I’ve been in the market of late for a new carry gun for Lady Beth. Being a life-long ‘gun nut’ I have rather set ideas of what makes up a good carry weapon. Contrary to Hollywood and rapping thug-wanna-be’s likes to consider “cool”, The Bull does not go in for the high capacity, “spray & pray” weapons.
I go for accuracy over capacity, projectile caliber over projectile velocity, and weapon reliability over reload speed. All of that points more towards revolvers than the plethora of semi-auto pistols on the market today. Hence, my personal choice of a single action .45 Colt for my personal CCW weapon. Concealed it is, but secret? No, it isn’t. You’d be surprised just how many questions and emails I get concerning CCW revolvers. By far the most are concerning the big-bore revolvers – and that brings me back to the point of this post…
So I go looking for other revolvers chambered for a major caliber round. (A full caliber round being any bullet equal to, or exceeding, 4/10ths of an inch in diameter.) Friends, I was saddened by the results of that search! Seems that on the ‘affordable and really small’ end of the spectrum only Charter Arms had an entry – their formidable ‘Bulldog’ chambered to load out five of the old reliable .44 Special. Ruger has added short barreled versions of their most excellent ‘Redhawk’ revolver in .45 Colt to the mix. It is a fine gun and has made my short list for my next purchase. Though this is a massively strong handgun and absolutely reliable in any situation, at 46 ounces empty it is hardly a firearm for a woman’s purse, an ankle holster, or for hanging in the waistband of a pair of scrubs! Smith & Wesson also has entries – several in fact! (The models 21 & 25 come to mind.) They also offer short-barreled versions of their monster ‘X-Frame’ .460 and .500 S&W magnums. Unfortunately, S&W tend to run exceptionally high in price, (MSRP’s from $800 to $1500.), and even finding one of their large bore revolvers to look at can be quite a chore.
The big-bore double action revolver market is a veritable wasteland when it comes to guns for the average person. What a sad state of affairs! 
So I offer this open note to all arms makers worldwide, but particularly to the American firearms industry:
We, the law-abiding, shooting public, have a request. Build us a small double action revolver, suitable for defensive carry, chambered in some major caliber beginning with a “.4″.
Making the .41 Special wildcat into a factory round sounds particularly nice – it is long overdue and simple to boot! Heck, call it whatever you want! Other options that come to mind are the .41 Magnum (as this was what it was designed for in the first place), the .44 Special, and of course, the .45 Colt. For the most part these are relatively low pressure, low velocity cartridges. With today’s available alloys and the experience of well over a century of building double action revolvers there is no reason why this niche market should go unfilled.
I doubt that the industry will take note, but it never hurts to dream and it certainly never hurts to try! And speaking of dreams…
Imagine a five shot .41 Special based on the excellent Ruger SP101. The Bull might even move his beloved Vaquero into retirement as a CCW piece were that firearm available.
What am I saying?!
I know I would! 
Bull, out!
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