So the love of the revolver thread in the lounge got me thinking last night. Two of my favorite revolvers are my 3” Smith & Wesson 66 and 3” Ruger GP100.

The 66 is kind of an oddball. Smith did a limited run of 66’s in the early 2000’s with a 3.25” barrel, fiber optic front sight and blacked out rear sight. Mine has the traditional red ramp front sight and white outline rear sight. The label on the end of the box has the sight options covered in Whiteout with RR and WO written in blue ballpoint pen on top of the Whiteout. Mine came with the ubiquitous at the t8me Hogue rubber finger groove round to square grips that came on every factory Smith at the time. Mine now wears Ahrends finger groove roundbutt grips. They’re comfortable to shoot and provide for good concealment.

The GP100 while not called a Wiley Clapp was definitely inspired by it. It has the 3” barrel with the Novak rear fixed sight, bright yellow front night sight and chambered in 10mm. It came with the compact length Ruger rubber grips with the wood inserts, turns out I really like these grips. Everyone asks why a 10mm revolver instead of .357? Lots of reasons, mainly moonclips. Yes they can be a PITA, but makes unloading and reloading quick and easy. Great Alaska gun 8n that I can carry heavy hard cast loads out on the trail hiking and doing wildlife photography, then drop them out and drop in a moonclips loaded with hollow points when back in civilization. Similar in power to .357 it makes a little bigger hole and handles heavier bullet weights better. The 10mm is a shorter more efficient cartridge and not as dependent on barrel length as the .357.

The thing about both these revolvers for me is that they’re the perfect balance of power, shootbility and concealability. I have El Paso Saddlery pancake holsters for each of them and can’t say enough good things about them. They’re comfortable, carry tight to the body, provide good concealment and are comfortable. Does a 9mm semi provide more rounds? Yes, but a 9mm is not as powerful as a .357 or 10mm. Is a 9mm polymer semi lighter? Yes, but with a quality holster and belt, the weight of a medium frame revolver really isn’t an issue. Also the more organic shape of the revolver with its curves to me is more concealable than a blocky semi.

Call me a Fudd or a dinosaur, but I really don’t feel undergunned with a 6 shot revolver. Yes, urban carry in Anchorage I’m more than likely to carry a higher capacity 9mm or .45ACP. But for weekend trips down to Seward or Homer or when I’m out and about with my camera, my 66 or GP100 works just fine.

2.5 inch medium frame revolver in 9mm seems ideal for some applications I have. Moonclips are simple to reload. 9mm is as cheap as it gets for practice ammo. Lighter than a S&W M&P 9mm Compact with a Trijicon RMR holding 15 rounds. And, another 15 rounds + magazine weight. VZ Grips are incredibly comfortable, and far more comfortable than a typical semi-auto grip (H&K VP9 comes closest).

To me, at this time, having just enogh for the extremely remote possibility of mortal combat is a reasonable solution.

I have both a 3" M66 and a 3"M65.

They are just about as perfect as can be. Carry well, shoot well and feels good in the hand.

My absolute favorite handgun is a 3 inch model 64. For some reason, I can hit with it better than any other handgun. It's an 80's vintage, so I no longer carry.

I definitely have a soft spot for a 2.5-3" gun, although I actually prefer the small frames to the medium ones, which is weird because I have pretty big hands. I can wrap that grip up pretty well.and it yields a very solid grip. I also carry IWB a lot, and the narrower J-Frame is a lot more comfortable than a K or L frame.

A 3" barrel is still compact enough for convenient carry and concealment, while leveraging the capabilities of a magnum cartridge a bit more effectively. I have some 1 7/8" and 2" guns for pocket carry, and 4" for target shooting, but a 3" is perfect for carry on the belt.

Of all of these, the Model 60, 63, and 69 are probably the most practical. The .22 is handy for variants, the .357 is a good all-around carry round, and the .44 has a power-to-size ratio like nothing else.

A absolutely love revolvers. Have far too many. One of my most carried guns is a 3” model 65. Sadly (probably because I’ve shot .357. .41. .44 for many years) my hands can’t take shooting revolvers in anything bigger than .38 Special it .22 anymore. I have small hands. So, to reach the trigger, the horn of the backstrap is not centered in the web of my hand.

I have a magic spot now, right at the base of my thumb, that feels like it gets hit by a ball peen hammer. Just an immediate sharp pain.

Grips that cover the backstrap make it worse as I have to turn my hand even further. So, although I can shoot a couple handfuls of Magnums. It get old. Really fast. 12 rounds out of a K frame, I’m done. Yet, 50 rounds out of an Sig P239 in 357 SIG, is nothing. Single stack and that slide eating a bunch of the recoil makes all the difference.

I love my 3" medium frame revolvers and if I was ever to go back to CCWing a wheel gun (from semiautos), I'd probably choose one of these. Besides a rather uncommon 3" factory S&W Model 66 (my first 3"), I've got an S&W Model 686CS, a Model 696 (.44 Special), and a Colt Python (from 1986) with a factory 3" barrel. The stocks are from Herrett's, Craig Spiegel, and Fuzzy Farrant.

Very nice. This one gets carry time.


I have a 2.75" 66-8 I will be picking up next week that will also get holster time.

I will readily admit, my 3" S&W 696 in 44 Spec. is one of my favorite revolvers. I have always liked revolvers, esp. SSA in big bores.

I'm in..
686+ X 2, although I gave one to my SIL as a wedding present.
The Culina grip one is mine.
Sent it to S&W for a combat trigger job and to install the hard chrome hammer and trigger.



I had a 3" Model 29 but sold it when the novelty of 44mag wore off.

For the life of me with the grail status level popularity of 3” guns especially K frames, why smith isn’t doing a run of no lock 13’s and 65’s- they would sell like mad.

A S&W model 64 that started life as a square butt converted to round butt.

I have a handful of 3” revolvers. CoupleGP’s and some SP’s. The SP101’s are more J frame size but the form factor is fantastic.

Count me as a fan.

I have several 4” and 6” revolvers . But I got a 3” 7 Shot GP100 last year that I have become quite partial to.
It carries well in a Galco Vertical Shoulder Holster.