Is the revolver really a practical defensive weapon?

[Vern Humphrey]

How does a revolver jam?

Bullets jump crimp and tie up the cylinder -- often so badly you can't open the cylinder.

Primers back out and tie up the cylinder.

Crud gets under the ejector star and either ties up the cylinder, or prevents closing the cylinder.

An ejected round (or a round being loaded) slips sideways, falls back into the chamber, but with the rim under the ejector start.

Little eenchie parts break -- the hand, the transfer bar, the cylinder stop spring.

 

[mavracer]

And I would venture that Miculek's times would drop a bit with a totally stock (non-tuned) 686, but I sure wouldn't care to venture down range to find out. Call me crazy, but I still think he'd kick my butt . Jerry is a skilled shooter, so I imagine he can make the most out of whatever tools he is handed in such a way that he'd still embarrass most of us. Care to challenge Lance Armstrong to an endurance race on identical Wallie World special 10-speeds

I will expound on this, When I first started shooting IPSC in 1992 I was lucky enough to have 3 master class shooters who shot our club level matches,I can tell you they are very fast at IDing problems and dealing with them.I've had my ass kicked with a single shot(gun wouldn't cycle and had to be racked every round).and had one of them show up with a bone stock smith 39 shooting minor and still finished 3rd .so ya Miculek will not only kick our butts he can probably bobble his reload and still beat you.and his draw is a reflex.also lance can give you his uberlight racer and kick your butt on a walmart 10speed

 

[mek42]

I think that the point has been made that when it comes time to actually be shooting, that a revolver or a semi-auto will both get the job done and that the limiting factor is the operator. Personally, I carry (concealed) a 4" 1911 style - 7+1 with 7 more in reserve.

However, the OP stated that size wasn't an issue, strongly implying open carry. Now there is more that just ability to shoot, but whether a bad guy will begin to engage or not. In the media, semi-auto's tend to be portrayed as spray-and-pray while revolvers tend to be portrayed as "country boy who can shoot the fleas off a dog". If I was a bad guy, I know which one I'd rather pick on, and it isn't the wheelgun.

Further, given that full size revolvers tend to be bigger than autos, it is possible that a bad guy may just plain not see the auto even if open carried, and may thus decide to engage what he thought was an unarmed victim-to-be. Armed or not, I don't want to get shot at or otherwise made the target of criminal activity.

In the end, if open carry was allowed where I live (it isn't) I just might go around with my S&W Model 19 in plain view on my hip with my 1911 in a pocket.

 

[SimpleIsGood229]

Two words: shot placement.

That is all.

 

[DougDubya]

Testpilot - I apologize for apparently taking the Low Road. My gripe was with those who felt someone was doomed because they had a revolver. I prefer a good 9mm auto myself, but there is a strong place in my heart for the fighting revolver.

Apologies for having taken the low road.

 

[19-3Ben]

Guys like JM & McGivern are/were fast because they practice(d) shooting fast. What a concept.

Pshaw. Practice? That's for losers. WE talk about it on the internet.

 

[florida1098]

just old and tired thread let it die

 

[Hawk]

Last post March 30, 2008.

At 7:05PM, April 2, 2008 florida1098 resurrected while noting:

just old and tired thread let it die

I'm taking a screen shot for my entry in the irony contest we're running at work.

 

[DougDubya]

+1 Hawk. It'd been quiet for at least 60 hours. Why post a response?

 

[kgpcr]

I often carry a 7 shot .357mag and never feel under gunned

 

[gym]

For 21 years I never felt outgunned in NYC, with 2 revolvers, and later on a ppks. But when I moved down to FL, all the guys I knew from my business who were uncomfortable around guns, suddenlly were telling "me" who has been a shooter since I could walk, what I needed to get. For all these multiple attack, hostage and whatever else they saw on Miami Vice. My model 60 S&W felt very insecure, so I started going mad buying everything that came out for a couple of years, and I was used to carrying all of my adult life. Until one day I said, screw this, I don't need all this stuff, and sold all twenty or so that I had bought in the previous years. I am down to 5, now there are two that I like but don't ever carry, they are next. If I am in a gunfight with several armed attackers, which I doubt, they will only sue me anyway if I live through it, and i'll have to sell the guns for legal fees. guns are like woman you know when you found the right one. Revolvers and auto's both have thier purpose, only you can tell which one is good for you, that's why they make different colors. If you are an average shooter get a nice model 29 S&W, or a cpmbat masterpiece, and leave it near your bed with a mag lite. If you wish for an auto for the same purpose and xd, Glock or 1911,in any of the 3 calibers, The 9 is easier to shoot, and with the new attachment, you are looking at 22 rounds in the weapon. If you need more than that, you may as well get a tank. maybe add a laser and practice once a week at least, 10 minutes on the way to or from whrever you are going.

 

[BigBlock]

I didn't read this whole thread, but...

I feel just as safe with my .44mag single action 6 shooter as I would with any other gun. I can get all 6 shots into an area the size of a torso in under 6 seconds, and I'm a bad shot.

I'll take the centuries old tried and true revolver over some fancy plastic gun any day. If I actually need 17 bullets I'm probably screwed anyway.

 

[BlindJustice]

sheeish...

I started at 5:30AM today and really tried to get through all 8 pages, but
page 7 just became YOU AR.... NO YOU ARE blah blah blah

I am convinced we all come to our own conclusions - some based on experience, some by way of theorizing, but nobody's opinion is far swayed
in the end.

SOme contributors to thread s are simply ocntrarians who toss out inflammatory examples of what if or what was but isn't BEST or ever happened to them...

Bye bye to this thread.

 

[AStone]

And after all this reading, I still haven't re-converted to a bottomfeedingbrasspuker.

I'm still carrying a roundyhandejectinghardtrigger on my right side in an OWB.

Where is rationality? Has argument failed? Has America lost its mind?

 

[DAdams]

Where is rationality? Has argument failed? Has America lost its mind?

Where is rationality? Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues (again).
He hasn't been around these parts for over 25 years.

Has America Lost its Mind?
I am convinced that most Americans have lost their minds and their way.
Hence I carry.

Has Argument Failed? Not Yet.

Sorry to make light. Wanted to get my licks in before the lock clicks into place.

 

[easyg]

From the original post....

Is the revolver really a practical defensive weapon?

Yes.
Many folks have successfully defended themselves with revolvers, and many continue to do so everyday.

It's difficult to put the full context of this question into the title line. But assuming that size was not an issue, so you could carry any full size revolver you choose, would such a weapon really offer all the advantages of a high capacity semi-automatic pistol.

No, a revolver does not have "all the advantages of a high capacity semi-automatic pistol".
The revolver will not carry as many bullets, it will not be as easy to reload (provided a spare mag is carried), and it will not be as easy to clear a jam.

Six or seven shots of double action .357 Magnum have no place going up against 15 rounds of rapid fire single action .40S&W, or do they?

In a perfect world where nobody ever misses their target, the revolver fares just as well as the high-cap autoloader.
But this aint a perfect world.
I think that we have all seen way too many videos of shootouts (and some of us have firsthand shootout experience) to discount magazine capacity.

While I would agree that guns like the S&W 642 are great CCW pieces because of their small size and high reliability with a capable round, the real question is why would I want a Model 19 instead of a Glock 23. Would I not be starting off with a huge disadvantage.

In my opinion, yes.

Why would a full size revolver ever make sense over an automatic?

If you had no experience operating an autoloader....inserting magazines, clearing jams, etc...then the revolver makes sense.
Otherwise, I really can't see any good reason to choose a revolver over an autoloader.

Good luck,
Easy.

 

[Ohio Rifleman]

I think so. The revolver's been around for about 150 years, the same basic design being unchanged for that time. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

As for capactiy...I don't plan on shooting it out with insurgents in Baghdad or gangbangers in LA, so 5-6 should be plenty. Revolvers, however, are harder to conceal than autos, but it can be done.

 

[Northalius]

I'd say a revolver (like .357 scandium in my pocket) is a good backup to my higher capacity semi-automatic pistol.

You never know if you'll be in a situation where you'll need more than 5-6 rounds! What if there're multiple attackers? What if you do need to lay down suppressive fire? Like in a Mall where a crazed gunman (or multiple gunmen) are firing up the place? And there're many examples you can think of where you'd want a lot of rounds.

Do not think only cops need this. That's just bad thinking, imo. Always be prepared for the worst, as long as you can conceal it all in public.

The rarity of it doesn't matter to me, because it's going to happen to SOMEONE, right? What if that 0.01% is YOU? Will quoting statistics matter then? I didn't think so!

Be prepared! Again, if anything, I'd rather have a revolver as backup to my other gun(s), rather than have just that single revolver on me.

Better to have, and not need... than to need, and not have. That goes for ammo capacity, as well... not just whether you have a gun on you, or not.

 

[jaholder1971]

6 rounds of aimed and accurate .38 special lead round nose trumps 15 wildly fired rounds of your wondernine or funkyforty hotshot mankiller "dollar a round" bullets all day long.

 

[easyg]

6 rounds of aimed and accurate .38 special lead round nose trumps 15 wildly fired rounds of your wondernine or funkyforty hotshot mankiller "dollar a round" bullets all day long.

And 15 rounds of aimed and accurate 9mm (or .40) rounds trumps 6 wildly fired rounds of .38 special, all day long.



Just because one has only six shots does not make one a better marksman.

 

[DawgFvr]

I know that revolvers can possibly fail...just has never happened to me. Not Ever! Once, I had a bad primer in a round...I just pulled the trigger and the next round went...bang.

Now, my autos...they jam on me just about every other range trip or so. They always need slide glide...don't let it dry out...they constantly need new springs...don't forget to care for your magazines either...and they are ammo finniky, etc., etc. They suck in the elements too.

I have and love both...but the revolver will always be my first choice for defense.

 

[easyg]

Now, my autos...they jam on me just about every other range trip or so. They always need slide glide...don't let it dry out...they constantly need new springs...don't forget to care for your magazines either...and they are ammo finniky, etc., etc. They suck in the elements too.

Get a Glock!

 

[DawgFvr]

Had one...G19, my first 9mm. Traded it for my first revolver. I will admit, it didn't jam...but the revovler had a better trigger...and a far superior caliber...and...it had that metal and wood thing going for it.

 

[Sato Ord]

To answer the question of how do revolvers jam, easily and severely if you aren't careful.

Case in point, brand new Casull. The owner put six through it and handed it to me. Now remember the ammo we're talking, can't remember the brand at this moment, is factory and about two bucks a round. I loaded it up, and fired three 335 grain full lead slugs down range (that thing almost kills from both ends). Then it jams, cylinder won't even open. Finally get it open and one of the rounds isn't seated properly and is just barely sticking out of the end of the cylinder. Fault of the ammo, not the pistol, but still a jam, and harder to fix than just jacking the slide and letting the jammed round fall to the floor like the last jam I had in an autoloader.

My fault, I forgot my own rule, always check the ammo as well as the gun. Still it can happen.

I'm not posting this to say that revolvers are not fine weapons that are up to the job of self defense. I've already given my opinion that they are, and I still stand by it. However, that doesn't make the revolver immune to problems. Any mechanical device can fail, and, according to Mr. Murphy, it will probably happen at the worst possible moment. My thought on that is that Murphy was an optimist.

 

[DawgFvr]

one of the rounds isn't seated properly and is just barely sticking out of the end of the cylinder. Fault of the ammo, not the pistol

huh? Explain that "jam" a bit better...I don't get it. Are you saying that a round was not seated properly in the revolver cylinder? How is that possible?

I belive everyone knows that anything mechanical can/could/possibly go wrong...but honestly, you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning five times in a row on a sunny day than have a revolver jam on you. In fact, I cannot even relate. I've never had a revovler mishap whereas my autos malfunction frequently to the point of expectancy.