“.357 mag.”

At our recent hometown gun show, I had an experience that a country boy might call “déjà vu all over again.” As usual, I had a grand time visiting with the gun folks, sold a few things, but only came home with one gun that was new to me: a 1950s-era Colt Official Police in .38 Spl. with a 4-inch barrel. It was just about a dead ringer for the very first double-action revolver I ever owned.

Here are some tips on managing the double-action revolver for personal defense.

For when you absolutely, positively have to put a half-inch diameter hole in your target.

The world has always been a dangerous place and that has escalated during the COVID pandemic. Fewer people are working and more people are venturing into the great outdoors.

Moviegoers of 1950 enjoyed a motion picture with a unique plot twist. Rather than a tale of the trials and tribulations of a hero, we were treated to the travels and transfers of a gun. A big-budget Western starring Jimmy Stewart leading a large cast of well-known actors, “Winchester ’73” treated the gun as though it were a character. Its behavior (accuracy) established in the opening scene, succeeding scenes showed the gun used and misused, bought and sold, as it moved from owner to owner. An interesting story and well told, the film was fictional—the gun was not. 

This is a Ruger GP100, which states in its manual that, thanks to the presence of its transfer bar, you can carry six rounds in its cylinder without worry of an unintended discharge.

Don’t call it a comeback. Revolvers remain an extremely popular and effective choice for self-defense, and manufacturers, trainers and consumers are reacting to that fact.

Is it my fault? Maybe. You see, two years ago when Colt introduced its new Python revolvers at a Gunsite media event, I was let in on a secret. After signing my life away in a non-disclosure agreement, I was told the next revolver would be an Anaconda chambered in .44 Mag. (it was) and, following that, a 2.5-inch-barreled Python. 

Americans have long been enthralled with small arms, as our nation is unique in their protected availability. But, once a standard for a particular style of handgun is established, we become a bit suspicious of anything that deviates from the norm.