Recommend me a Snubby

[orygun]

As some here said, the SW model 60 is great. It's a carry piece in my collection, although with mine, it's a dash 15 with the Hillary lock on it, but works great. Mine also is the 3 inch barrel with an adjustable rear sight vs the true snub nose with the gutter sights and 2.25 barrels etc. Try one out as these snub nose guns can be a handful and are notoriously difficult to shoot accurately without some training, particularly with .357 loads.

I have the same gun, 60-15 3". I carry it most of the time. I think it's a fun gun to shoot, even with 357 ammo. The grip fits my hand very well and I think that helps a lot when it comes to perceived recoil. It's not what I would call a pocket pistol, cuz it's a little long and a little heavy.
When I want a pocket pistol I carry my wife's 642 Ladysmith. I can stuff it in the backpack when we're riding dirtbikes and I can easily front pocket carry it when wearing shorts.

Hot Damn, Ruger is doing the GP-100 in .44 Mag! Time to call @LuckySG to see if I can get my grubbies on a blued 4.5 inch one! From powder puff't to full nukum magnum, that would be a serious carry piece!

I had a S&W Model 69. L-framed, 5 shot 44 Mag. About the same size as the GP-100. Shooting 44 Specials, it was nearly perfect. With "real" 44 Magnums it was downright mean in recoil. I traded it for the 60-15.

 

[NeSeR13]

Get a Colt Cobra.

 

[Tony617]

Lot of fans of using wad cutters in snubbies for good reason, find the most accurate out of your specific gun and roll with it.

I shot my fair share of 38 spl wadcutters from my .357 magnum 686-1 revolver years ago in the late 1980 to early 1990s. Great for making holes in paper targets and they were not that costly compared to JSP or JHP.

 

[Olderguy]

S&W snubbies are hard to beat. I prefer the 38 spl., but just my opinion. I would suggest staying away from the older Colt Cobra's, even though they are six shot, they are a well built snubby but the trigger is thin and harder on the trigger finger unless you add a trigger shoe.

 

[I594 Sucks]

I am missing, in my lineup, a good snubby. One could say that I've always made due with a larger package. But now, I need some help in being a tad more discrete - and I'm thinking, are small revolvers worth it?

38sp? 357? 327? Something else entirely? Ruger has always treated me well with single actions - what about the LCR? Are Smith's any good (new) or would you look for something older?

Anything you'd stay away from?

An S&W PD360 was, and is, my first choice. Along with a "true" J frame grip and .38 SPL loads, mine makes an exceptionally concealable sidearm with the proper attire. Even my anti-gun sister and her husband never noticed it under an un-tucked long sleeve flannel shirt.

The PD340 makes a good, concealed hammer, version as well. Just ensure you put on the J frame grip...it will greatly help with stability.

 

[edzz]

What the heck is a " "true" J frame grip " ?

 

[Bon Sauvage]

If you would prefer a, "stubby" over a, "snubby" then sobo is your man.

 

[kopcicle]

Taurus M85, bobbed.
With the disappearance of the Federal Nyclad 38 Special, not so much.
I found mine to be perfectly regulated for 158gr.
I had zero issues with the weapon. In fact, I amazed myself as well as others by using it in friendly bullseye competition at 25 yards.

Practice, training, experience, experimentation, rinse, wash, repeat.

 

[Cottonwood]

I recently found another sweet deal at a local pawn shop, there it was a Ruger SP101 2.5" 357 Mag
put it on layaway for now.

 

[nammac]

Taurus M85, bobbed.
With the disappearance of the Federal Nyclad 38 Special, not so much.
I found mine to be perfectly regulated for 158gr.
I had zero issues with the weapon. In fact, I amazed myself as well as others by using it in friendly bullseye competition at 25 yards.

Practice, training, experience, experimentation, rinse, wash, repeat.

Federal Nyclads we're da bomb for 2" .38's back in the day, still have a couple of boxes tucked away in the stash.

I found that Federal 148 gr wadcutters shoot to poa, and were the standard for 2" revolvers for many years. Still a reasonable effective self defense round.

 

[shap]

I have an SP101 and have shot a S&W642 a lot. I acquired a Taurus 856 UL 2" 38 spl 6 shot last fall and have shot about 450 rounds through it. Very accurate, easily shoots 2.5' groups at 12 yards with slow double action with most ammo I have tried. Trigger stages consistently through all chambers and is easy to stage in double action. The front sight is removable on mine and I upgraded to the Taurus tritium/orange front site which helps a lot with accurate shooting. The 856 is an extremely good value snobby in my opinion. If you are looking for a value snubby to pack every day, the 856 should be high on the list in my opinion. Also no hillary hole either on the 856.

 

[Glockguy97]

Smith 642, they make new productions without the Hillary hole.

Put some Gold Dot .38+P "short barrel" ammo in there and you're good to go.

The only downside is that it doesn't have sites like the LCR but you shouldn't need them with a snub nose—that and I refuse to give Ruger anymore of my money.

 

[Shhhhh]

Big fan of the S&W 638. It's an airweight so you won't know it's there and with the shrouded hammer it won't get snagged and still allows for a real nice single action when wanted.

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

An S&W PD360 was, and is, my first choice. Along with a "true" J frame grip and .38 SPL loads, mine makes an exceptionally concealable sidearm with the proper attire. Even my anti-gun sister and her husband never noticed it under an un-tucked long sleeve flannel shirt.

The PD340 makes a good, concealed hammer, version as well. Just ensure you put on the J frame grip...it will greatly help with stability.

View attachment 1367478

That picture hurts my hand.

 

[Olderguy]

have a couple or 3 snubbies- my favorite by far is my Ruger Alaskan in 454 Casull- makes for peace of mind when out in the woods.

 

[blaster1145]

Hello to everyone. Good stuff written above. Most of the following has been covered, but not all...

Caliber-wise, 38s in a 357 snub. Relatively inexpensive and effective. Be careful about the bullet. Make sure yours will expand at short barrel velocitiy.

I have experience with 3 revolvers. My first was an old Smith with the shrouded hammer. Very nice pistol, robust. Fixed sights, so the cartridge point of impact had to match. Sold it to go auto, 25 years ago.

I came back to revolvers in 2019 and bought a shorty Ruger LCR in 357 and a 3 inch LCRx in 22. The 357 has fixed channel sights, so there's the point-of-aim issue again. But it's a very nice firearm. Inexpenive, light, disappears in your pocket. Accurate. Great at recoil management with that rubber grip and upright grip angle. Much more pleasant to shoot than the Smith, despite the fact the Smith was a steel gun. However, if you dry-fire the Ruger on a regular basis (and you should, BTW), buy a box of trigger return springs ang change it out on occasion. Same part in both of my LCRs. I've broken 3. I don't carry it anymore.

I ended up with a 2 inch K6s and will most likely stay with it. Kinda fugly imo, and it cost me about $850. But very good. It's patterned after the 2 inch Colt Detective model I think. Very, very accurate. 6 round cylinder, tremendous trigger, adjustable sights, only slightly larger than a J frame. Also a bit heavier, but still disappears in the pocket. Internals are copied from SW. Including the firing pin, which I believe is the same part exactly. A good revolver for daily dry firing. I learned to use snap caps and keep a couple spare firing pins on hand. They will break, despite what Kimber says. Most firearms will break getting used a lot, but at least with this one the fire control parts aren't likely to.

Could go on, should probably stop there. Hope it helps.

 

[dangerranger60]

What the heck is a " "true" J frame grip " ?

I think he is talking about the original sliver S&W grips. As in just a sliver of wood on each side. The modern grips fill in the area behind the trigger guard to make your trigger pull straight back. Old shooters achieved this by adding grip adapters like the Tyler T Grip. DR

 

[bikemutt]

S&W 342 Airlite .38sp are my choices for light carry. I have a 342 and 342PD, both scandium cylinder, concealed hammer, 5-shot, j-frame, no-lock revolvers. At 11oz unloaded they are unnoticeable even in gym gear. Not range guns, unpleasant to shoot, minute of heifer accuracy.

Better to be out-gunned than no-gunned, lol.

 

[Brians356]

If I was buying a snub, it'd be a 6-shot LCR in .327 loaded with the meanest .32 H&R Mags I could find.

The Ruger LCRx in 327 Fed Mag is what I recently acquired. Unlike most LCRs, the magnum versions (327 and 357) have stainless steel (vs alloy) frames and weigh about an ounce more, which reduces felt recoil. Too, the 327 Mag LCR is a six shooter (vs 5 for the 357) and fires both 32 H&R Mag and 32 S&W Long accurately. That's the most flexible chambering available in a pocket revolver, and both of these cartridges are available in loads which meet the FBI's penetration standards:

Pocket Pistol Caliber Ballistic Gel Tests - LuckyGunner.com Labs

Pocket pistol caliber ballistic gelatin results. We tested dozens of different loads to give you an idea what's best for self-defense.

www.luckygunner.com

But for me the clincher for the LCRx was the DA trigger action, which is long but smooth and has a pleasingly light cam-action let-off.

I happen to agree with Chris Baker at LuckyGunner that "the best pocket snub nose caliber is .32".

Why the Best Snub Nose Caliber is .32

We analyze ballistic gel testing for various loads in .32 caliber to see what your best options are to pair with a snub nose revolver.

www.luckygunner.com

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[tkdguy]

What ever snubby fits you hand.