9mm revolvers - good or bad idea ?

I have several revolvers in various calibers, including 9mm 986 and 929 S&W's, along with a bunch of 9mm automatics in all sizes. In the OP's case, I strongly recommend against a 9mm as a first revolver. A GP 100 in 38/357 would be an excellent choice. 9mm revolvers are more of a "gun guy" and enthusiasts choice. They are more finicky about ammo, headspacing, light strikes, cylinder throat and bore size. Moon clips and tools for mooning and de-mooning add significant cost. Small 9mm revolvers have all those concerns plus bullets occasionally pulling out under recoil. I love 9mm revolvers but they are more hassle than conventional rimmed cartridge revolvers. Plus, 38 spc. ammo is not that much more expensive anymore. With the Ruger, the 357 option is fun and a GP 100 is very well suited for it.All that being said, I'm heading to the range Thursday with My 986 9mm and a Mini 14.

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C0untZer0 said:

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How is that Czech Point? What moonclips does it use? Are they propitiatory or will K-frame 9mm moonclips work? Been sort of intrigued by those but not enough to buy one, yet.

Tallball said:

You can get a Ruger Blackhawk SA in 357 with an extra cylinder in 9mm. It's the best of both worlds. Plus, I LOVE Blackhawks!

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Heck yes! I got a blued 4 5/8" Blackhawk 9mm/357 convertible recently. With the 9mm cylinder, it's very accurate. Recoil is well below the "flinch threshold" so it's easy to do good dot torture. All this and no moons needed! The one I have has .357" throats so I can load .38 cal. bullets, too.

I like it.

Review of the Alfa Proj 9231

Its fun to shoot.

The Alfa Proj moon clips are super expensive, but you can get cheaper after-market moon clips, and wood grips, from Canada.

Ya hey...

The LCR doesn't need moon clips BTW, but you will need a pencil or something then to poke the cases out.

mcb said:

The bad part of nearly all current offerings in 9mm revolvers is they are simply cutting a 9mm chamber in a 38/357 Magnum length cylinder and frame

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Yep,

Once upon a time the 905 had 9 x 19 sized cylinder and a frame cut to fit it, but no more...

I think it depends on what 9mm revolver you'e looking at. I'm not a basher, but I had a terrible experience with a Taurus 905B.

Suffice it to say that Taurus replaced it with a different gun.

Had to send it back 3x. The 3rd time they called to say it had to be replaced.
6 months later they asked if I wanted a different model. They had no 905s in stock. So I got a 380.
So far that ones been ok, but its' been shot sparingly.

Just becareful

C0untZer0 said:

Yep,

Once upon a time the 905 had 9 x 19 sized cylinder and a frame cut to fit it, but no more...

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If you got money burning a hole in your pocket you could by a Korth/NightHawk Sky-Hawk 9mm. Though it was pretty high up in the ugly tree when it fell out... At least it's built from the ground up as a 9mm.

And the short-cylinder 905s also had a 1.75" barrel

The OP should explore the .327 Fed Mag.

I choose the LCR9mm and have never looked back. Bought it a little over two years ago. I have to say I love the gun. Very controllable, reliable as heck and easy to carry. I have a lot of 9mm and buying ammo in bulk is great for all around shooting. I totally love Moon clips. I load up about 40 the night before a range session. The gun is so darn much fun to shoot. The 9mm is such a great round. No where near the heavy, harsh recoil of the 357, the flash and noise. The Moon clips make loading so fast and easy. Moon clips are so much cheaper than mags, so much more easy to carry around. Easy for CCW. No magazine to rack before leaving the house for a check etc.
Another reason I love the 9mm is simply because I like to shoot the gun. And any Snubbie requires diligent training. I put a lot of rounds down range and thankfully 9mm is so much less expensive. 327? That is high recoil, and high cost. Just not for me. I will stick with the 9mm.

Here is a great review. Notice what the author say's about moon clips.

http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/search?q=lcr+9mm

Nine millimeter revolvers are one of those things that about once a decade people get to clamoring for, and some manufacturer will hear the Siren's call and make one. Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Charter Arms, Taurus, Korth...heck, Federal even developed a rimmed version of the 9mm cartridge for revolvers. For the most part those guns became instant collectors items simply because they didn't sell well. Dealers couldn't give the ammo away pretty quickly. I remember not too long ago, my LGS had a Charter that was chambered for the 9mm Federal Rimmed.and they like to have never gotten rid of that thing.

I've never owned a 9mm revolver, but I have had a couple of Smith & Wesson's in 45 ACP. I really didn't care much for them, and traded/sold them off quickly. I think I may be the only person who didn't like them. I do have a Ruger Blackhawk 45/45 convertible that seems to be a workable idea, but generally speaking, I just don't care for semi-auto cartridges in revolvers. Or the other way around either.

S&W probably made the best 9mm revolver ever back in the 1980-85 time frame with the K frame model 547 of which approx. 10,000 were made. What made it special was the extractor system made of beryllium copper that allowed the use of the rimless 9mm cartridge without moon clips. Perhaps ahead of its time and thus the short production life.

Different strokes for different folks but I like my 9x19 revolvers (S&W 986 and SP101). They are not my only revolvers and neither were purchased because of "cheap" 9x19 ammunition. In fact, neither have seen a factory new round yet.

I do like moon clips especially when using BMT Equipped loaders. I also have a couple 45 ACP revolvers and 38 Special J-frames that use moon clips. I prefer using moon clips over speed loaders. I find reloads with moon clips is quicker than with speed loaders without much difference in inconvenience in carrying.

Mood clips full of 9x19 ammunition is a bit more compact than moon clips full of 38 Special containing the same number of roiunds.

Short of single action revolvers with their built in ejection rod, I doubt anyone will build a reliable ejection system for a swing out cylinder revolver until the government bans rimmed cartridges.

My LGS also has a Federal Rimmed sitting in the display case. Its been there for years with a sign on it "9mm"

Its like they're trying to trick someone into thinking its 9mm Luger.

So far they've been unsuccessful.

cfullgraf said:

Different strokes for different folks but I like my 9x19 revolvers (S&W 986 and SP101). They are not my only revolvers and neither were purchased because of "cheap" 9x19 ammunition. In fact, neither have seen a factory new round yet.

I do like moon clips especially when using BMT Equipped loaders. I also have a couple 45 ACP revolvers and 38 Special J-frames that use moon clips. I prefer using moon clips over speed loaders. I find reloads with moon clips is quicker than with speed loaders without much difference in inconvenience in carrying.

Mood clips full of 9x19 ammunition is a bit more compact than moon clips full of 38 Special containing the same number of roiunds.

Short of single action revolvers with their built in ejection rod, I doubt anyone will build a reliable ejection system for a swing out cylinder revolver until the government bans rimmed cartridges.

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Would like to say, I did not buy mine simply because of the fact that ammo is cheaper as the main criteria. But that the ballistics of the 9mm are well founded. Personally I see that more of the 9mm are picking up in popularity.
For instance the release of the Smith and Wesson 986 Performance Center is one really nice revolver. .Personally I see no reason to develop a Rimmed version of the Cartridge. Just too many Fine Cartridges out there now that work just fine. At least in my LCR9



www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/performance-center-model-986-25-barrel

9 mm revolvers are good for playing games like knocking down plates or putting holes in paper and cardboard.

C0untZer0 said:

My LGS also has a Federal Rimmed sitting in the display case. Its been there for years with a sign on it "9mm"

Its like they're trying to trick someone into thinking its 9mm Luger.

So far they've been unsuccessful.

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9mm Federal sort of still exists in the USPSA and ICORE revolver community. A lot of these shooters use a modern version of 38 Short Colt in there 38/357 revolver for competition. The 38 Short Colt was originally a healed in bullet for some of the cap and ball conversions. In it modern incarnation it is very similar in dimension and case volume to the short lived 9mm Federal though most guys using 38 Short Colt are loading .357/.358 bullets instead of .355/.356 billet typical of 9mm. Still the cartridges are remarkably similar.



Left: 38 Short Colt, Right: 38 Special both on 627 moonclips

Ru4real said:

9 mm revolvers are good for playing games like knocking down plates or putting holes in paper and cardboard.

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I doubt someone hit by one, would not much care if it was from a revolver or semi.

Well, the OP said he's decided on .357, which is what I would have done: it is more versatile. That said, the 9mm revolver is a splendid idea if you have 9mm ammo on hand but not .357 or .38 Spl. There are many locations throughout the world where 9mm is more common, and in the USA 9mm is cheaper most places, so hey! Nothing wrong with being able to shoot what is available.

The other side of it is that the 9mm is rimless, but all the classic revolver cartridges are rimmed, and for good reason. Headspacing and extraction are simple when you have a big fat rim at the back of the case.

Everyone needs a .357 mag revolver, the OP made a good choice.

The 357mag is a great choice. It's my favorite handgun chambering because of how versatile a gun can be with mouse fart 38spl all the way to pretty serious hunting rounds in 357mag.

That said, I have a Ruger Blackhawk Conv in 38/357/9mm that i think is one of the more fun guns to shoot. Very enjoyable shooting all form of 9mm out of and plenty accurate. Wouldn't make for a bad 2nd revolver for you.

S&W probably made the best 9mm revolver ever back in the 1980-85 time frame with the K frame model 547 of which approx. 10,000 were made. What made it special was the extractor system made of beryllium copper that allowed the use of the rimless 9mm cartridge without moon clips. Perhaps ahead of its time and thus the short production life.

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Beryllium is toxic and must be machined in a shielded environment; back in the time frame you mention CNC was in it's infancy. It may be slightly less expensive to manufacture these components today... but there's still the danger of airborne beryllium to contend with.

Probably a subject for a different thread but for all the application I use a revolver for and given all the revolvers I currently have when I reach into the gun cabinet for a revolver it is never a 357 Magnum. I simply don't have a good use for 357 Magnum. It's a more than capable cartridge but with my current collection the 357 magnum cartridge always sits second fiddle to some other cartridge for any application I might engage a revolver for, competition, hunting, woods carry, conceal carry.