New to the Wheel Gun - CCW

G

goosevr1

New member
Hello All,

It's that time again to make another purchase (seems like it comes around every week). Naturally I'm torn between what seems like a lot of different choices.

My experience with firearms to date has been with semiautomatics mostly, I've never owned a revolver before. I've been carrying my Glock 22 CCW these days, but have only started carrying recently (about 1 year). I live in the northeast so it's usually cold enough that clothing choice isn't an issue.

The Glock 22 is .40S&W. If I were to go for a revolver, I'd go with a .357 mag--i can shoot all sorts of calibers with that. In particular, the S&W 340PD. It's the new SC frames--at 12 ounces empty it's half as light as my Glock 22 and still quite a bit lighter than all the baby glocks. 5 rounds of .357mag also packs quite a punch--if i need more than that kind of firepower I'm probably in bad shape anyways.

Since I'm new to revolvers, can anyone give me some advice on this one? For those of you who carry revolvers CCW do you carry extra rounds? speedloaders?
 
In particular, the S&W 340PD. It's the new SC frames--at 12 ounces empty it's half as light as my Glock 22 and still quite a bit lighter than all the baby glocks. 5 rounds of .357mag also packs quite a punch--if i need more than that kind of firepower I'm probably in bad shape anyways. . .Since I'm new to revolvers, can anyone give me some advice on this one?
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Yeah. Don't do it.
Let's put it this way, I'm the kind of guy that likes to go out and shoot my .454 one-handed with Cor-Bon 360-grain cartridges. They kick real hard. I fired a 12-ounce Sc .357 ONCE. Never again. One word: OUCH.

I'd recommend the steel Model 60 or a Ruger SP-101 for a snub .357, and they'll still let you know when you pull the trigger. They're heavier, but if you get a chance to shoot one before buying, you'll understand.

For reloads, I carry speedloaders. How many depends on where I'm going and what my other gun is.
 
Mostly I cary a Bull dog in 44 special

I dont carry ammo becouse of several reasions.
1. I stay away from bad arieas the chance of my ever getting into a fire fight are so remote that if 5 rounds wont fix the problem , having 200 wont ether. I wont fault people for caring extra but I really dont see the need.
2 The highest one shot kills are with 125 grane 357 Mag nothing comes close, this is due to the ammount of disruption that the round produces passing through the body. Over 14 inches of penetration in gel and a cavity the size of a football.
But the most important thing is not the number of rounds, not the power of those rounds but the ability that you have of shooting it, and that comes more from how well you can controle the gun, the recoil and your ability to work through a high stress situation.
A lot of people that have never been shot at or had to pull a gun on some one will say "Id pull my gun and blaablaablaa" Where in real life they will probably pee there pants.
So get what feels most comfortable, get a good quality gun from the top manufactures like Smith, Ruger and Colt and practice, practice practice.
And hope and pray that you never have to pull it out of the holster.
I have only done that once in the 25 years that I have had my CC lisence and thankfully I diddnt have to fire it.
 
The scandium snubs are very light, and you pay a hellish price in recoil. If you plan on shooting full-house 357s out of it, find a good doctor that specializes in carpal tunnel syndrome. Most folks will just carry 38 +P in it to save their wrists.

Depending on what you are looking for, there are a gaggle of great small guns that will serve you very well. Consider the Airweight series from S & W, Total Titanium from Taurus, the steel SP-101, and second-hand Colt D-frames a la the Detective Special, Cobra, and Agent are also quite respectable sidearms. If you are in the Northeast and can manage some cover garment year-rounds, you'd be hard pressed to find a better carry revolver than a 3" J or K-frame or 3" SP-101. For pocket carry, one of the 2" J-frame Smiths is the way to go.

As far as waist-level carriage, look for a good belt, and a quality holster. Some find the revolver cylinder to be uncomfortable for IWB purposes and go with a belt slide or similar design. A firm that specilizes in superb quality revolver leather is Bell Charter Oak Holsters in Gilbertsville, NY. Some other good holsters to consider for a belt carried wheelie are Milt Sparks VM-II, Tucker Texas Heritage, Alessi's Belt Scabbard, and Del Fatti's ISP-3. Hoffners also makes a budget kydex wheelie holster that ain't half bad for tupperware. Another decent budget revolver rig is the Hume M-715M. It has two straps, but if you only buttom one you can cant the holster as you see fit. If you want a cross-draw or straight strong-side draw, snap both loops. For $25 from Gunner's Alley, it was a steal.

Practice becomes very important in carrying a wheelgun with confidence. You need to invest the time and effort to throroughly familiarize yourself with proper ejection and reloading technique. One of the reasons I prefer the 3" barrel is the full length ejector rod. A 2 1/2" or less barrel won't clear the empty shells fully, unless it is a 9mm or 45acp wheelgun.

As far as reloading devices, I am partial to Safariland Comp I & II speedloaders. They are quick and reliable. The other option I use is the Bianchi Speed Strip. The strip has an advantage of flat profile and slips easily into cargo pant pockets, painter paint small pockets, and the watch/change pocket on the front of bleu jeans. The Comp I and II are nice for the Northeast versus the other popular speedloader (HKS) in that you just push the loader and cartridges into the chambers and the release engages the cylinder star. The HKS you have to twist. In winter with gloves on, twisting the knob is more difficult than just slamming the speedloader home.

Several variants are available. Most are variants on the same theme. Speed strip pouches are out there, but I think they are superfluous. These little buggers just slide so easy into pockets and such, glove boxes, etc. that a pouch is just the height of vanity. The speedloader pouches either place the cartridges and loader astride, on top, or in front of the belt. Some variants to look at are: Don Hume's Pack-Six, DeSantis A-35 Split Six, Del Fatti's SLC I & II (best out there!), and Cunningham's Speedloader pouch that has the bullets and loader horizontal above the beltline. Buhlman also makes a very nice speedloader pouch. Another design out there is the 3 x 3 or 2 x 2 x2 pouches that group cartidges in grabbable clusters for quicker reloading than one at a time.

The wheelgun also has an advantage in that bullet nose shape does not impact reliability. You can find several quality hollow-point projectiles with HUGE cavities that will perform well out of shorter barrels. Some loads to consider as a starting point:

38 SPECIAL
Remington or Winchester 158 +P LSWCHP ("the FBI Load")
Speer 135 +P Gold Dot JHP
Winchester SXT 130-grain JHP +P

357MAGNUM
PMC-El Dorado 150-grain Starfire JHP
Winchester 145 grain Silvertip JHP

Several manufacturers have 125-grain 38 special +P and 357 magnum loads available that perform very well too. The loads listed above are just those that I've tried and seem to work well from recovered specimens.
 
340PD is an awesome gun. Very easy to carry and not too hard to shoot if you pick the right ammo. Stay away from the .357 Mag loads unless you really like recoil. I use (like many others with this gun) Speer Gold Dot 135gr +p. Many over at glock talk love this round, and I have also begun carrying it in my 340PD. The recoil is not that bad and the results (velocity, penetration, ect) are very good. The round was specifically designed for snub nose revolvers. This gun is so light that I hardly notice that it is in my pocket. Best of luck.
 
I've seen a lot of "ultra-light" snubbies for sale by people who decided the gun was just too brutal to fire, even in practice. I suggest renting one or borrowing a friend's to try first.

If you're looking at .357 snubbies, please keep in mind that the recoil in a small gun can be substantial and may require repositioning your grip after each shot. Even if that doesn't happen, the short barrels release quite a large pressure-wave (shock wave) when firing magnums. It's bad enough behind the gun but to the sides it's worse, especially indoors. Indoors it will literally be painfully deafening.


Check out the S&W Model 640 (hammerless) and 649 (shrouded hammer) steel guns. While these are heavier, the extra weight will permit you to fire .357 loads with .125gr JHPs without undue recoil or the grip sliding out of your grasp. The advantage to these models is that when carried in a coat pocket they can be fired without snagging the hammer.

If you can find a Colt Detective Special, Cobra, or Agent in good shape within your price range, these are also fine guns, though they are .38's. Colt made a "Magnum Carry" -- a .357 version of the Det. Special but these are collectors guns if in good shape.

Check out the Taurus revolvers too. I've enjoyed firing some of their big-bore snubbies -- .44 special and .45 Colt 5-shots with the ported barrels. They even made a ported 2" .41 Mag in a Titanium package that wasn't bad to shoot either. Of course they also make some .357 snubbies too.
 
Revolver Speedloader

One night after Academy class one of the instructors called me aside and took me back down to the range. He had me put on a hi-rise holster with our 4" Model 15 and a light jacket over the top with a loaded speedloader in the right hand pocket. When he put me in the firing booth he said "when you are ready to make your draw, step quickly to the left with your left foot only". When I stepped quickly with my left foot, the weight of the speedloader made the jacket flair to the right making the draw very easy and my hand didn't get tangled trying to get inside the jacket reaching the gungrip. Don't know why, but they never did teach that to the rest of the class. A substantial set of house/car keys would do the same thing if you didn't want to carry a speedloader.
 
The scandium snubs are very light, and you pay a hellish price in recoil. If you plan on shooting full-house 357s out of it, find a good doctor that specializes in carpal tunnel syndrome. Most folks will just carry 38 +P in it to save their wrists.
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Methinks you already know that this defeats the purpose of paying the extra dollars for the caliber!!!

If it's gunna be magnum, then it had better be steel!! :eek:

Lately, I have been on a retro kick.
Anyway, I have taken to carrying a Taurus M85UL loaded with 125gr Rem. Golden Saber .38spl +P.

It's a nice little revolver. It weighs one oz. over a pound!! That's as light as I would go. ;)

It's also a handsome beast, if I do say so, myself.
It has an MSRP of $453, but can be had for $350 in my location!!
That's a couple of bucks less than you would be set back for the comparable Aluminum alloy framed S&W!!!

Taurus has greatly improved their QC over the years.
I would not hesitate to buy one of their revolvers.
In fact, I own two!!
 

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