My first handgun was a Ruger Bearcat at age 10, so I grew up with single actions. Wouldn't bother me a bit to have one under my pillow. and have had, on more than one occasion.
Virgil B.

Okay, I 'll play devil's advocate.

Sure, a slug from a .45 Colt will definitely end a fight right now - if it's put in the right place. That's been proven for about 133 years.

But is the object of home defense to KILL that sumbitch dead RIGHT NOW or to play at it with something that looks cool? Killing is a deadly serious business, no pun intended. The Colt SAA was state of the art 120 years ago, but we have a lot better combat weapons today.

You wake up in the middle of the night, still sleepy, and have to go toe to toe with some guy who's wide awake and already pumped up on adrenalin. You just might have to shoot him twice or three times before he goes down. You just might put your first round in a non-lethal spot or miss completely.

In a gunfight your opponent dies or you die - no second chances allowed. Your tactics are not going to be to fire once and see what effect that has. If I was going to kill someone I'd pump rounds into him as fast and accurately as possible until he was dead dead and more dead. For that I'd want something that allows the fastest follow up shot possible.

And no, I'm not talking spray and pray, but controlled firepower. A Colt SAA rolls up and has to be re-cocked, a good grip on a good semi-auto allows you to be back on target in a fraction of the time it takes to ready a SA for the next round. I know IDPA and all those things are games, but you don't see anyone seriously competing against an automatic with a single action. Placing accurate hits on target as fast as possible is the domain of a good autoloader (or at the least a good DA revolver).

It might be cool to fantasize about gunning someone down with a classic thumb buster, but in a real life scenario where the outcome of a bad decision is a widow, fatherless children and no more sex or beer or steak for you forever and ever,I'd prefer the most effective killing machine possible, and we've made more than a few advances in that area since 1873.

Great post Jim.

Nothin' wrong that I can see... Got a speed-loader handy also?

IIRC he said that was for the first shot AND from a proper holster. If you can outdraw and outshoot Ed McGivern, then I would say load up that hogleg and go for it. Might look just a bit funny coming out of the bedroom in your boxers and buscadero outfit, though. Okay, sorry, I'm being flippant.


Seriously - it's your life and you don't need anyone's permission to choose whatever weapon you think will best preserve it. If you think that a Colt SAA is the most tactically effective weapon for you, then by all means use it.

My personal choice is a DA revolver - a S&W 586 .357 to be specific. No hammer to click-click-click-click and reveal my position, no safety to click off or slide to rack - just pick it up and shoot it. Very low frequency of jams in a clean DA revolver and if a round fails to fire then I'm already squeezin the trigger on the next one, no malfunction drills to go through or remember when your heart is up in your throat and your motor functions have slowed to a crawl.

The main goal of a gunfight is to be the guy living after it's over. Any considerations of style or anything other than ending it as quickly as possible is way down on my list of criteria for weapon choice.

Ain't anything wrong with a Single Action if you are comfortable and proficient with it, I have been known the keep one handy on occasion. I do not subscribe to the more is better school either, a good DA revolver or 1911 will work mighty well in my experience. Lets face it folks, you ain't gonna hold off a hoard of armed intruders with you hi-cap tactical pistol, numbers will tell and if you are facing 1 or 2, 5-7 rounds better end it or you are in deep kimchee and need the Marines.

I agree with Jim, why not take advantage of the advances made in weapons over the last century +. Single actions are cool, no doubt about it but when it comes to your butt or theirs I'll set the cool factor aside and use what gives me the best chance. My single action comes out of the safe for hunting, plinking and fun but after 10 o'clock when the monsters come out my double action Smith rides shotgun at my bedside.