Massad Ayoob: "Are revolvers still relevant?"

[old lady new shooter]

He discusses this question in some detail, including some points people might overlook:

 

[.455_Hunter]

Some people on this forum will be upset about this video being released and it's content. I don't agree with everything Ayoob posts, but this one hit it out of the park.

 

[AUhiker]

Mas is a true legend to the gun world. Anything he says I would most definitely pay attention to. I’m reading his book at the moment deadly force. Revolvers may be less carried than semis these days but they’ll never go away. They still have there place in self defense carry roles.

 

[dfariswheel]

The little secret is, the revolver never went away.
With all the small autos around and being talked about, a surprising number of people are quietly carrying revolvers.

 

[Buzznrose]

I doubt I’ll ever carry a revolver for a primary other than throwing a Ruger LCR in my pocket around the neighborhood, but absolutely agree they are a great option for those who put in the time to practice and become proficient with them.

To each their own.

 

[Corpral_Agarn]

I love revolvers and use them when appropriate but the technology is largely obsolete

 

[Buzznrose]

I love revolvers and use them when appropriate but the technology is largely obsolete

Is obsolete the right word to use? I hear what you are saying but not sure I agree with that specific term.

 

[mcb]

Is obsolete the right word to use? I hear what you are saying but not sure I agree with that specific term.

I agree, obsolete, depending on the context, may or may not be the correct word. There is no such thing as obsolete when it comes to personal use. As a side arm for Law Enforcement, the revolver is as obsolete as a slide rule.

 

[defjon]

Not obsolete if it does something no other platform can do (and it does several).

 

[Hangingrock]

My EDC is a S&W Shield and the Back Up is a S&W M640.

 

[trackskippy]

Everyone should learn to shoot and work a DA revolver properly. As he said, it will help you with pretty much everything else you might shoot.

It will also show you why the autos are where they are in the hierarchy of things these days too.

 

[MutinousDoug]

I would agree with the good Corpral if the word he used was: "obsolescent" meaning "becoming obsolete" however, since revolvers still effectively shoot most of the same ammo as current, popular semi-autos, it's premature to call them obsolete. Therefore: still relevant.
Don't see many for sale at the gun shows though...

 

[PapaG]

I divide handgun use into several categories. Hunting, target/plinking, and defense.
Revolvers figure strongly in the first two but the auto gets a slight edge for just shooting cans and targets of opportunity. Defense for me favors the semi for short range accuracy, capacity, and ease of concealment.
For me, where I live and hunt, a Super Blackhawk or my 6 1/2" 357 Blackhawk are perfect.
For defense/cc, either my 43 or Max 9. A Pro Carry comes out for a ride once in a while but I wish it was Series 70 tech.
(I do have a SP101 and a 442 but seldom reach for either. One is too heavy, the other I can't shoot accurately.)

 

[shoobe01]

...With all the small autos around and being talked about, a surprising number of people are quietly carrying revolvers.

Never seen one of those. Revolver people are like vegans. At least around other shooters, you will absolutely know who carries a revolver.

 

[Armybrat]

My son’s 1969 Camaro is obsolete, but it is still badass….

 

[shoobe01]

Okay, watched video:

• Mostly okay. Worth someone doing finally.
• A little cherrypicking
  • Muzzle presses will cause many self-loaders to come out of battery, revolvers won't. If you are at shoving-into-gut range, you are at grappling range and a defensive revolver is DA meaning the trigger pull has to move the cylinder before it fires. Been in training where we tried this and grappling with a revolver pretty much means it's not going to go bang.
  • Light loads etc will cause self-loaders to stop; high primers, bad cases, etc will cause revolvers to jam on firing or be very hard to reload.
• Reloading a revolver in a fight is statistically not a thing. I can think of more anecdotes of failures than successes. Even badass gunfighters in the mid-century US when we started to gather data and know how to fight had really, really few effective reloads in fights. It's very manual dexterity oriented, and that goes out the window in adrenaline dumps.
• A little heavy leaning to edge cases (snake shot, etc) which should be more emphasized as the revolver now is a specialist/edge-case gun
• ETA: some unique-to-revolver features are not. Selective DA (thumb cock for accuracy) is of questionable utility in stressful situations anyway, many combat revolvers were DAO or even modified to be as such, and plenty of self-loaders are selective DA of some sort or another; the world settled on the fire control systems we have on the modern pistol world because we like them, they work well.
• Did not acknowledge he's an expert and mostly hangs out with experts. Just press this lever and you can see the ammo... have you seen even gun people not familiar with a revolver try to open one? Might as well be trying to knap a flint. Again, specialist gun anymore.

 

[Pudge]

I love revolvers and use them when appropriate but the technology is largely obsolete

I don't know. If the goal is to accurately deliver a projectile of sufficient weight at an adequate velocity, to perform a specific task, the revolver is far from obsolete.

 

[old lady new shooter]

Never seen one of those. Revolver people are like vegans. At least around other shooters, you will absolutely know who carries a revolver.

(And I'm a revolver shooter!)

 

[JCooperfan1911]

Here’s mine:

 

[WisBorn]

One of the biggest advantages of the revolver is that they pretty much shoot anything.
A 357 will handle 110 grain light loads to stout 180 bear defense. And that doesn't include any of the 38 special options.
Fill the holes and pull the trigger and the gun goes bang.

 

[Old Dog]

I'm conflicted on this topic as demonstrated with Mas' video. I love and respect Mas (he's been up here often at FAS and he is almost the preeminent authority on anything firearms or self-defense related). He's also got a killer sense of dry humor. I also love that Mas covers the 2020 Colt Python (my personal new favorite revolver).

And, I love and enjoy owning and shooting any revolvers.

But, for me, revolvers are still gonna related to a back-up role.

Bottom line, though, revolvers are still relevant. Entirely!

 

[armoredman]

I have carried a revolver off and on for 40 years. Generally I carry a semi auto, but I never feel underarmed with a good 38.

 

[P89DCSS]

Within the first minute he says revolvers aren't obsolete then it turns into a CZ revolver advertisement. I made it two minutes before turning it off. Did I miss anything?

 

[CDW4ME]

I carried a snub sometimes for about 10 years when I first started carrying; but, revolvers ceased being relevant to me for carry over 20 years ago.
Some people content themself with just 5-6 rounds rather than 11+ and I'm not one of them.

 

[Corpral_Agarn]

I don't know. If the goal is to accurately deliver a projectile of sufficient weight at an adequate velocity, to perform a specific task, the revolver is far from obsolete.

Don't miss understand my meaning.

An 1851 cap and ball revolver will deliver the projectile quite well and it will absolutely kill someone.

But the technology being used is obsolete.

And obsolete is largely associated with "bad". I don't mean it that way.

I mean: "technology offers us better" is all.

Revolvers are the best when you need to hit something with as much power as you can fit in a handgun or if you need the absolute in small 5 shot guns.

Other than those two extremes, they are largely overtaken by modern offerings.

I'm not trying to bring the revolver down, I'm only recognizing how far "up" the semi auto has come.