My beloved Taurus 605 snub-nose revolver failed the other day. Really bummed me out, I had a “relationship” with that gun, and was counting on it if I needed it to save my life. I carried it everywhere.
My Taurus jammed while shooting .38 special plus P ammo. I got the spent shells out, but the gun won’t close easily now, and you can barely pull the trigger.
Fortunately, Taurus guns covered by a lifetime guarantee, not just lifetime of the owner, but the life of the GUN, so even if you buy one second-hand, it’s still covered.
I’ll carry my S&W 908 semi-auto until I get it back (could take Taurus a few months, I’ve heard) but I am going to ALWAYS carry at least the mouse gun (Ruger .380 LCP) as a backup. What if I’d needed the Taurus in a life-and-death situation and it failed, and I had no backup?
I got the gun new, and have fired maybe 1000 rd through it over a few months. Mostly .357, some .38.
FWIW, the brand of ammo I was firing when it jammed was Blazer, but I don’t think it’s an ammo issue. Those rounds have a lot less power than the .357s I usually use.
WHY REVOLVERS?
Someone asked me “why do people still buy revolvers”?
People buy revolvers for the reason people still buy hammers. Because it may be an old design, but they work (despite my exception, which is so rare it proves the rule).
They fail less than most semi-autos, they’re cheaper.
They’re actually great guns for people with no experience with guns. If you ever buy a gun for someone, like a girlfriend or wife, who’s willing to carry a gun, but not willing to really become a “gun person”, a revolver is great. No safety to forget to turn off, not mag disconnect to accidentally hit, just point, and pull trigger. The trigger is so hard it acts as a safety, but you can also cock the trigger with your thumb to get a shorter trigger pull. (Which also has the psychological effect on whoever you’re pointing it at,….think Dirty Harry).
And why snubbies? A .357 revolver is the most power you can pack in the smallest form. Someone described a .357 snubbie as being like the “Noisy Cricket” gun from Men in Black.
And Snubbies can be fired from inside the pocket if need be. A semi-auto, not so much, because the slide has to move. Also, revolvers do not engage a spring until you pull the trigger. You could probably leave a loaded revolver in a drawer for half a century, and it would still work when you pulled the trigger. A loaded semi-auto with a bullet in the chamber would probably seize up or the spring would break in that amount of time.
Plus all revolvers look and feel cool and retro, and have a lot of history. They were the first usable multi-shot handguns. “God mad man, but Sam Colt made them equal.”
Revolvers have very few moving parts
compared to semi-autos
more on revolvers:
http://www.snubnose.info/
http://www.snubnose.info/history.htm
http://www.sixguns.com/range/Mademag.htm
http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=30
http://www.notpurfect.com/main/concealed.html
Revolvers are much less affected by dust and dirt, require less cleaning and oiling, and are much easier to clean. (for what it’s worth, I cleaned mine often, and carried in a holster, which prevents pocket lint from getting in, but many people carry snubbies in a coat pocket. I don’t recommend that, for dirt, but also because in a holster, you KNOW what position it’s going to be in when you need to grab for it in an adrenaline situation.)
I’m psyched today. My concealed carry permit is waiting for me to pick up at the sheriff’’s office . Yay! I’ve wanted one for two years and more or less moved to Wyoming so I could get one!
MWD
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