SHOT Show 2025 Round Up: New Revolvers

The wheelgun continues to roll along.

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posted on January 23, 2025
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new revolvers for 2025

For more than a century and a half, revolvers have remained in constant rotation around shooter’s hands, safes and holsters. Given some of the design constraints, the popularity of the revolver ebbs and flows, yet the industry keeps launching new models every year. Big or small, here is a selection of some that made their debut this week. 

Smith & Wesson Model 10 Classic No-Lock 

This year faithful Smith & Wesson revolver enthusiasts are rejoicing at the release of a handful of three new classically-style “retro” double action revolvers. While this isn’t the first year Smith & Wesson has shipped modern retro classic revolvers, the 2025 releases come with the notable omission of the internal safety lock as a nod to the company’s original products and the way it had built them since the turn of the century–the 20th century. Naturally, one of these models is the original .38 Special Model 10, the company’s medium K-Frame 6-shot duty-sized, fixed-sights cornerstone. 

Taurus 850 

One of SHOT Show 2025 releases for Taurus is the new dedicated .38 Spl. +P Taurus 850 revolver. These 5-shot capacity, compact-frame revolvers follow right behind the recent release of the similarly outfitted .357 Mag. Taurus 650. The new Taurus 850 (and its 650 bigger brother) encapsulates the best aspects of the traditional Taurus Model 85 action and repackage in a timeless profile with an internal hammer that avoids fouling or snagging the revolver from the pocket during the draw. Taurus 850 revolvers are available in stainless or black oxide finish with 2- and 3-inch barrels.

Charter Arms Coyote .380 ACP

In 2025, Charter Arms is showcasing its new .380 ACP Coyote snub nosed revolvers. This revolver can be compared to the traditional .38 Spl. 2-inch snub archetype, such as the Taurus 850 that’s listed above. With the aid of moon clips, the Charter Arms Coyote uses the rimless .380 ACP cartridge which is loaded with lighter bullets of the same nominal diameter. For the end-user, the result is a carry revolver with milder and easier to manage recoil that can still make use of modern ammunition that is loaded with defensive hollow point bullets. 

Lipsey’s Ruger LCR 32 H&R Magnum

Following on the extremely practical trend of compact carry revolvers being chambered for .32 H&R Magnum, Lipsey’s started working with Ruger to manufacture and distribute a special run of six-shot-capacity Ruger LCRs chambered in .32 H&R Magnum. This production run of LCRS comes with a distinctive bronze anodized frame. These smaller guns pair well with the vintage .32 H&R Magnum cartridge is due to the ballistic and penetrating efficiency of its projectiles while curbing felt recoil and sometimes increasing cylinder capacity by one.  

Colt Kodiak 

The Colt Kodiak is a full-size, large frame .44 Mag. revolver that takes after the same classic lines and styling as the timeless Colt Python .357 Mag, but with a few tweaks. First, this new revolver sports an unfluted cylinder. Second, in order to support shooters firing powerful large-bore Magnum rounds downrange, the Colt Kodiak’s barrel also comes with factory porting on either side of its front sight rib. Like the modern Colt Pythons, the .44-caliber Colt Kodiak revolvers are also built with stainless steel frames, barrels and cylinders–a feature that is likely practical for those who’d carry the Colt Kodiak on a belt holster for protection against dangerous predators in the backcountry.  

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