Excellent report. In Mexico, pretty much everyone I knew socially that was close to me carried, and generally what they carried was a S&W or Colt snubby. There were some people carrying .380 autos, but since the average businessman or young-lady-about-town was certainly going to be "visited" by cartel or bit-players pretending to be cartel the power thing is a real concern. If things were to get serious in a bad way, the other side will have MUCH more firepower than the average civilian is going to be able to carry around (at the same time avoiding scrutiny by the authorities who will certainly react negatively if they see you are carrying). Generally -- in my own experience -- when they told you that you needed to pay some protection money, you politely declined and indicated that you "took care of your own protection". In my case, that went okay. In the experience of my close associates, it also went okay. For the people I knew of for whom it did not go okay, they were not around afterwards to let us all know where things went wrong. But generally, you will have a 5 or 6 shot snubby using the hottest .38 Special ammo you can load. You might also have the advantage of surprise, since most people remain unarmed except for those who choose not to be victims. Right here and right now, let me state that most people will choose to be victims rather than break a law that will punish them for carrying illegally, even if that punishment is a rather minor inconvenience compared to the alternative. At least, that is what I saw and continue to see everytime I revisit Central Mexico.
My own snubby is a Model 49 no dash with a flat latch. A quite strong little snubby, I usually load it with a 160 grain Lead Semi-Wadcutter cast bullet that is not cast especially hard, lubricated with either Lee liquid alox or the RCBS lubestick Pistol alox and sized to .358 diameter loaded over 4.5 grains of Bullseye Powder.
The gun generally resides in my right-front pocket in a Bianchi "Pistol Pocket" holster.
This holster has served me very well, having carried the gun fulltime, everyday over a 10 year period in a rather hot environment. I brought the holster itself back here to Canada with me, and every time my wife and I return to Mexico my sister-in-law meets us at the airport with our snubbies. My wife "purse carries" hers in a Ray's Holsters Concealed Carry purse (which Mexican Secret Service failed to detect when they inspected her before a meeting she had with Margarita Zavala, the wife of then Mexican President Filipe Calderon in 2012 in my wife's office in Guanajuato at the time). The holster keeps the snubby from shifting around and allows a good grasp when I need it.
Once pocketed, you're good to go. It took me about 5 months or so in 2008 when I started carrying (just after bad guys threw hand grenades into a crowd of women and children on Sept. 15 during Independence Day celebrations in Morelia, Michoacan) to forget I even had it with me. After that, I don't really even think about it much even when I go back. Maybe a day or two, but it's more the weight and the rubbing on the front part of the thigh that now takes getting used to as opposed to the "OMG, I'm carrying....".
The untucked shirt in a proper Miami Vice color completes the package. You are ready to run your small business in Mexico!
As all my friends carry, I got to shoot and play with a really large variety of snubby revolvers in the last 10 years. Since we go back to Mexico every February/March, I get to play with them again. We found that the S&W revovlers tend to shoot to POI using 158 grain Lead bullets pretty regularly. Maybe sometimes, they hit a bit low requiring some metal shaving off the front sight, but not often. My wife's Model 60 no dash is bang on, as is one of my best friend's old-style Model 40.
Since I took this photo, he has "pinned out" the grip safety, which is a feature the original gun allowed you to do. Use it, or not use it. I took this photo the night he got it, so it was unpinned at the time.
Colt revolvers, such as this classic Detective Special, are also very, very popular. My own daughter prefers her's over our S&W snubbies. Her Detective shoots just a bit to the left at 10 yards, by about 2 inches. I keep swearing to file off one side of the front sight, and I will when we move back there and I have a range on my property to be able to take my time and do it right. In the meantime, hers is in stock form. This one pictured belongs to another friend and was formerly Phil Roettinger's, the former head of the CIA in Latin America.
In Mexican Combat Club matches, there is always a "Snubby Side Event". Usually a 30 round course, shot out to 30 yards. Most shooting is closer up, 3 yards, 5 yards and 10 yards. I think only 5 shots are fired at 30 yards. I have a copy around here somewhere of the Mexican rules -- which are basically the IPSC 2006 rulebook and the NRA Action Pistol rulebook from the same time-period unceremoniously combined and translated into Spanish -- but digging them up is more trouble than it's worth right now. Pretty much all shooting is specified as double-action and anyway the time-limits don't permit a lot of thumbcocking anyway. This Model 60 with Laser Grips has had the hammer ground off -- a common alteration since one may well be firing through a pocket (in real life, not in some silly match).
Popular also are the 2.5 inch .357 guns that have been remarked and registered as .38 Special revolvers. This due to the fact that with Mexico's caliber restrictions, the .357 is VERBOTTEN. But that doesn't stop anyone. This 2.5 inch Python, perfectly remarked as a Diamondback, is better carried by one of the ladies in a purse holster as it's a bit big to hide well under a light shirt in the heat of the Mexican summer. In matches, these larger revolvers -- as well as the 2-inch Model 15 with adjustable sights -- shoot in the "super snubby" class. They have a box for "snubby" and "super snubby". In fact, a Model 10 roundbutt just barely fits into the snubby box with stock roundbutt grips. Putting larger fitting rubber shoes on it would kick you up into the super snubby class. I never had a super snubby, although I covet one and might go for a remarked Python when I move back there. They are sort of sweet! But not really snubbies, in the classical sense.
I'm glad you are testing your snubbies. Let us all know your results. I love the damned things myself and have carried mine a lot more than any other firearm, into thick and thin and all over the place in Central Mexico during lots of times of heightened tensions. They certainly aren't enough, but if they are all you have they are certainly better than nothing.
