I havent been on here for several months so hope this isnt an old subject. I am 68 and my hands sometimes have problems racking my 1911s. I am looking at either a 9mm or .45 acp revolver, double action of course for carry purpose, so short barrel etc. Is there much difference in performance in a revolver and an auto pistol in .45 acp? Hope this isnt a dumb question.
Take a 0.452 diameter FMJ when shopping for a 45 ACP revolver. Per talks with S&W customer service, prior to 1989 all S&W 45 caliber revolvers had 0.455 "ball end" (cylinder throats). I found through experience that shooting 0.452 lead through a 0.455" chamber throat did not produce good accuracy. Accuracy was not particularly stellar shooting a 0.452" FMJ through a 0.455" chamber throat. So take a 0.452" FMJ bullet and see if it wobbles in the cylinder throat of the revolver your are interested. It should be almost a push fit. Or you could take pin gauges and actually measure the throat.
In terms of performance, if the grips place your hand in a comfortable position, and the trigger is crisp and light, you will have no excuse why the bullets are not going down the middle. I always shot revolvers better than autopistols. Autopistols are harder to shoot accurately than a revolver. It is very difficult to shoot well with a 1911, for whatever reason, some 1911's are just impossible to shoot well, and I don't know why. Maybe it is the dwell at unlock.
Something that is just wonderful with revolvers is, they are insensitive to bullet and powder charge. You can shoot 250's, 225's, 185's, 165's and not have to change out recoil springs. And, as long as you don't stick a bullet in the barrel, you can really cut the loads.
By the way, the Auto Rim cartridge is a better revolver round than the ACP. I disliked having to load, and unload moon clips. To extract ACP cases without a moon clip, I had to poke the cases out with some sort of a ram rod. But, the Auto Rim case acts just like any other rimmed round. Works great.
