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The
snub-nose .38 revolver has really taken a beating over the last
several years. In fact a lot of people who criticize the gun
have never taken the time to even shoot one, or have only fired
a few rounds. I have heard story after story about what pieces
of junk they are and how they do not compare to any semi-auto on
the market.
My
first statement in response is always this: equipment does not
replace training; so you can have the coolest and most popular
gun on the planet, and it might as well be the biggest piece of
junk there is if you do not know how to use it. Second, if it is
not on your person it is less than useless. Third, since the
person has never really fired a snub or trained with one, how do
they come to that conclusion?
On
the other side of the coin, they say a snubby is a
professional’s gun, or I have been told the only reason you
like a snub is because you are an anomaly. The average person
could never shoot a snubby like that.
Any
advice or comments I receive from any person who does not speak
from experience or is just regurgitating what they heard from
someone else always shows me just how ignorant the person is.
The
fact is a snubby is not a piece of junk, and I and others like
me are not anomalies. Anyone can learn to shoot anything. There
are some differences in shooting a snubby. But there are
differences in shooting semi-autos and full frame revolvers.
I
love the snub nose revolver because they are easily concealed on
many different areas of the body. The ones I own are extremely
accurate, and I can assure you I do not feel out gunned in any
situation I approach with one, unless I am going up against a
person with a rifle. Then I would feel outgunned with any
handgun and if possible I will retreat to even the odds, and no
I am not retreating to get another handgun I am going for a
rifle.
For
a personal defense handgun you can not do any better than a
snubby if you take the time to learn how to shoot it. I would also go as far as to say that if you can learn to
shoot a snubby effectively that it will make you a better shot
with any hand gun you pick up.
The
only draw back with this firearm is that it will take you a bit
longer to reload than a semi auto. However
gun fights are rarely like what you see on TV.
Most
of the time a reload is not going to be necessary during the
fight. The purpose of that handgun any handgun is to break
contact with the bad guy. Not standing around in the open
waiting to get shot.
In
a gun fight you should be shooting and moving to a better
position as soon as you put a few rounds into the threat, and if
you have to shoot again, it should be from a different angle if
possible. This
should be done when using any handgun. Unless
your opponent is on something, crazy or just locks up when he
realizes he picked the wrong person to screw with that day and
you have not killed him. I can assure you he is heading for the
hills and trying to get away from you once rounds start coming
his way. He is not
going to just stand there either. If you practice your reload it
should not be a problem at all. More ammo does not necessarily make you more effective.
The
thing I remember most when I first started in law enforcement is
you never ran into another copper that was not armed. He always
had his snubby with him. These
officers were required to qualify with the snub, and were just
as capable with it if not more so then they were with their duty
weapon, not for any other reason than they took the time to
practice.
I
never heard any competent officer or shooter say I hate this gun
and can not hit anything with it.
If I did hear comments like that the person
typically hated having to deal with any gun including a full
size weapon and never took the time to practice. And of course
their were always those who purchased a new gun each week, and
what ever they had at the time was better, cooler and more
unique than anything you ever owned.
When
departments made the switch to the semi-auto a lot of officers
quit carrying off duty they dumped their snubby and stuck there
duty gun under the seat of their car or in some other location
where they could not get to it after the newness of carrying it
all of the time wore off. The general public typicality follows
suit and they begin to purchase what the police are using and
wind up doing the same as the officers, not carrying.
Since
this article originally came out I have had a chance to talk to
some persons I hold in high regard and are very well thought of
in the law enforcement and gun community. One of the comments I
received was from an individual who pushed that officers be
required to carry their duty gun at all times, now feels it was
a mistake, for two reasons. The first is that the officers do
not carry their duty gun off duty, and go unarmed.
Second if they do carry a snub they do not make it public
and rarely practice with it because they do not want to hear
negative comments from other officers.
Another
trend I saw was and I still see it today is persons carry some
little semi auto. They do not carry a spare magazine for it and
they are so small they are
a pain to draw and shoot not to mention they are
extremely unreliable if they are not cared for with kit gloves
and most persons who carrying them do little or no preventive
maintenance. Further they have major reliability issues when
properly cared for. So how can they justify the change? .
My
snubbies have never failed to fire, have never had a feeding
problem, I do not have to use some special brand or type of ammo
to get it to work in fact I have way more ammo choices, lint or
other debris has never caused it to fail to function. I can not
say that about the compact semi-autos I have seen other people
carry. Every single one of them has had some kind of a problem
at one time or another.
I
have purchased a few my self to play around with to see how they
performed and all of them have had some kind of an issue. My snubbies
have worked well and have never had a problem since the day I
removed them from the box.
You
also have to get away from looking at manufacturers' ballistic
tables and start looking at the morgue tables.
The snubby allows me to carry the ammo of my choosing
from the manufacture of my choosing that I know works well in
dispatching a threat. Not
because they say it does based on a ballistic gelatin test. But
because I know it does based on its performance in the field
time and again. I
can not always do that with a semi-auto. I have been stuck carrying ammo I did not care for because it
made the gun more reliable.
So
for me the snubby has always been a tried and true reliable
weapon and is my constant companion both on duty and off. It
is my back up when I carry a primary and my carry gun when I do
not. Unless you see
me completely naked, which would frighten even the most hardened
of individuals, I can assure you there is a snubby with me at
all times.
Steven
L. Doran
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Click pictures for a larger version.
The author's first snubby, stainless steel, Smith &
Wesson Model 60 with a ground off hammer spur. I prefer this
modification verses a hammerless or shrouded model. I can
still cock the hammer if need be and it is not as bulky as a
shrouded hammer.
The author purchased this snubby as it was often carried
as a third gun and I liked the fact that it weighs next to
nothing and still performs as well as the stainless. The only
draw back is trigger pull. The stainless is nothing short of
flawless
Two of the snubbies pictured here belong to the author,
the third to his old partner who prefers a full hammer spur
and larger grips since he always carries the weapon in strong
side thumb break holster.
The author finds that the addition of a big dot front
site helps to place shots more quickly on target when under
stress.
The author prefers the t-grip because it aids in
controllability with out adding any bulk to the grip.
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