I'm becoming a revolver man

With all that said I've decided I'm going to buy a smith and wesson 629. I just have to decide 4 or 6 inch barrel!
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For accuracy at distance, I would recommend the 6-incher.

For SD carry with softer shooting hand-loads, go with the 4.

Best advice of all: Get one of each and never second guess your choice!
 
And, I hope he plans out what he is going to do if two or three come at him from different angles. He just might have a major problem if one or more of them are armed with high capacity double stacks?
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If you are outnumbered 3 to 1, the situation sucks regardless. Lets turn it around, if you were armed with a hi cap wonder auto (say 19+1) and you were facing 3 perps armed with 5 and 6 shot revolvers, would you feel at all certain about the outcome? Heck, they could be armed with cap and ball revolvers, it would still be a very, very ugly situation.

At that point it comes down who can keep their head screwed on the tightest and maintain their faculties. A calm, deliberate person with a revolver will likely have a better outcome than another shooting his 20 round 9mm empty in fear.

I'm in the OPs position. I tend to shoot revolvers better, and I have had FAR more issues with autos, and the only 100% total stoppage (turn the gun into a paper weight) issue I've ever experienced was with a Taurus 9mm (the ejector sheered off and lodged in the slide rail - locked it up completely).
 
Get the 6" 629. the extra sight radius and velocity make the most of the .44 mags potential, especially at longer ranges. For a 4" gun, look at a 5 shot model 69 L frame.
 
There's a reason revolvers have been replaced in military and police use. No one can argue the revolvers' reliability, although they too can fail. But capacity of firepower combined with today's semi autos of quality makes has the semi autos the overwhelming choice of police and civilians. The key is quality make: you do get what you pay for. And, there's no doubt we can always expect and should expect a malfunction when operating a semi. That's why we train and practice on clearing malfunctions. If a revolver gets hung up that cylinder is just not gonna spin.
 
There was an old poem from the revolver-armed police days:

Shootin' straight with my .38 beats his jive with his .45.

It's in the shot placement, not the capacity - and shot placement means training and familiarity.
 
I prefer the 4 inch 629.. especially an older one.

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Mine is both my deer gun and many times my trail gun.

Deaf
 
There was an old poem from the revolver-armed police days:

Shootin' straight with my .38 beats his jive with his .45.
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Great quote. And since this is the revolver forum I imagine my fellow revolver guys will help me circle up the wagons to fend off the slings and arrows when I say revolvers are not only far more reliable than semis, but far more accurate as well. The capacity argument, in my view, is a non-starter. The time it takes to clear a jam in a semi would negate the additional rounds in the mag over the revolver. By the time I have cleared the jam in the semi, I could have reloaded my revolver from one of my speedloaders and continued firing. I own a lot of revolvers, and not a single one of them has ever failed to go bang. I own only a few semis, and a couple of them are finicky about the ammo I feed them and have also failed to fire for completely unknown reasons. When I carry a semi for SD, I always carry a backup. When I carry a revolver (which is always a bit heavier), I feel no need for a backup (which overall means I am packing less weight).
 
Mechanically, the typical revolver is a bit more accurate than a typical locked breach semi auto. Most handguns have more mechanical accuracy than many of us are capable of using. It all comes down to each person. That said I do a lot better with my revolvers.

Yeah, anything can break. I have had fewer and less serious issues with revolvers by a significant degree. I'm not knocking semi autos at all, I do at times carry a 1911, and I may start carrying a CZ-75 from time to time. Thing is, from my own testing, it wasn't that hard to get a semi auto to jam by holding it at an odd angle and "limp arming" it to simulate injury. I was able to get an otherwise reliable Springfield XD9 and a Glock 23 to experience a 50% plus failure rate by doing this.

The 5 to 8 shot capacity of a typical revolver is certainly a drawback compared to say, my 17+1 CZ-75. Then again, sensitivity to grip and arm strength are drawbacks of the semi auto platform.

Weigh the advantages and disadvantages and come to your own conclusion. Just because most police departments issue Glocks doesn't make them the best choice for everyone.



Back to the OP. As for the J Frame, after adjusting my grip technique I find I can shoot them about as well as a 5" 1911 (and neither as well as a K, L or N Frame S&W). After you get the hang of them, they are surprising shootable little guns.
 
One strong advantage of a revolver is its ability to be easily manipulated in a grappling situation, or while gripped inside my coat pocket. I could fire from the hip at point blank while my revolver is still in my pocket, not gonna work with a slide.
 
Practice makes perfect. I carried a revolver on duty for 15 years before switching to a semi auto, a Colt 70 series government model, then a Sig P226 and finally a Glock 22. All have good and less desirable features, the revolver, a Colt Trooper MKIII, 6" bbl, with two speed loaders only gave 18 rounds at the ready was heavy but, very accurate and easy to shoot. The government model, with two extra magazines only gave you 22 rounds at the ready was also heavy, easy to shoot and accurate. The Sig was a lot lighter and gave you 46 rounds at the ready, and was very accurate, (probably my favorite, even though I never got used to the hammer release). And the Glock got me back to the revolver mentality where all you had to do was aim and pull the trigger. It also gave you 46 rounds at the ready and is pretty much idiot proof. There is not a lot of in between with the Glock, you either love them or you hate them, I have not yet decided which side I am on. They are coyote ugly, but they always go bang when you pull the trigger. I still have the Trooper and it is still a pleasure to shoot, but hardly concealable. These days, I am more likely to carry a model 85 Taurus, 5 shot .38 special, loaded with 158 grain Nyclads, with another five rounds in a speed loader, or a Walther PPKS loaded with 102 grain Gold Dots, and another 7 rounds in a magazine. I have been shot at 6 times and never hit, (guardian angel), and it doesn't seem to register until it is over. Keep yer powder dry.........Robin ;)
 
I must give you credit for shooting a J frame as well or better than your 1911. My experience with J frames is limited but the last one I checked out at a gun shop left me with a very bad taste in the mouth. It was a new S&W 36 and the trigger pull was so horrendous that I would have been lucky to hit a 10 inch plate at 10 yards. The guy behind the counter said they could fix that for another $100. Why should I or anyone pay an additional $100 for something that S&W should have done at the factory? I started out with revolvers so I am very comfortable with them and the J frame is the only one I have no desire at this time to own. If you are wondering I am a Police Firearms Instructor and normally shoot 279-285 out of 300 on our qualification courses. I am not against J frames and to anyone who likes and shoots them well, great but my experience has been quite different.
 
Im not aganst the J frames either, from a quality and shooting stand point. Ive always found mine to be accurate, and all had reasonable triggers, as have most all my S&W's. Sounds like you just came across a bad one, which happens with all of them sooner or later.

My only real complaint, other than the capacity issue, is my hand hates me for a couple of days after shooting a box of 50 in practice, which I do a couple of times a month. Mine are all Airweights, and brutal to shoot. They do require regular practice to stay on top of them, and shooting wadcutters in place of hot SD loads, isnt realistic, hence the pain.

Im always amazed that people buy them for their wives or if novices for themselves. They are not beginners guns, and often, even the more experienced shooters have troubles with them too.
 
AK103K, maybe it was a good thing that the one I tried was so bad, it would have been for my wife. She chose my 2 1/2" S&W model 66-2 for her gun instead. A good choice plus it gave me a reason to find another short barrel revolver. I found a nice 3' S&W model 65-3 a year or two later. It seemed to work out for both of us.
 
AK,
may I suggest that you use a glove for practicing.
That way you could practice pain free with the regular loads.
Gloves are not going to make much difference in technique.
 
Might be worth a try, although Ive never liked shooting with gloves on much.

My hand may well bitch slap me for not listening to your idea too. :D
 
when I shoot +P in my LCRx with the new wood Barami grips, it's pretty painful, but gloves help alot.
When shooting normal standard pressure loads it's fine with no gloves.

I use some open finger tip gloves for better trigger feel, but cushioning on the palm.
 
I must give you credit for shooting a J frame as well or better than your 1911. My experience with J frames is limited but the last one I checked out at a gun shop left me with a very bad taste in the mouth. It was a new S&W 36 and the trigger pull was so horrendous that I would have been lucky to hit a 10 inch plate at 10 yards. The guy behind the counter said they could fix that for another $100. Why should I or anyone pay an additional $100 for something that S&W should have done at the factory? I started out with revolvers so I am very comfortable with them and the J frame is the only one I have no desire at this time to own. If you are wondering I am a Police Firearms Instructor and normally shoot 279-285 out of 300 on our qualification courses. I am not against J frames and to anyone who likes and shoots them well, great but my experience has been quite different.
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The new ones do seem to be rough at of the box.

My 642, purchased NIB in 2006, had an action that was fairly rough when I first bought it. Over time, with live and dry fire, it got smoother. I removed the side plate once, in about 2008, and cleaned out all the junk and rubricated everything. Sure, the trigger is firmer than a larger frame revolver, but it is slick as snot nowadays. The pull weight has never bothered me. Same goes for my 1976 vintage 36-1 3" that rides in the car with me in a cross draw holster attached to the lap portion of my seatbelt.

I have a 4" 686 that has never completely slicked up. I may have to get it tuned one day. It has an annoying "scritchy" feeling in the final 1/8" of the DA squeeze.

I would agree that J frames definitely aren't for everyone. They have that in common with Glocks; they either feel right or they don't.
 
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