Does anybody carry a SA revolver for defense?

M

MatthewVanitas

New member
Greetings all,
I'm just randomly curious as to whether anybody here knows of anyone carrying a Single Action only revolver as a concealed carry firearm.

I know it is utterly against conventional wisdom, but a lot of pretty good ideas are, and just the thought is interesting. I recall I've seen a few articles on the subject, and apparently Thunder Ranch has had courses of instruction on such. This question came up in an unrelated discussion on the http://www.sixguns.com board, and a few people vaguely indicated that some folks did. One gentleman had a Colt P clone rechambered to 41 Mag, another knew a guy with a Single Six in 41 Special.

So, anybody heard of this, or fascinated by the idea? Or just wanting to comment on the foolhardiness thereof? I certainly prefer a SA/DA revolver over a hammerless, but not sure on whether I'd like full SA.

Take care all,
-LCpl Matthew Boris
 
I, for one, have carried my Ruger Bisley Vaquero concealed numerous times when I was in Alaska. Up there, situations often present themselves that necessitate the use of such a gun. First, there are bears and moose that can and will get between you and where you want to go. You might hit an animal and have to put it down. You might meet up with an individual who has many layers of clothes on. You might drop your warm gun into cold snow... the snow melts and then refreezes locking less robust mechanisms up.

OOps, I forgot the major reason. I am DAMNED accurate with that gun. I don't buy into the 'stressed situation' scenario where you might accidentally touch off a round with such a light trigger. It's my belief that if you are pointing the gun at a person, you'd better be in the process of pulling the trigger or your life wasn't in danger in the first place. If you SEE my gun the next thing you will see is the muzzle flash unless you are quicker.
 
I know of one man that does......he carries a colt sa army in 71/2 barrel chambered for 45colt.........he bought the gun in montana bout 30years ago from a town sheriff and is quite content and competent with it, although it dosent conceal all that easy. During the "can we all just get along riots" he was concerned with the possible spill over effect in our town and took to bringing a couple of "long guns" with him....as well as an old govt model 1911. I teased him a bit about it and he just stated that he didnt have much firepower by todays standards......even this die hard single action devotee realized the limitations. but all during that mess he never swapped what he wore, the others were just extras............fubsy.
 
I don't carry very often but if I do I carry a Uberti. Colt replica. It's a Birdhead Grip Cattleman Single Action Sabre in .45ACP with a 3 1/2" barrel. I love this revolver. It's rugged and dependable and concealable. Relatively inexpensive to shoot. Because of new metalurgy and the dedication to precision of Uberti I think this may actually be better than the original. If you want to see it go to...

http://www.uberti.com/products/prBirdheadCattleman.html
 
Having owned and competed with all kinds of Handguns, I fully know the advantages and disavantages of the different types of guns.Just the same I sometimes carry an EMF Dakota single action with onepiece walnut grips and in 45 long colt.It shoots quite well and I can shoot pretty good just by the feel of the gun alone.I have also found it is easier to conceil than most double actions except for the J-frame 38's.It is lighter too than most anything else in its power range.
 
Well, I know a coupla guys who've considered it...

One is a working cop who posts on this board and is considering what he'll carry when he retires. Sure, we have CHL's in this state, but there are places where a regular citizen, even one licensed to carry a concealed handgun, is not legally allowed to carry. His thought is to refurbish an old Pre-1899 SAA and cut down the barrel for carry anywhere in the state. (would not be classified as a "firearm," but as an "Antique or Curio")

Another was a cop when I used to see him in his SW TX county carrying a Ruger Blackhawk. Dunno what he carries mostly now, but he has many, many, many choices; he carries what he wants to, not what he "has to."

To my thinking, there's nothing wrong with a reliable SAA for self-defense. Consider how many people carry derringers. How many go UNarmed? How many think a single-shot or double bbl shotgun is good protection? If your job is not to step into harm's way as a regular thing, you're probably just about as well served by simply having the gun on you as having the neatest whiz-bang semi-auto. Also, there's a LOT to be said for confidence in a pistol. If you shoot it well, why not carry it?
--L.P.
 
Just FYI, I do not know of any state laws that distinguish between antiques and modern guns when carried concealed and/or loaded. Even percussion pistols or revolvers are considered weapons when carried loaded.

Jim
 
I'd be very inclined to carry an S&W No. 3 (or replica).

I think one (a replica, if they weren't so damned expensive) could be pretty easily modified to fire with moon clips. Given the auto ejecting feature and wide-open reloading when the action is broken open, it would be fast as all hell.
 
Single Action carry guns? YOU BET!

I've carried a SA sixgun numerous times in a full western rig; 2 1/2" belt, Mexican loop holster, with a 45COLT sixgun on board. Other times I carry a 44SPECIAL sixgun in a TOM 3-P holster on an el Paso saddlery chap leather belt. Under a winter coat up here in the Dakota territory nobody ever notices it, nor frankly gives a damn one way or the other. Only forgot once and took off the coat, in a barber shop that was full of people, and nobody said a word nor stared nor pointed or nothing. I did notice they got very quiet and very courteous though. TM
 
I did for a while back in the late '80s and early '90s. I wrote an article about single actions for self defense in the "Handguns '92" edited by Jack Lewis. If you go at your practice in a serious manner the single action can be a formadible weapon for 5 or 6 shots. It's greatest weakness is the incredibly slow reload and in these days of street gangs that could be a serious problem.

Most will tell you the average gunfight is over in about 3 shots. Remember that averages come from the extreems.
 
I would love to carry an repor of a colt open top 38spl 3 1/2 bbl SA! I guess i could but then I would have to pack my 1991-A1, or my Taurus PT99-AF as backup! or BOTH!
 
AMP, mine is a 5.5" with the Bisley Grip Frame. It seems to be a good bit easier to fire than my super Blackhawk. I'd like adjustable sights, but the gun shoots dead center at 25 feet so I'm not dissatisfied. I can't give you an objective evaluation because my gun happens to be ported by MagNaPort. It comes right back into the hand with just a minor amount of muzzle rise. The large, high grip is really nice with the porting as it spreads the impact over a much greater area. I find that my SBH transfers all of its energy to a small pad right in the web of the hand. The Bisley grip with the porting pushes the whole grip into your hand spreading the force over a much greater area.

BTW, the Vaquero and Bisley/Vaquero are two different guns. The difference is the grip frame. Note that on the Short Barreled Super Blackhawks, the grip frame is the same small size as the standard Blackhawks (translation -- it hurts)
 
I carry a Ruger Super Blackhawk in a vertical shoulder holster during the fall and winter. It's stuffed with 270gr JSP's as insurance against bear at close range.
 
Years ago, a buddy and I went out shooting at an old abandoned mine site. The buildings were still standing along a road at the site. They were dilapidated and made a perfect "Hogan's Alley."
He had a NEW Ruger .357 Blackhawk (when the 3 screw was new) and I had a 1911 that I improved by rebluing it and generally ruining a nice WW1 Colt.
We set up silhoettes in the doors and windows of the buildings and behind bushes. One of us would set up the course and then go back and walk thru with the other.
Lotsa fun but no essential difference in ability to pop a surprise silhouette. Both of us were hitting the targets.
UNTIL
I got the bright idea of taking the silhouettes and sticking ALL of them together sorta behind a bush in a mud slick. We went thru the town for about the 5th time and he started accusing me of not putting up any targets.
THEN
We came around the bush. ZOWIE! A single action is NOT designed for multiple targets. Wish I had a movie of the gyrations he was going thru trying to cock that thing fast enough for the second shot not to even mention the next 4.
He cut his hand on the rear sight, blasted mud all over both of us and looked like he had been thru a knothole after he realized what had happened.
At least it was educational. Not to mention one of the most fun shoots I ever was party to.
 
I do lots of cowboy shooting. Love my six guns. But conceal carry is to be concealed. So I carry a S&W 640 or G-26, IWB. With a back up S&W 342 PD, ankle.
 
Granted, some SAs are pretty bulky, but not necessarily so, right? There's not a particular reason they have to be bulkier, since they technically are less complicated mechanically, are they not?

The most interesting concealable SA I've heard of was the aforementioned Ruger Single Six rechambered in 41 Special, cut down, etc. I can only assume this is possible because of how Ruger "overbuilds" all their revolvers. The fact that their 44-40 can be recylindered and rechambered into ludicrous calibers like the 475 and 500 Linebaugh appears testament to such. I do have to contact that revolversmith, just out of curiousity, to see what those critters run.
Apparently I just missed the Sep/Oct issue of American Handgunner, which had an article on the practice. I could have sworn I saw and article about it once on the Net, but haven't been able to find it since.

Take care all,
-LCpl Matthew Boris
 
The article would have to be over at http://www.sixgunner, LCpl I've gota ask how a Marine would consider a single action army would even consider stepping 100 years backwards in firearms technology? Murphy's Law ya know? Good shooting all, henry
 
Greetings Mr. Bowman:

Interesting question. So far as the Marine aspect goes, dealing with M16-A2s, SAWs, etc. might tend to sour some on the newest and hottest models on the market.
"Newer" doesn't always mean "Better". Not to push things back to wanting a watercooled MG, just saying that some items still serve their niche, and "got fixed before they got broke".

My main, serious interest in CCW firearms is a CCO style 1911, and I feel I've researched that pretty well. But I still like to at least glance around at other folks' methods.

The interest in revolvers stems from the fact that I've seen revolver jams and general unpleasantness much less frequently than auto jams, and that seems to be the word on the street in general.

Now, single action, I admit, is a bit pushing the concept. I'm mostly curious because I'd heard of a few people doing it, and wanted to know why. Personally, I can't _stand_ DA trigger pull on autos or revolvers, thus my interest in the 1911 and DA/SA revolvers.

The upsides of a SA revolver seem to be: fewer moving parts to go wrong, the single action trigger (which can, admittedly, be accomplished by finger cocking a DA/SA revolver), etc. Major downside seems to be multiple shot speed, and reloading speed. But I'm not convinced that most folks can reload anything before being shot or struck by assailants in anything but an extended, police-type gunfight.

Essentially, I suppose I'm interested because:
A) It's something different
B) There's a certain appeal to going beyond "conventional wisdom"
C) There's a definite appeal to using the simplest piece of machinery whenever possible.

So, that's the best I can summarize. Admittedly, it would be ironic to be run into a group of seven people when armed with an SA, but I think that even a 17rd Glock wouldn't help much if you run into them walking around a corner. Heck, you can carry a 12 gauge 9rd riot gun and still be smacked upside the back of the head because of lack of situaional awareness. It does kind of come back to the classic "The man, not the tools". To what degree a given tool might have more cons than pros is debatable.

Just bringing up an interesting point, and it has been rather interesting thus far; I've been quite surprised at the turnout thus far.

Take care,
-LCpl matthew Boris
 
Hello again LCpl, it sounds like you've got a good handle on the question anyhow. Guns are simply tools and picking the proper tool can get fairly complicated these days with so many different opinions here and on other sites. I tend to take much of the talk about jams in self loaders with a grain of salt Matt. I've fired thousands of rounds through the current crop of Glocks, SIGs, CZs, Berettas and H&Ks with zero relibility problems. Whether in a military action or a civilian self defence scenerio the ability to lay down a field of fire while hauling butt for cover sure can't hurt. I'm a huge fan of SA guns and watch gents like Bob Mundon do amazing things with them but I believe we all know how ole Bob would fare at a IPSC match or at one of Ken Hackathorns defence clinics? Times have changes Matt, all the major cities now have kids ganging up that carry all the latest high tech firepower they can buy or steal. I truely hated retiring my old 4in S&W #29 but the bottom feeding self loaders just make more sense these days. henry
 
I don't think I would ever carry a SAA as a primary CCW. But when I get around to buying a Ruger Bisley in 45 LC I could see carrying it as one of 2 or 3.

A 44 or 45 revolver fired SA with the right loads and a 5" or longer barrel can make hits at 50 yards fairly easy. IMO a 7.5" brrl would allow one to out range anything short of a SMG, carbine, or rifle [assuming that one is a gun nut that shoots frequently :D].

I have considered the idea of 1 or 2 small pistols or revolvers in front pants pockets [Kahr P9, Kel-Tec P11, lt wt 38/357 snub, etc] for the typical self defense situations with a revolver in a shoulder rig or cross draw belt holster for longer range work such. Or for situations that require a more powerful cartridge [like putting down injured cattle or such].

The LEO's that I have talked to that did a fair bit of shooting in the line of duty were shooting animals. And from what they have said it isn't always easy to make a head shot on an injured animal...so the extra power of a 44 or 45 could be useful.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top