The humble .38 Special Airweight J-frame.

[Shorty 45 MK2]

While this is by no means the end all, be all of carry guns it comes close in that with one gun and two sets of stocks (grips) like the Spegel boot grips you can have a relatively small yet powerful "hideout gun" or a compact "belt gun" with Pachmayer compac's. At 16 oz it's not the lightest or most enjoyable to shoot, but it's light enough to pocket carry and heavy enough not to have to worry about bullet jump. For someone on a tight budget an Airweight J-frame along with a police trade in model 10 or 64 is a hard carry/HD setup to beat for the price.

All of this is of course my opinion and is worth what you paid for it.

So what do you all think about the Airweight J's?

 

[Brian41]

I carry a model 37 in my pocket almost all the time and really about as light as I wish to go. It's a good trade off as far as weight and felt recoil in my opinion. I don't notice it's weight at all and do notice if I carry my model 36 instead.
I will usually keep it in my pocket even when I carry a 1911 on my belt when I go somewhere I feel I need more gun.

 

[eveled]

The airweights especially the centenials, are among the finest defense revolvers ever built, especially when you factor in the cost of buying one. A really fine sturdy handy revolver at an almost disposable price.

I would challenge anybody to come up with an option half as good as an airweight j frame for the money. If you only get ten years of service out of one, that would be $40 a year! Likely you will get 20 or more years.

 

[Jimmyjones]

Yup, love my Airweights !

LOL, I now have 6, I found a used 638-3 yesterday for $350 OTD. So I now have a 637,638,642 plus a spare for each one all setup the same way.

Half the clan

Inexpensive (relatively), easy to carry, and best of all, readily available. I could replace one of my Airweights in a few hours for ~ $400 around here. Can't do that with my 60+ year old M&P snubby.

I almost forget I have a 642 tucked in my belt, but always remember the one in my jacket pocket.

 

[Erich]

I carried them for years and especially liked my 38-2 humpback, but then this happened.

S&W immediately replaced it albeit with a key-locked version - which I sold unfired to a friend for a ridiculously low price because I've had a lock self-engage when I oafishly knocked the unloaded gun off a counter onto a hardwood floor. Nowadays, I'd just unscrew the sideplate, take out the lock parts, install a Plug, and be back in business: at the time, the Plug wasn't on the market and I just didn't want to deal with it.

So, for a few years I didn't carry a five-shot airweight. When Ruger introduced the LCR .38 Special, the smooth and light trigger mechanism was intriguing, but I waited a few years to be sure everything was trustworthy on these guns. (I wasn't interested in the heavier .357s - I already have a 6-shot lightweight Rhino that's not much larger and recoils less.) Lucked into brand new .38 LCR on a lowball GB bid this summer ($305!) and have been quite happy with the thing: there's something about a light, 5-shot .38 Special revolver in your pocket, all right. Even tho mine's not a J-frame.

 

[ginzo]

I love my 638-3. It was my 1st revo, just this year. I find myself carrying it the most....... Somehow it just sneaks out of lock down.

 

[perrazi]

bought a 642 no lock to put in my car, and recently bought a 442 cut for moon clips. that one goes in my pocket this winter.

 

[regalsc]

I have 2 airlites. A 337ti & a 340pd both with no lock. The 340pd gets carried the most due to its internal hammer.

 

[307-Niner]

I have a couple. Love em.

 

[NYlakesider]

I have a 642 (no lock) and it's a decent little gun. I have put many rounds threw it and even with full house +Ps not that bad to shoot. I have a pocket holster and an ITWB, but up to this point have not carried as a CCW. I would have absolutely no problem doing it, just have not got around to it yet.

My "everyday" carry now is a Bodyguard .380, and it's a bit thinner and carries a little more ammo than a small revolver. My "city" carry or if conditions warrant I will have an XDs.45 subtlety concealed.

One of these days though the little 642 will accompany me, more than likely as an "everyday". I have a Model 60 and in the 70s that was both my local and city gun and I felt I was well armed.

 

[dr. K]

love the j's

Either a 442 or a 640 is with me at absolutely all times. I do love j-frames. Something goes wrong, Smith will fix it... and if something goes really wrong, as another user pointed out, they can be replaced in a matter of hours, for about $400 around here as well. Dunno about you, but I can't beat that.

 

[Hapworth]

Love the Js.

As much as I drool over and accumulate its big brothers and imagine how I'd carry or use this K or that L, or such and such bad boy is the one I'll never sell...

...it's the Js that do virtually all my heavy lifting. They deserve their own monument.


(P.S. -- That rumbling sound is "J-hound extraordinaire" kaaskop49 approaching.)

 

[HarrishMasher]

I have 6 of them, ranging from 22lr up to 357. I carry all of them. Not all at one time of course

In all honesty I have been carry one of my 6 K/L Frames more these days. But I will no doubt carry a J Frame from time to time.

 

[Helderberg]

The 686 is pretty much a range and house gun and the Bodyguard is when I need a small flat gun. The rest of the time the j-s' see all the carry. For my needs the Airweight with std load's and the Pacy grip feels like it was made for my hand. Can not imagine needing more for personal defense.
Stay safe, Frank.

 

[kaaskop49]

Love the Js.

As much as I drool over and accumulate its big brothers and imagine how I'd carry or use this K or that L, or such and such bad boy is the one I'll never sell...

...it's the Js that do virtually all my heavy lifting. They deserve their own monument.


(P.S. -- That rumbling sound is "J-hound extraordinaire" kaaskop49 approaching.)

Muchas gracias, Hapworth, for that grand introduction. You're correct. That rumbling sound arose when my right rear tire blew out yesterday while on the way to the dealer to have my tire pressure checked. Never happened to me before, how could it on a subway? Drove a block before I could pull into a gas station. Insurance sent help within 10 minutes. (So that's what that tire in the trunk is for!). No rim or axle damage, happily.

Hard for me to comment on this topic at the present time. If you look at the ID data on the upper right, you will see I have been busy moving. You may know what a Demon-class planet is, but you'll never know which one. Fortunately, Internet service is available here, and the LGS's carry J-snubs. Only J-snubs... No subway, though...

As cool weather precedes colder temps, we see that the J-snub is the all-season gun: from the pants pocket in summer to the coat/jacket pocket in winter. And for you derringer-haters, they sprout in winter pockets also, to which I can attest.

Gotta go, work awaits. Must make sure Hapworth hasn't shorted me on his tips.

Kaaskop49
J-hound extraordinaire.

 

[ladder13]

Doesn't everyone own at least one Airweight J?

 

[loeman]

Doesn't everyone own at least one Airweight J?

NO! But after reading all the posts in this thread I might join the club. I've been a long time fan of the 2" J frames but never had an Airweight. One of the first guns I ever bought was a model 49 back around 1979. I learned to shoot it with great accuracy and it served me well. It went into semi-retirement in the mid 1990s when I bought a 649 in .357. This gun continues to be my pocket gun right up to today. However, as noted above, it ain't light. I think if I were choosing this very moment, I'd go for the 642!

 

[Hapworth]

...I think if I were choosing this very moment, I'd go for the 642!

May I recommend the 442 Moon Clip?

 

[dr. K]

don't discount a 442, same thing but in black.

 

[Earthquake Jake]

I love ALL my revolvers and I have a bunch...

But my 642 is the one I carry, by far more than the rest, which is funny to me, as it's the one, by far, I like to shoot the least.

Thing is, the thing is so small and light weight that carrying out of waist I literally sometimes forget that I'm carrying it at all.

Not to mention that it's easy, with the right clothes, to make pretty much just disappear.

Excellent cc gun and with a couple of speed strips in my pockets to go along with it I feel pretty safe and secure...

And that to me is how carrying should feel.