Are Revolvers inferior to a Glock?

It will for me, but what do I know. I haven't lived an exciting enough life to drop my revolver out of a plane or have it run over by a tank. Round count only means something if you're into serious competitive shooting and don't want to buy new guns every now and then. You couldn't use a weapon that often in battle and live to see it through anyway. The next guy might appreciate you leaving it for him though.

Typically, revolvers have fewer moving parts, therefore less to screw up in the short run. I agree with 420 however, if you are putting that volume of ammo through it, hard to say.

what revolver? it does make a differnce, rugers and smiths will last longer than you and i will, i do own a couple of glocks too

Well revolvers can go out of time, especially if they are not maintained. Many shooters feel that it is perfectly fine to run a revolver dry, and never lube anything and this will accelerate wear of the bolt and hand, as well as cylinder bolt notches and the cylinder ratchet. Of course there are the sometimes occurring cracks in barrel forcing cones, and frames stretching. Typically you don't see these problems unless the gun has been shot many tens of thousands of rounds, especially if we are talking about a handgun cartridge in the 9mm power and operating pressure level. I would expect a double action wheel gun on a medium to large frame in .38 Special or even .357 Magnum to last a very very long time with regular cleaning and lubrication. Maybe not as long as a Glock, but don't expect a Glock to never need any parts ever, trigger parts in Glocks are known to break for example, magazine springs and recoil springs wear out too. A well made single action revolver can probably last even longer compared to a double action, just for the simple fact that a single action has fewer parts and the cylinder is supported on only one rotating axis (no crane/yolk) that is fixed.

Where a revolver has a longevity and utility advantage over a semi-auto pistol is when we start talking about using more powerful handgun ammunition. Durability wise I would bet on a revolver lasting longer at power levels at or above a .357 Magnum, plus the revolver has the advantage of not requiring magazines which can become damaged or lost. Revolvers have the ability to chamber and fire a wider variety of projectile shapes than an autoloading pistol, plus they can chamber and fire a wider variety of operating pressures since the revolver is not affected by the need for a window of operating pressure to cycle the action.

Any thought of using ammunition significantly more powerful than a .357 Magnum, such as the .41 and .44 Magnums or hot .45 Colt, .454 Casull etc are basically not even in the realm of possibility for any Glock. About the only commercially available auto that can fire any of these rounds is the Desert Eagle, and frankly that pistol is such a behemoth that it is not exactly practical.

That is like comparing a Yugo to an American muscle car. Real men shoot round guns.

I like both revolvers and autos, just not a Glock guy. Love a well make 1911 though! Another man's gun.

Nobody knows how long the plastic frame of a Glock will last.

The first one was invented in 1980 and only imported into the U.S. in 1982.
That was only 30 years ago.

We do know there are still Colt revolvers around that were made 175 years ago.
As well as 1873 SSA's, and early S&W's over 100 years old.

They are all still very much working just fine should you chose to shoot them.

rc

rcmodel said:

Nobody knows how long the plastic frame of a Glock will last.

The first one was invented in 1980 and only imported into the U.S. in 1982.
That was only 30 years ago.

We do know there are still Colt revolvers around that were made 175 years ago.
As well as 1873 SSA's, and early S&W's over 100 years old.

They are all still very much working just fine should you chose to shoot them.

rc

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The G17 I bought as my first duty weapon in 1993 was born in 1983. I got it as a police trade in ( I was told from Atlanta PD) and I replaced the springs last year because I felt like it not because it needed them. It still runs like it did the day I bought it.

I won't bad mouth an old fashioned wheel gun, tho. I have some Rugers that i promise you will live longer than I do.

Yep!

See that's the thing about questions like this one.

Nobody except Bill Gates makes enough money with todays ammo costs to shoot a modern revolver or Glock to death.
Even if they wanted too, and had that much money & free time to burn.

And if they did, they also have enough money to pay somebody else to fix it.
Or buy three new ones to replace it.

rc

Pick an answer:

A. Yes
B. No
C. None of the above
D. All of the above
E. Both A & C
F. Both B & E
G. All of the above except D & F

A revolver made by S&W or Ruger, probably Colt (and I'm sure other folks could add to the list), if shot regularly but sanely and maintained properly, will outlive you and your grandchildren.

As rc noted, nobody has a Glock more than 32 years old, so the jury is till out. OTOH, you don't hear of many Glocks ever having worn out.

Will a Revolver last as long as a Glock?

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I think you could compare the difference in geologic time better than what we humans consider as time.

Are Revolvers inferior to a Glock?

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no.

Will a Revolver last as long as a Glock?

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yes.



as said before, Glocks have not been around nearly as long.

JVaughn said:

Typically, revolvers have fewer moving parts, therefore less to screw up in the short run.

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A Smith & Wesson revolver is more complex, mechanically, than a Glock, and quite a few other pistols, for that matter.
http://www.dnmsport.com/SW/SMITH & WESSON REVOLVER CUTAWAY.htm

The revolver is so much more versatile there isn't any comparison. It will fire any round that will chamber. No worry about compatible ogives or failure to feed. You can shoot anything from squibs to full power, hollow points and wadcutters included. If it goes click just pull the trigger again. You don't even have to worry about damaging or losing the magazine as a revolver's magazine lasts for life and doesn't get bent lips or soft springs.


Oh and you don't need to get down on you knees in the mud or snow or crawl through the blackberry thickets to retrieve you brass.

glock last longer less to fail
586 playin with it
it locked up
took it it to my guy he had to take of the side plate off and replace a spring
this is a black one with the pointy thing on the hammer
pre lock
and 25 rounds of 38spec through it

Are Revolvers inferior to a Glock?

Lot's of variables in your question, but the logical place to look would be large Police departments. Our largest one here just switched out their entire fleet of Glocks (1700+ officers) after 10 years, and a vast majority were still going strong. As far as their use, the Officers must qualify 4 times per year and ammo is available free of charge for any weapon they qualify with, so most shoot much more than the minimum required. When the switch from wheel guns to semi auto's occurred, most Officers were carrying revolvers of about the same age because they had switched from blue to stainless. My personal opinion and experience would be that revolvers will outlast a semi auto, but I know of people carrying an Iver Johnson .22 made in the early 60's.

LD

Are Revolvers inferior to a Glock?

i for one take a good revolver over a tupperware combat , thats for sure !

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Will a Revolver last as long as a Glock?

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No... Polymer doesn't rust.

Edmo

Post #5 summed it up nicely. I won't bite on the hypothetical situation of handgun production ending tomorrow and me having to choose one gun because here in the real world I have revolvers and Glocks and I intend to buy more of both. Probably one or two more Glocks and about a half-dozen revolvers are on my "eventually" list. I have had ammunition lock up revolvers and ftf/fte issues with Glocks and other semis. I've seen broken firing pins occur in various handguns, catastrophic kabooms in both types, 25-cent parts failures in both types, and so on. In a given situation, either type of gun can fail. There are revolvers and semis with 100k+ round counts out there, time will tell if there are still boatloads of old Glocks everywhere in a hundred years because tupperware doesn't rust or if the dishwasher-safe guns last longer because maybe polymers get brittle after 70+ years, in the meantime I'm shooting both and enjoying the heck out of them.

We have a current thread where a member is mad at Ruger (they build the TANKS of the revolver world, remember) because his GP100 is worn out ofter ~25-50,000 rounds -- and worn out enough that Ruger won't fix it but will give him a credit toward a new one.

I know people with over 100,000 rounds through Glock 17s, with just spring replacements from time to time.

Revolvers do last a long time, especially if they aren't fired , but firing does cause wear: bolt notch peening, end-shake, stretching, wearing of the hand and cylinder advance notches, etc.

Revolvers can be refreshed and kept going for a long time. Glocks seem to just keep going a long time, period.

What would I want if they quit making Handguns tomorrow..?

The Glock.

I've owned and still own more than 10 revolvers. Smith/Ruger/Colt ..all shapes and calibers. They run 100% when new, but they need TUNING from time to time. Without tuning or maintence by a trained Gunsmith, revolvers won't go the distance compared to a (for example) Glock 17.

A Glock 17 (owner since 1987 for my first Glock) will also run 100% and does not require much lubrication or maintenance. In fact, with a handful of spare parts (cheap) a Glock will run 100% for several lifetimes. Maintenance can be done without a Gunsmith. My 14 year old daughter can change out the firing pin/recoil spriing/slide release and connector all-by-herself...(thanks to Dad spending time giving her a gun education ).

So can you by watching Glock videos on YOUTUBE.

The one weapon for me is a GLOCK.

Are any police departments or military organizations buying revolvers?

Revolver: not significantly inferior as a tool
Compare 16 oz. hammer and 22 oz. hammer - they both drive nails.

Revolver: significantly inferior as an inventory item
Customers all buying the 22 oz. hammer, 16 oz. hammers gathering dust, and good ones are quite expensive from the distributor.