Single Action Revolver-CCW

[VAdoublegunner]

I have carried my Ruger Birdshead Sheriff's Model Vaquero on several occasions. I shoot it often and am pretty good with it at CAS, so it is a gun I feel very confident, and safe, carrying. While not my first choice for city urban carry, it is a good one when out and about in a combination of woods and small towns. It works best in cooler weather when I have a big coat, but packs pretty well. If I need it for the woods, I can always load up with some Ruger-only handloads. Otherwise, for CCW it's loaded with Win 45 Colt Silvertips. That'll work. I imagine if I ever did have to draw it, it would have the desired result, hopefully without having to fire it. The big hole at the muzzle and grinning cylinder full in waiting is pretty impressive from the front end. As you cock it, sight and sound leaves no doubt that peril is imminent.

 

[Cocked & Locked]

If I did, my 3.5" Beretta .45 would be the one.

 

[feralmerril]

My first good handgun was a ruger single six. I probley shot that gun almost as much as all the other handguns I owned together since! By old habit 90% of the shooting I do with my double actions I still do single action anyway. Except for when I requaled at work. Except for reloading, I doubt I would be at much of a disadvantage in the real world if that is all I had! When I do pack concealed, I am into the short light J frames with bobbed hammer or a model 40 that I can just slip in my pocket. You cant do that easy with a thumb buster. But years ago if they would have said that I HAD to carry a single action at work instead of the double actions we carried on open carry, it wouldnt have bothered me at all! In fact, I would have felt more comfortable with a 44 special or 45 colt then the .38s we had to use! My outfit wouldnt let us carry .357s in our .357s!

 

[geoff40]

I don't know anyone who actually carries one for self defense, but I do know a few who have Blackhawk house guns. If you keep in mind that for the average incident it is going to be 3 shots or less at 21 feet or less. Probably half the accounts we see in the armed citizen are 1 shot stops. We all know that with some practice a SA can fire multiple shots accurately, and as quick as any other gun. So the idea really isn't that crazy, at least not to me. If all I had was a 4 5/8ths SA in 357 or 45 Colt I wouldn't feel particularily vulnerable.

 

[Erich]

Erich, very cool .45

Thanks, Lucky!

 

[OFT]

Originally posted by JayCeeNC:
Hey, it worked for Gen. Patton!
(But he did carry a S&W .357 Registered Magnum for backup.

)

Patton also had Third Army for backup.

I have carried a second generation Colt in 357 when that was the only centerfire handgun that I had available and don't remember worrying about anything at the time.

 

[Racegunner]

Ask anyone who's been in shooting if they would have rather had a single action revolver. Why carry something with built-in disadvantages (firing and reloading)? I want ever modern advantage known to man.
I do like the SA revolvers, but they are more stylish than practical and should be left for the range.
Sure, there are many cowboy action shooters and trick shooters who can do amazing things with SA, but those targets aren't hitting them with an iron pipe or shooting back at them.
It's really the difference between cowboy boots and combat boots. There are a lot of weak arguments for being stylish here, sorry.

 

[GatorFarmer]

I carried an NAA Mini as a BUG for a while. Not that it was the best choice - my particular gun had a habit of keyholing and also - disconcertingly - having the hammer make its way out of the cylinder stop and end up resting over the primer.

When I had my Colt (circa 2003 mfg date) SAA in .45 Colt, I actually thought about carrying it. I was going to load it with BP rounds on the theory that it would lay my own smoke screen and also set someone on fire.

I ended up trading it for a Colt Series 70 1911, which was a far more practical option as Colt .45s go.

Colt SAAs, and clones, are large and relatively heavy guns for what they do.

 

[Andy Taylor]

What I am seeing is that although few do, it doesn't seem like such a crazy idea to most, assuming adaquite training in the manual of arms for the chosen weapon.

Now a question for those who think the idea is crazy:
If given the choice between a quality SA revolver in your choice of caliber or your choice of a quality DA revolver or semi-auto of similar size and weight but chambered in .22LR which would you choose now?

 

[Racegunner]

...I was going to load it with BP rounds on the theory that it would lay my own smoke screen and also set someone on fire.

Now that made my day!

As far as making a choice between SA or a .22 ...why? Is that all that's left at the pawn shop or all you happen to have on hand now? What's the whole point in this post?

Any large caliber SA over anything .22 probably....but with a bayonet since you seem to be into making things interesting.

FWIW I know a dude really good with a flintlock, but I'll pass

 

[VAdoublegunner]

Yeah, I gotta admit, "the SA in any caliber vs. .22LR anything" is getting a little out there. FWIW, I'd still pick a SA in 45 Colt because I feel I'm able to use it effectively, but a 4" Ruger Standard pistol would carry easier, deal out a lot of rounds fast, and likely do just as well in trained hands.

 

[Jellybean]

Now a question for those who think the idea is crazy:

Let me try to expand on my answer. Would a SA work for CCW? Of course, they shoot some very effective cartridges, as far as handguns go. But they have limitations. Especially the Colt SAAs and it's clones.

If you keep in mind that for the average incident it is going to be 3 shots or less at 21 feet or less. Probably half the accounts we see in the armed citizen are 1 shot stops.We all know that with some practice a SA can fire multiple shots accurately, and as quick as any other gun.

So what about the not-so-average incident? This is one of the things that should have been learned from the Miami shootout, and earlier. Don't let the fact that the average shooting can be handled with no problem, it's the "other" situations that you have to worry about. That's why you carry a gun for CCW anyway isn't it? Most people can go their whole life without having to use a gun but you carry one just in case. What if your case is one of the other ones? A SA Colt can fire multiple shots accurately, but not as fast as any other gun, especially if using only one hand. The guns that Bob Munden shoots in his exhibitions for speed are shooting wax bullets, or black powder blanks, which aren't very effective man stoppers. The recoil from shooting real bullets makes them a little more difficult to fire rapidly.

I carry a NAA 22lr mini revolver a lot.

I see this a lot with police officers, and it's something else that should have been learned from one of the real life cases. Folks have a habit of convincing themselves something is going to be alright.

It worked for Dr. Holliday.

Ahh Hollywood! I recall reading that Dr. Holliday preferred a double action revolver, as did John Wesley Hardin and a host of other accomplished gunmen of that period. And they carried them often in spite of the fact that most of the DA revolvers at that time were not very well made or dependable. But they saw their advantages and chose them anyway. Many of the other accomplished gunmen of the era carried a version of the S&W with the breaktop action because of it's ability to be loaded more quickly.

Look at the gun competitons where you have several gunmen that are of equal skill, the outcome becomes an equipment race. More than likely the critter that threatens you will not be a skilled gunman, but it has happened. Or he may have a lot of friends behind him...Like the Third Army.

If I "had" to carry a SA I would, but the Colts wouldn't be my first choice. But given the choice I would carry what I think would give me the most advantages and flexibility.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

Cajun lawyer. FWIW I carry one, too.

 

[geoff40]

The topic isn't about enforcing laws with a SA. The Miami shooting is not what us average folks are going to encounter in a CCW incident and I don't think the comparison is valid. Take ALL of the self defense shootings by laypersons you ever heard of: how many several minute long shootouts with reloadings and multiple cylinders and magazines of bullets being fired can you come up with? Not many to none at all is the answer. They happen to LEOs, and sometimes to certain merchants defending their turf from armed robbers maybe, but not to the average CCW situation, and thats what I am getting at-because thats what the question was.

I too sometimes carry a NAA mini. I like mine quite a lot. Its nothing other than a very close quarter gun, touching distance. I would imagine 1 in the head would be quite fatal to a BG.

 

[Jellybean]

geoff, my response isn't about enforcing laws either. It's about "you don't know what you are going to be faced with". Just because you don't hear about situations doesn't mean they can't or don't happen. What do you think would happen if you were to walk into your favorite pizza shop in the middle of a robbery where the BG just shot the employees with a shotgun. You think he's going to stand still long enough for you to shoot him in the head with your mini? You think he's going to let you leave alive?

Do you remember Bernie Getz? Suppose you found yourself surrounded by four armed gang members, hypothetical situation, are you going to shoot each one of them in the head too, or just give them your mini so you don't get hurt?

You are right though, I don't hear too much about CCW holders getting into big shootouts. But does that mean it doesn't happen, or is it because when they needed a real gun they pulled out some little NAA mini and got themselves shot to pieces . When you read the 'armed citizen' articles they don't give the stories from the people that died because they felt the gun they chose was "adequate" for any situation that might rear up it's ugly head. You only read about the lucky ones that make the odds look good.

Do you see what I'm trying to say? You won't hear about a several minute long shootout with a civillian if he gets his butt blown off in the first 3 seconds. Civillian shootings involving a licensed CCW are just not that common. We do have a lot of civillian shootings around here with non-licensed CCWers. None of them carry a SAA or any other SA revolver because they know how serious the business is.

And now that I mentioned 'them', yes I have heard of several minute shootouts with several magazine changes, and there was no LEOs involved at all.

 

[Racegunner]

A mini 22 is for shootin someone across the poker table and not too much else.

 

[T. McIntyre]

If you want style points, go for it. Single actions are cool.

That being said, I make my living with a gun and a single action revolver is very far down the list of what I would prefer to be carrying.

Do some force of force simmunitions training with single actions versus a semi auto pistol and see the results. My bet is that the vast majority of single action revolver guys would be chewed up and spit out of the grinder.

 

[walnutred]

At one point a common pocket pistol in some parts of the country was a SAA with the barrel and ejector shroud removed. I do not think they are actually legal because of the lack of rifling, but at pocket gun ranges they are not bad to shoot.

 

[Smilin-buddha]

Originally posted by Erich:
I've carried my Cimarron short barrel .45 ACP - with a 1911 mag to reload from.

Stripper clips work well, too. I'm a lefty, and these left-handed guns work well for me.

That is a beautiful pistol sir

 

[Erich]

Thank you, sir! I'm so fortunate to have run across it.