Everyone Should Have At Least One Revolver

[David E]

A good revolver can be a lot of things. I've never actually seen a revolver fail to fire, cycle, or overheat. Not saying it's impossible I'm just saying it seems rare.

It is rare, but it does happen. When it does, you're nearly always totally screwed.

It brings up a point, tho.....if you cannot hold the 9mm sufficiently weak hand only and it jams as a result, then a revolver would be the better choice.

 

[shooter1]

Not necessarily....

You could have a damaged or defective magazine in your pistol right now.
And then you would only get off the single round in the chamber before it became useless.

Or---------you could fire a single round with your revolver, have the primer set back tying up the cylinder, or a bullet jump the crimp with the same effect.
Bet I can clear a feed jam from a bad magazine and reload a lot quicker than you can get the revolver back up.
Truth is, there are lots of things that could happen with any platform. I carried a revolver as a primary for 20+ years. Never felt under gunned. When we changed over to auto loaders, it took me awhile to come around and realize that the auto is a far superior fighting gun than the revolver. And,-----------for a lot of the same reasons the DA revolver is a superior fighting gun than the SA revolver. For civilian concealed carry and home defense, the revolver has served well. I still have a half dozen or so revolvers, I take one out and shoot it now and then. Their carry days are long past for this old trooper.
str1

 

[10-Ring]

I've experienced the same thing when I injured my dominant elbow & couldn't shoot for almost 3 months -- I eneded up teaching myself to shoot weak side only using my S&W mod 19. Whole heartedly agree, wheelguns rock!

 

[easyg]

Then you have a high primer that won't allow the cylinder to rotate, or the second round up has a loose crimp and jumps forward out of the chamber, tying up the gun, etc, etc, etc, etc.

Let's stick with the probabilities instead of citing an obscure possibility so you can attempt to make some kind of point.

"Obscure possibility"???

Hardly!

Let's be honest here....
Auto shooters practice stoppage drills for a very good reason: auto stoppages are not so rare or "obscure".

Sure a revolver can jam, but it is rather rare.

High primer failures are almost non-existant if one just inspects the bullets that one is loading in to their revolver.
And bullets jumping crimp are not too common either.
And if you're shooting .38's out of a .357 cylinder then jumping crimp is also practically a non-issue.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

oh yeah need at least 1 if not 2-3 wheelys.
that said I CCW a Makarov for some good reasons. and have it for 'bed post holster gun'.

 

[76shuvlinoff]

gotta have at least one wheelie

Within reach of my pillow is a 5" 1911 and a .357 Blackhawk, two steps away is a remmy 870 and a .357 lever carbine. All are ready to rock and roll.

ya just gots to have yer options....

 

[chris in va]

Revolvers don't impress me. Slow reloads, low capacity, harsh recoil and hard DA pull every shot unless you cock it. Anything with a serious self defense caliber just has too much recoil for my liking.

 

[David E]

Let's be honest here....

You started this nonsense by asserting that the semi-auto guys "could have a damaged or defective magazine in your pistol right now."

So, according to you, the magazine that has run flawlessly for 1000's of rounds somehow became defective or damaged while it was IN MY GUN..............

What was that part you said about being honest?

 

[easyg]

Revolvers don't impress me. Slow reloads, low capacity, harsh recoil and hard DA pull every shot unless you cock it. Anything with a serious self defense caliber just has too much recoil for my liking.

Slow reloads: It just depends upon the circumstances....
Take an autoloader with one loaded magazine and a loaded revolver, and a box of 50 rounds for each, and then see which is faster to reload.

Low capacity: This is certainly true when compared to certain autoloaders (like the Glock 17), but it's not so true when compared to the typical 7-shot 1911.
And if you're unfortunate enough to live in a state that mandates 10-round magazines only, the difference is just a few bullets.

Harsh recoil: This greatly depends upon the gun and the ammo selected.
Not all larger caliber revolvers deliver harsh recoil.
And it's very easy to customize the grips of a revolver to reduce the felt or perceived recoil.
And there are plenty of autoloaders with harsh recoil as well....
lightweight guns shooting powerful calibers, revolver or autoloader, are not much fun to shoot.

Hard DA pull: Practice, practice, practice....
If one struggles with the DA trigger of a revolver, then one probably has rather weak hand and finger muscles.

 

[David E]

Slow reloads: It just depends upon the circumstances....
Take an autoloader with one loaded magazine and a loaded revolver, and a box of 50 rounds for each, and then see which is faster to reload.

This is a total non-sensical, invalid "comparison." The circumstance we're discussing is defensive use with the weak hand only. Suddenly, 5-8 shots may not be enough, whereas 9 or 20 may well make all the difference.

Again, you take the .38/.357/9mm/.38 Super/.41/.44/.45 revolver of choice, I'll take my XD-m and we'll see who can put 20 rds on target first. I'll even let you fire 6 before I fire my first shot.

Low capacity: This is certainly true when compared to certain autoloaders (like the Glock 17), but it's not so true when compared to the typical 7-shot 1911.
And if you're unfortunate enough to live in a state that mandates 10-round magazines only, the difference is just a few bullets.

My 1911's hold 8, 9, 10 and 11 rds, not counting the STI's that hold 21. A "few bullets" may matter greatly, since you're firing weak hand only, the typical accuracy you may have with two hands just isn't going to be there.

Harsh recoil: This greatly depends upon the gun and the ammo selected.
Not all larger caliber revolvers deliver harsh recoil.
And it's very easy to customize the grips of a revolver to reduce the felt or perceived recoil.
And there are plenty of autoloaders with harsh recoil as well....
lightweight guns shooting powerful calibers, revolver or autoloader, are not much fun to shoot.

Revolvers suited for defense will typically kick more than a semi-auto suitable for defense. A 3" S&W Model 66 with 125 grain JHP's will kick more than a similar sized 9mm loaded with 115 JHP Corbons. Of course, if you load the 66 with 148 target wadcutters, that changes, but so does the effect on target.

Hard DA pull: Practice, practice, practice....
If one struggles with the DA trigger of a revolver, then one probably has rather weak hand and finger muscles.

It seems that you keep forgetting that the "circumstance" in this thread is using the weak hand ONLY. What worked two handed or even strong hand only may or may not weak hand only. If you break your dominant arm tonight, tomorrow is a poor time to find out that your weakhand only DA skills are lacking. Under these circumstances, selecting a gun that's easier to shoot reasonably well becomes more important.

It's a good idea to practice weakhand only skills BEFORE we find we need them, regardless of your gun choice.

.