I read it, I question it's accuracy. I did a google search for other articles on this event, and among those that I could find, no others actually said that she fired 6 shots. All of them said that she hit him in the face and neck 5 times, and a few mentioned that she had emptied the revolver but still buffaloed the guy by telling him that if he got up she'd shoot again, before running to a neighbor's house with her kids. I find it very likely that it was a 38 special, but not likely that it was a six shooter. I have zero evidence, mind you, but experience regarding how often early reporting gets details wrong makes me believe that the writer of this article interpreted "hit five times, empty revolver" to mean that she missed once.
The
sheriff said six shots were fired. The reporter didn't infer this, he cited the county sheriff as the source of this specific information, and he's not likely to be mistaken about such a simple detail. Maybe he is, but I think it's most unlikely.
A 38 special in six shots is rare, because they have to be the frame size of a service revolver. While reducing the capacity by one reduces both weight and frame size significantly, making the 38 special a crediblely compact & concealable weapon. Which is pretty much how they are used, and thus how manufactures make them. While I wouldn't doubt that full size frame revolvers are still manufactured, perhaps for "cowboy shooting" competitions, the majority that exist are old handguns from the days that such revolvers were the standard police issue sidearm. Their numbers are significantly outweighed by the number of 5 shot compact revolvers.
[citation needed] Last time I checked, 6-shot .38 Special revolvers were very common, if not
the most common type of revolver used today. Sure, 5-shot revolvers are pretty common, but I don't think six-shooters are anywhere near as rare as you seem to think. Besides, who's to say this woman
isn't involved in "cowboy shooting" competitions? I mean, who keeps a revolver for self-defence purposes these days?