What single feature of semi's appeals to you the most?

[Hokkmike]

I have done a lot of shooting in my lifetime. I don't claim to be the best or even good. My passion as a youth was those long accurate shots on varmits. And there was a time when I was enthralled with military weapons. Now, they seem to just burn up ammo.

But my love affair with semi auto pistols goes on. I was trying to think of what is was about these pistols that makes them so interesting. Is it ergomomics, capacity, rate of fire, appearance, operating mechanism - what?

I know a good revolver is a great gun and a good tool, but the semi's just have more appeal. I think my attraction is largely due to the inward mechanics and incredible variety of designs and performance of these guns. Kind of like some guys know evey model year car by first appearance - so my attraction is to these particular firearms. Unlike revolvers, again great guns, these semi's seem "alive" when you shoot them.

What feature or characteristic of the semi automatic pistol appeals to you most?

 

[ojibweindian]

The most appealing feature, to me, is the ability to rapidly reload, followed closely by capacity.

 

[Pilot]

I like how they point and I feel more comfortable with most semi auto's grip and grip angle.

 

[HexHead]

You can't beat the trigger pull on a single action semi-auto like a 1911.

 

[lawboy]

A service size auto carris more easily than a service size revolver. That is what I like most about autos.

 

[UnTainted]

1 - fast reloading magazine
2 - capacity
3 - ergonomics and feel
4 - break down and cleaning
5 - aesthetics

i put five, that's more commonly known as the shotgun effect.

 

[GLOOB]

The bulky shape of the cylinder is sometimes a put-off.

I'd REALLY like to have a target style, slim .22 LR medium frame revolver with a TINY 6 shot cylinder. I'm thinking a gun the size of a J or K frame with a 4-inch ribbed, slabside barrel, but with the compact cylinder of an NAA revolver.

 

[GunTech]

Grip.

You have to learn how to hold a revolver properly, and many revolver grips are less than optimal. It's hard to hold an auto improperly.

 

[FullEffect1911]

I like both revolver (SA and DA) and semi auto. But what draws me to semi-autos:

1) a .45 caliber pistol is a whole lot more compact then a .45 caliber revolver.

2) weight can be greatly reduced while still maintaining a larger caliber (polymer/aluminum alloy frames)

3) It is flat and therefore way more comfortable to carry IWB

4) Capacity and reload speed is a nice bonus

5) I tend to shoot them better then revolvers.

There is a lot of stuff to like revolvers for as well, but that is a different thread in a different section of THR.

 

[Bobo]

Four things in this order as compared to revolvers...

1. Capacity
2. Reloading (magazine flatness, capacity, and reload speed)
3. Flatness of gun for concealability and carry comfort.
4. Many more option combinations: SA, DA, DAO, various safeties, accessory rails, etc.

Bobo

 

[HardShell]

The most appealing feature, to me, is the ability to rapidly reload, followed closely by capacity.

This.


Plus, variety is the spice of life...




(Very old pic, lots of changes since, but you get the idea. )

 

[2nd 41]

Thinness, appearance of a 1911 speaks for itself.

 

[Hokkmike]

Hardshell - Excellent!

 

[Mad Magyar]

I guess I'm ol'school, but I've always preferred revolvers for their reliability and simplicity. But, with the explosion of CC, I went to the "bottom-feeders" for one purpose only: better concealment.
Yes, I read how some "wheelgunners" can strap & conceal a N-frame in 112 weather w/o problems, yeah sure.....

 

[smallbore]

Combo: Ability to quickly reload/return to battery & hi-capacity capability.

 

[Dobe]

HardShell, looks good.

 

[rbohm]

i like the ease of reloading number one. with speed loaders available for revolvers this is almost a moot point, but it takes more training to use the speed loaders vs an auto loader magazine.

i like the lack of bulkiness of the auto loader over the revolver. this includes auto loader magazines over the revolver speed loaders as well.

the auto loader is more easily concealed than a revolver, again which i like.

an auto loader just plain feels better in my hands than a revolver does.

on the other hand a revolver is less prone to feed and ejection failures, and if you pull the trigger on a revolver and the round does not go off, you only need pull the trigger again(assuming a double action) to fire the next round, where as you need to clear the auto loader before trying to shoot again.

one more thing i dont like about the revolver is the fact that you have high pressure gasses expelled near the shooters hands because of the gap between the rotary magazine and the barrel.

all in all i prefer the auto loader over the revolver, but both have their strong points.

 

[bigfatdave]

GLOOB, have you seen "The Earl" from NAA?
Might be exactly what you're dreaming of.
NAA makes a couple other target-capable revolvers too, the "Mini-Master" and "Black Widow".

 

[GoodKat]

Efficiency.

An automatic can hold more rounds in a lighter, smaller package that can be fired accurately more rapidly.

 

[9MMare]

As someone interested strictly for defense and carry, bulk/wt followed closely by capacity.

 

[DasFriek]

Ive always found revolvers ugly,especially short barreled ones.And they seemed like a basic tool and having just the basic mechanical items to function.Almost as if they are just a tool that opens a cartrige and delivers a bullet.
Not to put down revolvers,i just said that to explain why i like auto's.

Auto's seem like an automated machine and can function with just the basic input from a shooter.The complicated actions they need to function seem more art than a basic function.Its almost like they are over complicated on purpose at times.

I kinda think thats why TV had progressed how it did.The good or bad guys got even more glamorized with the fancy auto's.Except Dirty Harry,only a .44mag could make Clint look tougher than he already was

 

[Dobe]

Of course not. I bet some of your best friends have revolvers.

 

[Clifford]

As much as I love S&W revolvers for their build quality and ruger single actions for their durability, nothing to me feels better than a 1911 with a good trigger. I grew up shooting them and NOTHING feels better for me.

 

[HisSoldier]

One chamber with a mechanism to automatically eject spent cases and load fresh ones from a magazine.

Upon the perfection of the design in 1911 the revolver became an antiquated design from a time before the invention of the self contained cartridge and the birth of John Moses Browning to capitalize on it's advantages.

The realization of large scale production of goods is related directly to the development of automatic production machines, in the same way production of rapid sustained fire was greatly furthered by the automatic self loading firearm.

My opinions do offend some folks, but I don't mean to.

 

[makarovnik]

I just shoot them better. Maybe it's the trigger I don't know.