I have a decent amount of experience shooting the 547 in both 3" and 4" barrel lengths. I found that variations on case rim thicknesses might result in some cartridges not getting ejected; that fact remains relevant considering that we're still talking full-length ejectors here. Nonetheless, that wasn't the death knell for 9mm revolvers in and of itself. There is a lot of irony when we discuss the so-called "failings" of a 9mm revolver.
-"If I'm gonna have a 9mm, might as well have a _____!" This isn't a bad argument against buying a 9mm revolver in and of itself. What is funny is that the 9mm is ballistically superior to the .38 Special. When we look at the reverse side of the coin, we also have people say "If I'm going to have a 125gr projectile moving at 950 FPS, I'd feel better with a 124gr. 9mm moving at 1200+ FPS with a quicker reload and much more ammo on hand!" I myself have sided with this argument for my own concealed carry needs, however, if a situation calls for a .38 SPL revolver, how can the 9mm revolver be a bad choice? Simple answer: it isn't.
-"Moon clips are a pain in the gleuts!" Loading up magazines isn't much fun for anyone either. Ask companies like MagLULA if they'd agree. If you don't want moonclips, there's the S&W 547 system, but it's a bit more complex and expensive to manufacture.
-".38 SPL is a more versatile cartridge!" LOL! You can have 9mm pretty much any way you want it short of a wadcutter. Remember, Fiocchi even offers a subsonic 158gr. 9mm load, so that argument bears no weight.
-".38 SPL is more widely available!" On what trail head, or should I say planet?
-".38 SPL is cheaper b/c I reload" Up until recent events which have put us in a tailspin, most folks have found that 9mm was cheap enough that it wasn't even worth their time to reload it. Remember, before this madness began you could buy factory 9mm ammo for much, much cheaper than .38SPL.
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At the end of the day, I think the 9mm revolver should be successful endeavor for any company, but consumers keep talking themselves out of the idea time after time. For those that really like to shoot revolvers, guns like the S&W 547 have a huge amount of appeal. For those whose focus constantly shifts to the full capacity 9mm semi-auto, the concept is doomed.
I do find it funny that people would question the sense in a 9mm revolver, yet they withhold that very same judgement from .38 SPL revolvers.
Equally funny is the claims that "it's an answer to a non-existent problem." If I remember it correctly, the S&W 547 was designed for the French Police specifically to solve the problem of ammo commonality & availability in Europe.