revolver

Revolvers for Concealed Carry & Personal Defense

A Little History

The handheld revolver has a history dating back to the 1600’s. Around the mid 1830’s, Samuel Colt  was granted patents for a mechanically operated revolver. This allowed him to create a revolver which spun the cylinder mechanically, utilizing the hammer and a pawl. This was a major milestone for what will eventually be the modern revolver. Other notable milestones include these revolvers:

  • Colt Dragoon (1850): “Single Action” revolver utilizing the hammer to mechanically advance the cylinder with a pawl.
  • Smith & Wesson No. 1 (1860): Had a manually operated cylinder (due to Colt’s patents), but it used a .22 rimfire cartridge, instead of a cap and ball.
  • Colt Single Action Army (1873): One of the most recognized, single-action revolvers and still cloned by many manufacturers today. The SAA was a gate loaded, cartridge revolver chambered for .45 Colt.
  • Colt New Army & Navy (1892): First commercially successful swing-out cylinder revolver.

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Review: XS Big Dot Night Sight for the Ruger SP101

Product Review: XS Big Dot Night Sight RV-0001N-3

I’m on a roll today so I guess I’ll throw something in my “Gear Reviews” category with a brief review of the XS Big Dot Tritium Front Night Sight for my Ruger SP-101 2.25 inch (what a mouthful).  This sight is actually designed for J-framed Smiths as well, but in my case, I use it on my SP101, so your mileage may vary.

XS Big Dot

XS Big Dot installed on a Ruger SP101

Let me start off by saying that the tritium insert is from Trijicon.  My preference in night sights has always leaned towards Meprolight, rather than Trijicon.   The tritium inserts Meprolight uses just seem bigger and brighter.  So I first bought the Meprolight front night sight for the SP101… mistake.  It was a royal pain in the backside to install: filing, fitting, filing, fitting… repeat 100x.  Once it was installed it completely jacked up my sight picture.  Can’t have any of that non-sense going on, so I got rid of it and purchased the XS Big Dot.  Installation of the XS sight also required filing, fitting and drilling (don’t try this at home if you’re squeamish, just find a gunsmith) but the process was much easier, because the sight was more properly fitted for the slot to begin with.

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High Capacity Hogwash

 Opinion:  High Capacity Concealed Carry is an Oxymoron.

Ruger LCR

Ruger LCR

Ok, I never understood some people’s desire to carry 40+ rounds concealed, much less actually being able to conceal it.  If you’re LEO, maybe… but I was, and I always carried a single stack .45 or 9mm off-duty and one extra mag.  Never felt that I needed more than 15 rounds.

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