And Now For The Guns

Steve asked me a question about carry guns today for a friend of his, and I thought I'd share my thoughts here, since I can add pictures. If guns aren't your thing, then move along. Nothing to see here.

The question was, what .357 magnum revolver is sturdy enough to shoot a lot, accurate, yet is small enough to carry concealed comfortably? The answer, I'm sorry to say, is none of them.

Now don't get me wrong, the .357 is a good round, but you're always going to have to compromise on something when it comes to a carry .357. It's the nature of the beast.



First, for a small revolver that might do the job, the Ruger SP-101 is always a good choice. The gun is accurate and sturdy. The stainless steel finish is rust-proof and it's heavy enough to dampen a lot of the recoil of the .357 magnum. It's among the most economical, too.

The ideal SP-101 is the factory model 2 1/4" bbl. with the bobbed hammer. The bobbed hammer is a necessity on an Every Day Carry (EDC) revo. The 3 1/16" gun would also be a good choice, but you'd have to get the hammer spur cut off by a gunsmith. That's the way I'd go. I like a 3" bbl for a .357 magnum.

The downside to an SP-101 is that the triggers are heavy, and the the grip frame is the weird Ruger frame that is hard to find grips for. The factory grips are not my favorite thing ever, and I'd prefer some options. The Hogue grips in the pic are too long for my liking. I'd go with Eagle Secret Service stocks myself.



Next comes the Taurus 617. This is a good, quality revolver at a decent price point. Stainless is good, but you can get it blued. Prices run about $350-ish. A great deal. You can also get this gun in .38 special as the model 817 lightweight. Honestly, I'd be tempted to go with the light .38 over the .357, but then, I don't have an overwhelming need for magnum power. I kind of prefer the controllability of a +P .38.

The nice things about the 617/817 is that they are compact guns, but pack a solid 7 rounds. They're fixed sight, so that's one less thing to worry about, and the grips are decent, although as usual I'd probably replace them with something else.

The bad part is that, like with the SP-101, you'd probably want to have the hammer spur bobbed by a gunsmith. Taurus used to offer the 617 with a bobbed hammer from the factory, but they discontinued that model. You can still find them used on occasion, so look around. Recoil will also be stiff, and the Taurus triggers are a little rough, but manageable.

One of the most squared-away guys I know of lives in Brazil and carries one of three Taurus .38's, with the 817 his favorite. I'd have to agree with him on why he likes his. The extra rounds available may mean the difference between life and death.



Now, an odd addition to this list is the Rossi 2" .357 magnum. There are a surprising number of guys who swear by their Rossi's. It's true that a Rossi is not as refined, not as accurate, nor as sturdy as one of the more expensive brands, but let's face it, a snubby will never get shot a lot and at four yards in a dark Wal-mart parking lot accuracy won't matter. The nice thing about the Rossi's is that they can be had new-in-box for under three hundred.

Recoil will be painful though. Always remember that. .38's loaded might be a better choice.



Now we come to the Smith and Wessons. The Smiths are usually considered the best, and for good reason. They are the best quality currently made. Unfortunately, this comes with a hefty price tag. But we'll go ahead and name off some of the better guns in the different sizes.

J-frame: The Model 640- Five shot, 2.5" .357 magnum. My choice in a really compact .357, if only for the fact that you can put a Barami Hip-Grip and Tyler T-grip on it. Recoil is painful.

K-Frame: The Model 65- Six shot .357. Fairly compact, three inch barrel. A handy, easy to carry gun, especially with the Barami/Tyler setup. Sadly discontinued, but can be had at scalper prices used. Recoil is unpleasant.

L-frame: The 686, 619, 620, 386 Nightguard. All great guns, all insanely expensive. My favorite of the l-frames was the 681, but finding one is almost impossible nowadays. The 619 is a good replacement, but a little biggish and also hard to find.

N-frame: the Model 27, 327 and 627 are awesome, and also insanely expensive. As in $1000+. Fuggetit. But an eight shot, 2" .357 snubby is sweet. If I had unlimited funds...

I should also mention that Taurus' Model 608 is an 8-shot, 4" .357 at a very decent price.

General Pros and Cons

Now, all this being said, here's a few points on carry revolvers.

Revolver Pros- While automatics better withstand abuse, revolvers better withstand neglect. You could load one up and put it in your sock drawer for fifty years, then pull it out with dust bunnies hanging all over it and it will probably still go bang.

Revolvers are reliable, in that if you have a bum cartridge all it takes is another pull of the trigger to line up and fire the next chamber. No messy tap-rack-bang drills here. Just pull the trigger.

They're simple and easy to use. Point and pull simplicity. The snubbies draw quickly thanks to the short barrels, and the round handles are easy to find and acquire under stress. Snubbies are also tough to disarm, and they don't bind or jam if you have to shove one up against a guy's chest and pull the trigger in a self-defense situation.

Revolver Cons- Heavy, long trigger pulls make longer shots more difficult. The hammer spur needs to be taken off of a gun meant to be concealed, as the hammer catches on clothing and flesh when pulled quickly. Ouch. The cylinders are bulky and uncomfortable when carried inside the waistband, unless you have a S&W with the Barami/Tyler set-up, which is what I use on mine. Revolvers also have limited ammo capacity, and reloading is slow. Carrying extra ammo is also a pain.

The revolver is a good choice, but the auto is better as an EDC gun. Faster shooting, faster reloading, higher capacity, more comfortable to carry, and spare ammo is easy to pack around.

But that's another subject entirely.