Mmmph. Pretty sure the bottom-feeder vs round gun controversy has been fought before, on other threads.
As far as reliability, my experience is that a bottom feeder is far more likely to malf in the first place. Failure to feed, failure to extract, double-feeds are all nearly unique to semi-autos. Clearing these malfs is not difficult; the slowest of them can be cleared in less than five seconds by someone who knows how to run the gun.
As 30Cal pointed out, the rare failure to fire with a wheelgun is usually ammunition-related, and the solution is absurdly simple: pull the trigger again. This takes no time at all, contrasted with a tap-rack which takes probably half a second.
However. If a wheelgun does have a jam, about the simplest non-ammution-related jam it can have often requires a tool and some concentration to clear. And it takes time.
The analog to a semi-auto's failure to extract for a wheelgun is a case getting caught under the star. Anyone want to time equally-skilled people clearing these analogous malfs? My money's on the semi-auto being ready to go first.
Similarly, failure to feed in a semi-auto is analogous to forcing-cone issues in a wheelgun. For the semi-auto, you tap-rack and fire. Half a second. For the wheelgun, you take the gun to a smith.
Bottom line: wheelguns rarely jam, but when they do jam it can take an inordinate amount of time to clear them. Semi-autos are far more likely to jam than revolvers, but are usually quicker to clear.
(Heh, I'm mightily restraining myself from pointing out that the most common "failure to fire" of all is running out of ammunition ... I won't say it, I won't I won't I won't...
)
Oh, one more thought. It doesn't really matter what you choose, as long as you're skilled with it. Please don't think I'm saying revolvers are bad, or that semi autos are bad. I'm saying nothing is perfect, that's all.
pax
