Revolvers vs semi-autos

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Norton

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I took the Taurus Model 82 .38 spl out today since I haven't shot it in a while and felt like I need to keep up with it since it's my "bump in the night" gun.

I haven't shot this gun in months and usually shoot my HK USP 9 or Ruger MkII as far as handguns go.

Right out of the case I was shooting ragged holes at 25-30 feet, even with one hand. Not impressive for some of our more accomplished marksman but pretty good for me.

The thing that perplexes me is that it seemed so easy to do this with this revolver and I feel like I have to really work at shooting the HK this well, even though I can shoot very accurately with it.

Has anyone found that they seem more intuitively accurate with a revolver rather than an auto-loader?
 
I am except with my Mark II Target that im just as good as a wheel with all the wheelies i own right now have 6" plus barrels and i figure im better with them becuse of the longer sight radius.


I wont say im a bad shot with a auto im on par with the wheelies but i do have to work a little harder at it.
 
I shoot circles around my autoloader... that's because my autoloaders end up being one ragged hole.

I'm more of an autoloader guy, and I'm just starting on the revolver thing. I've had more time to practice with the autoloaders and shoot the autoloaders more accurately than the revolvers.

So Norton, I guess I'm the other way around. I'm more intuitively accurate w. the pistol than the revolver. :)
 
I have always been a semi-auto guy, but I have learned that the wheelgun can be a very nice platform to shoot & employ in those extreme times of need. I now have a few wheelguns in a few calibers & shoot them pretty regularly.
 
Short of having the benefit of a ''race gun'' semi ... I doubt I'd ever match my revo performance with an auto. Well ... not large cal, as in CCW ... but I say that cos my red dotted 22/45 is quite a tack driver!! But it ain't carry!!

Having said that .. I started on revo's, love them as a genre .. and so am perhaps instinctively biased. I think there will always be two discrete camps here ... and familiarity probably has much to do with it.
 
I like both platforms, always have and will. I have my favorites. ;)

I say this a lot, but I really do believe gun fit has a lot to do with it. Some guns, no matter if revo or semi "just fits the shooter's hand best". Extension of shooter, better pointability.

Some factory grips are just on the revo to cover the bare metal...a person can't hit squat. Once a set of grips is put on that fits the shooter...that guns becomes more of natural extension of shooter.

Same with a semi...just because a certain gun works for everybody else...don't mean it fit your hand. If the finger can't reach trigger comfortably...for instance.

Well that is true of both platforms
 
I've generally found that I can shoot semi autos better than revolvers... in general but most of that semi auto practice has been with 1911s, CZs and a full size Taurus... With slow fire at 25 yards, I can shoot them better than I can my 4" 686. Drawing from concealment and poping off two rounds, semi autos KILL the 686... At least they do for me.
 
All my best .22 caliber pistols are semi-automatics. All my best center fire pistols are revolvers. My personal hunch is that it makes a difference whether the barrel is solidly attached to the frame or floating.
 
I think that once you hit a skill level that is 'significantly higher than average' you will find that a revolver offers more quality shots faster than the semi-auto guns will. I find revolvers easier to shoot hot and fast inside of 20 yards, but accuracy when group shooting is virtually identical given equal capabilities of the guns. Offhand I can hold about 3" at 25 yards, and about 8" at 50 yards with the guns I like. Given the gun is a quality piece and I have ammo it likes it really doesn't make a difference what I pick up, that tells me the guns are not holding me back but rather my skill level (or lack of) is the problem.

Most of my very best shooting has been DA with a wheel gun, but a 1911 is never far behind. I shoot my Glocks awfully well and silly fast with reasonable accuracy too. As long as the gun is good quality and operates well all is fine, but the DA revolvers are probably a little better overall.

One thing I know to be the gospel truth is mastering the DA revolver will dramatically increase your skill set operating a handgun regardless of type.
 
Although I get better with my USP .45 every time I shoot it, I can do markedly better with my tried and true 6" 586.

Is a fine S&W revolver such as my 586 an inherently more accurate gun than the autoloading USP, or is it me?

The answer is probably somewhere in between. The 6" 586 is a more balanced, more ergonomic handgun than the USP, with a better trigger, therefore making it easier to be a good shot.
 
Good points one and all....it is true that the Taurus revolver just fits my hand very well. I also feel like I can get my hand higher on that gun than I can on the USP.

It's also true that the grip has a lot to do with it. Unfortunately, with a USP there's not many options....though I have put a Hogue slip-on on it. It's a terrible thing to have such huge hands......hmmm, what I really need is a Mark23 SOCOM....bet that will fit:evil:

I think next time out, I will use the revolver and HK alternating rounds and see what happens there
 
I owned a couple SIG's for years before I bought my first revolver- a Smith 686. The first day out with my Smith, I shot better than I did for 5 years with my SIG's.

I shoot revolvers more now.

-Robert
 
For sure not me. I've tried four different revolvers and could NEVER shoot any of them nearly as well as an auto.

I carried a M60 snub nose and would practice and practice trying to become proficient. I never felt that confident with it, but I kept trying. Then, a year and a half ago, I bought a Bersa .380 and immediately was more accurate and faster in every mode of firing. The Bersa has been on the belt ever since.

Speaking of full sized handguns, my Walther P99 will outshoot any revolver I've had (M10, M60, GP100, M15) and the same for friend's revolvers.

As much as I like the history and nostalgia of a revolver, I doubt I'll own another one.
 
Sorry, I just posted a thread on almost exactly the same topic!

I'm the exact opposite: better at semi-autos than wheelguns. Though I want to be a "revolver person".

I have basically been in denial for a while that a semi-auto feels better in my hand than a revolver. I think its the way the back of the semi rests on the web of my thumb and forefinger.
 
I grew up shooting revolvers (mainly Colts) and can generally shoot any brand better than most the pistols. I think this is because the pistols have so many different triggers from brand to brand.
 
Has anyone found that they seem more intuitively accurate with a revolver rather than an auto-loader?
Click to expand...
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I can miss equally with either ;) depending on the sights, grip, trigger, felt/perceived recoil, barrel length, ammo selection, distance to target and the whim of the shooting gods that particular day, and if anyone's watching.
Grew up shooting my Dad's 1911-A1 and Luger which are kinda thin in the grip and have the exact same trigger pull each time with a pretty soft round recoil-wise. They point right where they should for me (1911 w/ an arched MSH). The 1911 has a pretty good crisp trigger... the Luger is soft, spongey/mushy. The sights.... well, they were both military design, they're for younger eyes and better sights are now available.
Single action revolvers, depends on the grip design (I really like Ruger's Bisley style frame) and sights.
DA revolvers... hmmmmm. Depends on the grip and the trigger with modern sights. I put Hogue monogrips on all of my S&W's... and it made a whole lot of difference to me. I simply love shooting the 586-6". It makes me look... good... when comparing me to myself and my other handguns. Either DA or SA.
Out to 25 yds, either my Colt Gov't w/ Millet target sights or the 586 are about equal in my hands. Past 25 yds... it's the 586 all the way.
Using the same handguns, YMMV of course.
 
I can shoot a revolver double action as accurately as I can an auto as long as there is not an element of time. I shot a revolver a lot in the late 70's through the early 90's.

I think that once you hit a skill level that is 'significantly higher than average' you will find that a revolver offers more quality shots faster than the semi-auto guns will.
Click to expand...

FWIW, the classification systems and databases for both IDPA and IPSC clearly do not support that observation. Then again, if a person has above average skills with a wheelgun and they suck with a semi-auto, I guess the statement would be true.
 
Ankeny, what would happen to those classifications if reload times were factored out or not counted at all? Are the splits really that much different?
 
HSMITH:

The hit factors posted on revolver neutral classifiers by Master class revolver shooters in USPSA are not that much lower than hit factors posted by M class semi-auto shooters. My revolver splits are about .04 seconds slower than my Limited splits at ten yards. That would add .12 seconds to a typical 6 round string.

All I am saying is the stats on revolver neutral classifiers and revolver neutral stages of the IDPA classifier don't portray the revolver as having an advantage over the semi-automatic pistol when comparing shooters of comparable ability across divisions.
 
I have only been shooting handguns for two and a half years, primarily my 1911. With my1911 freestyle at 25 yards the best I normally due now is around 3" groups, sometimes smaller mostly larger.

A week ago I bought a GP-100 with a 6" barrel. Almost right away I was shooting tighter groups with 38's and 357's (single action).

It is really making me work harder to tighten my groups with the 45.
 
Has anyone found that they seem more intuitively accurate with a revolver rather than an auto-loader?
Click to expand...

Yes, I have. I'm very accurate with a four-inch fixed sighted revolver, slightly better than average with a six-inch adjustable, and simply average with a semi-auto. However a friend of mine is precisely the opposite - he can hit anything he can see with his Colt Double Eagle yet is barely on par with his four-inch S&W Model 65. We all have firearms to which we are more naturally suited, which is why I always advise first-time buyers to test drive the various makes and models first.
 
FWIW, the current issue of Combat Handguns has an article on autoloader (H&K USP/C)vs. wheelgun (S&W med frame) for SD. The author devised several timed scenario drills to see which form factor worked better. It was pretty much a wash until a reload was required, under which scenario the autoloader had a pretty clear advantage.

I guess the conventional wisdom (if you subscribe to the "rule of three's" (or fives) where capacity isn't an issue) is still "carry what you shoot best"
 
Ankeny, thanks. That makes perfect sense, and is what I was trying to get at also but not communicating it well.
 
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