The Wheel Gun Why It Still Has Appeal

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Pretty much along that line.

Failure drill is: Pull the trigger again.
The words Failure to Feed, Failure to Extract, Failure to Eject and Smokestack are meaningless while shooting
Ammo independence - gun works regardless of the power of the ammo
Ammo variety - from rounds that barely make it 50yds to rounds that will stop a deer, the revolver doesn't care

Yes, before someone jumps on it. Revolvers do have malfunctions. Bullets not crimped will back out and jam the cylinder. Sometimes extracting empty cases can be hard. But these all occur after you've emptied the cylinder. And like all guns if something internal breaks the gun is dead. But generally speaking, good ammo in the cylinder means you'll pretty much get those 5,6,7 or 8 shoots off without a hitch.
Stick around here long enough, and you'll read about lots of revolver stoppages. And typical revolver stoppages are not easily clearable, like stoppages in automatics.
 
Stick around here long enough, and you'll read about lots of revolver stoppages. And typical revolver stoppages are not easily clearable, like stoppages in automatics.

true, but most usually tied to reloaded ammo.
 
In case it has not come up yet.

Did y'all know that in a hard,fast and CLOSE combat scenario = the muzzle often has to come in contact with the assailant .

In case your using a semi auto ,there is a real possibility that the slide will be backed off enough for the pistol to be put "out of battery".

Meaning it will not fire.

If your life in on the line,at that moment [ or else you would not be using that gun ] you NEED that handgun to fire.

And also of note is that a 'contact' would such as you will get with a wheel gun WILL be more of a fight stopper when the gasses are injected into the body cavity.

In case this was not brought up.
 
In case it has not come up yet.

Did y'all know that in a hard,fast and CLOSE combat scenario = the muzzle often has to come in contact with the assailant .

In case your using a semi auto ,there is a real possibility that the slide will be backed off enough for the pistol to be put "out of battery".

Meaning it will not fire.

If your life in on the line,at that moment [ or else you would not be using that gun ] you NEED that handgun to fire.

And also of note is that a 'contact' would such as you will get with a wheel gun WILL be more of a fight stopper when the gasses are injected into the body cavity.

In case this was not brought up.


This is also true of animal attacks.
 
Versatility is my reason.A good strong revolver in 45 can shoot shotshels up to big game and it works for defense to. Woods to city if you can only have one have one that can do it all
 
I actually started handgunning with a 1911, in late 1982 or early 1983. At that time, I thought revolvers were quaint historical artifacts. Well, by late 1983, I was attending a police academy, and had to use a 4” DA .357 revolver, like it or not. I rolled my eyes, gritted my teeth, and went with the program. From March 1984 to March 1985, my first year of sworn service, I was required to carry only DA revolvers, for duty and personal carry, 35/7/365. (I could also use three specified shotguns.) It behooved me to learn to shoot DA well, in order to continue living. Well, to make a long story short, I learned to love long-stroke DA handgunning.

Then, about 1990 or 1991, I handled a GP100, and discovered that its factory grip was a perfect fit, for my hands. A eureka moment. I still liked S&W K and L Frames, but learned to favor Ruger, a bit more.

Later, in the later Nineties, something stimulated my interest in single action revolvers.

So, in my case, revolvers earned my affection.
 
Learn to use the tools you have instead of worrying if it's the best tool.
Not about revolvers, but in response to Jeff's statement, my friend who is now 91 years old fought in the Israeli war of independence in 1948 and he told me he had never touched a firearm in his life prior to that, got one day of training, and was sent out to the front lines. There were no uniforms, the guns were left over from the Third Reich (nice poetic justice there), and each soldier got 5 rounds per day, they were instructed to make every round count. We know the outcome. :)
 
And yet all my Semi automatics are DAO. Love the feel of a revolver in my hand. Yes, you are right, some folks cannot master the DAO. Nothing IMO like a sweet, smooth, deliberate DAO. Borrowing a phrase from the late Jeff Quin, "The way God intended a trigger to be".
I consider myself fortunate to have selected a revolver (4" 686 Plus) as my first firearm, precisely because of the smooth but heavy trigger. With a trigger like that you don't get bad habits like flinching etc, and it's easy to learn to shoot accurately from the beginning.

That was not my motivation, but a huge benefit.

My motivation was the simplicity of operation (I am not mechanical but could easily understand how a revolver works), reliability as others here have mentioned, and being able to clean it without having to take it apart and reassemble it, the idea of which totally terrified me.

I would add two tactical advantages:
1. You can shoot it while it's inside your pocket or other hidden place like a gun purse and it will not jam;


and
2. You can shoot it with the muzzle right up against BG's body, ditto.
 
I consider myself fortunate to have selected a revolver (4" 686 Plus) as my first firearm, precisely because of the smooth but heavy trigger. With a trigger like that you don't get bad habits like flinching etc, and it's easy to learn to shoot accurately from the beginning.

That was not my motivation, but a huge benefit.

My motivation was the simplicity of operation (I am not mechanical but could easily understand how a revolver works), reliability as others here have mentioned, and being able to clean it without having to take it apart and reassemble it, the idea of which totally terrified me.

I would add two tactical advantages:
1. You can shoot it while it's inside your pocket or other hidden place like a gun purse and it will not jam;


and
2. You can shoot it with the muzzle right up against BG's body, ditto.


Sorry that you missed my mention of the "body contact shot" with a wheel gun,v/s a semi auto.

That was a nice video,but he never learned the expression "Bobbed Hammer" for a 'filed down hammer' as he called it .

That expression is a good deal older than my 70+ years.

I am a HUGE fan,and carry a semi auto most often, BUT my BUG is a S&W 360PD or 340 -- and the 360PD has a BOBBED hammer that works perfectly.
 
Own 10 hand guns. 3 are semi-auto 1of them I never take shooting. I really like shooting all of the revolvers. The first gun I learned to shoot was a revolver many years ago. Guess I'm just old school.
 
Sorry that you missed my mention of the "body contact shot" with a wheel gun,v/s a semi auto.

That was a nice video,but he never learned the expression "Bobbed Hammer" for a 'filed down hammer' as he called it .

That expression is a good deal older than my 70+ years.

I am a HUGE fan,and carry a semi auto most often, BUT my BUG is a S&W 360PD or 340 -- and the 360PD has a BOBBED hammer that works perfectly.
I did see your post after I wrote mine (it was further down in the thread than the one I was replying to) but was too lazy to acknowledge yours in an edit. Please forgive me. :)

As for the "bobbed hammer" expression, I guess maybe he figured "filed down hammer" would be understood by anyone watching but some people wouldn't recognize "bobbed hammer". Whatever. Basically I posted the video to back up my assertion about shooting through a pocket so folks could see for themselves.
 
Someone else said it up-thread, for me, I just like shooting my GP100 more. I also have an OC holster that makes it more comfortable for me as a defense gun around the house. I still take my XD when going out.

GEM: I could make a case for linux CLI :)
 
My favorite firearm is my Ruger 454 SuperRedhawk, for which I reload 255 grain lead SWC target rounds at 1100fps. The 7.5" barrel is the perfect field gun length. My 1911 is fine for town.
 
Well, when it comes right down to it, DA revolvers and semiauto pistols do seem to share one common trait ...

... On any given day, the most significant number of "problems" that may be encountered with either type of handgun are often shooter-induced. Might be something the shooter is doing incorrectly, or it might be something the shooter isn't doing, but ought to be doing.

Normal DA revolver functioning can be compromised by a shooter short-stroking the trigger (i.e. not allowing for full trigger recovery).

Normal pistol functioning can be compromised by shooter grip stability and manipulation issues.

Both can be adversely effected by assorted ammunition problems.

Pistols can be subject to magazine problems, as the detachable magazine is at the very heart of normal pistol functioning.

Learn to safely and properly operate, run and maintain your chosen handgun.

The DA/DAO revolver isn't quite as "obsolete" as the SA revolver. :p
 
I’ll jump in.

Why a revolver for self defense? Because civilians don’t get to draw a gun on someone who looks threatening 30 feet away. Unless they want to catch a felony-strike ADW beef.

If I am ever obliged to draw a gun in self-defense, I am likely being grabbed, rolling around with someone on top of me, having to use my left hand, etc.

In real-world, civilian, legal self-defense use, i.e., in the middle of a tussle, a revolver is a mighty good thing.
 
Why a revolver for self defense?.... civilians don’t get to draw a gun on someone who looks threatening 30 feet away
Have you ever taken to a training class and triied using it drills that eqire putting three to fvie rounds into an area the size of a small pie plate at a distance of twelve feet in two or three seconds?


In real-world, civilian, legal self-defense use, i.e., in the middle of a tussle, a revolver is a mighty good thing
If a "tussle" has begun between a defender and someone armed with a blade, the type of gun will likely be a rather minor consideration.

And once it starts, the only difference between a "real-world, civilian, legal self-defense use" is that once the attacker ceases tp press the attack, a civilian must cease using force, while a sworn officer must pursue and attempt to take the suspect into custody, and that may result in things that necessitate the additional use of deadly force in self defense.
 
Have you ever taken to a training class and triied using it drills that eqire putting three to fvie rounds into an area the size of a small pie plate at a distance of twelve feet in two or three seconds?

No but I know some people who can do that with a revolver and make it look easy. Like so many things, it’s all in training to do that. The trainer who taught my state LE basic firearms course could do anything with a double action revolver that I could do with an auto. Of course he had carried and competed with a DA revolver his entire career and revolvers were standard issue back then.

I couldn’t do it though. If I was motivated to train to do it I’m sure I could and so could you.
 
No but I know some people who can do that with a revolver and make it look easy.

No doubt about that but across the board I think the long and heavier DA pulls give an advantage to SA and striker fired pistols, not to mention springing them just right for very flat shooting.

Revolvers were the last handguns I made Master with and the floor was lower for them than their semiauto counterparts, giving a MA class revolver shooter a handicap vs a MA semiauto shooter.

Shoot competitively and you can see the above in action and remember when you see a great revolver shooter, that doesn’t mean he or she would be slower or less accurate with a pistol.
 
No but I know some people who can do that with a revolver and make it look easy. Like so many things, it’s all in training to do that. The trainer who taught my state LE basic firearms course could do anything with a double action revolver that I could do with an auto. Of course he had carried and competed with a DA revolver his entire career and revolvers were standard issue back then.

I couldn’t do it though. If I was motivated to train to do it I’m sure I could and so could you.

Jim Cerillo from NYC police department WON actual gun fights with his "old fashioned" wheel gun and ONLY 6 rounds.

He was one that could 6 rounds in a 25 cent piece ----- and make it look easy !.

Story is,he did that to a man that drew on him first ------ took out the heart,DRT !.
 
Jim Cerillo from NYC police department WON actual gun fights with his "old fashioned" wheel gun and ONLY 6 rounds.
When he was out with the Stakeout Squad, hue carried four hanguns, he was not alone, and someone always had a shotgun.
 
No but I know some people who can do that with a revolver and make it look easy. Like so many things, it’s all in training to do that. The trainer who taught my state LE basic firearms course could do anything with a double action revolver that I could do with an auto. Of course he had carried and competed with a DA revolver his entire career and revolvers were standard issue back then.

I couldn’t do it though. If I was motivated to train to do it I’m sure I could and so could you.
Bill Jordan could hit a thrown aspirin shooting from the hip.
 
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