A snub nose revolver, also known as the .38 special, saturday night special, snubbie, and bulldog revolver, is any revolver that is less than 3 inches in length making it easy to store on your body undetected. The compact size of this revolver combined with variations that have an internal hammer are why people choose a snub nose .38 as their concealed carry weapon of choice for personal defense.
Its size makes it easy to carry concealed, and the lack of an external hammer reduces the chance of it getting snagged on your clothes when you need fast access in a threat situation.
Although the barrel is short, the frame can range from small to large and you can find snub nose 38’s from most major manufacturers including:
- Ruger
- Smith & Wesson
- Colt
- Charter Arms
- Kimber
- Taurus
Fun fact: The .38 special was designed in 1898 and the 45 acp in 1904 making them similar in age and both created for military use and later on personal defense. And both are considered great choices for concealed carry firearms.
With all these manufacturers and pop culture with features in Bugsy, Drugstore Cowboy, and the Original Charlie’s Angels driving demand, you’d think the snubbie is a perfect choice for self defense, but it may not be.
The 38 special is normally compared to the 45 acp which is why we mentioned the fun fact above, but they are not the same. This is why it is important to test both before deciding which to choose for concealed carry, because in a threat situation you want accuracy and speed.
A revolver like the 38 special is easier to hide than a 45 acp, but will have limited rounds compared to the semi-automatic pistol. So if your accuracy is not as good in a threat situation, the additional cartridges will be handy. A 45 acp is going to pack more of a punch on the threat and will likely have less recoil than a snubbie.
The 45 is slightly harder to conceal if you’re petite. The most important thing is to practice and be prepared so if the unfortunate situation where you need a defensive firearm happens, you’ll be ready. But don’t let these couple of paragraphs stop you from choosing a snub nose .38 for self defense, the snubbie has a long history of protective uses with law enforcement which is why some call it “the detectives gun”, and not just because the manufacturer’s like Colt have a model nicknamed “Detective Special”.
As you learned above, the snub nose .38 was original for the military, and the Smith & Wesson “Military and Police” model became a standard issue after world war 1 when it proved to be highly efficient, and remained standard issue for close to 70 years after. Tons of firearm innovation and technology occurred during these decades, so if the snubbie was not good for self defense, it had lots of opportunities to be replaced. And if it had been, we wouldn’t have had quotes about the “saturday night special” specific to firearms in action and suspense tv and movie scenes.
The snub nose .38 is a good choice for self defense when it comes to concealed carry. The most important thing is you train and practice in case a threat situation occurs. It may turn out that the snubbie is the best option for you.