But that’s what they tell women to carry
11 Responses to “But that’s what they tell women to carry”
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May 15th, 2012 at 9:34 am
Unless one LIKES “Snubbies from Hell,” that is. ; )
May 15th, 2012 at 9:41 am
I agree with the article. I have a J frame, and the recoil is rather snappy, the sights suck (you are better off point shooting), and the trigger pull is heavy. I use this as a carry weapon for pocket carry when my clothing doesn’t allow for an auto.
With that being said, I bought one, had the trigger reworked, and gave it to my aging mother when she could no longer work the slide on her Glock 19.
May 15th, 2012 at 9:56 am
I say that to a lot of women
May 15th, 2012 at 11:56 am
The only time in over 5000 rounds that my Glock 19 has had a malfunction was the first shot taken by my 14 year old daughter, which resulted in a stovepiped empty cartridge. She limp wristed the gun, despite experience with 22LR pistols and .38SPL revolvers, because the grip was so big for her hand. Adjusting her grip (away from teacup to a proper isosceles two hander) solved the issue. So semiautos aren’t perfection for everyone. (Glock pun intended).
My aged and saintly mom, given a snubby .38SPL by my brothers, shot it a few times for familiarization and keeps it in her car loaded with Nyclads. On the other hand, she loved shooting my Ruger 22LR pistol when given the chance. She said it was the first time she was not bothered by recoil. Now she wants a 22LR revolver for fun shooting.
May 15th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
That poor fellow got the snot beat out of him in the comments.
I guess I would say the snubbie is great if the person carrying it doesn’t intend to practice much. If the only time they shoot is when they have to, the recoil, flash, sights, etc won’t matter much. The laser is nifty, but they probably won’t think to use it. It is simple to operate and they should be able to hit the mark anyway when he perp is within rapin’ distance.
On the other had, if they want to practice and have fun preparing and training, then the snubbie is probably a bad choice. Not too many beginner will dig the subbie. My dad let me shoot his 38 special snub when I was about 25 years ago when I was 12, and I haven’t really had any desire to shoot once since then. Couldn’t hit shit with it.
In my experience, it isn’t the “boom” or recoil that causes a first time shooter to really smile…it is hitting the target.
May 15th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Think of that snubbie as a six-shot derringer. (That’s how I felt about my LCP until I got rid of it.)
May 15th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
I’m on the fence on this one. As a peace officer I carried a full size semi-auto (mostly a 1911) and a 642 as a back up. I found that no matter what I always had the 642 with me. When I left law enforcement I quickly found putting on a full size gun every day was real work, especially when I no longer had a badge to make “getting caught” less problematic. The 642 (which is in my pocket as I write this) not so much. Is it ideal? No, but ideal is rarely obtainable, especially in “the perfect gun” debate. All handguns are anemic and most of us would opt for a rifle if we knew a fight was coming. However having a gun at all times trumps having the perfect gun sometimes.
As to a “new female shooter” (the gist of the article) picking a lightweight .38 for ccw, I agree there are better options. But unless she is a dedicated, and in most cases, fairly strong female, the manual of arms for most semi-auto handguns is all but impossible to master. Now please recall I said “dedicated.” I know there are tons of laddies out there who can handle any handgun presented to them, but they are NOT the norm. For that matter, men who can are not the norm in the general population either.
So what is ideal? The firearm the shooter can shoot and manipulate well and reliably. In 30 years of teaching men, women, children and cops, I saw plenty of other instructors who would push one or the other “super whammy 2000″ firearm on every student as the “one and only answer.” While I tried to get students to try a range of firearms and go with what worked (in one instance selling the actual range rental Glock 19 to a cop who, before shooting it, couldn’t his water from a boat), I eventually reached the conclusion that the average person (read one who is not a dedicated shooter, who will not practice religiously and always think tactically) is best served by a revolver.
Airweight? Maybe not, but there are plenty of steel frame snubbies that tame recoil and shoot very well and are easily concealed. Misfire? Pull the trigger again. Weak wrist? Quality revolvers don’t jam from that. Administrative handling? Open cylinder and press ejector rod. No magazine to drop, safety to manipulate, slide to pull. Trigger pull is usually heavy enough that ND’s from “booger hook on the bang switch” syndrome are less likely. And anyone who thinks a 2″ .38 revolver is only a “table and elevator gun” should shoot them a bit more. I routinely win bets at the range hitting a torso sized gong at 50 and 100 yards with mine. At normal defensive use distances a 2” .38 loaded with any quality defensive hollow point ammo (note I do not specify +P ammo) that the user shoots accurately will satisfy the first rule of gun fighting. Have a gun.
May 15th, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Yea, a bunch of self-appointed experts immediately jump on the poor guy in comments.
All of whom were suffering from “my gun is the only best gun” disease.
May 15th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
Kristopher: I object to your characterization. Please tell me where I said my gun was the best option for anyone but me. In fact, I cited the weapon my wife chose, which is different from mine. I went point by point with Bob’s item specifically addressing each objection he made. I think Bob would also object to your calling him a “poor guy.” Bob is one of the very few firearms writers that can legitimately take care of himself.
You know what else I object to? The notion that women ate too weak to handle the weapon of their choice. For my wife the snubbie fits the bill, specifically the M49 Smith and Wesson. We went on a multi year search due in part because of the know it alls who kept telling her that a woman “newbie” should not carry a snub revolver.
It’s high time everyone start getting the fact that there is no one size fits all; even those who *claim* to do so… Those who go around telling women “No, you do not want ” are in the wrong on this topic.
May 15th, 2012 at 9:33 pm
Thanks for the support guys, but I knew precisely what I was doing when I poked the bear.
The simple fact of the matter is that too many people seem to think that a snub-nosed revolver is easier to get hits with than small centerfire semi-auto, and I’ve simply seen no evidence to support this contention. Nor do I agree that the manual of arms is too difficult, especially on the most recent generations of DAO semi-autos.
I don’t buy the “conventional wisdom” that revolvers are easier/better/etc, and won’t until someone can show me performance to disprove what I’ve witnessed with my own eyes.
May 15th, 2012 at 11:24 pm
IMO any DAO semi auto without a manual safety is fine. However, my wife will tell you she is very fond of the snubbie SP101 .357 with factory ported barrel.
YMMV