Snub Nose

[MrReady]

I have shot rifles, 9mm, .45 ACP and haven't really had a problem. I have had my 38 Special for a little over a year now and it is still the hardest firearm to shoot for me. I am not very good from more than three or four yards. Does anybody else that have short barrel revolvers have this problem ?

[Bman505]

This is the reason I do not own one!!:p

[MrReady]

Seems like a good choice right about now. Although I still love it (looks so sweet). Cant let it go. LOL

[Big Mike .45acp]

My problem is that there too small for my hands. I have tried a .38 snubby, and the Kel Tec's and I just cant perform worth a dang.

[Bman505]

My problem is that there too small for my hands. I have tried a .38 snubby, and the Kel Tec's and I just cant perform worth a dang.

I wounder if they make Viagra for guns???heheehh:p

[Colt 45]

What I've got is a Smith & Wesson 686 with a 2 inch barrel (I think). I guess I'm weird but I can handle it pretty well. Then again I've shot Smith & Wesson revolvers all my life and never cared for autos until the last few months. I guess I got interested in the autos from taking my class from Riclin.

Max

[Colt 45]

I'm sorry I didn't realize this was in the "J" frame section. I was going from the "New Posts" link. My 686 of course is not a "J" frame revolver.

Max

[MrReady]

It could also be that I dont practice enough with it. Who knows I guess. My hands fit fine though so thats not a problem and recoil is not a problem either (to my knowledge).

[Big Mike .45acp]

I wounder if they make Viagra for guns???heheehh:p

Yeah its called a XD .45 tactical, lol:D:D

[Jkwas]

My first handgun was/is a J frame sized Taurus. I find it to point naturally and to be combat accurate. I find it to be accurate out to about 40ft shooting SA. Biggest thing is practice pratice practice. The Wall Drill is a big help. Empty your gun and load it with snap caps. Take your shooting stance and point your front sight about 1/2in. from a spot on the wall. This allows you to focus on your front sight and your target (the wall) at the same time. Now work on your trigger pull. If you are jerking the trigger or milking the gun it will be very obvious. This will work with any handgun by the way, revolvers sometimes work better because you don't have to reset the trigger with the slide as you do with some Semi Autos. Give it a try!

[MP3Mogul]

I have a Taurus 85UL (Ultralite) model snubbie, it's a J frame gun.

I have no problem out to 15 yards with this gun, it hits black each time... no problem maintaining 3 inch groups at that distance.

[Descreet38]

I have shot rifles, 9mm, .45 ACP and haven't really had a problem. I have had my 38 Special for a little over a year now and it is still the hardest firearm to shoot for me. I am not very good from more than three or four yards. Does anybody else that have short barrel revolvers have this problem ?

Three to four yards = 9 to 12 feet. Look at it from this perspective. 95% of shootings take place at a distance of 8 feet or less. Sounds like you and that revolver have a good future.

BG approaches and you must defend yourself. Pull out the revolver and you have at least 5 reliable shots.

[MrReady]

Good point there. I think my expectations when it comes to distance is unrealistic. I try 20-25 ft and I am no good. 10 feet and closer I am much better.

[Jkwas]

I don't even practice with the sights on my snub anymore, I just practice one handed point shooting at 15-20ft. Any further than that I'm testing my running skills.

[Descreet38]

I would suggest practicing the modified weaver or modified isosceles for close in combat drills with a snubby. This is where you expose, draw, rotate but do not extend - but rather keep the firearm close to your hip (or waist if you bring towards the front).

This is commonly referred to as a retention stance. When the BG is within a distance of 21 feet or less than you need to be very prepared. He can cover that distance in less than 1.5 seconds which is quicker that some can draw and present. Not the time to be extending a weapon out for him to grab at and reduces the time to first shot even if by hundreths of a second. That small amount of time can and will decide who walk away from the encounter.

This is the same reason that peace officers typically stop their vehicle as much as 35 to 40 feet from the rear of the vehicle being stopped. It all about the reaction time to a possible threat.


Depending on what I am doing I sometimes carry a 2" S&W Chief's special in deep cover. It belonged to my grandfather and served him well for many years as a LEO.

[tblt44]

Practice you can learn to shoot it I did,pretty good actually

[Chuck]

I have shot rifles, 9mm, .45 ACP and haven't really had a problem. I have had my 38 Special for a little over a year now and it is still the hardest firearm to shoot for me. I am not very good from more than three or four yards. Does anybody else that have short barrel revolvers have this problem ?

Which stocks do you have on your J frame? The factory stocks don't fit my hand. Changing the stocks made a difference for me.
Which J frame do you have? Is it DAO? I shoot mine SA starting at 10 yards and beyond.

[Jizzle]

laser grips are awesome for those little snubbies. they are confy and once you get them sighted in they are gtg out to 25+ yards. i've shot them quite a bit and they make everything smoother. you barley have to clear your holster/pocket/boot prior to taking the shot. just enough to clear the barrel and laser and you hit where it lights up. they arn't super expensive either.

[Chuck]

Good point.
The Lasergrips are also wider than the factory stocks. The combination of the laser and stocks that fill your hand may be the solution here.

[Jizzle]

i have pretty big paws too. the laser grips work out nice.

[tblt44]

My snub is the hardest gun I have to shoot but I learned to shoot it well with a lot of practic,They don't point natural like many other guns do,I feel myself having to point the gun downward

Taurus mod 85 ultra lite loaded with speer short barrel

[sinclair]

I am not very good from more than three or four yards.

That is something I see by almost everyone who has shot the little North American 22 cal mini-derringers. In that case, they are very difficult to hold correctly and the sight radius versus the scale of the sights guarantees inaccuracy. If you can feel comfortable holding it, then I would suspect the sight radius/sight scale is the source of inaccuracy.

I do not usually enjoy firing the snubbies in calibers I like. The 357's are too sharp in snap and I soon find I am concentrating on the gun, not the target. Even when I switch to 38 special in them. I also do not care for what the short barrel does to the velocity. Despite my own personal bias, the snubs should be capable of better performance than you are getting. The first thing to determine is whether it is a gun problem or a shooter problem. Increase the distance to your target and try to rest the gun/firing hand on a steady brace. This should help consistency if you have a radius/scale situation.

If not, then the possible causes go way up.

[rof68]

My wife just had to have the S&W 637 light weight .38 [ the one with the hammer ] even after I had tried to explain that it would kick a lot more than my long barreled Colt .38 police special [ 1940s vintage and a GREAT gun ] , but she thought she knew more than me about such things .
After a couple times at the range , she no longer wanted to shoot the damn thing .
I had to find something else for her .
My Walther PPK.32 was a problem as far as her operating the slide to load a round into the chamber.
Looked at the Bretta .32 Tom Cat and the Tarus PT-25 [ .25 ] , both of these guns have the tilt down barrel , which makes it easy for her to load and operate .
Also , with the 637 ultra light , she could not hit anything with it , but , with my old Colt .38 , her Tarus .25 , she a damn good shot .
I'm going to sell the S&W or trade , as neither of us will ever use it as a carry gun.

I also would like an HONEST feed back on the 9 mm I recently bought and have used at the range and like the way it feels and shoots [ other than a heavy trigger pull ] .
It's the PPK look alike , it a FEG P-63 9 mm Makerov.
I carry either the PPK .32 or I like the 9mm for the better punch a little better, even though it's not a big name gun.
Are they really that bad ??? They have been around a long time .

[Bman505]

I would recommend the Beretta PX4 storm SC. I have this gun (9mm) and it has very little kick to it. It is a wonderful gun to shoot. I have put about 200 rounds through mine and no issues.

[Scooter]

I'm going to sell the S&W or trade , as neither of us will ever use it as a carry gun.

What do you want for the Smith 637?

[sinclair]

I also would like an HONEST feed back on the 9 mm I recently bought.......
its a FEG P-63 9 mm Makerov

I have no direct experience with the firearm you have mentioned but I can give you a brief thumbnail on the history and a reloader's perspective on the cartridge itself.

The 9 mm Makerov became a standard caliber for Soviet handguns shortly after WW II. They were almost unheard of in the US until after the breakup of the USSR in the early 90's. That's when many surplus guns hit the US market at economical prices.

The cartridge itself is really a 9.2 mm, not a 9 mm. It uses a .363 inch diameter bullet rather than the 9 mm .355 inch diameter. Essentially, this is the Russian version of the 9mm Kurtz. Meaning that it reproduces the pressure levels, velocities, and bullet weights of the 380 Auto cartridge.

From a reloader perspective (until recently) it has been difficult to find components as the bullet diameter is a bit oddball and surplus ammo for it was berdan primed. It is possible to trim 9 mm Luger cases down and expand the mouth to accept the slightly larger diameter bullet but you still need a source for the bullets. Recently, Hornady and Sierra now offer some Makarov bullets and boxer primed Makarov cases can be obtained from Starline. Even so, bullet choices are very limited. In any event, from the reloader perspective, thats a lot of effort to go through just to duplicate the ballistics of the 380 Auto.