I know I will get some grief for this, but I like my 642


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AJ frame has been with me almost every day of my adult life going back to 1980. Originally it was my BUG but in recent times it has been my primary defense piece.

I have always said that a Smith and Wesson Centennial is the absolute best pocket of purse revolver that I have ever come across.

While I carry a model 340 with full power Magnum ammunition in it, you carrying your 642 will not invoke any grief from me

As others said just practice with what you carry and be confident in your abilities
 
I'm not in a position to judge, as most days I have a J frame in my pocket. My favorite is an all stainless steel 640, as I'm a centennial fan, but if I'm just going to run out somewhere in basketball shorts I'll grab my 642.

Sometimes it's both. The 642 in my pocket and the 640 iwb as a cross draw. I like having the 10 rounds, (5 of .38 special and 5 of .357), before I need to reload.
 
I own only one "J" frame, a 649-2. It's an ugly little bugger, but IMO It's the most utilitarian of them all. Carried in a Galco horsehide pocket holster. Purely a defensive firearm. I wouldn't want to get into a protracted gunfight with it. I do practice with it regularly.
 

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I spent some months looking at the news in the two cities near me. I didn't read any reports of civilians going through twenty rounds of ammo while trying to defend themselves. It seemed to me that following the "4S" rule, being able to get your J frame into action fairly quickly and having some shooting skills would have taken care of any problem I read about.

I live on a farm and can carry whatever I choose. It's usually a 686+ or a GP100. If I head into town, my 640 or 649 is in my pocket.
 
What is "deep concealed carry" for a civilian carrier?

Pocket carry comes to mind first. IWB next and for those who live closer to the edge, appendix carry. I suppose a shoulder holster might fit as deep concealed carry, maybe. More like OWB, though.

OWB, to my way of thinking, is NOT deep concealed carry. It's concealed but not deeply.
 
I keep a full-load in all my ready guns. As for a reload, I follow Mass's advise, I speed strips, with 5,(five) rounds. It easier to handle. When have you ever needed more than 11, (eleven) rounds to finish off a fight?
 
My wife and I have been carrying these for almost 15 years now. 5 rounds n the gun, 5 more in a speed strip.
 

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Like most of the responses. You'll get no grief from me. You do you and I'll do me.
I don't usually carry a revolver simply because I shoot semi-autos better. That being said, when it's cold out and I'm out shoveling or snow blowing, I will have a 649 or LCR in my outside Carhart coat pocket snapped into a Kydex trigger guard holster tied into the pocket.
I first carried and qualified with a M64 then a M49 then a M649 on my firearms record for my entire 26 year LE career.
 
No grief or complaints from me, either. My 642-2 is one of my EDCs...usually in a Malabar Gun Leather bullhide pocket holster and with a Tuff Strip. I don't ever intend or expect on getting into a prolonged gun fight, so I'm comfortable with 5-rds (13 rds with an 8-rd Tuff Strip). I do alternate EDC with my PC M&P Shield Plus 9mm, usually pocket carried in a Sticky holster but occasionally in a Crossbreed AIWB holster. My wife is not a big fan of recoil, so her CCW is a Ruger LCR .22 Magnum with laser. I installed an XS Yellow Dot front sight.
 

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Carried a Nickle 49 bodyguard for years as primary off duty gun. Switched to a 638 airweight. Both of these guns were departmentally approved. Upon retirement I started carrying a Glock 26. Not for number of shots, but because I qualify with it for LEOSA and more importantly, I shoot it faster and more accurately. I also find that my snub revolver skills are more perishable than my glock skills. I still carry the J frames as backup or when otherwise needed, but not generally. Cleveland cold weather mixed with arthritis sometimes plays hob with my dexterity.

We live in a great country. 30 years ago we didn't have 50 state concealed carry. We didn't generally have the problem of "what gun am I going to carry today?" syndrome. I think most would have been happy to be allowed to carry a 5 shot J frame. If you can only afford one gun for protection to do it all and are not a "gun person" they make a lot of sense.
 
Personally, I'd only think to question someone's choice of carrying a diminutive 5-shot snub if they were carrying it as a talisman and didn't practice with it.

If someone can shoot their 5-shot snub accurately and controllably, I certainly wouldn't presume to question their choice of carrying one as a CCW, off-duty or Secondary/Backup choice.

Granted, shooting the small revolvers, and especially the lightest of them, tends to demand more of the shooter than the all-steel versions, and certainly more than full-size revolvers.

Back when I changed from only owning all-steel snubs to ordering my first Airweight ('99 or '00), I realized I needed to dust off my service revolver skills (transitioned from issued revolver to pistol in '90). I put a few cases of various standard pressure and +P loads through that first Airweight, a 642-1, to bring my DA revolver skills back up to snuff.

That first 642-1 hooked me. I not only own a pair of 642-1's nowadays, but a pair of M&P 340's and a nifty little 37DAO (short production run from a canceled overseas police contract). I prefer to carry (and shoot) those lightweight J's more than my steel J's.

Sure, I still sometimes grab one of my assorted compact or subcompact 9's, .40's or .45's out of the safe for retirement carry options (since I invested so many years practicing with them as an instructor and carrying them off-duty, after all). It's just that the diminutive, lightweight J's offer me a much wider range of retirement weapon options for carry with the clothing I wear for retirement, and for my retirement activities.

I may not shoot several times each month now that I've hung up my instructor's ball cap, but I still include at least one of my lightweight J's with whatever else I grab to use at range qual/drill sessions nowadays. They also serve me quite well for my roadtrips in the capacity of LEOSA weapons. :)
 
... a 5 shot J frame. If you can only afford one gun for protection to do it all and are not a "gun person" they make a lot of sense.

I was at an Indoor Range and the father and son next to me had a snubby but they were shooting it Single Action and pa had a Negligent Discharge into the floor halfway to the target. At seven yards neither could make a five shot group. Buckshot pattern.

I had my Model 15 out on the bench and asked, "you want to try my .38?" Pa say that's a .357, two inch revolvers are .38 and four inch and longer are .357s. Pa is 40+ years old and a dummy. Son is 21 or so and just mirrored whatever his father was doing right or wrong.

Next they shot a Glock 9mm also poorly at 7 yards and basically was just doing 'mag dumps'.
 
An airweight J fits a certain niche really well. But the combination of low capacity and being harder to shoot well eats into that. If it works for you, no problem.

I went auto once I realized that I shot them better, and of course the higher capacity, faster reload, and lighter recoil (for the same ballistics) all were pluses. For now going with the “pocket Hi Power” CSX. Same weight as a steel J, more than double the ammo, less recoil.
 
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