Required features for *your* carry revolver

[HeavyDuty]

Sometimes it’s a 2” J. Sometimes it’s a 3” K6s. Sometimes it’s a 3” K. And sometimes it’s a 4” L in .357 or even .44 Magnum.

Like JCN said, it’s a little like asking what shoes I wear in public. It’s all dependent on purpose and location, my choice for a dinner evening on the mean streets of Manchester is probably going to be different from when I’m in the woods practicing the black art of photography.

[03RN]

[JCN]

I would be very interested in an alloy 6 shot hammerless or bobbed j-frame size for pocket carry. My 642 is on me all the time and if I’m doing highway travel, is augmented by a 15 shot 9mm. For hiking it’s either a M-28 in .357 or a 1950 in .44 spl.

https://www.handgunhero.com/compare/...6-2-ultra-lite

I’ve been very tempted to pick up a Taurus 856 ultra lite for that reason. 6 shots in a similar form factor to a J frame.

[Dave T]

First, I was surprised to see (from the link above) how well the UL 856 compares to the Ruger LCR.

My current carry revolver is the S&W 389 NG. It holds 7 rounds, is light weight, and hides well in my man purse. When disability allows, it even rides well in a Simply Rugged pancake holster on the belt. I had TK Custom machine the cylinder for Moonclips and installed an APEX Tactical DAO hammer. My carry ammo is Buffalo Bore's Heavy +P 38 Special 158g SWCHP-GC as my arthritic hands can't handle full blown 357 Mag and much of the Magnum punch is lost in the 2.5" barrel. I also had to replace the factory's fixed rear sight as it shot no where close to point of impact. Put on a S&W adjustable rear with the blades outer corners muchly rounded.

Dave

[SSGN_Doc]

I don’t know about “Must” have. But the S&W 640-1 Pro blends features I do like.

Weight of the steel frame in a J frame seems a good balance for recoil management with +P and magnum rounds, but not too heavy for carry. Ammo versatility and durability in .357 chambering in a steel frame.
Useable sight.
Longer ejector rod than standard J-Frame .38s
DAO
Trigger was smoothed up from the factory. Heavy is ok when it’s smooth.
Grips are back to a larger grip for assuring repeatable grip with better recoil management than the boot grips in the picture.

[4RNR]

I think most of us would like something in the size group of

• Colt D frame
• Kimber K6
• Taurus 856

Smaller and lighter than a K frame, but more shootable than a J frame. Or maybe as shootable as a J frame with larger grips.

It needs to hold six rounds of .38 Special. Pretty much anyone here would be fine with +P SPL. That's another thing: The Cleti who need to buy a bunch of them to make the economics work won't want it enough if it can't chamber .357. If they are to be satisfied, useful design parameters for size and weight are threatened.

DAO and spurless/internal hammer.

Barrel from 2-3 inches.

Good sights with some degree of adjustability, but less snaggy than an S&W or Ruger standard adjustable sight. Like a dovetailed or similar rear that's windage-adjustable, maybe even like the adjustable-height Novak rear. Interchangeable front sight. Aftermarket sight options.

The problem with the three guns mentioned is that reasonable people have reason to suspect all of them for long-term durability/reliability. Alternate-universe scenarios that have been discussed previously include:

• Ruger un-f-ing its QC and upsizing either the LCR or SP101 just enough to make it a six-shooter, and no more. I would advocate for applying the LCR trigger concept to the SP106 if they did that.
• S&W un-f-ing its QC and upsizing the J frame just enough to make it a six-shooter, and no more. Very much like Taurus did with the 856.

Personally, I had a three-inch K frame. Got a really nice holster and quickly figured out that it was just too big and bulky to really conceal well on my body. I'm better off with a compact semi. So if I was to go with a revolver for primary, it would have to be smaller. But none of the available options are satisfactory. So the J frame covers J frame stuff, and semis are for when I can carry more. The GP can get carried in places where a guy with graying, receding hair can get away with carrying it at 3:00 in a leather holster on the outside of his clothes.

A lot of this.

I tried and found a revolver to be too bulky, even the J- frames. And the grips are nine existent. I can carry something like a Sig 365 (still crappy grips but better) that's thinner, easier to conceal, carries more ammo and faster reloading. But my real problem was mainly the thickness and grip size/shape, everything else was not as important.

That being said if I were to carry a revolver my ideal one would be something resembling the K6 in a 2-3 inch barrel. In 357. Currently the only thing I have that fits what that description is a Ruger Speed Six 2.75in barrel. It would still need to be a DAO and have better grips

Sometimes it’s a 2” J. Sometimes it’s a 3” K6s. Sometimes it’s a 3” K. And sometimes it’s a 4” L in .357 or even .44 Magnum.

Like JCN said, it’s a little like asking what shoes I wear in public. It’s all dependent on purpose and location, my choice for a dinner evening on the mean streets of Manchester is probably going to be different from when I’m in the woods practicing the black art of photography.

I think the OP means most of the time. Not the time you go to church or wedding. Or the time you went to the beach.

Some situations I carry a LCP380, some situations I don't carry at all but 99.99% of the time if I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt I'm carrying a G19X. That almost never ever changes. Winter, summer, snow, humidity...G19X. Before that it was the G19. I think that's what the OP had in mind.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[OlongJohnson]

I don’t know about “Must” have. But the S&W 640-1 Pro blends features I do like.

Weight of the steel frame in a J frame seems a good balance for recoil management with +P and magnum rounds, but not too heavy for carry. Ammo versatility and durability in .357 chambering in a steel frame.
Useable sight.
Longer ejector rod than standard J-Frame .38s
DAO
Trigger was smoothed up from the factory. Heavy is ok when it’s smooth.
Grips are back to a larger grip for assuring repeatable grip with better recoil management than the boot grips in the picture.

A six-shooter version of that would pretty much check all the boxes.*


*When I tried to buy a 640 Pro, it was spectacularly defective out of the box. They had skipped a step in manufacturing it. I sent it back. KyGunCo's in-house smith inspected the replacement they were going to send me and it was the same. Then their sale was over. I assume they found all or most of their inventory was like that and sent it all back to S&W. That's one of many reasons I said, "S&W un-f-ing its QC..."

[okie john]

Either a S&W Model 12 or an old-style Colt Cobra with a 3-4" barrel in 357 Magnum with night sights wouldn't be perfect but I could work with it.

Same with a current-production S&W Model 66 if you add the C&S fixed rear sight and a tritium front sight.


Okie John

[SSGN_Doc]

A six-shooter version of that would pretty much check all the boxes.*


*When I tried to buy a 640 Pro, it was spectacularly defective out of the box. They had skipped a step in manufacturing it. I sent it back. KyGunCo's in-house smith inspected the replacement they were going to send me and it was the same. Then their sale was over. I assume they found all or most of their inventory was like that and sent it all back to S&W. That's one of many reasons I said, "S&W un-f-ing its QC..."

A sixth round would be nice I suppose. If I want more capacity, I’m probably jumping back up to my Px4 compact with 15+ rounds onboard and leaving the revolver home. I don’t know if a 6th round would change my mind.

I do see where the slight addition to frame size could also add to the handling characteristics, and on that point, it might change my mind in some circumstances. But I’d have to run the platform through some carry and shooting to know.

I bought this one used, (not shot much, but used.). I inspected this pretty hard in the gun shop before putting money on it. But I was wary based on research revealing complaints on S&W QC.

I’m just getting back into revolvers after a couple decades away from them. So, auto loaders still tend to be where my primary carry comfort zone is at. But the 640 Pro at least represents a combination of a lot of features I like. So, at least S&W got a lot of concept features combined well. So, at least shows their design/concept element is functional. If they can indeed get the QC on solid footing and take feedback and market cues like those represented in the Taurus 856, then…

[jetfire]

My hope was that if "must" backed you into a corner you just would not make a selection on that topic. My goal isn't to narrow this down to "the" carry model, but to something like "The majority of PF would be happy with a ___ frame gun with a capacity of ___ with a barrel length around ___ in caliber(s) ___ and the options currently being produced include these models."

I meant to include an option for DAO or traditional hammer but can't figure out how to edit the poll. I know this isn't perfect, but I'm trying to find a range of common choices and not just the most popular make or model.

I got you fam: "the majority of PF would be happy with a k-frame gun with a capacity of 6 or 7 with a barrel length of 3 inches in caliber 38 Sp or 32 Magnum, with a DA hammer, good trigger, and good sights"