Are the snubies being underated?

A

Alan0354

New member
I just bought a Glock 26 and took it home today. I like the size and weight. In the store, I checked out the Rugen LC 380. But when I went home, I took out my S&W model 36 and put it side by side with the Glock, it is NOT bigger, slightly lighter.

If compare to S&W M&P Shield or Ruger LC, the 36 is NOT inferior in size, weight and stopping power particularly against the Ruger 380. It is 5 shot, but the other smaller polymers are 7 shots, it's not as if it's day and night difference.

The most important part for me is the reliability, you cannot beat the reliability of a revolver. Revolvers don't jam.....PERIOD. One thing from my experience, bigger and heavier semi auto are inherently much more reliable, when you get the size down the reliability suffers. I am sure Glock 19, Sig P226 etc. are very reliable, but how about the tiny ones?

Not to mention you can get the aluminum frame S&W and Ruger snubies that are like 14oz only, now only the Ruger LCR 380 can even compare. Now you are talking about 38+P vs 380. It's not even a close call.

Remember, I just bought a Glock and brought it home today, not that I am sour grapes. I was thinking about buying a Ruger LC or S&W Shield, I am really having second thoughts after looking at my 36. Here are two pictures:
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One thing about the the 36, the wood grip can be sanded down and thin out all the way so it's not bulkey I know for a fact there is no mechanism inside that go beyond the metal frame. You just need to leave enough thickness of the wood to hold it in one piece. You can see you can shave off a lot of thickness on the grip.



EDIT: I want to be very specific, I am ONLY comparing little J frame snubies with the pocket auto like S&W Shield, Ruger LC, LCR type of small pocket pistols of weight below 19oz. AND for concealment, carry a lot, shoot a little type situation. And in clean environment. These are not meant for situation where you expect a gun fight or going to war where you worry about mud and sand. I truly think that big revolvers like the K and L frames are out of date, 30+oz and only 6 rounds, slow to reload. Their time have way passed. Only the little snubies are talking here.
 

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if you want to shoot long range, choose something else.
if you expect multiple assailants, choose something else.
if you want to carry only one gun, choose something else.

if you want an easy to conceal second gun, get one.
if you want a coat pocket gun, get one.
if you want a gun that can be fired 'til empty while in the pocket/purse, get one.
 
Charlie Askins described a snubby as a belly gun-"You press it against your opponent's belly and press the trigger." And one advantage to a revolver is that pressing the barrel against an enemy won't push it out of battery.
 
I'm a huge fan of snubbies and a 642 is my daily carry about 75% of the time.

But revolvers absolutely "jam", just not the way your g26 or lcp would.

Dirt under the star?

Primer backed out?

Critical parts failure?

Etc.

They, like all things mechanical, can and do fail.

Unlike a semi auto, when they do fail they often do so spectacularly. No tap-rack-bang to fix it.

If you shoot revolvers enough you begin to understand why military and police have moved away from them, and again - this is coming from an absolute revolver fan.

I keep one for carry and home defense.

But my eyes are wide open on their short comings and I have a good local gunsmith for issues beyond my meager abilities.
 
I don't think Snubs are under rated, they are just over looked.

Just because the design isn't new, doesn't mean it doesn't work.
 
defjon said:
I'm a huge fan of snubbies and a 642 is my daily carry about 75% of the time.

But revolvers absolutely "jam", just not the way your g26 or lcp would.

Dirt under the star?

Primer backed out?

Critical parts failure?

Etc.

They, like all things mechanical, can and do fail.

Unlike a semi auto, when they do fail they often do so spectacularly. No tap-rack-bang to fix it.

If you shoot revolvers enough you begin to understand why military and police have moved away from them, and again - this is coming from an absolute revolver fan.

I keep one for carry and home defense.

But my eyes are wide open on their short comings and I have a good local gunsmith for issues beyond my meager abilities.
Click to expand...

Revolvers are NOT for battles where you get dirty, in the mud. It jam with dirt and sand. That's where the semi-auto shines.

BUT we are here, not at war. I am talking about self defense, concealment for us. I even agree, If I were to expect trouble and really arm up, I would take my S&W 659 with 20 rounds mag any time of the day. I am only comparing with small pocket pistols like Ruger LC, LCR, S&W Shield type where you carry with you day in and day out for "just in case".

I would not compare with even a Glock 19 that can carry 17 rounds.

I never say anything about the big K frame S&W or the Colt Python type of big revolvers, I really think those are out of date already, now you are talking about a 30+oz monster that can only carry 6 rounds where I can have a high capacity Glock 17 or other bigger caliber semi auto that are a lot lighter

I started this thread only comparing J frame snubies vs tiny 380 or 9mm semi auto. aluminum snubies definitely have the weight to power ratio advantage.
 
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If empty (or jammed!) and being attacked, which one makes a better last ditch blunt object for self defense, a small plastic framed 9mm / .380, or a STEEL or Aluminum snubnosed .38 / .357?? :rolleyes:

"30+ oz monster" revolver (or metal framed pistol), might be appreciated in this scenario. :D
 
Revolvers aren’t “go to war” guns in today’s day and age. They only had limited wartime roles as far back as WWI and zero wartime roles since the end of Vietnam.

Where revolvers shine is in concealed carry and woods carry roles.

A snubbie can fill both nicely. I carry a snubbie very often. More than 50% of the time. I always carry a revolver when hiking and I even carry a snubbie in the woods when I’m on a heavily trafficked trail and concealment is desired, or when I’m backpacking and i want the lightest gun i can get.

Revolvers excel when there’s a chance of hand to hand grappling during the gun fight. They won’t malfunction when the muzzle is pressed up against something. When grappling you don’t have to worry about a slide cycling. Which is why they were used in Vietnam by the tunnel rats.

And there’s also the advantage of versatile ammo choices for different scenarios. You can carry a round of snake shot, two rounds of wadcutters for hunting small game, and three rounds of heavy bear defense rounds, all in the same six shot cylinder (i do this often when hiking).

But i will say this. In today’s day and age, when every new gun owner obsesses over how short the reset is on their latest polymer striker fired pistol, or whether the trigger breaks at 4 pounds or 6 pounds, and most shooters hardly talk about grip strength or how well they can hold the front sight through a full double action pull, a snubbie is no longer the common man’s gun. It’s now the gun for the seasoned and experienced shooter, who practices a lot and knows how to run a revolver trigger.

With that caveat, i really feel the snubbie revolver is a superior conceal carry choice versus a micro compact gun like the glock 43 or the LC9. I have an LCP2 which i pocket carry occasionally. But i take and trust my 442 much more often.


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Wow, that's one thing I never even thought of, when you are in very close quarter struggling situation, you push the front of the semi-auto against the body of a person, it will not work, that is definitely a possibility. This is where a snuby shines.

Also, now that I actually have the Glock in my hand and play with it. I am not comfortable having a round in the chamber and the gun is cocked. If I know I am going to get into fight, that's different, but not just carry for "just in case". A snuby can be fully loaded and just pull the trigger, not those strike fire auto. a DA/SA like my old Walther PPKS would be a lot better.

Oh, BTW, my Walther PPKS is a fixed barrel, I think it likely will work even you press the front of the gun to the body of the criminal as long as the slide don't get to push back. The barrel doesn't move like those lock breach ones. Also, I can load the chamber and put on the safety to decock the gun and leave the safety on, when use, just click the safety and pull the trigger. Even if you leave the safety off, it's full DA on the first round.

Speaking of the Walther PPKS, it's not much inferior than Ruger LC, one oz heavier, same 380, same 7+1. AND have a fixed barrel that has big advantage as described above.
 
This is really attractive:
https://ruger.com/products/lcr/models.html

13.5 oz, 38+P. I own two Rugers, they seems to have more robust construction than S&W. The J frame of S&W is scary thin around the area where the barrel screw onto the frame. For steel frame, I guess is OK, but for aluminum Air Weight, it's kind of scary. I have to look at the Ruger to determine.
 
I’ve owned three LCRs, some charters, a few S&Ws, and two SP101s. All were plenty robust to handle the calibers they’re chambered in.
I’ve finally gravitated to the S&Ws and the SP101s for different roles.


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Radny97 said:
I’ve owned three LCRs, some charters, a few S&Ws, and two SP101s. All were plenty robust to handle the calibers they’re chambered in.
I’ve finally gravitated to the S&Ws and the SP101s for different roles.


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Click to expand...

You have the S&W J frame snuby? Can you do me a favor and look at the frame where the barrel screw onto the frame and compare to the LCR. Look at the lower part where the frame is closest to the cylinder push rod. See which one has thicker metal on the frame. That's where the S&W J frame gets quite thin.

It would be really nice if you can take a picture and post it here. I never have my hands on a LCR, so I don't know how it looks. I sold my S&W 37 because I was not comfortable with it being aluminum.

Thanks
 
I have been shooting Snubbies and Semi's for many years. And the more I do, the more I appreciate the Subbie as a EDC. And not only that, but find them the most fun gun to shoot. And because they are fun to shoot, I shoot them often and it is no surprise that you can become very proficient with them. And the ease of use makes them ideal for EDC.
I find myself carrying the Snubbie more often as time goes by. A very underrated firearm for EDC.
 
The British stuck with the revolver in both World Wars and Korea, the Soviets kept their Nagants alongside their Tokarevs.
As far as tactics and training go, I think practicing one handed shooting with the snubby because the other arm is blocking or grappling with an assailant is called for.
 
The only thing a semi does that better than a revolver is that it holds more ammo. Semis are usually not as accurate as a revolver, they are not as reliable as a revolver, they don't draw from a pocket as well as a revolver, in the case of larger guns they are not as powerful except for the giant ones. Generally 16 rounds trumps 6 in today's spray n pray world.
It's not that a revolver doesn't fail, it just doesn't fail near as often as a semi. I shoot both a lot and I do have more stoppages with semi.
 
A snub is capacity deficient.
An attacker(s) may be hard to stop, example:
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/video-crazed-man-attacking-deputy-soaks-up-12-rounds-before-hes-stopped/

12 hits before incapacitation.
Hard to stop could happen anywhere, which is why a Glock 26, Shield, or 1911 (examples) + spare mag is a good desirable minimum everywhere.

A 7 shot 380 is "better than nothing" but that is not a criteria we use by choice to pick a gun to defend life. (If in doubt refer to video again)
 
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