Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US) a cheap, short-barrelled revolver.

1981		Detroit Free Press (MI) 23 Dec. 41/1: The small sub-nosed handgun [...] the ‘snubbie’ remained the leading weapon of choice among street criminals.
1983		E. Leonard LaBrava (1985) 158: You want a snubbie. This one, .38 Special, two-inch barrel.
1990		Tampa Trib. (FL) 3 May 19/3: A man who was released from a Georgia mental hospital [...] ‘used the snubbie to gun down five people’.
2002		Statesman Jrnl (Salem, OR) 28 Apr. 61/3: [advert] .38 Snubbie colt - $250.
2014		Panatagraph (Bloomington, IL) 20 Jan. [advert] 38 Snubbie 2" Barrell 6 shot: .
2016		T. Robinson Rough Trade [ebook] I took the snubby from the drawer and pressed it to his swelling forehead.