At top, Sharon Ahern’s old-style Model 640 .38 Special, below that Jerry Ahern’s old-style 640, both with different styles of Crimson Trace LaserGrips.  The holster is for pocket carry.

By Jerry Ahern

Although any knowledgeable firearms person will tell you that a semi-automatic pistol is typically a far simpler mechanism than a double action revolver, that same well-informed person will likely freely admit that the double action revolver is easier to operate, whether we’re talking about actually shooting or merely loading and unloading of the weapon.

The complications associated with a revolver’s mechanism are coincident with the multiple mechanical functions needed for the gun to work, and the fact that, by the very nature of how these mechanical functions are accomplished, there are all sorts of entryways into a revolver for dirt and debris, far more so than for the typical semi-automatic.

When firing guns like the S&W Model 637 with hotter ammunition, expect serious recoil; you’ll get it.

Back in my days with GUNS Magazine, one of our regular contributors was Colonel Charles Askins. Askins was not just a knowledgeable gun person, but a terrific writer, too. And, he was a truly fine shot. Before World War II, as Askins related in one of his articles, he saw no problems with relying on a double action revolver in the field. But, slogging through Europe in all sorts of rotten weather conditions brought home to him just how comparatively delicate a revolver really was.

But simplicity of operation – firing, loading and unloading – keeps the small revolvers popular. And, unless the gun is subjected to the harshest of field conditions, as Colonel Askins had to endure with his revolver, the good quality revolver will do just fine.

Like semi-automatic pistols, revolvers can be ammunition sensitive, but not to the same degree. The principal ammunition related issue for the double action revolver is primer seating depth. If the primers on the cartridges you place in the cylinder of your revolver are raised, the cylinder might very well not turn. So, yes, you can get a jam with a revolver, but it’s unlikely in the extreme with factory loaded ammunition.

Historically, in the United States, the snub-nosed market belonged to Colt and Smith & Wesson. In the mid-20th century, along came Ruger and Charter Arms and the Rossi revolvers from Brazil. Ruger never had a true snub nosed, small frame revolver until the LCR debuted well along in the first decade of the 21st century. In the 1970s, the Taurus revolvers, also from Brazil, began to be noticed in the USA. Smith & Wesson-like and lower-priced, they caught on and grew.

The category of snub-nosed revolvers is usually defined by a nominal two-inch barrel, but many of these same revolvers can be had, at times, at least, with nominal three-inch barrels.

Charter Arms had its ups and downs, but seems, in modern times, to have hit its stride. Built on innovation from the very beginning, Charter has continued this tradition with such things as its mirror image left-hand revolver. Rossi revolvers are now manufactured by Taurus, but as a distinctly different line. Under its own name, Taurus offers a wonderfully full line of snubby revolvers. Smith & Wesson, of course, continues its tradition of world-class revolvers. With Cobra and Ruger offering snubbies, the choices for the consumer run the gamut of pricing and features.

During the Clinton administration years, before legal protection for gun manufacturers was passed by Congress and signed into law by George W. Bush, as noted elsewhere, a number of anti-Second Amendment city administrations went after gun makers with law suits and threats of law suits. The philosophy seemed to be that the cigarette makers had proven to be fair game in the court system, so, why not gun makers? The idea, of course, was to gouge as much money as possible, then force the gun makers out of the civilian arms business. Colt, at that same time, abandoned most of its handgun line, snub-nosed revolvers among the casualties.

The innovative Ruger LCR is a modularly built .38 Special revolver.

A list of the two largest makers of snub-nosed handguns would still include Smith & Wesson, of course, but the principal competitor to Smith & Wesson’s offerings is Taurus USA, and that is a situation that is likely to remain.

The Colt Detective Special, as well as the Agent and Cobra, will still be found from time to time as used guns. Of robust design, one of these revolvers in good condition would likely provide a lifetime of service with the proper ammunition choices. And that can be said for all of the snub-nosed revolvers I have ever tried. Treat them properly and they will serve you well.

The Colt revolvers were derived from the Colt Police Positive, the smaller-framed .38 Special six-shot service revolver in the Colt line in the early years of the 20th century. Original swing-out cylinder revolvers on this frame size were introduced as early as 1889. The Detective Special was a Police Positive with a two-inch barrel. The Smith & Wesson J-Frame of 1950, on the other hand, was an enlarged I-Frame gun, beefed up to take .38 Special. Smith & Wesson produced, of course, snubby K-Frame (smaller medium frame) revolvers, but they weren’t small enough.

The earliest J-Frame was the .32 Hand Ejector of 1896. The J-Frame five-shooter that so captured the market was the original Chiefs Special Model 36, a true classic that provided the inspiration for all of the five-shot .38 Specials in today’s market, regardless of the maker. Other makers’ handguns have their own distinctive features and design differences, of course, but that these guns all have marked similarities – frame size, overall length, cylinder capacity and caliber to name the most obvious points – is undeniable.

Because the range of snub-nosed .38 Special revolvers is so broad, the wise shopper will examine as many of these different models as possible, being careful to consider all features.

Weights range from 22-1/2 ounces to jarring featherweights at 13-1/2 ounces. Construction materials can be ordnance steel, stainless steel, magnesium, titanium aluminum and scandium. Blue and nickel plated finishes are available. You can have gold highlights. You can have multiple colors on the same gun, because of differing metals used. Calibers include .357 Magnum, .38 Special (+P rated), .32 H&R Magnum and .22 Magnum. You can have recoil absorbing grips, fiber optic front sights and lasers.

If you choose a snubby wisely, it can be a tool that will serve you faithfully for life. My first handgun was a snubby revolver and I wouldn’t be without one to this day.

This article is an excerpt from the new book  Gun Digest Buyer's Guide to Concealed Carry. Click here to order your copy.