One of S&W’s newest snubbies, the 432, a 6-shot .32 H&R Magnum. These Lipseys exclusives are built for carry, with combat sights and G10 grips. (Photo provided by author.)
July 09, 2025
By James Tarr
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Revolvers are arguably antique technology. Think about it—they’ve been around for almost 200 years. The first revolver was the Colt Paterson, patented in 1836. And yet they are still hugely popular, even for personal defense. Although when it comes to personal defense, the wheelgun of choice is the “snubbie”, or snubnose, meaning a compact revolver with a short barrel, usually 2-3”. That is because these are the easiest to conceal and carry. Let’s take a look at some of the great options on the market if you prefer a cylinder to a magazine:
Smith & Wesson The Smith & Wesson Model 36 Chief’s Special, which could be said to be the father of all modern snubbies. A 5-shot .38 Special, it has small grips which conceal well but are thin. You can still find snubbies that are virtually identical to this. (Photo provided by author.) Smith & Wesson didn’t invent the concept of a compact, short-barreled revolver purpose-built for personal defense, but at least since the 1980s they’ve been the big dog when it comes to “snubbies”.
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Over the years they have offered a gazillion different variations of the J-frame (their snubnose platform), and they currently have 49 different J-frames listed on their website. As a general rule, the traditional S&W snubbie is chambered in .38 Special, has a 5-shot cylinder, a roughly two-inch barrel, and a rounded or otherwise compact grip suited to concealment.
Airweight J-frames have frames made out of something other than steel—usually aluminum, but sometimes something else like scandium or titanium. These revolvers are a lot lighter and thus easier to carry, but the recoil can be brutal, especially with +P or magnum ammunition. Everything’s a trade-off.
Recently S&W has begun introducing new/old version of their wheelguns minus the internal lock they put in the frame to avoid lawsuits from lawless government agencies. They were never needed, and purists are happy to see them gone. In their larger wheelguns these are sometimes referred to as “Classic” models, but in the J-frames they’re simply listed as “No Lock” models, and there are now more of them than models with the internal lock.
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The quintessential S&W J-frame snubbie is the Model 36, known as the Chief’s Special, introduced at the 1950 International Association of Chiefs of Police conference and named by a vote of the attendees. It was meant primarily for plainclothes and off-duty cops. It is chambered in .38 Special and capable of handling +P ammunition. It has a 1.88-inch barrel, blued finish, and walnut grips. But it’s not the best choice for concealed carry, in my opinion, because it has that traditional hammer spur, which can catch on a pocket or covering garment. All modern J-frames grew from the Chief’s Special.
S&W offers a lot of “hammerless” designs, where the hammer is wholly contained inside the frame and every trigger pull is double-action only. The S&W Model 340, 442, and 642 are all hammerless designs. Halfway between the two are the J-frames with a shrouded hammer, where you can still cock it for a single-action shot, but it won’t catch on your clothes. I own one of these—the S&W Model 638 Airweight—and love it.
Recently S&W has introduced a number of fancy snubbies chambered in .32 H&R Magnum (Model 432) that are getting a lot of attention. These no-lock aluminum-framed guns are all Lipseys distributor exclusives, and feature great defensive night sights, excellent boot-style grips, and because they are chambered in .32, they can fit six shots in the same size cylinder as a five-shot .38. With modern JHPs the .32 H&R Magnum has never performed better, and is very controllable in a gun this size.
Ruger People thought Ruger was crazy when they introduced the LCR, because not only was it a revolver in the era of the subcompact auto, it had a polymer frame. But it has been a huge success thanks mostly to its light weight and great trigger pull. (Photo provided by author.) Ruger currently offers two lines of revolvers which have models that count as snubbies, the LCR and the SP101.
The SP101 is a very traditional five-shot revolver with all-stainless-steel construction. It is available in .38 Special +P, .357 Magnum, and 9mm. Available barrel lengths suitable for the “snubbie” title are 2.25”, although 3-inch and longer barrels are offered. At least one model has a bobbed hammer. The grips are all one piece, and have rubber inserts to help tame recoil. Due to their all-stainless construction, they are not light—26 ounces is the lightest you’ll see, although that weight does help tame recoil. But even the smallest, lightest SP101s are not pocket guns, and stretch the “snubbie” moniker, although they are bank vault tough. Prices start at $919.
The Ruger LCR (light compact revolver) was announced in 2009 and people thought the idea of revolver with a frame that was part aluminum, part polymer, was crazy. Right until they shot it. Not only is the LCR durable, it has an amazing trigger.
The original model LCR, Ruger’s modern “snubbie”, was chambered in .38 Special +P and featured a 1.87” stainless steel barrel. That barrel is screwed into a one-piece monolithic barrel shroud/frame made of “aerospace aluminum”. The aluminum section of the frame encloses the cylinder on all sides. The polymer section of the frame includes the trigger guard, grip frame, and encompasses all of the fire control parts.
At a mere 13.5 ounces the LCR is light—that L in LCR deserves to be there. But this revolver is surprisingly comfortable to shoot, and that is due simply to the grip Ruger choose to put on this piece, a Hogue Tamer. But it’s a bit too big for a pocket.
Currently Ruger offers two versions of the LCR, the original, with its hammerless design, and the LCRx, which has an external spur hammer. Note that several of these guns are available in .22 LR and .22 WMR, neither of which I believe are suitable defensive cartridges. Anything .22 is too weak…and anything near the weight of an Airweight (like an LCR) is just brutal to shoot with .357 Magnums. The middle ground is probably what you want—.32 H&R Magnum, .327 Federal Magnum, .38 Special, and .38 Special +P. Prices start at $739.
Kimber Kimber’s original K6s got a lot of attention. All stainless steel construction, flat-sided cylinder, underlugged barrel, great sights, and perhaps the best factory revolver trigger on the market. Pricey, but you get what you pay for. (Photo provided by author.) Kimber got a lot of attention with their K6s ten years ago when they dove headfirst into the revolver market. It seemed like a risky move—then people got their hands on these guns. The K6s was the revolver equivalent of the semi-custom 1911s Kimber was known for—beautiful and functional, with great trigger pulls.
The K6s is an all-stainless, 6-shot hammerless .357 Magnum revolver, and the original small version has a two-inch barrel. I think it’s too heavy (23 ounces) for a pocket, but great for holster carry, gorgeous, and with one of the best revolver trigger pulls you’re ever going to experience.
In the years since they’ve expanded their revolver offerings. The K6s DASA has an exposed hammer and can be fired both double action and single action. The K6XS, introduced a little over a year ago, is a lightweight (15.9 ounces) aluminum-framed hammerless gun chambered in .38 Special +P aimed squarely at the concealed carry crowd, with the same great trigger system. I think the K6XS is the best choice for carry, simply because of the reduced weight. It’s also the least expensive, at $679. The all-stainless K6s models start at $1061.
All of the Kimber snubbies have great sights designed for defense, and good grips. There are multiple versions of each model, and Kimber also offers special editions and “deluxe carry” versions of their guns which are even fancier—satin finish, rosewood grips, etc.
Taurus Taurus 327 revolover chambered in .327 Federal Magnum (.32 H&R). (Photo provided by author.) Taurus currently has seven lines of small revolvers. Not seven models, seven lines—the 327 (a DA/SA chambered in .327 Federal Magnum, which can take .32 H&R Mags), the 380 (a bobbed-hammer 5-shot .380 ACP), the 605 (a 5-shot .357 Magnum), the 650 (an all-steel 5-shot .357), the 856 (a 6-shot .38 Special), the 905 (a 5-shot 9mm), and the 942, an 8-shot revolver available in either .22 LR or .22 WMR.
Just as Smith & Wesson became well-known for their Model 36 Chief’s Special, Taurus’ model that got them attention on the snubbie front was their now-discontinued Model 85. This was a 5-shot .38 Special +P snubbie that has since been replaced by the 6-shot 856.
All 5-shot .38 snubnoses are not the same. At left is the Taurus 856, an all stainless-steel revolver with a standard spur hammer and grips sized for comfort. On the right is Tarr’s personal, beat-up, and much abused S&W Model 638 Airweight—it has an aluminum frame, shrouded hammer, and grips sized for concealment. (Photo provided by author.) The trigger pulls on Taurus revolvers used to be very old-school, and by that, I mean they were heavy and gritty, but the trigger pulls on the Taurus wheelguns I’ve tested over the past few years have been very much improved. Which is great, considering they are built and designed to be very affordable. Taurus has stopped listing MSRPs on their website, but you can find the basic black Taurus Model 856 with its two-inch barrel for sale online for $350 or less. Its double action trigger pull is 11.5-lbs and relatively smooth, with no stacking, and its single-action pull is five pounds and crisp.
A few years ago, Taurus introduced their Executive Grade of revolvers, which feature improved grips, finishes, and in-house trigger jobs. And they are incredible for the money. So far they’ve only offered the EG package on larger wheelguns (their Executive Grade 856 has a three-inch barrel and big target stocks), and I’m still waiting for them to offer this package on a round-butt snubbie. I’m shocked they haven’t done it already.
Colt Colt’s Cobra is a solid example of a snubnose. This stainless steel pistol looks pretty, with classic Colt looks, and has a great trigger pull as well. (Photo provided by author.) Colt used to have a huge chunk of the commercial firearms market, and lost that—not because of poor quality products, but rather due to decades of bad corporate decision-making. But they are trying to claw their way back, and in the past ten years or so have reintroduced a number of classic lines. A lot of those are revolvers.
Colt offers two versions of the stainless steel 6-shot .357 Magnum King Cobra with two-inch barrels—one with an exposed hammer, and one with a bobbed hammer for DAO operation. These are both $1149 and have oversize rubber grips which work great for shooting, but not so great for concealment. Trigger pulls are great, and they look just as classy as you’d want.
Colt’s Cobra is a 6-shot .38 Special +P revolver. It’s currently only offered in one model, just with two different finishes—matte stainless, or bright. This snubbie has a two-inch barrel, and an old-school brass bead front sight—which work. Think of it as an old-school night sight. The basic model is $899 and has oversize rubber grips. The Bright Cobra has a mirror polished finished and walnut medallion grips, but the MSRP on that uber-pretty piece is $1499.
Colt’s new guns all offer improved trigger pulls due to a redesigned linear leaf mainspring. And remember—the more you shoot a revolver, the smoother the trigger pull will get. Which is an incentive to practice.
