Serious revolver usage

How about that abomination of a revolver - the TRR8 ? - it's the ugly 8 shot festooned with rails - currently made by the company calling itself S&W.

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It's only ugly until you shoot it. It's soft shooting and generally awesome EXCEPT for the stupid internal lock and internal firing pin. The lock can be removed with THE PLUG. The firing pin won't break if you dry fire with snap-caps.

The rails are useful and the owner doesn't have to send the gun to a gunsmith to mount a red dot optic. The bottom rail accounts for modern tactics using lights.

But, nostalgia seems to be more important than reason.

I guess I'll throw in some more props for the TRR8...

I agree with 230therapy that the TRR8 is a very soft shooter (especially for an aluminum framed magnum) with a perfect-compromise 5" barrel (that is for some reason, somewhat hard to find in today's offerings) and a full size grip (N frame). The gun isn't ugly, it's spartan (you know, like the Glock guys say)

As far as comparisons to autos, since we're all making them, the eight shot capacity puts it up there with the Coonan, if I remember rightly. And you don't have to worry about rim-lock/feed issues, and (with speedloaders) reloads are pretty dang fast (you need to see that Jerry Miculek video to believe it). We all seem to forget in the Auto/Revolver debates that in the end, revolvers get to shoot mags

The one downside with the rails on the TRR8 is that you'll never find a holster to accomdate a revolver with jazz mounted on it. Oh, and that the revolver is so big it can't be concealed (I use mine as a backpacking gun).

I really need to bring it to the range with a bayonet mounted under it just for the hell of it...

Hey, 230therapy, you look to have some aftermarket grips on that beast. Do they leave a bit more shell-clearance on the left side? My factory grips sometimes get in the way of loading/extracting full-length shells in clips.

Thanks to the OP for confirming what I also feel: revolvers are the simplest, safest and most accurate hand weapon available.

What others - some others - seem to be missing is the main reason LEO's gave up revolvers and switched to semis: not because they wanted a better gun but because they wanted more shots. That was it. Nor did many personally like to have to switch. Then semis hit the civilian market.

So that began with LEOs who may need more shots because they work in more than Defense - which we do. And BGs often have semis. But I have never heard of or read of an SD incident involving shooting where more than a couple - or 3 - shots were fired by the "victim". I'm sure on occasion there is but so, on occasion, is there a case of Bubonic Plague.

The statistical probability being so infinitesimally small for us - the reason LEO's switched to semis is practically speaking non-existent for civilians. It's a perceived need as opposed to one demanded by reality.

Of course you may shoot them better and then: by all means.......

And I have 2 semis out of 5 - I enjoy them is why - but they'd be the first to go if I had keep only 2 or 3.

Full Disclosure....

Glockman19 has a S&W 686+...

...It's a gret revolver and partners with my Marlin 1894c Stainless.

I happen to know for a fact that 7 shot S&W 686+ revolvers with 4" barrels are still in the inventory with the SEAL Teams. In fact, they are in the SOCOM inventory, so technically, Green Berrets, Army Rangers, SOAR, Air Force PJs, MARSOC and everyone else under that interservice conglomerate can technically use them. In very specific circumstatnces, when it makes the most sense, they in fact are. Though not often, I have seen them used by Navy EOD for exactly the reasons that were espoused by Marchinco.
Ther is no denying that the accuracy, reliability and lethality of moderen Semmiautomatics is on par with that of many or most of the "combat magnums". Such is the nature of the evolution of technology. Even so, there are things a revolver allows an operator to do that even the best semi will struggle with. That being said, there are still those "professionals" in the know that recognize and appreciate the attributes of a good revolver.

What others - some others - seem to be missing is the main reason LEO's gave up revolvers and switched to semis: not because they wanted a better gun but because they wanted more shots. That was it.

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Not to nit-pic, but that was just the first 10% or so. Then bureaucrat contract buyers implemented the change. Not that it was necessarily a bad idea to change duty-hardware in departments, but "users-choice" was not a big part of what drove the conversion. The rank-and-file, by and large, simply accepted and used what was issued.

In civilian applications I think a revolver is just fine, in combat situations I would want as many rounds in the gun as possible and a 15 shot revolver would be WAAAY to big I'm sure there are some individuals in a combat role that use revolvers but I would be very surprised if it was more than a couple.

You just need to pick the right tool for the job. My auto collection has shrunk through the years to only 3 and none hold many rounds unless you count the 30 round drum mag for my 1911 which is just for fun. Revolvers work just fine for MY uses, if my needs change so will my guns

Sorry to the OP'er, but anccient examples. Now I will carry my Commander size Bobtail. It is more comfortable to carry than my SP-101 was, that I carried for so long. I will say, I no longer have the light little SP, I do however have an excellent 4" GP-100, and will say it does a pretty good job for fast accurate shots, but is a total pain to carry inside the waste, and that I have found to the most concealable way to carry a CCW. I wont argue which is better, But at 57 I have tried most, make mine a 3" or 4" 1911 steel frame!! I can were it all day, more comfortable than any revolver!!

Last trip to the range he was taping 3x5 index cards to the head of the B27 target. He laid his 4" 66-2 on the bench. He told me to pick it up and fire two rounds into the index card. Any round not on the index card was a miss!

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Sounds like fun... At what distance did you do this?

How about that abomination of a revolver - the TRR8 ? - it's the ugly 8 shot festooned with rails - currently made by the company calling itself S&W.

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Noooooo! The TRR8 is on my Xmas list!!!

The trr8 doesn't ook bad to me, although the rail looks strange to me. Then again so did the first scope I saw on a handgun.

Was at the National Gun Show yesterday, and stumbled on a S&W Governor for $579 (a great price locally). The next thing I know, my wife is shooing me away from the kiosk, and tells me to go look around and make myself scarce.

When I got back, she had completed the paperwork on the Guv'nor (henceforth to always be pronounced with a British accent ). She wished me an "early Merry Christmas."


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Did somebody say Sniper Revolver??

Steel Talon said:

Did somebody say Sniper Revolver??

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That belongs in the sci-fi gun thread!


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Re. the dropped semi vs. revolver dependability

A dropped revolver....
A revolvers cylinder is exposed, and that's its weak spot.

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I'm not so sure of that. I agree it could be thrown out of time but well built revolvers are just that "well built." As for weak points I wouldn't put allot of faith in the sights.

The part most prone to breakage from a drop is the thumbing spur. A deal breaker only for a single shot revolver.

The advantage for the revolver, is that a quick inspection can reveal with high probability that it will fire with out actually pulling the trigger. Lock up, timing,trigger and firing pin protrusion is easy to safely check.

a contentious point, no doubt, but as good as today's autoloaders are
(which is why I own and love 'em too)...

the claims about reliability just don't wash with me, taking in the total picture
I don't care if a Glock really can take 100,000 rounds or not, I will never pump more than maybe 10,000-20,000 rounds out of any one handgun myself
and there is a long list of quality revolvers that will do that real well

so long as you don't get 'too cheap' with your life (potentially) on the line, you won't go real far wrong with any/either you have yourself 1st verified with minimum 300 rounds sent downrange, and confirmed with a couple thousand more after

to me, it's like AK-47s... they function, they eat dirt and still function... but quality accurate firearms they never were.. and they will fail simply on account of magazines and/or ammo, just like every autoloader there ever was, and they will do it, all of them, no matter how well made, far more likely and more often than a quality made wheelgun will

Hi-cap wheelies, no such thing
that, to me, is the one and only real dividing line that earns points
(but 5 or 6 is enough for the lifestyle I choose to lead, and just 7 will do me for causal wear in a bottom loader)

my Colt bottom feeder for casual wear, as reliable as it gets in autoloaders (great) IMO, proven to myself the old fashioned way, which is all that really counts
but to say it is not more susceptible to failure modes in the big picture would be naive
to say that it is accurate as my Ks at distance would be false
and to say that it is a more versatile tool would be plain silly
it does what it does, and it does it really well

SOCOM folks ought use whatever tool best serves their mission; count me happy to pay my small share towards whatever tools they choose, and proud to do so, so long as they wear my three colors
but I-R-not one, me just a guy who wants 'em to have the very best tools they can get their hands on... and me to have what's best for me

if it was the retired guy, 9mm, MrB ,or Ankeny, I would guess maybe 25 yards
(if it was joe-schmoe me w/ my 66s, we would be talking feet, not yards)

I would expect 25 yards or under, but the actual distance could make a big difference. Double vs. single action also. .38 Special or .357 Magnum ammunition? This drill could go from fairly easy to very difficult.

disagree on only one point there, Fuff
38 vs 357 ought matter not
(a 66 ain't a Fitzed airweight you know)

and SA vs DA would matter for me, but not for all

If with a model 19 S&W, you can recover from recoil as quickly while shooting full-bore .357 Magnum loads as you can using .38 Special's you're better then I am...

If the shooting isn't against the clock I'd agree with you.

Well of course Old Fuff could take a titanium vunder gun the weight of a rice cake in 44 magnum and pop that 3 x 5 card from 125 yards while doing a naked cha-cha on the deck of a racing hydroplane doing a slalom in a typhoon with the gun clenched in his butt cheeks, using the teary eye of a vegas showgirl that he just dumped as a mirror to align the sights.

YMMV

SA vs DA would matter for me, but not for all

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David E is making me rethink double action and work on "prestaging".

I don't think dbl vs single would make a difference for me anymore.

You have to take into consideration that's it is really hard to align the sights while holding a revolver in the matter described, and likely impossible if the girl holding the mirror was dumped.

For this reason alone I would never dump the lady...

Never, ever...