Why do I shoot soooo much better with revolvers?

I'm one that shoots better with my revolvers than my semis as well. If I REALLY concentrate I can shoot my semis as well... but just barely. Something about the revolver grip is apparently "right" for some of us and we take to them like ducks to water.

Come on in, the water is fine...

I'm not sure that either is inherently more accurate since there's some VERY nice semi pistol shooting from various tuned brands and models of semi. But there no doubt that for some of us the wheelguns fit our natural hold and trigger finger travel such that our hands, through pure good luck, form an ideal holding platform for the revolver shape.

What revolver? Barrel length? Were you shooting DA or SA?

I can do some of my best shooting with a long barrel revolver. Autos usually have barrel lengths of 3-5 inches. Most "full size" auto's are in the 4-4.5" range. And for autos that measurement includes the chamber. A 3" .357 revolver has a longer barrel than a G17! Also, not many autos have a trigger pull of 2-3 lbs. That is pretty common for a cocked revolver.

For me, shooting a 6" 686 is night and day compared to shooting a 4" service auto. Then again, that's twice as much barrel and half the trigger pull! But put a 17L in my hands, and the gap narrows a fair bit.

In fact, if I lay out my handguns from the most accurate to the least accurate, it usually boils down to barrel length and trigger pull.

Are revolvers inherently more accurate? My guess is the reciprocating mass (i.e. slide) could cause the difference but if that's the case I would thing all target pistols would revolvers.

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Both platforms (pistol/revolver) have their compromises, but, generally, a verrrry slight nod often goes to the revolver for inherent accuracy.

I'm gonna guess you were cocking the hammer and shooting in single action. The SA trigger on S&W revolvers is usually very good. It may have also forced you to slow down, so you were aiming more deliberately and carefully.

OTOH, very few first-time revolvers shooters would claim to be more accurate if they shot it double action. DA can be very accurate, but it takes practice.

A good revolver can be a terrific target gun, but in formal target competition, few would shoot it in DA and cocking the hammer takes time and/or your weak hand, which can be a handicap.

I will jump in that boat!... well, with full sized revolvers anyhow... I SUCK with snubbies...but there is no comparison when I use a revolver with at least a 4 inch barrel... I will shoot it MUCH better than I will pretty much any auto you give me.

Oh yes! Revolvers RULE the accuracy roost over the run-of-the-mill brass chucker!

I've heard arguments on both sides of this discussion, but I can say I've never found an autoloader that is as natural in my hand or as easy to shoot accurately as a revolver. I have fond memories of a Colt Python with a 6-inch barrel: I don't think that gun would let you miss the target.

There's also an awful lot to be said for a Smith & Wesson Model 15 Combat Masterpiece. The K-Frame Smiths are mighty fine handguns.

This has been my experience also. When I shoot with semi-autos, the bullets go more or less where I want them to go. It's as if the target was an area of statistical probability, and some law of percentages takes over and so if I send 10 rounds downrange, 80 percent will be in the COM zone or something like that. With my revolvers, I can draw pictures. It's night and day with regard to accuracy.

This may be due to the fact that the entire length of a revolver is part of the sighting picture, whereas a semi-auto is a more mechanical exercise in lining up sights. All of the above does not address sightless point shooting, where the differences in this respect may no longer factor.

This may be due to the fact that the entire length of a revolver is part of the sighting picture, whereas a semi-auto is a more mechanical exercise in lining up sights. All of the above does not address sightless point shooting, where the differences in this respect may no longer factor.

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IMHO, I think it has more to do with how reliably and repeatably the barrel locks up on a semi. I can shoot my 1911 about as well as a revolver (shot SA) but the barrel locks up pretty tight. Tupperware guns seem to have more play in the barrel when the chamber is closed.

Wish I could be of help, but I'm the opposite.

I'd take my S&W Mod. 14 all day over my semi's for accuracy. The only one that even comes close is the old '80's Sig P6.

I'm about the same with either. I have a couple of semiautos and a couple of revolvers that I shoot real well, as well as a one of each that I shoot poorly.

In the old days with SA and DA/SA semiautos were single action after the first shot, the problem was often that people would get too quick with them. With the striker fired pistols I don't think that would be a problem. There are so many variables that there could be a number of reasons, but go with what works.

One thing I've never really done is optimize each gun with ammo. There can be a surprising difference in accuracy using one load vs. the other. It could be that the ammo you used in the revolvers happened to be very compatible. The .38 Special has been known to be very accurate.

Most automatics tend to be rather "slab sided" to borrow a term from Bill Jordon. Their inherint design tends to preclude custom grip arraingements. With the right grips on a revolver, and it becomes almost a natural extension of your hand. This lends to more comfortable, accurate shooting.

I am mostly a semi-auto guy these days. However the consistently most accurate handgun I shoot, with just about any kind of load, is one of the first guns I bought 40+ years ago: a Ruger Blackhawk .357 magnum w/6.5" barrel.

I think the big difference is the trigger.
Of course I shoot better with a SA trigger than a striker fired or DA trigger. 8)

There is a reason the S&W model 10 is the most coppied handgun around the world. People tend to shoot better when they gotta make each one count. They slow down and pay attention. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast as grandpa used to say.

With the revolvers I missed the bullseye 3 out of 50 shots. I talked to a few people at the range and they all said they shoot better with revolvers.

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I have found over the years that usually whenever someone says they shoot revolvers better are shooting them SINGLE action only.

All this means is that the easy trigger pull allows a "surprise break" to happen before the shooter can yank the sights off target.

I have found over the years that usually whenever someone says they shoot revolvers better are shooting them SINGLE action only.

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I almost never shoot single action. For reasons unknown, i shoot much better with a DA revolver compared to a semi-auto or the same revolver in SA

+1 to trigger pull, barrel length and sight plane. but mostly to trigger pull.

I also find I flinch less because I let the revolver roll up in the hand instead of it snapping back at me while I try to control the recoil for a follow up shot. but then I grew up with revolvers too.

I almost never shoot single action. For reasons unknown, i shoot much better with a DA revolver compared to a semi-auto or the same revolver in SA

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Then you, sir, are quite the exception!

How fast do you shoot DA ?

We know that intrinsic accuracy is not necessarily affected by barrel length. But it definitely helps for offhand shooting. The longer site radius is commonly sighted as the reason. This is a boon to those with aging eyes. But even for the hawk-sighted shooters out there, a longer revolver barrel (or a longer auto barrel and slide) means more axial mass. By that, I just mean there's more mass stretched out along the sight line.

If you look at the most accurate open class bows in the world, they all have one thing in common. They have a long weight pointing out the front of the bow, extending a couple feet forward. That's there to stabilize the bow by increasing the axial mass.

The longer barrel works the same way on handguns. We all have a little "circle of instability" when we hold a handgun. This circle becomes smaller, the more axial mass we add to the gun. It also becomes slower. With a longer barrel, you will start calling your flyers, more regularly. This also reduces the amount of deflection to POA if the trigger is jerked. Furthermore, it reduces any inconsistencies in the way the shooter handles recoil, due to inconsistent grip or whatnot.*

Now consider that the most common barrel length duty/target revolver is 4". A 4" .38 revolver has a longer barrel than an extended GLOCK G34/35 competition pistol. A 6" revolver would equate to an auto with a 7.5" barrel, which would be....?

Incidentally, I feel this is one of the lesser cited reasons that the 1911 platform is renowned for accuracy. It has a 5" barrel, which is unusually long in the auto world. The extended G35 is only .3" longer!

*it's all of these things that contribute to the circle of probability that occurs with ANY gun at the appropriate range. The more stable the platform, the more range you get before you start looking at this:

When I shoot with semi-autos, the bullets go more or less where I want them to go. It's as if the target was an area of statistical probability, and some law of percentages takes over and so if I send 10 rounds downrange, 80 percent will be in the COM zone or something like that.

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I expect if you find an auto with a trigger as good as the single action trigger on a typical Smith and Wesson revolver, you'd shoot that auto just as well. Sadly, it has been my experience that autos typically don't come from the factory with triggers like that. My 1911's, a model frequently hailed as having a wonderful trigger, both required trigger jobs as they came from the box.

I almost never shoot single action. For reasons unknown, i shoot much better with a DA revolver compared to a semi-auto or the same revolver in SA

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Then you, sir, are quite the exception!

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I recall there was a thread here or on TFL about this. IIRC, a surprising number shot DA almost exclusively. Still, the thread had a natural bias toward dedicated wheelgunners, and I agree that most who shoot revolvers seem to do so in SA. Youtube seems to bear this out.

How fast do you shoot DA ?

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About .20 splits. I shot a large rimfire steel match with my 4" 10-shot 617. Bone stock except for some Miculek grips. Stage 1 was 5 strings of 5 rounds from the ready position - 2 rounds on 2 plates flanking a stop plate. My average for the 5 strings was 1.32 seconds. I know I transition around .3 seconds, so it comes out to about .2 for the 2nd shot on each plate.

I'm less aggressive in IDPA with my 686 or 64. Not because of the PF, but because limited to 6 rounds before a reload, misses are considerably more expensive.

DA speed is good, but so is target accuracy, IMO. The link below is from an on-going THR thread, and includes some of my revolver groups, shot DA from my 617 and 686. SA groups aren't typically any better.

I prefer a DA revolver, and rarely even shoot a semi-auto, but the fundamentals are the same, and as far as target accuracy, I do as well with a semi-auto. The link below includes a group shot with a rented 1911 with range ammo and I was able to shoot 1" @ 15 yards.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=6695629&postcount=13

How fast do you shoot DA ?

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Now that you know, how well do you control the DA trigger? Can you do this? :

Poor selection of semi-autos?

...< looks around ... yup, we're in general handguns, I don't have to worry about ruffled feathers ... >

Semi-auto triggers differ greatly among themselves.

Compare a DAO plastic service pistol with a tuned 1911-ish sort of thing and you'll find, in the latter, a trigger that doesn't fight you to do well. A decently tuned SA semi-auto will have a trigger the full equal of any revolver in single action.

There's also a matter of "comfort zone" - I shoot far better with a SA semi. Doesn't mean I don't enjoy my (relatively) new revolver hobby. However, one works far harder, expending far more ammo, getting proficient with DA revolvers than with SA semis. The poster above (Mr. Borland) has been a great help to me in coming to terms with revolvers generally. I invite you to try double action dry-firing while balancing a coin on the top strap.

In single action, they're both good. I'm thinking Freedom Arms, most any DA revolver in single action vs. a tuned 1911 or Hi-Power / P220 type. In double action, they all suck. Some more than others but it's only a matter of degree.

In the context of "not getting in one's way" the semi will remain, for the foreseeable future, without parallel from the revolver. There are, after all, a grand total of zero Olympic Rapid Fire revolvers. There's nothing in the rules preventing a revolver Olympic rapid fire pistol so the cause of the semi auto's domination must be found elsewhere.

Or, not to put too fine a point on it, you shoot revolvers better than semis because the revolvers you shoot are more amenable to your style than semis - repeat the experiment with a tuned 1911 and report the results. I, for one, would be interested in the outcome.

Wheel guns just 'feel' right to me.