My uncle called me yesterday asking for some recommendations on a short barreled revolver that he can fan shoot. He’s wanting something in a 38 special and prefers S&W but isn’t married to S&W. He’s also thinking maybe something in the ~3” barrel.

He used to do a lot of shooting back in the day with one of his 22 pistols, shooting from the hip, fast draw, fanning etc. He apparently has a bunch of 38 special, but with all the different pistols out there, he’s not even sure what to start looking at/for.

Any help?

Fanning is very hard on a gun, so something durable is required. I assume that he would prefer a single action style hammer simply because it's larger. Why not a Ruger Blackhawk in .357?

Fanning is done with a single action revolver, I don't think Smith & Wesson makes a single action revolver anymore. I agree with the poster above about a Ruger, although I would go with a Vaquero. Pretty sure you can get hammers for those that stick up instead of kind of laid back, made for Fanning the gun. That said most of the people that fan them in competitions and such are using wax bullets, not actual bullets. Be careful and have fun


One of the reason to go with the Vaquero, is the lack of a sticking up rear sight. In my experience when you fan a gun with a rear sight that sticks up it gouges the crap out of your hand. The smooth sites on the Vaquero style guns are lot easier on your fanning hand

Really good advice.

Look at US Firearms single action .38 special
It's made in COLT factory, tooling and blueprints

I have one bought a while back and it was $900

don't know what it is today. IT has one of smoothest
single action trigger release

Have to find a used one, they are out of business.

Heritage rough rider in 22lr.... that way when he decides fanning a revolver is a waste of time and ammo, he’s only out $100 and $2.50 in ammo

Ask my buddy in Wyoming about fanning and Quick drawing. Years ago he shot him self in the leg! It's a funny story today and he lived to talk about it with no serious injury. Lunky for him it was a .22LR and went through the meat in his thigh. Suggest to your uncle to pick another shooting hobby.

The Vaquero is the way to go. Go ahead and get a matching lever for fun. The Colt SAA and its replicas will not hold up to fanning. I don’t remember the part that broke be we sure broke one.

Thanks for all of the replies. I’ll pass them along to him.

he still plays with his old 22lr from time to time, but wants something in the 38 sp. He’s a real cowboy and somethings are still stuck in the cowboy days, including all of his pistols. He had one semi auto for about a week and got rid of it.

If you can find an "original" model Vaquero, it's probably the one to get. Second place would be the Blackhawk. The New Model Vaquero is built on a lighter frame than the first two recommendations, but it is still a very strong firearm. There really isn't anything else in an affordable range that a reasonable person would choose to abuse like that.

OP, a new vaquero is his best bet. The 38 spl is a low pressure round so a lot of shooting wouldn't really harm it's medium size frame. If he wanted to shoot a lot of hot 357's through it the original large frame vaquero would be a better choice. The abuse caused from fanning would affect both frame sizes equally since they use most of the same internal parts. anything with an adjustable rear sight is only going to cause pain.

The Italian Colt clones are nice guns but they will not hold up to abuse.








I would not suggest abusing that USFA in any way! They are highly sought after and depending on the model they're worth their weight in gold these days.

I would go so far as to say the New Vaquero is better than the old for his intended purpose. It’s noticeably lighter than the original and handles more like the Colt. I would call it a mid weight between the two. Ruger even makes a model of for Cowboy action shooting. Ruger refuses to say what psi their pistols will tolerate safely, only that they will shoot any factory ammo that’s in spec. Independent testing has shown the New Vaquero safe to 28,500psi in 45 Colt and original safe to “hold my beer” reloading. Probably more information than you wanted but both are well built reliable guns. That the bottom line.