Little wheelguns – snubbies, Chief’s Specials, Saturday Night Specials, whatever you want to call ’em, have always been popular. They have some drawbacks, though. It’s hard enough to sort out a revolver with red dot in the larger sizes, much less the smaller ones.

Happily for snubby fans (of which I’m one), that’s not going to be a problem anymore.

ROC: Revolver Optic Conversion

This is the R.O.C. (Revolver Optic Conversion) from Shield Arms. The patent pending revolver accessory is partly of Trexican design and can be installed in just a couple of minutes, but it is not a permanent modification.

That’s gonna be important to snub people who don’t want to irrevocably change their gun. There are what, 70 or 80 years of “letter” frame revolvers out there? That’s a lot of guns that can be retrofitted for a few bucks without the need for any particular skill.

Revolver Red Dot Mount

The R.O.C. installs using the existing side plate screws (where you go to monkey with the action), and Shield Arms is manufacturing Titanium replacement screws to do so. It’s flush fit over the top strap and won’t impede the cylinder, but it will interfere with a grip laser. You’ll have to choose one or the other.

Designed by Erik “Trek” Utrecht (MDFI Training/The Brian Terry Foundation) and a co-designer, the first model of R.O.C. is intended for Model 442. It’s possible it could fit some other snubbies, but that one is its intended recipient.

There will be other R.O.C.s for other J frame models, and possibly some K frames eventually. I’m a snub person myself. I’ve carried one for years, even using it at a number of challenging shooting courses. I’ve been stoked about this since seeing the prototypes at the Breach-Bang-Clear “family dinner” during SHOT 2024.

Trek explains:

My incredibly talented design partner Z and I wanted to give everyone who owns very viable (and incredibly popular) snub nose revolvers a way to maximize the capabilities of their low-capacity blasters without having to send their blaster off for permanent modification all while still offering a rock-solid mounting platform. That, and having the ability to convert decades of serviceable revolvers instead of needing to buy a new RDO-capable wheel blaster.  ~ Erik Utrecht

Yeah, But Why?!?

According to the UCR, most hit percentages in LEO-participant gunfights are less than 20%. Those statistics loosely indicate a single hit out of the five available in your snub. And while you can’t necessarily apply that same trend to a CCW or off-duty shooting, it does give us a good metric to start with.

Go watch Trek’s videos of one-handed ROC-and-dot-equipped snubby hits from 50 yards. You’ll see the advantages it provides.

There will be naysayers; there always are on the interwebz. I’m not here to argue about any practical/efficacy issues, real or perceived. People will want one, or they won’t. I’m sure at least some of the social media pocket dump posters will have negative things to say, but those will probably be the ones whose EDC has no lint, scratches, dings, or signs of everyday wear.

Hopefully, most of those people will be in the minority, but if not… who gives a shit? I think this is a brilliant idea, and I’m right, so…🤷🏽.

We’ll post additional details once the product formally launches, hopefully within the next couple of weeks.

I don’t know an MSRP yet, but will update this article and advise once I do!

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