfisher60
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I prefer my 642 Pro AW. I only pocket carry anyway in a Bulldog holster. Now if I were to start using OWB then the Model 85 steel Taurus may see some carry, wouldn't worry about a snag then I guess.
But then with a belly gun I ain't gonna take the time to SA cock anyway!
But then with a belly gun I ain't gonna take the time to SA cock anyway!
bassjam
Member
If a rifleman is 75 yards away, I don't care if I have a snubbie or a full sized 1911, I'm getting the heck out of there!!! Handguns do an OK job at close quarters, but there's a certain distance when you have to realize that your best chance of survival is to not use your gun, and use your legs instead. And that distance is will within the realm of what a DA snubbie is capable of.
chicharrones
needs more ammo
I pocket carry and I've tried snub nose revolvers with and without the spur. In a panicked draw, I found the spur can snag even if attempting to use the thumb on the spur during the draw. Not every time, but enough that I only pocket carry spurless hammer snubbies.
kBob
Member
Bassjam,
I don't think I am capable of "getting the heck out of there" if the lives of innocent folks are involved. Maybe I am just old and set in my ways.
I have found that even snubbies like the older Charter Arms Undercover and the Rossi attempt at a J frame are generally capable of a three inch group from a good rest or roll over prone at 25 yards.......that translates to a nine inch group at 75 yards and so such shots are quite do able if you have the will to do so. My wife regularly hit plastic gallon milk jugs on the back stop beyond our old City 100 yard range so about 115 yards one handed from a stand when she was a regular shooter, with either a Charter Undercover or Taurus 85.
Don't sell the guns short.
-kBob
I don't think I am capable of "getting the heck out of there" if the lives of innocent folks are involved. Maybe I am just old and set in my ways.
I have found that even snubbies like the older Charter Arms Undercover and the Rossi attempt at a J frame are generally capable of a three inch group from a good rest or roll over prone at 25 yards.......that translates to a nine inch group at 75 yards and so such shots are quite do able if you have the will to do so. My wife regularly hit plastic gallon milk jugs on the back stop beyond our old City 100 yard range so about 115 yards one handed from a stand when she was a regular shooter, with either a Charter Undercover or Taurus 85.
Don't sell the guns short.
-kBob
DaveTNC
Member
I voted DOA, mainly because I usually pocket carry and don't have to worry about an exposed hammer snagging something. And I hardly ever shoot the one DA/SA revolver I own single action, anyway.
Blacksmoke
Member
Not meaning to be critical in any way. A "panicked draw" seems like prelude to disaster. While we all aim to avoid that, surely it can happen and that spur could become a problem. A DA only or a shroud seems practical for pocket carry. I wonder if an aftermarket shroud for the DS/Cobra is still available?
chicharrones
needs more ammo
Lots of practice draws done in different ways, using snub nose revolvers loaded with snap caps, led me to prefer a spurless hammer.
If I could have my hand in my pocket before drawing, I could cover the hammer spur effectively. Simulating a quick draw and shoot with my hand starting out of my pocket, would tend to have my thumb out of position on the spur and the gun would catch in my pocket leading to no draw happening.
With a spurless hammer, a revolver slides out of my pocket quicker than an autoloader.
That's just me.
Edit to add: I use pocket holsters in all my pocket guns, whether revolvers or auto loaders.
Zendude
Member
I have both. For pocket carry I always go hammerless. With a good iwb or owb holster, I don't have any issues with the hammer spur.
CZ9shooter
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I agree. I like to have a hammer. I carry in a holster. It has never caught on anything. I don't like pocket carry, but if I did, a hammerless revolver would certainly be in order.
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Creature
Member
I carry a snubbie 90% of the time that I carry...and I carry every day and have done for more than two and a half decades. I prefer a DA/SA snubbie with a hammer. I like having the option of a very light and clean trigger break if forced to make a shot that requires increased accuracy.
An opposable thumb (and the will to learn to use it, I suppose) is one of the things that distinguish humans form other primates.
Michael Tinker Pearce
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- Oct 23, 2016
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I picked DOA, but by a narrow margin; if there had been a 'both' option I'd have selected that. For pocket carry I like hammerless. For a dedicated belt-gun I prefer DA/SA. I like having the option even if I never use it.
To me the arguments against a SA shot with a defensive gun are spurious. People carry 1911s and Glocks with light modified triggers all of the time and have for many years. Not firing when you don't intend to is a matter of training, not trigger. In a hyperstress situation you will do as you have trained to do. If you've trained to keep your finger off the trigger until you fire DA or SA is irrelevant.
To me the arguments against a SA shot with a defensive gun are spurious. People carry 1911s and Glocks with light modified triggers all of the time and have for many years. Not firing when you don't intend to is a matter of training, not trigger. In a hyperstress situation you will do as you have trained to do. If you've trained to keep your finger off the trigger until you fire DA or SA is irrelevant.
Blkhrt13
Member
I picked da/sa just cause it's all I own. I do want a dao or two. I want a bobbed ss 85 and a centennial. Right now I have a model 29 3", 2" police positive, charter undercover and a model 36
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DA/SA. I was trained on it and if I have to shoot in self-defense, it's pure DA only. SA is good as an option if I have to train someone.
I don't own a J-frame, or any other 5-shot, 2" revolvers. For one thing the low capacity and reduced performance of the short barrel makes them unsuitable to me personally. On top of that my hands are too big, or maybe my fingers are too thick, or something else but I can't shoot them comfortably or well.
I generally don't like barrels less than 3" but I admit to having a 2.5" 386 Nightguard, the closest thing I've owned to a snubby in years although it is an L-frame. I only shoot it DAO so I voted that way in your poll. In fact I always shoot S&W revolvers DAO so if the hammer spur was missing I wouldn't loose a second's sleep over it's absence.
Dave
I generally don't like barrels less than 3" but I admit to having a 2.5" 386 Nightguard, the closest thing I've owned to a snubby in years although it is an L-frame. I only shoot it DAO so I voted that way in your poll. In fact I always shoot S&W revolvers DAO so if the hammer spur was missing I wouldn't loose a second's sleep over it's absence.
Dave
Blacksmoke
Member
I agree with Dave that a 3 inch barrel would be better. If trousers these days had bigger pockets I would carry a 4 inch Colt Cobra or Police Positive. As it is, a snubbie is all that fits.
Triggernosis
Member
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- Jan 11, 2010
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- 499
To me, a snub nose revolver is a close-quarters defense weapon. Therefore, I vote for DAO.
bearman49709
Member
I will never own a dao.
kBob
Member
So once when I worked for the Dark Side I got some iteration of a S&W Body Guard to tempt folks to by gun magazines with. My boss went on rather a while about the grandness of such guns having the ability to be fired from with in the jacket pocket.
Once my photographer and I were through getting the requisite range shooting shots I retrieved my sadly conditioned emergency zippered hoody from the trunk of the car. Oil and food stained and with a ripped left pocket and worn out elastic at the right wrist I determined that a few bullet holes in the right pocket would not really do it much harm.
Dropping the loaded revolver in the right pocket and grasping the revolver in a firm grip there-in I stepped up to where with a good streatch I could touch the target with the left hand. I then slid back so my left foot was leading and pulled my left hand behind my left hip to ensure it was out of the way. I froze there a moment and instructed the photographer to line up a good shot for his camera. I counted down in the hopes he could get a dynamic shot of the pistol shooting through the pocket.
Basically I was shooting from the front retention position, but from inside that jacket pocket. At zero I pulled the trigger while focusing on the target. At plus one I fired again. At Plus two I fired again. At plus three......I realized I was on fire.
On fire with a still loaded revolver in hand is not a good place to be.
Fortunately I am one of those nuts that though I can be pretty freaking crazy when playing around tends not to freak when it matters. I laid the revolver on the ground and shucked the burning .....and melting..... remains of my jacket.
The jacket was a Sears and Rarebacked late 1960s thing of some spongy synthetic, not advertised for its sympathetic detonation qualities. Nice flames and flaming melted goo, sort of wearable napalm as it were.
I turned to my photographer and asked, "Did you get that?"
No he had not as he had decided to watch the target to see how many hits I got. I got three for three, some minor burns, the hair removed from the back of my right hand and no more spongy twenty year old jacket.
There were some that thought I should be forced to pay for the slightly damaged revolver, but fortunately the sooty areas all polished off.
I determined that I might still be forced to shoot through a pocket sometime and have tried to think about the flammability of my jackets every since.
I would like to think that the incident did not color my opinion of "hammerless" revolvers, but I can not remember dropping such in a pocket since that day.
-kBob
Once my photographer and I were through getting the requisite range shooting shots I retrieved my sadly conditioned emergency zippered hoody from the trunk of the car. Oil and food stained and with a ripped left pocket and worn out elastic at the right wrist I determined that a few bullet holes in the right pocket would not really do it much harm.
Dropping the loaded revolver in the right pocket and grasping the revolver in a firm grip there-in I stepped up to where with a good streatch I could touch the target with the left hand. I then slid back so my left foot was leading and pulled my left hand behind my left hip to ensure it was out of the way. I froze there a moment and instructed the photographer to line up a good shot for his camera. I counted down in the hopes he could get a dynamic shot of the pistol shooting through the pocket.
Basically I was shooting from the front retention position, but from inside that jacket pocket. At zero I pulled the trigger while focusing on the target. At plus one I fired again. At Plus two I fired again. At plus three......I realized I was on fire.
On fire with a still loaded revolver in hand is not a good place to be.
Fortunately I am one of those nuts that though I can be pretty freaking crazy when playing around tends not to freak when it matters. I laid the revolver on the ground and shucked the burning .....and melting..... remains of my jacket.
The jacket was a Sears and Rarebacked late 1960s thing of some spongy synthetic, not advertised for its sympathetic detonation qualities. Nice flames and flaming melted goo, sort of wearable napalm as it were.
I turned to my photographer and asked, "Did you get that?"
No he had not as he had decided to watch the target to see how many hits I got. I got three for three, some minor burns, the hair removed from the back of my right hand and no more spongy twenty year old jacket.
There were some that thought I should be forced to pay for the slightly damaged revolver, but fortunately the sooty areas all polished off.
I determined that I might still be forced to shoot through a pocket sometime and have tried to think about the flammability of my jackets every since.
I would like to think that the incident did not color my opinion of "hammerless" revolvers, but I can not remember dropping such in a pocket since that day.
-kBob
entropy
Member
Setting your pocket on fire beats a trip to the morgue, I should think.
Confederate
Member
I'll take a DA/SA any day because a DAO just isn't as accurate. If one doesn't want a SA capability because of a hammer that might get in the way, I can see that, but once you get rid of the hammer, you lose what a revolver is really good at, and that's the ability to reach out to very far distances. I've seen people with 2- and 3-inch barrels do very well at 50-75 yards. And I once taught a woman to shoot with a 2.75-inch Security-Six to shoot at 100 yards and she was breaking some of these these clay pigeons within twenty minutes! I don't want to give up accuracy in the event my partner (if I were a cop) or a citizen was in a hostage situation requiring a face shot, or if someone had to be taken down at a distance. I know that some people can be exceptionally accurate with double action, but I also know they're most likely better with single action.
One thing I love about shooting single action, is that I can do
it accurately! It's something I don't want to give up.
I've got a S&W 6906 9mm auto that has a bobbed hammer. If I got into a tight squeeze, I could pull the trigger until the hammer exposed itself, then I could reach up and cock it. If revolvers are the same way, I might be able to live with DAO. But once one shoots SA, the gun's back to the next shot being DAO. That's a lot of responsibility to live with.
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One thing I love about shooting single action, is that I can do
it accurately! It's something I don't want to give up.
I've got a S&W 6906 9mm auto that has a bobbed hammer. If I got into a tight squeeze, I could pull the trigger until the hammer exposed itself, then I could reach up and cock it. If revolvers are the same way, I might be able to live with DAO. But once one shoots SA, the gun's back to the next shot being DAO. That's a lot of responsibility to live with.
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