A snubnosed revolver (colloquially known as a snubbie, belly gun, or bulldog revolver) is a small, medium, or large frame revolver with a short barrel, generally less than 3 inches (7.62 cm) in length. Smaller such revolvers are often made with "bobbed" or "shrouded" hammers and there are also "hammerless" models (where the hammer is entirely internal); the point is to allow the gun to be drawn with little risk of it snagging on clothing. Since the external movement of the mechanism is minimal or nil, shrouded and hammerless models may be fired from within clothing.https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/five-shot-snubnosed-revolver/ Gun Review: 5-Shot Snub-Nosed Revolver By Scott W. Wagner. 06/17/2015 The design of these revolvers compromises range and accuracy at a distance in favor of maneuverability and ease of carry and concealment.
Snubnosed revolvers were popular in the United States until the 1950s and 1960s when many states passed laws limiting or prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons. The passage in many US states of "shall issue" firearms license laws from the mid-1980s to the 1990s created new markets for small, simple, reliable, concealed-carry firearms. This resulted in a resurgence in the popularity of snubnosed revolvers in the United States.
Demand for snubnosed revolvers has been met with the introduction of numerous new models from Smith & Wesson, Colt, Ruger, Taurus, and other manufacturers. While most are made of traditional carbon steel, stainless steel, and lightweight aluminum alloys that have been in use for decades, some models use high-strength, lightweight metal alloys such as titanium and scandium. Polymer frames have also been used.
Most firearms manufacturers now produce snubnosed revolvers in larger calibers than before, including .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum, and .45 Colt. Some companies make .454 Casull, .460 S&W Magnum, .480 Ruger, .500 S&W Magnum, and .410 bore snubnosed revolvers. There are also snubnosed revolvers chambered for semi-automatic pistol cartridges such as 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP (loaded with the aid of Moon clips).
History The first commercial snubnosed revolver was the six-shot, barreled Colt Single Action Army revolver, made without an ejector rod. It was officially called the "Sheriff's Model," or the "Storekeeper's Model",http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/FIREARMS/colt_single_action_army.pdf COLT SAFETY AND INSTRUCTION MANUAL. SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER SHERIFF'S AND STOREKEEPER'S MODEL REVOLVERS NEW FRONTIER@ SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER also unofficially known as the "Banker's Special".Repeating and Multi-Fire Weapons: A History from the Zhuge Crossbow Through the AK-47. Gerald Prenderghast. McFarland Books, Mar 30, 2018. p 90 The barrel models were known as the "Gunfighter" model.https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2016/12/5/a-look-back-at-the-colt-single-action-army/ A Look Back at the Colt Single Action Army by Dave Campbell, December 5, 2016 The barrel models were called the "Artillery", and the "Cattleman" or "Cowboy" models.http://www.nramuseum.org/media/364240/Mar%2099.pdf COLT COWBOY REVOLVER And barrel models were called the "Army", the "Cavalry" and the "Standard" models.
The British Bull Dog revolver was a popular type of 5-shot, solid-frame, double action, pocket revolver introduced by Philip Webley & Son of Birmingham, England, in 1872, and subsequently copied by gunmakers in continental Europe and the United States.Dowell, p. 68. It featured a barrel and was chambered for .442 Webley or .450 Adams cartridges. Webley produced smaller scaled .320 Revolver and .380 caliber versions later, but did not mark them with the British Bull Dog name. The term "bulldog revolver" became synonymous with large-caliber "snubnosed revolvers".
The Colt M1877 Double Action Revolver is a 6-shot, double-action revolver manufactured by Colt from January 1877 to 1909, a total of 166,849 revolvers. The Model 1877 was offered in three calibers, with three unofficial names: .32 Long Colt ("Rainmaker"), .38 Long Colt ("Lightning"), and .41 Long Colt ("Thunderer"). The M1877 was the first successful US-made double-action cartridge revolver. The M1877 was offered from the factory in two basic finishes: nickel-plated or a case-hardened frame with a blue barrel and cylinder. The revolver was available in and barrel lengths and was available with or without the ejector rod and housing. The shorter barreled versions without the ejector rod were marketed as "Shopkeeper's Special".
The Smith & Wesson Safety Hammerless model was produced from 1887 to World War II. It is a small, concealable, 5-shot, double-action revolver chambered in either .32 S&W or .38 S&W. They were most often produced with , and barrels. These top-break revolvers were designed for fast reloading and concealed carry as the hammer was internal and would not snag on drawing the revolver from a pocket. The gun also had a grip safety. This design was known as "The New Departure" to reflect the company's new approach to designing revolvers. The design of these revolvers sacrifices accuracy and range in favor of maneuverability and concealment. Similar "hammerless" designs were made by manufacturers such as Iver Johnson and Harrington & Richardson and proved popular for concealed carry.
The FitzGerald Special, "Fitz Special", or "Fitz Colt" is a snubnosed revolver concept that was designed by John Henry Fitzgerald (AKA: "Fitz"), an employee of Colt's Manufacturing Company from 1918 to 1944. Fitz Special revolvers are made by shortening the barrel to two inches, shortening the ejector rod, bobbing the hammer spur, removing the front half of the trigger guard, and rounding the butt. Reshaping the hammer and the butt allowed the gun to be drawn quickly with little risk of snagging on clothing. The halved trigger guard facilitates quick trigger acquisition, even for shooters with large fingers or gloves. Fitzgerald first came up with his concept sometime around the mid-1920s when he modified a .38 Special Colt Police Positive Special revolver, whose shortest available barrel length at the time was four inches. He later modified two .45 caliber Colt New Service revolvers in the same manner, and was known to carry the pair in his front pockets. The FitzGerald Special was the precursor of the modern snubnosed revolver and specifically was the prototype for the Colt Detective Special.
The Colt Detective Special is a carbon steel framed double-action, snubnosed, six-shot revolver. As the name "Detective Special" suggests, this model revolver was used as a concealed weapon by plainclothes police detectives. It was made with either a or a barrel. Introduced in 1927, the Detective Special was the first snubnosed revolver produced with a modern swing-out frame. It was designed from the outset to be chambered for higher-powered cartridges such as the .38 Special, considered to be a powerful caliber for a concealable pocket pistols of the day.
The Smith & Wesson Model 10 or Military & Police is a revolver of worldwide popularity. In production since 1899, it is a medium-sized, 6-shot, .38 Special, double-action revolver with fixed sights. Over its long production run it has been available with barrel lengths of , , and . With the first snubnosed models with barrel lengths of , , and being made in 1936. Over 6,000,000 Model 10s have been produced over the years, making it the most popular handgun of the 20th century.Boorman, Dean K., The History of Smith & Wesson Firearms (2002), p. 46: "The .38 in Military and Police Model 10 has historically been the mainstay of the Smith & Wesson Company, with some 6,000,000 of this general type produced to date. It has been described as the most successful handgun of all time, and the most popular centerfire revolver of the 20th Century."
The Smith & Wesson Model 36 was designed in the era just after World War II when Smith & Wesson stopped producing war materials and resumed normal production. For the Model 36, they designed a small concealable, 5-shot, double-action revolver with a barrel, that could fire the more powerful .38 Special cartridge. Since the older "Safety Hammerless" (I-frame) was not able to handle this load, a new frame was designed, which became the J-frame.
The new design was introduced at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) convention in 1950 and was favorably received. A vote was held to name the new revolver, and the name "Chiefs Special" won.Ayoob, Massad. Greatest Handguns of the World (Krause Publications, Inc., 2010) p.208; Jinks, Roy G. History of Smith & Wesson (Beinfeld Publishing,1977), p.225. A barreled version design went into production immediately, due to high demand. It was available in either a blued or nickel-plated finish."Armed for Personal Defense" By Jerry Ahern It was produced as the "Chiefs Special" until 1957 when it then became the Model 36. In 1951, Smith & Wesson introduced the Airweight Model 37, which was basically the Model 36 design with an aluminum frame and cylinder. The aluminum cylinders proved to be problematic and were abandoned in favor of a steel cylinder. Smith & Wesson also introduced the J-frame Smith & Wesson Centennial (hammerless) models and Smith & Wesson Bodyguard (shrouded hammer) models. In the 1990s, S&W introduced 9mm Parabellum and .357 Magnum models. They also introduced new models using high-strength, lightweight metal alloys such as titanium and scandium.
The Colt Cobra is a lightweight, 21 oz aluminum-framed, 6-shot, double-action revolver most commonly produced with a barrel, not to be confused with the Colt King Cobra. The Cobra is chambered for .38 Special, .38 S&W, .32 S&W Long, and .22 LR. It was sold by Colt from 1950 until 1981. In December 2016, it was announced that Colt would be producing a new run of the Colt Cobra with a steel frame and a fiber optic front sight. This model was released in early 2017.
The Smith & Wesson Model 12 is an aluminum alloy-frame version of the Model 10. It weighs 19 oz (524 g) unloaded. A 6-shot, .38 Special revolver was made from 1953 to 1986 in both and barrel configurations. The Model 12 was Smith & Wesson's answer to the Colt Cobra. Early models used an aluminum cylinder as well as the frame. [The Colt version was the Colt M13 Aircrewman 1951-1957.]
Introduced in the early 1970s, the Model 15-2 became the best-selling Dan Wesson Firearms revolver model to go into production. This 6-shot, .357 Magnum revolver uses a unique interchangeable barrel system, including a snub nose barrel along with , , , , , and , partial or fully-lugged shrouds with choices of solid or ventilated ribs, plus removable and interchangeable front sights. The Model 15-2 could be ordered as "Pistol Pacs" with 4 (or more) barrel/shroud sets shipped inside a fiberglass briefcase with barrel changing tool and clearance gauges; however, most pistols were sold with only one barrel, with the buyers able to purchase other barrels later. All barrels and shrouds within a model series are compatible, thus a Model 15-2 frame from the 1970s may be equipped with a barrel from the 1990s and a shroud made in 2016. The 15-2 increased sales markedly over the earlier models and were often seen in use with both target shooters and hunters. Model 44s are large-frame models in .44 Magnum with interchangeable barrels, including a snubnose barrel.