.38 Special for self defense
Most folks in the US look at the .380 ACP as the floor for self defense, and if you're expecting 12" penetration and expansion, then you're limited to one of the half dozen or so commercial loads using the 90 gr XTP at a muzzle velocity of ay least 1000-1050 fps, and that takes a minimum 3.5" barrel length to achieve.
How is that relevant to the .38 Special? Because there is no standard pressure .38 Special self defense load that I am aware of that will achieve 12" penetration and reasonable expansion when shot out of a 1 7/8" to 2 1/8" barrel. They might come close, but that's about it.
That flies in the face of popular wisdom that the .38 Special is an effective self defense round, based on decades of police use - but that track record was based on its performance in a 4" service revolver.
The .38 Special is still effective in a snub nose revolver, but you'll need to use a .38 +P load to gain back the loss in velocity due to the short barrel.
Snub nose .38s involve some compromises
Given the need for a .38 +P load, a lightweight alloy framed 5 shot .38 Special can be a bit sporty to shoot - enough that the shooter might not be wiling to practice with it enough, or frequently enough to master it well enough to shoot it effectively, and maintain that capability. That goes double if it has thin wood grips or an under sized boot grip.
The additional 5 ounces or so of weight in a steel frame 5 shot revolver like the J frame S&W 36 in .38 Special or the J-Magnum frame S&W Model 60 in .357 Magnum make them much more pleasant to shoot with a .38 +P load, particularly, if you use a good recoil absorbing rubber grip that is large enough to fit your hand.
The downside is that it will weight more and pocket carry becomes an issue, but in my experience a Model 36 or Model 60 in a well made IWB holster and a decent belt is extremely comfortable to carry - more so than most .380 ACP semi-auto pistols. That applies even to a Model 60 with a 3" barrel.
A 5 shot snub nose .38 Special is still an experts gun
It takes a fair amount of skill and a great deal of practice to get good with a .38 Special, even under ideal conditions, and it takes a lot more skill and practice to get good with it under real world conditions.
As a result:
1) most people shoot a 5 shot snub nose .38 revolver very badly;
2) consequently, most people badly underestimate what that same revolver can do in capable hands; and unfortunately,
3) many people badly over estimate what that revolver will be able to accomplish in their hands.
If you're going to shoot one, you need to commit to shooting it enough to master it, and should it often enough to maintain that capability as under extreme stress people will devolve to their lowest level of mastered training.
There is more to size than external dimensions.
It's deceiving to compare external height, weight, and width dimensions between semi-auto pistols and DA revolvers as a semi-auto pistol will contain a lot more volume within those same dimensions as it is fairly constant in thickness in the frame and slide, and the grip frame is larger to accommodate the magazine. In contrast a revolver only displays maximum thickness in the cylinder, while the grip and barrel are much thinner, with much less overall volume in those areas, allowing the revolver to conceal much better, even with slightly larger LxWxH dimensions.
A 2" or 3" K-frame sized revolver is often a better choice.
Most people can get to the point of shooting a K-frame sized 2" or 3" revolver proficiently much sooner than they can a J-frame, and all other things being equal they'll shoot the K-frame better under real world conditions.
The trade off is slightly larger size and about 7 oz more weight than a steel J-Magnum revolver with the same length barrel. It's that extra weight that substantially improves the shoot-ability of the K-frame, but that comes at the cost of all day cary comfort.
I don't have issues concealing a 3" Model 13, or a 2 3/4" Ruger Speed Six, but I do notice the weight after several hours where I don't notice the weight of a 3" Model 60.
Still, I prefer to carry the larger revolvers as I know I shoot them even better than a J-frame (and I'm a very good shot with a J-frame by nearly any standard).
I also prefer the larger K-frame as I can shoot it effectively with a 125 grain .357 Magnum load, again when using a good, recoil absorbing, rubber grip.
Semi-auto versus revolver
Practically speaking the odds that you'll ever be in a self defense shoot are very small, particularly as people who carry concealed also tend to have better situational awareness and do a better job of avoiding threatening situations before they develop. They also don't generally drink so they tend to have, and apply, much better judgement.
There's also the reality that a person who is displaying better SA, and who is establishing eye contact with a potential threat is less likely to be selected as a target by a criminal. Criminals looking for random victims generally don't target people who see them coming, and most criminals who've survived very long, have pretty good people reading skills. They might not know why you're not displaying the fear they expect, and might not even consciously realize it, but more often than not they'll heed the warning and move on.
Statistically, the vast majority of self defense shoots tend to be fair to face encounters at ranges of 5 yards or less, with 5 shots or less fired in 5 seconds or less. The FBI determined based on 12 years of data that 75% of their agent involved shoots compromised 3 shots or less at 3 yards or less - and these were agents who by definition get paid to hang out with bad guys in higher risk areas.
Consequently, the statistics suggest that the odds of a self defense shoot ever happening are low, and that the odds of a self defense shoot involving multiple assailants, or the mall ninja fantasy of confronting multiple armed terrorists is infinitesimally small.
That's a good thing as even a high capacity semi-auto is a very poor choice if you're facing multiple assailants with semi-auto rifles or carbines, and if you're in that situation, the odds are high that you're not going to survive the encounter. No one, and I mean no one, who has any clue at all would ever choose a pistol to take on multiple shooters with carbines.
What this all means is that there isn't any significant tactical advantage to having a high capacity semi-auto revolver over a 5 or 6 shot revolver in realistic, real world civilian self defense scenarios. Pick which ever one you are most comfortable with and then shoot it enough to get good with it.
Be aware however that small snub compact and micro semi-autos, while easy to carry are also largely expert guns as they are also rather difficult to shoot accurately. Plus, as noted above the .380 ACP isn't all that effective out of a barrel shorter than 3.5". Stepping up to a micro sized 9mm Para isn't necessarily the solution either as those pistols tend to be as difficult to shoot well as a small alloy frame revolver, due to the recoil involved.
Why advice from LEOs isn't always applicable to concealed carry.
As noted above, armed citizens should be defaulting to avoiding threatening situations in the first place and will only use a handgun to get them selves out of an unavoidable confrontation.
In contrast police officers get paid to go looking for trouble in dark and scary places, so their needs in a service pistol, and associated every day carry equipment are vastly different from those of an armed citizen. A high capacity semi-auto pistol with 2 spare magazines and 46 total rounds makes sense for an LEO, while that same load out is heavy and hard to conceal for an armed citizen with a concealed carry permit.
A revolver (usually) takes fewer shots to demonstrate reliability than a semi-auto pistol.
I've never been comfortable carrying a semi-auto pistol until I've put at least 200 rounds though it with zero malfunctions (using both the magazines I plan to carry with it). Semi-autos tend to require a bit of a break in period, and they can be very ammo sensitive, and you'll need a base number of rounds to achieve and verify reliability. Remember here that the shoot will be over in 5 seconds or less with 5 shots or less fired, so reliability is of prime importance and a tactical reload is probably never going to be needed.
Still, despite the reality that you'll probably never need the extra rounds, you generally want to carry at least one spare magazine just because in the event you do have a malfunction, and "tap, rack, bang" doesn't fix it, your fastest, most reliable way to get it back in action will involve dropping the magazine and inserting another one.
In contrast, the major threat to revolver reliability is having a bullet back out under recoil and jam the cylinder. This risk can be eliminated by testing your carry ammo in the revolver by leaving the same round in the cylinder after firing the other 4-5 shots in the cylinder and repeating until that round has been exposed to the recoil of 2-3 cylinders and then repeating this for 3-4 rounds.
If you plan for a reload in a revolver, the threats increase slightly by adding the potential for the brass to stick in the chambers, or a particle of powder residue getting under the ejector star and preventing the cylinder from going back into the frame. These threats can again be mangled by choosing a load that doesn't expand the brass to the point it sticks in the cylinder, and by using a load that doesn't use a colloidal ball powder that doesn't blast powder residue back toward the shooter.
Good practices, regardless of what you shoot.
1. A pistol or revolver that isn't on your person will be no use when you need it. Select a pistol that you can carry comfortably and that is easy to conceal, so that you can and will carry it all the time.
2. Select a pistol that you can also shoot well. Hands vary and not all pistols or revolvers fit people equally well.
3. Get good training.
4. Practice on a regular basis.
5. Expend your old carry ammo down range every 1-3 months to ensure you can shoot it well, and that it still functions properly in your pistol or revolver.
6. While the odds of having to do a tactical reload are very, very slight, rather than doing administrative reloads, make every reload a tactical reload. The practice won't hurt, and might come in handy, and if you shoot a revolver, you'll discover just how fast you can reload a revolver with a speed loader and the FBI, Universal, or Stress Fire reload methods.
