Smith and Wesson Airweight

[cmacjvan]

Any thoughts on S&W Airweight for CCW? Hammer or hammerless? 357 or 38+P? Stainless or blue? How about for a female?

[BoJackUSMC]

I am also thinking about buying S&W Airweight revolver as well down the road.

[RedFord150]

They are very high quality and probably well worth the $ if you want something really concealable. Ruger LCR is their biggest competition.
Hammerless makes it DAO. Would only be an advantage if you CCW.
These are a bear too shoot. They are light and recoil can be pretty intense, especially in .357 mag.
Personally, I would choose .38+P in stainless. Just know these are not fun guns too shoot and will take practice too become proficient. Plenty of women learn too master them.
Good luck.

[DVSmith]

I have had a few people go through CCW qualification with these and they have a tough time getting all the rounds off.

I remind them that in a SD situation, they probably wouldn't even notice the recoil and they certainly wouldn't be shooting that many rounds.

It is practicing with them that is a beyotch!

[bluerider]

I only shoot standard 38's in mine. it is not a fun gun to shoot, but its not painfull either. when I take it to the range I rarely shoot more than a full box of ammo through it and often not even that.

It takes a bit of practice to shoot well but its not that hard to be acurate with it.

[DRAB_81]

If you think an Air Weight Snubby is a good idea (like I did), go shoot one before you buy it (like I didn't). One 60rd range session and I'd had enough. They just plain SUCK to shoot. I found that a G26 conceals better (doesn't have a golf ball in the middle of it), and 11rds of 9mm sounded way better than 5rds of 38+P out of a 1 7/8" barrel. The snubby might be better in a coat pocket, but I hated it in a pants pocket.

[Raider888]

Smith & Wesson 442 with 5 rds of .38...IMO, you can have it in you pocket all day and you will forget it's there.

[chingdaotze]

The best thing to do when buying a gun is to see if you can rent it. Like DRAB_81, I've shot micro sized pistols and revolvers before and they're not for me. I would actually suggest the LCR over S&W snubbies, and I say this as an S&W guy (I don't own any other brand of pistol). The trigger on the LCR is *that* much better than the trigger on any j-frame I've handled.

[sjb269]

I have an older 38 spcl. all steel J frame (model 60), and a scandium framed J frame (model 340).
The grips used while shooting these little J frames makes all the difference in the world. The hogue grip fits me really well and the 340 with .357 Mag is snappy but not as punishing as I thought it would be. +p is very manageable.

OP if your near San Jose.. bring some ammo and I can meet you at the Metcalf range and you try them both out.

[cmacjvan]

Thanks, but I am up in the Sierra foothills otherwise I'd be there. I think I'll get a Ruger LCR. with hammer and S&W stainless hammerless. Wife likes the Ruger.

[Rozzi]

I'll echo the comments about them not being real pleasant to shoot. I picked up a very nice Model 37 (the Airweight version of the Model 36) last year. I loved it.......until I took it to the range. After about 50 rounds, I had enough. For a CCW gun, I wanted something that I could practice A LOT with and the Model 37 just wasn't that gun for me.

[Virus55]

For ccw carry i say no hammer, stainless, .38

[SILENT GUNMAN]

As others have said the Ruger LCR is a wonderful little gun. Not the best range toy but for what it was designed for it performs awesome. Heavy but smooth dao trigger that doesn't stack nearly as bad as some smiths I've shot. And the hammerless design virtually eliminates snagging on clothes when you draw it. I got one a couple years ago and wouldn't buy any other snubbie.

[marcusrn]

Airweight models and any J-frame are good and have decent triggers.

Ruger LCP have great triggers and both guns can be great light weight self defense guns in .38. It's hard to justify .357 when only giving it 5 cm of barrel. Some .38 bullets can penetrate 12-15 inchs.

Ruger comes with Hogue "tamer" grips and one can also procure after market "Tamer"for S+W J frame. Dry fire a lot to practice and smooth out triggers. Hand load lite loads for practice. Easy to install "Apex trigger" upgrade in J frames. It's fun practicing and competing with small bug guns.

I like the hammerless options, my wife and I have 5 (2- 2 3/4 inch) revolvers. With Centenial or LCR one can shoot through your jacket pocket. This can be practiced by buying old jackets at thrift store if your really into these guns. Do with qualified instruction. These guns triggers can also be staged DA for shooting 15-50 yds as well and be surprisingly accurate.

If you shoot more often Glock 26,26,19,23 are the cats meow as well and are a little more weight but very concealable,controlable and a bit more firepower.

Marcus

[rsmorgan]

Hammerless pistols are much easier to draw, lightweight guns are easier to carry but all of the time I carried a snubby with an expectation of needing it I carried an all-steel hammered gun (S&W 60 or Colt DS). Far more engagement options with the heavier SA/DA gun. Currently I use a 642 most of the time, but with the understanding that it is a 7-yard gun at best. Never underestimate the potential in a snubby however; the limiting factor is the operator and his/her skills, not the intrinsic capability of the gun itself.

You have to be a masochist to enjoy shooting a lightweight snubby at the range with full power loads, but you'll never notice the recoil in a real-world 3-round "burst." My solution has been to put identical grips on my old Model 60 and shoot that at the range with light loads for practice but carry the 642 loaded for bear with +P ammo.

Realistically, a snubby is really a professional's weapon that requires considerable practice and training. If you commit to making it work for you, however, it is still one of the best civilian CCW available. For most civilians, however, a far better choice is an all-steel J-frame or Ruger SP101 with a 3" barrel.