also came up with a bolt-on device aptly called a “hammer shroud.” It covered the hammer on both sides to keep it from snagging in a pocket or coat lining. Paul Weston had correctly described the Colt hammer spur as being shaped like a fishhook. The Shroud covered the hammer, left the tip exposed to allow single-action thumb-cocking if necessary.
Colt’s .38 Detective Special is absolutely a modern classic. This sample is the popular 1972 style.
Taurus CIA (Carry It Anywhere) effectively copies the established styling of the S&W Centennial series. It’s available in .38 Special and .357 Magnum.
S&W threw a two-fisted riposte. Their aluminum-frame snubby, being smaller, was also a tad lighter. A Detective Special weighed 21 ounces, and a Cobra, 15.5 ounces. S&W’s Airweight revolver in the Chief Special was listed as a feathery 12.5 ounces compared to 19 ounces in all-steel configuration. Also introduced (first in Airweight, in fact) was their Bodyguard model with built-in hammer shroud. Sleeker than the shrouded Colt, it was also more pleasant to shoot; the rear flange of the screw-on Colt shroud had a tendency to bite the web of the hand. However, the S&W was more difficult to clean in the area of the shrouded hammer, which proved to be a dust-collector with both brands.
Colt hammer shrouds for D-frame guns (left) and a new variation for J-frame S&W’s (right) are available through W.W. Waller & Son.
Shown with his firm’s CIA, Taurus CEO Bob Morrison is proud that his firm’s snub-nose .38s are among the most popular.
Bob Schwartz at Waller offers a hammer shroud for the S&W Chief Special that turns it into the Bodyguard configuration.
Next came a true “once and future” classic, the Centennial. Smith & Wesson took the configuration of the old New Departure Safety Hammerless top-break and grafted it onto the .38 Special Chief, creating what had to be the sleekest revolver of the genre. It even had the antique gun’s signature “lemon squeezer” grip safety, the only solid-frame S&W ever so equipped. Ironically, because few shooters had yet mastered the double-action shooting concept and most felt they needed the crutch of cocking the hammer to hit anything, sales of the Centennial were mediocre and the gun was discontinued. As soon as it became unavailable, the Centennial became a much sought after “in-gun” among the cognoscenti. It was reintroduced, sans grip safety, and has been a best-seller ever since.
Classic combat revolvers are far from obsolete. These StressFire Instructor candidates at Lethal Force Institute learn to shoot and teach the wheelgun.
By the end of the 20th Century, the classic .38 snub had evolved further. The Colt had been given a heavy barrel treatment in 1972. Even before then, serious shooters tended to prefer the Colt over the Smith in a small snubby. The sixth shot had been the least of its advantages. Most found that with its bigger sights and longer action throw – the one comparison between Colt and Smith in which the Colt would likely be voted to have the better DA pull – the littlest Colt would outshoot the littlest Smith. Now an ounce and a half heavier, with a lot more weight up front, it kicked even less than the S&W and tended to shoot like a 4-inch service revolver. In the latter 1990s, the action was updated and stainless versions were produced, including a splendid .357 Magnum version called the Magnum Carry. The gun then went out of production, though at this writing, was high on the list of “old favorites” to be reintroduced by Colt under the new management regime of retired Marine Corps General Bill Keys.
The baby S&W, meanwhile, had been in stainless and Airweight, and even lighter AirLite Ti (titanium) and SC (scandium) models. Calibers included .22, .32 Magnum, .38 Special, 9mm, and .357 Magnum. A “LadySmith” version had also been marketed successfully. The firm had made larger versions in .44 Special.
During that period Taurus had come up from a cheap alternative to a genuinely respected player in the quality handgun market. Their Model 85, resembling a Chief Special, was particularly accurate and smooth, dramatically underselling the S&W and becoming the firm’s best seller. The new millennium saw the CIA (Carry It Anywhere) hammerless clone of the S&W Centennial. The first to produce a “Total Titanium” snubby, Taurus made their small revolvers primarily in .38 Special and .357, with larger snubbies available in .44 Special, .45 Colt, and even .41 Magnum.
Rossi also sold a lot of snub-nose revolvers. So did Charter Arms in its various incarnations from the 1960s to the 21st Century. Charter’s most memorable revolver was the Bulldog, a five-shot .44 Special comparable in frame size to a Detective Special.
Beyond Classic
Each of the combat handguns described above remains in wide use today in many sectors of armed citizenry, and/or security professionals, and/or police and military circles. Some consider them still the best that ever existed; others put them in second rank to the guns of today. Certainly, those classic revolvers remain in the front rank for those who prefer that style, but in autoloaders, there are many more modern choices. Who is right about what’s best today? Let’s examine “the new wave” of combat autoloaders, and see for ourselves.
Purchasing Used Handguns
Buying a used handgun isn’t as fraught with peril as buying a used car. It’s a smaller, simpler mechanism. If it has been well cared for, you’ll be able to tell.
Buy from people you can trust. It’s a sad commentary on human nature that so many people will deal with a lemon product by simply selling it to someone else. Most reputable gun dealers will stand behind the guns in their second-hand showcases. They may not be able to give you free repairs, but if something goes drastically wrong with it, someone who makes his living from the goodwill of the gun-buying community will take it back in trade and apply what you paid for it to something else you like better.
Though pitted and ugly with its badly worn finish, this S&W Model 15 was clean inside and tight. It would shoot 1-inch groups at 25 yards with match ammo.
Some gun shops have a shooting range attached. With a used gun, you can normally pay a reasonable rental fee, take the gun right out to the range, and give it a try. If you don’t like it, you paid a fair price to try a gun. If you do buy it, most such dealers will knock the gun rental off the price, though it’s not fair to ask them to knock the range fee off, too.
The thumb rotates against the muzzle of an empty 1911 with the slide closed to check for sloppy fit.
Checking the bore without bore light. A white card or paper is held at the breechface and a flashlight is shined on the white