Most everyone who carries it never trains with it

[yosemitesam]

I know a lot of people who carry snub nose revolvers as a back up....cops, men, women...and most are less than proficient with it. When I ask "why do you carry that?" The general reply is because it's reliable, no jam issues, no safety to remember, it's reactive"...ect. Which generally makes me wonder why that's not also their primary pistol as well but that's just me. In addition to that most people openly admit to rarely if ever training with the Snubby. General thought is that it's a last chance gun that's only accurate at close range... Why bother? Well those guns are accurate up to and beyond 100 yards. With the right teacher 7-8 hours will get you there. I personally learned the art at Sand Burr Gun Ranch in Rochester, Indiana. Denny, the owner, has had me out to 130 yards with a 2 3/4" barrel on a 66% IPSIC target. He also teaches the real craft of how to use a snub nose. Easily I would say the basic snub nose class was the best $185 I have ever spent in training. If not taking a class at least practice. We carry to stay alive, why not train to do so as well...even if it's training in "final stand" scenarios. Stay alert, stay armed, stay alive.

 

[Cam]

Good post! Don't think there is much more to add to that.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I shoot my LCR better at 25 yards than I do my Glock 22. If I shot it at 130 yards, I don't think the target would know it was the target, but I also can't think of a reason I'd be taking a 130y shot with a snub nose other than to say I did.

 

[Birds Away]

I practice with my 442 on a regular basis. But I practice at the ranges I would use it, 7-10 yards at most. I only carry it as a BUG.

 

[chezuki]

I was guilty of this. I carried a snubby .38 as a backup and spent all my training and practice time with my M&P. I broke out the snubby at the range one day and found I couldn't hit crap with it (especially with double-action shots). I now carry another M&P as a backup!

 

[Birds Away]

I'm considering selling my 442. I just don't carry a bug very often and I hate to have one that just sits in the safe.

 

[danmdevries]

I shoot very well with my snubby thank you very much.

Took a coon from 25 feet one shot a couple days ago.

 

[sheepdog]

I carry S&W airweight as a back up. I train with it but def not as much as i should. I take it out to 25yds but do most of my shooting 15yds in.

 

[CitiusFortius]

In an effort to get smaller and lighter, some of these guns become not fun to shoot. If you don't enjoy shooting it, you're not going to. Buy a gun for the range and carry it, don't buy a gun simply to carry because you probably won't use it at the range.

 

[Snapdragon]

I shoot every gun I have, every time at the range. (I've only got 3...) But I practice the same with all of them.

 

[Fordtough25]

I've had a couple snub nose .38's and I too sucked with them beyond 10 yards. I sold them soon after, I want to be able to hit further than that.

 

[Maximinus Thrax]

I shoot my LCR better at 25 yards than I do my Glock 22. If I shot it at 130 yards, I don't think the target would know it was the target, but I also can't think of a reason I'd be taking a 130y shot with a snub nose other than to say I did.

Doesn't training out to that distance add a level of proficiency to your closer shooting though? You've got to know your firearm really well to take a snubby to that distance and that knowledge can only serve to help at closer distances can't it?

The farthest I train at right now is 25yds. I'd love to stretch out further but time and money constraints have me focus on proficiency at closer distances for now. I also only carry one gun at a time with a spare mag.