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Snub Nose revolvers

3K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  SilasW 
#1 ·
What makes a revolver a snub nose ?
 
#3 ·
Kinda wondered that myself.

I've come to the personal definition that it is any gun with a "shorter than normal" barrel length.

So my Cimarron Thunderer, with its 3 1/2" barrel fits, as the shortest "normal" Single Action Army barrel is 4 3/4. My Officers Model Colt, with its 3" fits, as the standard length for a 1911 is 5".

But, as I say, that's my personal definition.

Most folks would probably agree with the "two inches or less" thing.
 
#17 ·
Nothing to do with one another. A Saturday Night Special I believe to be a cheap revolver. One of those pull the trigger and hope it goes Bang and not BOOM!
 
#18 ·
I believe "a snubnose" (usually "a snubnose 38") is a term invented by writers of "pulp" detective fiction, back in the 30s.

"Saturday Night Special" is a term pulled from obscurity by the anti gun folk, back in the 60s.

Back in the late 1800s there was a class of small 22 revolvers that sold for about a buck.

Collectors nowadays refer to them as "Suicide Specials". One if the brand names (and there were dozens of them) was Saturday Night Special.

It was sold as a small gun you stick in your overalls pocket, when you went down to the bar on Saturday night. If a fight broke out, it was better than having a knife or a razor (they were marketed towards the colored folk).

So in the 60s the anti gunners brought the name back, saying that any SMALL or INEXPENSIVE pistol was a Saturday Night Special, and thus was evil incarnate.

And with the passage of GCA68, many of the best guns in the world were banned from importation, because their size made them fall into the catagory of "Saturday Night Special".
 
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