[deputy tom]

Thirty some years ago a close friend told me of a situation in a parking garage elevator.He was accosted by two unsavory individuals while pocket carrying a model 49 in his army style jacket.He won in this situation and made a believer out of me.I've never been without a 49,649,640,or 642 from that point on.Do I feel undergunned with a snub nosed revolver.No I don't.YMMV.tom.

[Gunboat1]

Originally Posted by Chup

Gunboat, I still like my Snubs but, I never carry just one. Usually I carry Two or Three Snubs. After thinking about what you said I went out and bought a Glock 26. Now if I feel like carrying only one gun I take the Glock. This doesn't happen very often so I keep it in my truck in case I run into a major road hazard. I have Two mags that came with it and and picked up Three more for G17. It's a cute little thing kind of like a Snub nosed Step Child. Now when I practice in the woods shooting at multipall targets, it gets interesting.

Glad to hear you found something valuable to consider in the discussion. The G-26 is a GREAT gun, and is a terrific compromise when you want to carry a small weapon that still packs a potent punch and offers good capacity. It is startlingly accurate and much easier to hit quickly and well with than most revolvers. A G-26 and a spare hi-cap mag is a better choice than multiple snubbies, IMHO. I think you made a super choice.

[isp2605]

Oct 2, 1996. I was commanding our investigations. One of my agents found out one of our fugitives was holed up in a local hotel. He was reportedly heavily armed and had made comments he wouldn't be taken alive. I was off duty at the time heading into town to meet my wife for dinner when I got the call. I had stuck my 649 in my pants and I had 2 speed loaders in the car when I left home. 15 rds total. I rolled our SWAT team and we set up to make entry. I was posted next to the hotel door and the team made entry. When the guy with the ram popped the door the subject opened up on us with a TEC-9 in one hand and a Colt Mustang .380 in the other, firing both as fast as he could work the triggers. Sounded like full auto. In just a second or 2 he fired 11 rds at us before the door swung back closed. Seconds later he put a .380 thru his head.
I can tell you that when those 11 rds were coming at us that 649 seemed like the smallest gun in the world. I was wishing for my 870 or an AR, anything bigger than a 5 shot .38.
11 months later we had a mentally ill woman barricaded in her house who fired at us 4 times with a 12 ga loaded with Federal sabot slugs. At that time I had my 870 and that 870 seemed pretty small as her slug tore thru a wall next to us.
That's just 2 of the times I was under fire while a LEO and shows the extreme I had on me at the time, once a .38 snub and the next a 12 ga shotgun. Neither seemed big enough nor held enough rds.

[Chup]

I would need a very big and thick wall.

[Buckeye63]

No...I mostly carry a snubby..I have three Semi's a G-19 and a G-36 and a 1911, the rest are wheel guns,the gun I carried tonight was a Rossi 720 in 44 Spec. loaded with 200gr. HPs and I had one speed loader."If you need more than 5 shots, your in the wrong gunfight"

[J.P.]

As a primary, yes, I feel undergunned with a snub...even my .44special.
As a backup, it'll do just fine.

5-6 shots in 2 seconds done...then what? reload?

No thanks.

[1canvas]

i don't feel comfortable with a .38 snub and not much better with my .357 j frame either. so i bought a g-23 to fill in some times when my colt .45 is to much and i want something a more than my j frames. that has worked out real good for me.
that said, on my lowest risk travels i carry j frames, anything else its the 23 or the colt.

[Hydraulicman]

no because I can draw it faster than any of my autos.

[Two Guns]

No I don't feel under gunned with my J frame.

[Chup]

I still like my Snubs the best. The norm is a 7 shot 357 and One or Two J frames. I keep the G26 in my Glove Box for Road Hazards or carry it when I only want One Gun.

[MrMurphy]

I've carried a 649 as a primary, with reloads. Not my favorite but the other option was a G30 and in the situations at the time, could not be effectively hidden.

I more often carried it as a backup to the 30 during winter, in an outer jacket pocket (Hand in pocket, hand on gun philosophy) because i could get to it faster. 5 shots of .38 followed up by 11 rounds of .45 isn't too bad.

The one time it all hit the fan, 4 of them, 3 of us, my other two were hand to hand with 3 of them, #4 looked like he was about to bring "more" into play from inside the car and I stepped out of the vehicle to draw and get a clear shot. Apparently the motion of drawing and my general appearance (young guy in his 20s, flat top haircut) to them = cop and they all vanished before I had to find out if 21 rounds of .45 ACP would have sufficed in a nighttime firefight.

Three of them (in the same car) were later arrested (2 weeks later) for a fatal drive-by and had rap sheets several pages long.

I started carrying 2 spare mags after that, and rarely carried a snub or small auto for quite some time. I'd carry a 642 for backup or if nothing else would do, but a G26 or maybe a Walther PPS and a pair of spare mags would be more likely. I'm a better shot with better sights on a small auto, and the reload is more rounds, and faster.

There are still places where a snub excels, but I'll never carry one as a primary unless nothing else fits.

And of the two other guys......1 had his permit already submitted (been carrying for years now) and the other became a cop.

[shark_za]

Yes but it should stop any attack long enough to give me a head start when I run like the wind outta there.

I live I win.

[fredobbs]

i feel good with my laser equipped 340mp

[Landric]

Originally Posted by Gunboat1

You're entitled to your opinion. How one trains and prepares for a fight we hope will never come does not equal a dispassionate analysis of the overwhelming majority of criminals and criminal assaults. Show me an example of where several thugs have trained together, armed themselves in overwhelming firepower and complementary systems, and then have performed during a fight like a tactical team would. It simply doesn't happen much. North Hollywood is about the only example I can think of, and that was pretty much unique. And they weren't mugging an individual - they were robbing a bank. Newhall, Miami, hell even Columbine don't apply. And most criminals' experience has been with UNARMED, UNTRAINED victims. That doesn't prepare them to win against a warrior...

OK, not too long ago in the small North Carolina city I work in, a group of thugs hit a rival drug dealer's house. They cut the phone lines before they hit, two hit the front door and two hit the back door at the same time, they were armed with military-style rifles and shotguns. The rival dealer and his pals, no strangers to police take-down tactics, said that they thought they were being raided by the police when they were hit.

Now, in this particular case I don't feel too sorry for the "victims", they brought it on themselves; but if the thugs hit them like that, they could do it to anyone they saw as profitable. It happens, not a lot, but its frequency is increasing.

With regard to the original question, I don't generally carry just a J-frame because I don't feel comfortable with just the J. I'm sure in most situations it would be sufficient, but I'd hate to find myself in one of the few where it wasn't. It really isn't that hard to carry a slightly larger, more effective handgun (which in my case would be in addition to the J-frame, not instead of it). That said, I don't carry the latest and greatest mega-capacity auto off duty. I'm currently qualified with 3 personally owned weapons (in addition to the handgun, rifle, and shotgun the PD issued me). The three are: a S&W 37-2 DAO Airweight (which is my on and off-duty BUG), a H&K P7 9x19mm, and a Glock 36 .45ACP. One will note that the largest capacity of any of the three, when fully loaded, is 9 rounds. Normally, I carry one spare mag for my primary gun and one speed strip for the J-frame. Since I live in my jurisdiction and do most of my shopping and such here, I also usually carry handcuffs and OC off-duty. I'm not planning on taking police action off-duty unless I have no choice, but one never knows when I might run into a co-worker who needs help while I'm off, and I like to be prepared.

[g36user]

I've enjoyed reading the posts.

I'm now carrying a 2" .45acp revolver. No, I don't "feel" under gunned. My geographic circumstances don't match many of the "worst case" scenarios expressed in previous posts. And...there's just something about a Remington 230gr Golden Saber hollow point that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy

Chuck

[alank2]

Hi,

There is no way to determine "undergunned" or not as it depends on what situation you are presented with. One nut job that you can use 3 or 4 of your rounds on and still have one round remaining would probably be handled well by a snub. Two bad guys could *probably* be able to be handled if you had the skill. Three or more gets tougher as you will run out of the 5 rounds pretty quick. Heck, I feel like those 5 go way too fast at the range, I sure know it would be an issue in a bad situation. I also agree with the people who say it would be very difficult to reload a j-frame under stress. I always carry a speed strip with me when I only carry my 442, but I am under no dilusion that I will be reloading it quickly, just that I will have the rounds if I have the TIME to reload it.

I love my 442 and it fits so quick in the pocket, it is a dream to carry, but it lacks when being compared to a gun like the G26, G27, G33. I do think snubs are much better than most small mouse gun autos. I admit to carrying my 442 as a primary more than I should, that is risk in having a snub which is that you will get lazy about carrying and just carry it when you know full well that it is not as capable as a true belt gun would be.

Good luck,

Alan

[spober]

my snubby is more often than not my night stand gun.i feel in a situation were im awakened by a threat in the middle of the night, the simple nature of a small revolver seems like a better alternative than a semi auto .

[fowler]

If you can,t hit what you aim at a 17 shot auto won,t help you! I feel my snub is good enough for 3 perp,s with 2 rounds left over for coup-de-grace if needed. 5 for sure is enough. How about your auto that won,t fire when pushed into a perp or in the stuggle your mag release is pushed . Oh yes it doe,s happen.

[SIGSAREBETTER]

Most of the time I feel more than adequate, particularly since I've spent a lot of time developing skill with the 638 I carry. But in the really shady parts of Tacoma where there are roving bands of urban clowns, I always long for my GLOCK 20 or SIG.

[Gunboat1]

Originally Posted by fowler

If you can,t hit what you aim at a 17 shot auto won,t help you! I feel my snub is good enough for 3 perp,s with 2 rounds left over for coup-de-grace if needed. 5 for sure is enough. How about your auto that won,t fire when pushed into a perp or in the stuggle your mag release is pushed . Oh yes it doe,s happen.

Ah, I understand. People only shoot high-capacity semiautos to cover up for their poor marksmanship. A short barrel, long, stiff trigger and marginal sights will result in perfect hits, and all one-shot stops from a middling-powerful caliber fired from that short barrel will definitely happen, assuring you of winning over three attackers, with two shots left over for coups de grace.

That's certainly realistic.

Perhaps, just perhaps, a weapon with more barrel length, better sights and trigger, a much faster reload and many more shots on tap might be a better weapon with which to defend one's life?

Nahhhh.

[17z]

I carry a .500 S&W in a 2.5 inch barrel. I love the one shot to3 it gives. 17z

[1911govt]

I carry a S&W 642 5 days out of the week. Absolute concealment is a must for me Mon-Fri. If my company's policy were to miraculously change in favor of the 2a, I'd be packing a full sized 1911. Yes I do feel a little under gunned, but what I have is 10X better than a cell phone and prayers.

[50 Cent]

How about the new Taurus 6 shot snubby based on the M85 frame? If six shots won't get you out of trouble in a civilian SD situation then either you should have stayed at home or concealed an underfolding Krink under your arm.

[Bannack]

Nope, don't feel undergunned and most of the time my 642 with a couple of speed loaders is all I have with me now.

[Tank44]

I never feel under gunned with my SP101 snubby! A Federal 357B round makes a nice hole. If I need more than 5 shots and 2 quick re-loads, I figure I'm in bigger trouble than the gun is gonna help me with.