Belly Guns

I remember I used to read a lot in the firearms magazines about belly guns. If I understood right, this term was coined a long time ago to refer to firearms with short barrels and smaller grips which could be concealed easily in the waistband of pants or tucked into the pocket of a pair of pants or a jacket. I guess that pretty much since the invention of the handgun, there has been a perceived need for a handgun that is small enough to conceal. Now, it is obvious that the easiest way to make a smaller weapon is to fire a smaller projectile. I mean obviously a .22 caliber handgun is going to be easier to put into a small package than a .50 caliber. Of course you loose a lot of power that way too. The earliest weapons that came made to hide were probably derringers. Most of these were in smaller calibers with .32's being rather popular. Early short-barrelled revolvers were generally in the 30 caliber range also. Of course, the smaller the caliber, the less effective the round, so there was always a demand for bigger calibers. The .41 rimfire cartridge developped to fulful the role of a large caliber derringer. I believe that several manufactures developed short barrelled revolvers with slimmer stocks that were sold as banker's specials. These were usually in the 30 caliber ranges.

As the smokeless powder cartidges became more prevalent, the various caliber weapons became more effective. Mostly the bullets were still round nose lead though and so a weapon that made a .43 or .45 inch hole and weighed 230 -- 255 grains was more desireable than one that made a .36 caliber hole and weight 148 grains.

Cartridges like the .38 S&W and .38 Colt Police Positive were widely used and carried in various barrel lengths. However, many people who depended on being armed for there lively hood, took weapons like the .45 Colt, .44 Russian, and shortened the barrel, slimmed, trimmed and rounded the grips, bobbed the hammer, cut away the trigger guard and stuck the darn things in their pocket. Many of these pockets were reinforced with leather or canvas of course.

As cartridges and firearms improved, the development of cartridges like the .38 special and .357 magnum offered better performance not only in service size revolvers, but also in the short-barrelled variety. Obviously these two cartridges have become the most popular for use in snubnosed revolvers, and make up the bulk of the sales of such. They are also very popular in derringers. Another option available to people looking for this type weapon was the smaller .32 autos that were manufactured by Colt, Mauser, Savage, and many other company's. They offered more power than the little .25's, albeit in a larger package, but still more concealable than a revolver. As technology improved, the .32 shrank, and the .380 (9mm short) became more popular. Colt produced a pocket size 1911 in .380 that was very popular and I think may still be in production. Wather PPK sized firearms offered an alternative to the snubbie. Now the .38 special, even out of a 2" barrel packs more punch than a .32 or .380 in my opinion, but I can conceal my Bersa on my person easier than my Taurus 85. The Bersa has a 7 round clip, the Taurus holds 5. This gives me 2 more shots of a less effective round. Go trade? I don't know. The Taurus was my car gun in cold weather too. I could carry a bigger weapon when I wore more clothes, so the Taurus went in the Mustang. In warmer weather, it was my favorite carry, and a Davis .380 became the car gun.

Of course, some .38 special snubbies hold 6 rounds, and if you don't mind a larger frame, some .357 hold 7 or 8, but this is a fatter gun obviously and harder to hide. Another option would be to go for a snubbie in .32 magnum. On paper, the little centerfire magnum looks on par with a .38 special, but I haven't seen a side-by-side comparison in a long time. And out of a Ruger it would be 6 rounds. Yet another choice would be a 9mm revolver. I know Ruger makes a 9mm snubbie, and I know Smith and Wesson did, and may still do. Taurus might also. Of course you either use 9mm rimmed ammo or a special clip, but a 9mm round designed for use out of a subcompact auto should perform very similar out of a snubnosed revolver.

Now the old Charter Arms company stayed in business for years for 2 reasons. One is that it sold a lot of .32 and .38 snubnosed revolvers at a cheaper price than anyone else. Ruger and Taurus were not pursuing those markets than, so they basically undersold Smith and Wesson and Colt. If you couldn't afford and S&W or Colt, you either bought Charter Arms, or you bought an import, like the Astra or the Rohm. I believe Rohm was German and looked a little odd, but the Astra was Spanish and looked a lot like a Smith. Charter Arms looked like a Smith, but the cylinder turned the same direction as the Colt. The second reason Charter was around was the Bulldog. Charter Arms was the only manufacturer at the time (of course at this time every sporting goods and hardware store sold guns, even "evil" handguns) that sold a large caliber, short-barrelled revolver as a standard offering. The Bulldog was a 5 shot, .44 special with a 2 inch barrel. The only way to get anything similar was through Colt or Smith and Wesson's custom shops, which would cost way more. Now I don't know how Charter Arms held up against the big 2 quality wise, although I am sure the finish wasn't anywhere near what the other companies offered, but I don't remember hearing much bad about the company's product. When Taurus first hit the US, they filled a similar niche, and now are quiet popular. Charter Arms is back too I believe. Probably a different incarnation.

I fired a Bulldog once, and it is an experience. The .44 special doesn't seem that impressive out of a 4 or 6 inch barrel, and I fired them a lot out of my Ruger Redhawk. The Redhawk was a very heavy framed weapon with an 8 inch barrel. The .44 special rounds were much milder than the magnums it was designed for and seemed very pleasant in comparison. The Bulldog frame was a little heavier than the J-frame Smith built most .38 snubbies on. I don't know if it was as heavy as the K-frame they originally used on the combat magnums though. It had a smaller grip area, and wasn't much heavier than a .38 of similar size. Firing a cylinder of anything heavier than a target load was an experience that tended to stay with you. I owned a Smith and Wesson Model 29 with a 2 and 3/4" barrel for a while. The 29 had almost an inch more barrel and was on the much heavier N frame. Shooting the Bulldog was about as unpleasant as shooting the 29 with full power magnum loads. On the other hand, I think if a person practiced with the Bulldog, he would be well-armed.

Now both Ruger and Taurus are offering several snub-nosed revolvers in calibers like .41 magnum, .44 special, .44 magnum, .45 Colt and .45 ACP. I think Smith and Wesson has always offered most of their revolvers with an barrel length of 3 inches, and may offer less as standard now on some of the bigger boys. I think there may even be some revolvers out their available in 10mm/40 and they may be offered in short barrel lengths. There is still a demand for large caliber, concealable, reliable format.

If you don't want a revolver, what are your options. Well, there are a great many companies that offer compact and subcompact .40's, .45's. There are also plenty of 9mm's and .357 Sigs if you want to go that route. Let's look at some stuff.

First if you are willing to look at 9mm. Paraordinance offers the Warthog. This single-action autoloader packs 12+1 rounds of 9mm or 6+1 rounds of .45 ACP into a really compact (6.5" long, 4.5" tall, 3 "barrel, 24 oz) package. Several other companies, like Springfield Armory, offer similar, although larger packages in both calibers. Glock offers the model 26 this gun offers 10 rounds of 9mm in a package 6.3 inches long, 4.2 inches tall, a little over an inch thick, and which weighs less than 20 oz empty. It also uses the 15 round clip of the model 19 or the 18 round clip of the model 17. The model 27 is of a similar size and fires 9 .40's. The model 28 goes bang 10 times, is 5 ounces heavier empty, a little larger, but is a 10 mm. The model 39 offers 6 rounds of .45 GAP in the same size package. Extended 8 and 10 round mags are available, but will add to the height. For reloads, this isn't an issue. The model 30 is a larger weapon (6.8" x 4.8" x 1.3" 24 oz.) But for that you get 10 .45 ACP shots. And you can carry the 13 round mags from its big brother for backup. They also offer the G-36 which is a 6 shot firearm that cuts the width down to almost 1 inch. The G-33 takes us back to the original 9mm/.40 size, but offers 9 rounds of .357 Sig. 11,13,15, and 17 round clips are available.

Springfield armory also offers subcompact versions of its XD polymer frame line if you like a more traditional feel to your weaponry. The 9mm compact is 6.3" x 4.8" and weighs 26 oz empty. The compact magazine hold 10 rounds, the extended holds 16. Going up to a 40 maintains your size but you loose 1 round in the compact mag and 3 in the extended. The smallest .45 they have is the compact which is 7.3" x 5" and weights 29 oz. The regular magazine is 10 rounds, the extended is 13. The smallest .357 Sig is the service model and is 7.3" x 5.5" and weights 29 oz and holds 12 rounds. The .45 GAP model is identical in capacity and size.

One of the neatest things I've seen though is the Kel-tec P-ll. This pistol is made with a steel slide, polymer frame and aluminum parts. It weights 14 oz empty, is 5.6" x 4.3" x 1". The factory magazines hold 10 rounds of 9mm. The fit and finish are not on par with the XD or Glock and the trigger is no where near as nice, but these weapons can be found for under $300 new and 12 round Smith and Wesson magazines will fit flush. 15 round magazines can be used with extensions. They also offer a single stack model that is almost 2 ounces lighter and less than an inch wide. It has a 7 round clip.

Now if you can find one, and afford it, AMT has a gun called the Backup. It is made for deep concealment and is available in .22, .380, 9mm, .45 ACP, .40, .38 Super. It is 5.7" x 4" x 1" and seems to be a 6 shot regarless of caliber. It is a heavy all still weapon and I am not sure if it is still being made. Opinions seem deeply divided as to whether these are excellent guns or pieces of crap. I do think they are heavily sprung and take hot ammo to function well. A good smith can probably tune these up some. NAA guardians are small, firearms but tend to run to smaller calibers. I believe that .380 is the largest caliber available. There are any number of .380's in sizes from the AMT up to the PPK/Bersa readily available in all price ranges. Kahr makes some very compact little 9mm and 40's. A company called Semmerling made a 5 shot .45 ACP that was dinky. It was bought out by American Derringer and is now called the LM-4. The slide has to be operated after every shot, but it weights 24 ounces, is 5" long and 1" wide. I don't know if they are currently in production, but they are a neat little gun. Taurus is making the millinium models in 9mm, 40, and .45 pretty compact.

If you are looking for an easy to hide gun, you just have to look. You can find something that fits into the niche you need if you try hard enough.