Best New Revolvers for 2024

Revolvers have been around for well over 200 years and are among the first repeating firearms ever invented. However, despite their centuries-old technology, the wheelgun is still relevant today, and revolvers are widely used for hunting, concealed carry, home defense, and recreational/competition target shooting. Proponents of revolvers love their simplicity, reliability, accuracy, and power.

Plus, revolvers are frickin’ cool. From Dirty Harry’s S&W Model 29 .44 Magnum, to Hellboy’s Good Samaritan, to The Colt from Supernatural (the gun that could kill almost anything), to Rick Grimes’ Colt Python from The Walking Dead, to the Schofield Kid’s eponymous revolver from Unforgiven, revolvers are deeply ingrained in American culture.

Today, if you’re shopping for a revolver, there are better and more varied choices than ever before. Let’s go over some of our favorite new revolvers this year.

Some of the hottest new revolver offerings this year are the Ultimate Carry J-frame Smith & Wessons from Lipsey’s. Lipsey’s is a large firearms distributor with a long history of developing and offering unique guns you can’t get anywhere else. They worked closely with Smith & Wesson to develop what they (and many in the industry) consider the ultimate evolution of a small CCW revolver. The J-frame has been around since 1950, and this size revolver is extremely popular in the concealed-carry market.

However, it has some shortcomings. The typical J-frame’s double-action trigger pull is generally quite heavy, which isn’t ideal for people with smaller or weaker hands. The sights are non-adjustable and are difficult to see, the front being a plain blade and the rear being just a groove cut into the topstrap of the revolver. For grips, you generally had a choice between comfortable to shoot (but too big to conceal), or a good size for a pocket gun (but painful to shoot). And recoil, even in the most common .38 Special offerings, could be pretty unpleasant. For these and other reasons, we usually feel that small revolvers might not be the best choice for a CCW gun, especially for new shooters.

With the 4 new offerings from the S&W/Lipsey’s collaboration, many of these concerns have been mitigated or eliminated. First, the Ultimate Carry is being offered in both a 5-shot .38 Special version (models 642UC and 442UC in stainless and black, respectively) as well as a 6-shot .32 H&R Magnum variant (models 632UC and 432UC in the same finish options). Both models weigh just 16 ounces empty. Recoil from the .32 H&R Magnum is much more manageable for everyone, but particularly newer, inexperienced shooters.

The new sights feature a large, lime-green outlined XS tritium front sight for low-light visibility, (.140” wide) and a drift-adjustable, serrated black U-notch rear sight (.160” wide notch). You can adjust them to your preferred windage, and they are regulated from the factory to be an accurate 10-15 yard point of impact (in .38 Special) with the popular 125-135 grain short-barrel defensive loads. They also shoot to point of aim with 148-grain wadcutters. The .32 H&R Magnum version hits to point of aim with the most popular 80-grain JHP defensive loads, or 100-grain WC or SWC bullets moving around 800 feet per second.

If all you got were the improved sights, the ~$200 upcharge for these new pocket rockets would be worth it. However, with the Ultimate Carry revolvers you also get improved trigger geometry, spring weights, and smoothness, for a greatly improved trigger stroke and a lighter overall feel. You get improved lifetime durability due to the titanium internal pins. You get a completely new design of VZ G10 grips that Lipsey’s specified with more meat along the backstrap, an improved palm swell and shape, but in a still-concealable package. The grip is relieved on the left side to allow the use of speedloaders.

But wait, there’s more! You also get chamfered chamber/charge holes for improved smoothness during loading. And (some might say, best of all) there’s no annoying internal lock mechanism.

For an MSRP of $759, there’s a lot to like, and we hope these improvements make their way into the rest of the S&W revolver lineup.

Kimber (known for 1911 pistols) shocked the handgun world in early 2016 when it released a new revolver design, the K6. With modern aesthetics, a smooth, non-stacking trigger, and quality construction, Kimber’s revolver line has grown in popularity and diversity over the past few years. The most recent addition might be the best when it comes to personal defense or concealed carry.

The new Kimber K6XS is a very small, lightweight, aluminum-framed 6-shot .38 Special (rated for +P loads), weighing in at just under 16 ounces empty, a full 7 ounces lighter than the stainless-steel-framed K6S with a 2” barrel. The K6XS uses the double-action-only (DAO) version of the same lightweight, non-stacking trigger system from the K6 line, which is a good thing. The stainless steel cylinder is fluted to keep weight low, and glass-bead finished for a subtle and somewhat stealthy appearance. The aluminum alloy frame features Kimber’s proprietary silver KimPro II finish, which we have found to be acceptably durable.

Sights are pretty rudimentary, with an orange dot front and a gutter-type rear milled into the top strap, but should be pretty snag-free. The rubber, cobblestone-textured grips are made by Hogue, with finger grooves and a soft compound that make the lightweight revolver comfortable to shoot (but a bit difficult to pocket carry).

At a reasonable $679 MSRP, the K6XS should be a hot seller in the CCW revolver market.

Taurus USA introduced their 605 and 856 TORO optics ready revolvers last year, and made a big splash in the revolver world. No other maker had offered factory-installed provisions for red-dot optics on revolvers before, at least outside of an in-house custom shop. The new TORO model for this year is the Taurus model 327, in, you guessed it… .327 Federal Magnum caliber. This is a really good idea, in our view. The .327 hits a sweet spot for defensive cartridges, with a small enough diameter to allow 6 shots in a cylinder size typically restricted to 5 (in .38 Special or .357 Magnum). Power is sufficient for defense against human threats, and recoil is comparatively mild.

It also allows the user to shoot .32 H&R Magnum, .32 S&W Long, and .32 S&W cartridges in the same cylinder if less recoil and muzzle blast is desired, or for training recoil-shy shooters. Speaking of light recoil, the 327 TORO is fully constructed of stainless steel, so it weighs 23.5 ounces unloaded, which will help reduce felt recoil further. MSRP is just $554, and the 327 is available in 2 or 3 inch barrel lengths. We hope more manufacturers start offering red-dot-capable revolvers soon.

But the snake is back, and starting this year, you can have your Python in a traditional blued carbon-steel finish, if you prefer it over the stainless models previously released. For our money, the $100 upcharge over the $1,499 MSRP of the stainless model is worth every penny. Street prices will likely remain pretty high for a while until demand dies down a little, but your local Colt Firearms dealer should be able to order one for you at or below suggested retail price.

If you prefer your Colt revolvers with a little more punch, the 4.25” barreled .44 magnum Anaconda was released to dealers in limited runs during the Autumn of 2023, also at a $1,499 MSRP.

Diamondback has been cranking out entry-level semi-auto pistols for a few years now, with somewhat mixed reviews. They do some innovative stuff, though, and we’re excited to see how their new 6-shot SDR (Self Defense Revolver) performs once we get one in our hands. From all initial impressions, it looks great, and has a lot of good features similar to the Kimber K6S line. Full stainless-steel construction means the weight is just over 21 ounces empty, which should help mitigate recoil a little when shooting .357 Magnums (you can also shoot .38 Specials if you prefer). We really like that the sights are adjustable/replaceable and feature fiber-optic rods for improved visibility. The aesthetics of the little revolver are quite good, with an attractive, modern design that still manages to look classy. We’re not sure if anyone is going to pay the full $777 MSRP for a new design from a somewhat unproven company, but we hope Diamondback pulls it off and the revolver holds up to hard use. The world needs more revolvers!

If you’re a fan of cowboy-action shooting or just like playing cowboy, the Colt Single Action Army (SAA) design is absolutely iconic. Unfortunately, a gen-yoo-wine Colt SAA will cost you northwards of $1,800 nowadays, if you can even find one for sale. So, several companies offer Colt clones for a fraction of the price. The newest entry into the budget SAA market is the Taurus Deputy, announced in early 2024. Taurus flirted with cowboy guns back in the 2000s, but their Gaucho model was discontinued around 2010. The new Deputy looks similar, with a possibly better finish, and should offer a lot of value to the cowboy-action shooter on a budget. Taurus’ new revolvers are currently available in an attractive black satin finish, in either .45 Colt or .357 Magnum, and in 4 ¾” or 5 ½” barrel lengths for the same price.

Unlike true Colt-clone revolvers, the Deputy features a transfer-bar safety mechanism, making it safe to carry with a round under the hammer. We’re not big fans of the large DEPUTY billboard on the left side of the barrel, but that’s often par for the course with Taurus firearms. MSRP is $607, but we’re betting street price will be $500 or less, which should fall in line with other replica SAA offerings from Italian makers like Pietta and Uberti.