SA self defense article in American Rifleman

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BudAtDuke

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I posted this in our local forum and thought I'd ask here too. Did anyone see the article in American Rifleman about carrying a single action revolver as a self defense weapon? Let me stick my butt right in the frying pan. I think the article was ridiculous. There are people now who are going to strap on a single action and attract all sorts of unwanted attention. They're going to do it without what I consider to be necessary months and months of practice. I think this article will get people either killed or arrested. I can just see some moron right now, "Darn, that looks cool. Everyone's gonna think I'm Wild Bill Hickcock," and not mess with me including the cops, the anti-gunners and the bad guys.
 
There are many people who think all of The American Rifleman articles are ill thought out, biased, or just plain stupid. That article doesn't do anything to change this perception.
 
Jim March is soooo gonna love this article,,,

Now all of us who have been teasing him over the years are gonna have to listen to the "I told ya so" that he'll be spouting. :D

Just kidding Jim,,,
Carry what ya love my friend.

.
 
Bud, my friend is a sa shooter, he is so fast you cant see him draw and shoot. Ever watch them fast shooters in comp? Blink the eye and you missed the whole thing.

Amazing what some can do.
 
Anyone remember about a year or so back, when a guy with a SA revolver shot it out with a gangsta in a convenient store?

Seemed to work pretty well for him. The trigger on his revolver broke when he dove for cover or some such, so he slip-fired it with good results.

A semi-auto is faster to reload if you have an extra pre-loaded magazine; otherwise, the SA is faster to reload.

I carry a semi-auto these days, but I would not feel handicapped by much carrying one of my SA revolvers. They're actually very fast and easy to shoot well with a bit of practice.

Daryl
 
BudAtDuke said:
There are people now who are going to strap on a single action and attract all sorts of unwanted attention. They're going to do it without what I consider to be necessary months and months of practice.
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Has there been an issue with people who carry a double action revolver or a semi-auto without "months and months of parctice"? Blood running down the streets? If not, why should carrying a SA be any different?

Or is it open carry that you have an issue with?
 
Yes, there are people who are very fast with a single action in an artificial environment. But that kind of skill is really not very useful in the real world, and for most people a SA is a lot slower than a modern DA revolver or semi-auto pistol.

I also have to agree with those who do not think our cause is helped by idiots swaggering down the street with low-slung holsters playing Wyatt Earp. The days of the Old West are long gone (if they ever were here), and that kind of silly and stupid play acting only makes enemies and helps convince the average citizen that the anti-gunners are right when they call gun owners crazies and lunatics.

Jim
 
There are still some parts of this country where strapping on a Single Action Revolver is still a part of every day life.

I rather carry a Single Action Ruger on my side any time than any Taurus revolver made. I have carried a single action a few times open carry while hiking and passing other hikers.
 
The tone of this thread...

...reminds me of those who disparage carrying a .22, .32, or .380 "mouse gun" for SD purposes. While a SA revolver may not be the best SD choice out there, people have been betting their lives on them for more than 160 years now.

Not everyone can afford a battery of purpose-built guns tailored to their every need. And wouldn't it be ridiculous to expect an outdoorsman who carrys a single-action revolver for bear/cougar defense to carry a high-capacity autoloader for human predators?:rolleyes:

In the immortal words of Sgt Hulka, "Lighten up, Francis." The Rifleman article isn't advocating carrying a single-action for SD; it is illustrating the best techniques for using the tool that you have for defensive purposes. :cool:
 
Go back to the Civil War and see the procedures . Cavalry for the most part gave up the saber and used revolvers . They carried extra loaded cylinders or extra revolvers . Today drawing a extra auto rather than reloading the first is called a "NY reload " !!:)
 
Back about 10 or 12 years ago I still favored a S&W 44 mag with a 4" bbl for SD. I just had a prejudice against semi autos carrying over from reading Elmer Keith and Bill Jordan in the 1970s. Then I opened the newspaper to read about a fellow who shot a guy 15 times at a traffic light. The victim was a witness in a trial of a drug kingpin.

Made me feel downright underprivileged with my 6 shot revolver. I was soon sporting a Glock M-23 with 13 rounds in the magazine and one in the pipe. :) I've got a 5 1/2" bbl Colt SA NF 357mag and a 7 1/2 bbl 44spl Colt SA NF and I love 'em but I'll take the semi auto nowadays. :)
 
Yes, there are people who are very fast with a single action in an artificial environment. But that kind of skill is really not very useful in the real world, and for most people a SA is a lot slower than a modern DA revolver or semi-auto pistol.

I also have to agree with those who do not think our cause is helped by idiots swaggering down the street with low-slung holsters playing Wyatt Earp. The days of the Old West are long gone (if they ever were here), and that kind of silly and stupid play acting only makes enemies and helps convince the average citizen that the anti-gunners are right when they call gun owners crazies and lunatics.

Jim
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Good grief, Jim. Your post has the aire of the "evil black gun" to it.

There was a time, not so long ago, when SA revolvers were seen as fairly benign compared to semi-autos.

Oh wait...they still are here to a large extent.

I don't know where you call home, amigo, but here in SE Arizona your description is pretty accurate. I live about 20 miles SW of Tombstone, and ranchers around here commonly carry a SA revolver.

At times, so do I. I've seen them in grocery stores wearing a SA revolver. Oh wait; I've done it a time or two myself on my way back from a hunt or some such, when that's what I had, and didn't feel like leaving it in the vehicle.

It's another handgun, mi amigo; no worse and no better than the person carrying it, and certainly no more intimidating than "the evil black gun" I carry every day.

Your perception of guns as evil isn't as common in my neck of the woods.

Here's an idea for you though; how about we as gun owners start supporting one another, rather than attacking each other for what we wear, and how we wear it?

I am curiouis abouit something though; do folks who carry semi's or DA revolvers also practice in an artificial envoronment? Or do they get to practice in real shootouts?

Daryl
 
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I wasn't put off by the article. Rick Hacker has been shooting them for many years. Gunsight giving some credibility to it makes me think that there may be something to it. Who knows what kind of gun bans are in our future. Maybe that's what we'll have to use someday. I'd hate to take on some of those old timers with anything made today. John Wesely Hardin had over 40 notches. He didn't go to prison for just tales. He shot Deputy Sheriff Charles Webb dead center after Webb shot him thru the side. Best, Lyle
 
If there's one thing that gets me mad its people who deny that the "wild west" ever existed. But thats not what this thread is about.

I think that there is nothing at all wrong with carrying a SA revolver for self defense. They're strong, reliable, and usually heavy hitters. Besides, what's so hard about thumbing back a hammer? Many firearms have some sort of safety that must be deactivated. Usually a small button or lever.(1911) I also get a kick when people suggest a SxS shotgun with exposed hammers but gasp when someone mentions a SA rev.
I will concede to the fact that they are slow to reload and difficult to conceal.

One final thing and I've mentioned it before. Why do so many grab a SA for woods defense against bears but disdain it for two legged predators? :confused:
 
I read the article and while amusing, the tactics described were ludicrous. There's a pic of the "Gunsite method" of S/A self-defense deployment which is just silly. The author is posed with a Blackhawk in a two handed grip with the weak side thumb in the air and index finger in front of the trigger guard. Does anyone think it's a great idea to shoot any revolver with a finger hooked around the trigger guard . . . much less a single action magnum?

The draw technique was basically to draw an uncocked revolver into a two handed grip then cock it with the supporting hand once the revolver is fully deployed.

Nothing against those who would carry a single action for self defense. Anyone with any sense in my opinion would not try to improve on the tried method of one handed draw - cock - fire that's been perfected over 150 years.

Guess we'll have to wait for the next article . . . . "Tactical Single Actions". Someone will somehow find a way to fit a rail on old Colts sooner or later.
:barf:
 
I would not feel the leat bit outgunned to carry my grampa's pre war Bisleys at all. Grampa was a trick shooter with a wild west show when he was young before he joined the army. He was the quickest I ever saw. While I will probably in my life do well to be able to do 2 percent of what I saw him do with them. He did teach me to be able to use them quickly. I can draw and fire a SA in under 1 second with a tad to spare from open carry.
Drawing from concealment takes more time regardless of what you are carrying. (I do carry semi auto concealed when ever I am legaly able to do so). If it were one of the SA revolvers I had to draw I would be putting in a lot of range time to train in it's use. Grampa was a firm beliver in you get good with what you have.
 
Is not a 1911 a single action?

If a person is capable with a particular weapon, and is comfortable with that weapon who am I to judge him?

There's probably quite a few hombre's pushing up daisies, at the behest of a single action revolver.

Every man/woman has the right to be armed. What arm's he/she choose to use is a personal choice. If a person choose a S/A revolver so be it.

Anyone who believes a S/A revolver is incapable of self defense, should be willing to stand in front of one.

Judging a person who use a firearm different than your personal choice is elitism... Much alike liberalism.

Dead from a S/A/A... is exactly the same as being dead from a Heckler & Glock springfield wonderpistol with 27 round magazine.

A S/A revolver will force improved technique. You will have to rely on your skill's and not the 19 rounds in your gun and 73 reloads.

Glenn Dee
 
Another Arizonan to hear from. Lots of folks here pack a single action when in the woods as I do myself on occasion. Not a low slung fast draw outfit but a convienent holster. I've owned single actions longer than I have owned DA and autos of which I do have a few. I think it was just an article to explore a seldom thought of phase of handgunning.
 
A devoted SASS shooter will smoke most anyone with a single action revolver and any common crimial. Might not be the best choice in general but it would be the best choice for a dedicated, avid SASS shooter. Practice makes perfect.
 
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