Single Action as Primary Carry?

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Personally I don’t carry a single action revolver for SD but would in a second. I carry N frame S&W’s and a my Ruger Blackhawk is smaller.
What is needed is proficiency. Being an SASS member I can shoot 6 rounds more accurately than any of my N frames shooting double action. And just about as fast.
Fanning is not recommended but weak hand thumb I can shoot 6 rounds about as quickly as 4 rounds out of an N frame. And I have seen SASS members shoot a single action so fast on target that it sounds like a semi.
Some comments were made on it only having 6 rounds. Again this is not a real issue since most personal confrontations have how many rounds fired? I’m not talking about gangster boys whacking off innocent people, real confrontations.
If you think using a “cowboy” guns will be difficult to explain in court, how difficult will it be to explain empting a 15 round semi.
So, you should not use a single action for SD, rubbish, IMO.
SUNAJ good question
 
I carry a single action revolver from time to time. A Ruger Lipsey's Blackhawk 45 Colt / 45 ACP convertible. Usually carry the 45 acp cylinder, because it's easier to reload from a 1911 mag and there is some great defense ammo available in that caliber.

For AIMED shots, I think a single action revolver can certainly rival a double action for speed and probably beat it for accuracy if the shooter has a high level of familiarity with the single action revolver.

As regards being deemed a "cowboy" by a court, I'd rather have someone think I'm a cowboy for carrying a six-shooter, than an active-shooter because I'm carrying a high cap auto.

I also agree with Ozzieman. I think I'm going to run out of time long before I run out of ammo.
 

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L_killkenny, NOPE, not kidding at all, I know a few people who carry 1911's but they refuse to carry it cocked and locked. They both say they don't feel comfortable carrying it that way. So GUESS WHAT they will need to do in order to make it operate. YEP, COCK IT! ;) Thats all I meant by the statement.
 
I wish I could

I live in California. 14 more years and I can retire and I am out of here. I wish I could even think about carrying. If I could, I would consider a single action. 40 some odd years and I have never been in a situation to have to pull one. (If I had one) But I would like to carry a single action, maybe someday, in another State and County.

Jay
 
I think a 3" Ruger SS in .32 mag. would be a good carry gun. CC is about self defense not a fire fight. Kidding yourself with the reload bit.
 
The only problem I can see with a SA revolver is the slow reload. They can be shot just as quickly as a DA.
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Yup. Which is why my New Vaquero has magazine feeding and a gas-operated auto-shell-ejector setup.

:)

I carry it five-up in the cylinder, plus a loaded 2rd "carry magazine" about 3" long. Additional mags are a foot long, 9rd each of 9mmPara ammo. I can actually stack a 9rd mag onto the 5rd cylinder and get 14 shots with no reload, but it's a bit nutty for carry. (However, if I suspected trouble was coming I could swap the 2rd for a 9rd pretty easily, and without drawing it from the holster.)

Almost got the holder for the pair of 9rd mags and the new mag latch setup perfected...may have pics and a better video this week. Turned out to be a tougher problem than expected but I have it licked.
 
As to handling a single action revolver one-handed, this happened to me many years ago, around 1963~1964:

I had been fishing alongside a creek in southeastern Georgia and had a Colt Scout .22 Single Action on my hip. I was about ready to pack it in when a half sheet of plywood, 4' x 4' came floating down the creek. Coiled in the middle of that plywood was a fat cottonmouth. I drew and fired one shot, one handed, and nearly cut that snake's head off. At the sound of my shot, a second cottonmouth tumbled off the bank to my right, maybe ten or fifteen feet away. I fired off my second shot nearly severing his head also. Then suddenly between my feet a third cottonmouth slid by headed for the creek. I shot him less that a foot ahead of my toes, blowing his head off and also blowing a large hole in the mud between my feet and showering me with muddy water. That was three shots as fast as any DA revolver could have done, or auto either, for that matter.

A single action slow? I think not.

The rapid fire stage in bullseye target shooting was five shots in ten seconds I believe, all fired single action with either a Colt Officers Model Match or a Smith K-38 in those days.

Bob Wright
 
And, incidentally, never fan, or try to fan a Ruger Blackhawk or a Colt New Frontier.

"Why?" you may ask. Just look at that rear sight!

Bob Wright
 
I knew a lawyer who carried, depending on his mood, a 3-screw Blackhawk converted to .44Spl or a Bearcat converted to .22Mag. At first, I was skeptical of his choices....until I saw him shoot them....

....it's the cook that makes or breaks the meal....
 
For modern times I think it is nostalgic and will get you hurt unless you are very, very good. The loads you will carry for SD are way more powerful than what the trick shooters use. Forget a reload, it is not gonna happen in a fight. It beats nothing but that is about it.
 
Cock it once or cock it six times?
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I think you misunderstood my point for the post I made. My statement was in response to this post,
I would advise not using a SA revolver for regular defense. The fact you may have a AD or be falsely accused of threats or cocking a revolver hammer in a critical incident are great.
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I just don't think charges could be brought on by simply bringing a SA pistol into battery. Or can they?

But with that said moving on to another opinion of mine. I don't personally believe a reload will be required in a SD situation and from literature, shots fired rarely exceed the capacity of a wheel gun. One center mass shot from a 250 grain slug, at SD distance is more than enough to defuse an attack. IMHO
 
JMO:

S/A wheel gun:
- power to weight ratio, already mentioned, +
- for a LOT of people, ergos +
- S/A wheel with transfer bar +
- accuracy seems to be at least, if not better, for people I shoot with +
- Safety? I think it could easily be shown (unless not careful with cocking hammer) that a S/A wheel is much safer than say a Glock.


Negatives:

- reload. Ok, but, honestly, have you seen most people at any range trying to reload with a speed loader, much less strips? Can be done, with LOTS of practice.

I have just always been taught, carry what you can BEST defend your life with.
 
I personally think the western style pistol is one of the best designs ever made,
to me it is very pointable, very comfortable ergonomics, which is of prime importance in self-defense-you must be able to hit your target reliably,
however difficulty in reloading, esp. one without a swing-out cylinder, and typically single action, slower cock-the hammer first makes it less than ideal in a fire-fight,
however some people compensate in various ways, for instance some are able to shoot fast and accurate by fanning (if that's the correct term), etc.,
I am wondering if there are people on the forum that do in fact carry a western style single action for protection, and why,
thanks

sunaj
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If open carry was legal here I'm sure I'd be wearing a single action quite frequently. In experienced hands they can be fired quite quickly and I'm not that worried about reloads.
 
Well sir, I likes my single actions and I likes my double actions but I am a hand gun hunter first and it matters not if its a 22, .357/38 or a 44 magnum. all my hunting guns are single action. I am used to carrying them drawing and shooting rapidly at everything from squirrel to rabbits to deer. Not saying I hit every time but I hit most of the time and if I need more than 6 shots in a gun fight then a 9MM or 45 ACP probably won't do me much good either, What I would need is back up, preferably somebody with a rifle or shotgun because I am obviously in the wrong place. Since I only practice double action once in awhile its obvious that I cock every gun I have except for the pistols so forgetting to cock is ludicrous on the face.

I leave the fanning to the Hollyweird types for showmanship purposes. I'm to old and crippled to wear a uniform again and my chances of getting into a multiple opponent gun fight is awful slim. One good shot at a time out of any gun is all that is required, If he stands and presents a danger still then you shoot again, but fanning?

The winners who worry about what it would look like to the court also worry about the bullets they have, (are they politically correct), and the size magazines they have, (are they politically correct), and look for ways to cut and run rather than stand and fight. If its a righteous shooting the cops and DA won't care what gun you had or what round you fired from it unless it was illegal for you to have in the first place, (ie. it was to short, an unregistered automatic, or you are a felon). If the DA is going to get you he will get you no matter what gun you had because some just don't believe in citizens defending themselves no matter what. Think New Jersey.

With this caveat, if you purposely walk the bad streets of town late at night and into the early hours of morning carrying a shotgun loaded with flechettes and dragons breath they may look at you with a jaundiced eye and will look to protect the public from you either in a cell with prisoners or a locked room with other crazy people.
 
I carry a single action revolver daily and have for quite some time. It is either a Birds head Vaquero with 3-3/4 barrel or a Blackhawk with a 4-5/8 inch barrel both in 45 Colt.

They are not hard to conceal with a good belt and pancake holster. Keeping the gun high is the trick.

It all comes down to what you like and shoot well.
 
How many bad guys stopped in a gunfight to examine the weapon they were being shot at with, to determine whether to flee or not?
 
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