Dear Boats:
I agree with you wholeheartly: Accuracy is decidedly more important than firepower.
I was not my intention to give the impression that "spray and pray" is what I think to be a viable tactic for self-defense. Upon re-reading my own post, I admit it's easy to come to this (false) impression.
However, I regard virtually all handguns as rather underpowered in comparsion to what shotguns and rifles can provide. Unfortunately, we cannot routinely walk around carrying rifles and shotguns. I guess, most guys here will agree that there's no such thing as a "magic" bullet or 100 % sure one shot stops, so we really don't know how many rounds it takes to drop an attacker who intends to cause bodily harm and death. If we'd be forewarned that we are forced to use our gun to defend ourselves on a certain day, we wouldn't go there, right? Sometimes there is more than just one single attacker the defender has to deal with. There's no way we get to know beforehand what terrible circumstances will awaits us, so I personally prefer to plan for the worst case scenario. If you are confident using your revolver then that's fine with me. I train at least on a weekly basis using both with revolvers and semi-autos (I like both!) alternatively. I also test my skills in competition every once in a while. From what I've learned I am more accurate and fasterwith a semi-auto pistol (be it a 1911 or a hi-cap 9 mm), especially under stress. I wish the same would hold true with the revolver, but unfortunately that's not the case.
Shooting a revolver well in double action mode is more difficult than using a Safe Action or SA auto under stress. I have no statistics to prove, but I bet survival and hitting ability of cops has improved greatly since adoption of semi-auto duty pistols (and more realistic training, of course).
Under stress everyone loses some of his/her fine motor skills. No question, inserting a hi-cap magazine into the magazine well is much easier than aligning five or six cartridges of a charged speed loader with the chambers of a revolver's cylinder or even reloading five or six single cartridges. A fully loaded Glock 19 holds three times more ammo than the fine Ruger revolver to begin with, so it's unlikely that the pistol shooter even has to reload.
I stand by my intial post, I'd strongly favour the Glock, as it's easier to shoot well under stress, allows for faster recoil recovery, holds more ammo, has better sights and, besides, it is a very tough handgun that will continue to work under the worst conditions imaginable. Spare magazines are easier to pack, too.
No argument, just my personal opinion on what I've learned over the years.
All the best.
TK
