Why would anyone choose a Autoloader instead of a revolver?

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I carry a S&W 1911 5" Bbl strong side OWB Milt Sparks #Axiom
I've never left the range w/o it being operational and loaded.

I also shoot a 625 5" Bbl. it's 45 oz.and almost a foot O.A>L.
I think the only practical carry rig would be a muzzle down
vertical carry shoulder rig, namely the ALessi Field Master at
$200 it hasn't floated up to the "next" to buy on my list of
accessories. Another problem is I tried a shot shell once in
the 625 - the firing pin went into the primer/case back out and
jammed cylinder. It went off to a gunsmith to free the cylinder
up . It also has issues with light strikes/Duds. So, until I get
that resolved - I've gotten advice to get the cylinder and SLide
longer firing pin. I did have a smith verify the main spring is at
full strength as it has had the S&W Perf. Center Master Revolver
Action Job. When it is running right, I love to Double Tap away
and quick reloads with full moon clips or HKS Speedloaders with .45
AUto RIjm.

THe other carry option, is a CZ 75B 9mm luger, 800 rds through it
and 100% reliability, with every type of ammo bullet weight/ type and
make I have found locally and off the net. Very accurate, and I'm getting
used to the DA first shot. then SA SA ....

I also have confidnce in my Model 60 3" Bbl. with .38 Spcl +P it's
also been 100% relilable and easy followup shots just found wanting for
capacity at 5 rds.

I carried a 1911 in the USN 30+ years ago and the lizard brain
pretty much has it impinged on the synapses. I did spend my teen
years with a Double Action S&W Model 18 .22 LR so I know the DA
drill as well as SA longer shots. but I like the 8 + 1 of
.45 ACP in the 1911 and a spare mag on the belt holder.much
easier to conceal the gun as well as reloads

Randall
 
We will agree to disagree Harmonic, as I think that the abilty to get a Autoloader out of battery is the same as not allowing a revolver to turn (Both would be hard to do.)
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Actually, it's not hard to do either of those two things.

A reasonably experienced attacker will grab the gun with his hand around the cylinder, and the web of his hand behind the hammer--or between the hammer and frame if it's already cocked. If he doesn't see it, stuff it in his guts and start squeezing the trigger.

Some autoloaders will move out of battery when they are holstered and could possibly fail to return to battery on the draw stroke. On most semi autos, you need to be sure that the muzzle isn't pressed against the attacker, otherwise it may be forced out of battery. On properly fitted guns, it will only take a slight bit(1/8 inch or so) of movement to engage the disconnector and prevent the gun from firing.
 
S&W Centennial

the hammerless (at least hammer technically unexposed) revolver offers some protection against the gun grab. Bill
 
Why would I grab only the slide of an auto to attempt to disable it? I'd wrap my hand around the frame and the slide (if possible get a finger inside the trigger guard) then I don't care which way you try to pull the auto, I can still disable it.
 
I've owned wheel guns AND, autos the better part of my life, and I've never had a malfunction with any wheel guns, even the cheap wheelers never malfunctioned, I've had duds, but thats no problem, on the other hand, almost all of my autos have had some issues with problems,ie; stove pipe, nose dive not clearing a empty, feed problems. To me a auto is like a race car, it has to be fine tuned in order to work right. But don't get me wrong, I injoy owning and shooting them both.
 
Don't for one minute think revolvers are jam proof.

The VERY FIRST shot I ever tried with a S&W Model 10 .38 was the ONLY shot for the next five minutes.

Ever get a squib load in a revolver?
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Which is why I consider autos safer than wheelguns. Consider that squib not locking up the action and you are rapid-firing. The auto will likely stall. The wheelgun will likely blow up.
 
Which is why I consider autos safer than wheelguns. Consider that squib not locking up the action and you are rapid-firing. The auto will likely stall. The wheelgun will likely blow up.
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That's one of the reasons I cringe when I see "Just pull the trigger again" in the revolver love threads.

The people saying it and most reading it know they actually mean "Just pull the trigger again if you get a malf while trying to defend your life but, if you're at the range, stop everything and check for squibs if something didn't feel right.

But the longer version isn't as cute and doesn't roll trippingly from one's keyboard. But noobs watch those "versus" and "love" threads and sooner or later might be saying to his doctor "But they said on the intertubz to just pull the trigger again" after he blows the thing up. There's a reason "just pulling the trigger again" is warned against in revolver user manuals and it might have something to do with common sense as well as tort lawyers.

Admittedly, I don't see the issue as a revolver problem so much as a problem with "love" and "versus" threads - our little contribution to horribly bad advice found on the internet I suppose.
 
Hawk, I hear what you are saying. The "just pull the trigger again" would apply to a light strike, bad primer, or the like. I love revolvers, but the few times I've had things seize up it has been from a bullet jumping crimp and tying up the cylinder. Once was from a Ruger I finally shot loose...it can happen. When a revolver seizes, your only option is to have a BUG.

As far as the OP question of why an auto loader. Mag capacity, and rapid reloading. IF I were a cop, it would be auto loader for me, I'd have a revolver tucked on me somewhere as a BUG though.
 
ONe good reason I can think of to have an autoloader instead of a revolver is width. Autos are thin, and a revolver has a big fat cylinder.

I like revolvers though. I especially like not having to chase after my empties after I shoot.
 
At the range with the wife, after going through the legendary reliability of revolvers, after the 2nd shot the 3rd round never went off in our relatively new S&W 442. After inspection found the rotating pawl tip had broken off and the cylinder would not rotate for another shot. That gun was Tango Uniform right there. Subsequently sold it and bought an old S&W Model 10 which has been flawless since ownership.
You can never tell. If it was made by man, it'll fail, eventually.
I bought a brand new SLR-95 (AK-47 clone), world renown for their reliability, after the 2nd or 3rd trip to the range after a few rounds the trigger would not move rearward. Upon inspection found a small piece of machining material had wedged between the back of the trigger and the housing restricting trigger movement.
Deer hunting with the ole reliable Remington 870 shotgun, using 3" magnum slugs, after the first shot the second slug round would not cycle into the chamber. I could never figure out what the cause of that jam was, I believe it was the Hastings barrel with rifle sights I put on it. But I just never used 3" slugs with it anymore, the 2 3/4" slugs worked fine.
Take your equipment to the range and wring it out. Even then, don't trust it 100%, have a back-up plan when you do have to use the weapon and it doesn't work. For me I'm gonna try to not be in a shooting situation ever to begin with, if I need to use it to save my life and it fails........that would just suck. But I am good with God.
 
/shrug


My 1911 auto has over 3500 stoppage free rounds fired through her. That's reliability I am more than willing to stake my life on.

She has a sweeeet trigger that lets me put the rounds where I want them without the long pull of a double action revolver, and with a faster reset. I find it easier to change mags, than to use moon clips or other revolver speed loaders (but I don't practice with revolvers). I can change my load by using 7 to 10 round mags.

I am absolutely comfortable with my auto.
 
90% of the failures I see are ammo related. Crappy ammo, bad reloads, hard primers, wrong boolit shape, squibs, etc.. Get this ironed out for your specific gun and you are ahead of the game.

Blindjustice, stay away from the C&S firing pin, they break. I've been through 3 so far.

BTW, BG grabbing the cylinder of your revolver to stop it from cycling is easily defeated by twisting it quickly side to side.
 
I tried out a brand new Taurus hammerless .357 . After the second shot, it split lead and jammed cylinder, rendering it into a paper weight. Thats why I carry a Glock.
 
though really, how many people who own guns for self defense go over jam clearing when they practace. 5%? At least with the revolver you just pull the trigger agian.
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It is obvious to me you have never experienced a jam with a revolver. Once you do - you can use it as a club. At least a semi-auto can be cleared in most cases. I have experienced at least 25 jams with my own revolvers or revolvers issued to me, most with S&W revolvers at that - all supposedly in good working order.

Another reason to carry an autoloader is the speed with which it can be reloaded, and the capacity of ammunition with which it can be reloaded.

Another is its capacity of ammunition.

Another is I like them.
 
All this talk about grabbing guns, you all need to practice the draw. You should always be able to prevent a close quarters battle for your weapon by the way it is drawn.
 
All I've got to do to stop you from firing your revolver is grab it with one hand around the cylinder and stop it from turning.
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That's a good reason for...when engaging in close-quarters/contact engagements...it's a good idea to be well practiced in the retention method and firing from the hip. The way that the cowboy shot Ed Masterson in "Wyatt Earp" was letter-perfect. Butt pressed into the hip with the gun canted to shield the shooter from the forcing cone gas. Perfect.

A double-action revolver is...and always has been...an excellent choice
for self defense. I often carry one myself.
 
Two to one more centerfire revolvers to autos in my modest collection, but I prefer to carry an auto concealed. It totes easier, carries more firepower, is more powerful (9mm +P vs .38 special +P and I don't like 12 ounce .357s), and reloads are a lot easier to carry. I have my revolver moods, but a Kel Tec P11 is my most carried firearm. I've fired it a LOT and it's very reliable and quite accurate. Being a DAO, it's sort of a little square revolver. But, bottom line is it just conceals better in a pocket. Gun ain't gonna do you any good if you leave it at home. I can carry my .38 Taurus UltraLite all day comfortably, but the speed loader is a pain and it's a bigger lump in my pocket.

Jam clearing? Hell, my Kel Tec has NEVER jammed in 11,000 plus rounds. I know how it works, though, and tap, rack, bang is not a problem. If I'm really going into rough areas or on collection day for my part time job, I'll usually have back up, too, or sometimes the KT becomes back up to a bigger gun IWB.
 
though really, how many people who own guns for self defense go over jam clearing when they practace. 5%? At least with the revolver you just pull the trigger agian.
Click to expand...

To add to the other posts here, I started shooting IDPA to see others shoot, to see how my equipment worked, and how I worked with my equipment. I've practiced drills of several types for my semi-automatic, and have seen jams that required more than your typical tap-and-rack drill to clear.

That being said, I've seen some competitors have revolver problems that confounded a shooter as long as someone with an autoloader who basically had to totally clear and go for a new mag. The funny thing is the answer with the revolver was to pitch the contents of the cylinder and insert new speedloader with six rounds. New mag in autoloader gives many more...

Lesson: Anyone who owns a firearm for self defense needs to practice for malfunctions.
 
Back in the early eighties I used to shoot in the PPC matches that my local PD hosted. I used a Ruger Security-Six, purchased in the belief that it was more reliable and jam-resistant than an semi-auto pistol.

During one match, at the first stage, the whistle blew, I drew, aimed, and was unable to pull the trigger to rotate the cylinder. It was jammed. I rotated the cylinder by hand and fired. I shot the entire match that way that day. It was impossible to rotate the cylinder by pulling the trigger. Won a trophy anyway.

Later, when I got home and disassembled the gun, I learned a lesson about revolver maintenance. In spite of the fact that the manual said nothing about disassembling and detail stripping the cylinder it is necessary. The groove in the front of the cylinder in which the two detent balls ride to keep the cylinder on the crane had filled with enough lead and powder fouling to jam the gun. So, they do jam but one can often fire them somehow in spite of that.

The reason I owned that gun in the first place was because of the variety of ammo it would digest. My normal load was two rounds of home-made flechette (17 (110gr.) pieces of 1/16" brazing rod in a Speer shot capsule) followed by two rounds 125gr. HP loaded to +P levels and then two commercial 158gr. SJHP. That was my "escalation of force" loading since I expected to find myself needing it while being awaked by being beaten to death in the sleeper of my truck. I figured that the revolver would work even tangled in blankets and short on space.

Today, twenty-five years later, I find that semi-autos are reliable enough that I prefer the extra magazine capacity they offer. I can't remember the last time I carried or relied upon my Security-Six in preference to a 1911, or a good 9mm or 40S&W pistol.
 
My friends and I go to the range together, and we load each others' magazines. We insert a dummy round in at least one of the mags to induce a stoppage. Tap, rack, fire. Click? drop mag, rack x3, reload, rack, fire. If it isn't instinctive, practice some more. We also practice clearing stoppages and reloading one-handed and weak-handed.

You must assume that everything can go wrong, no matter what kind of gun you carry.
 
"I tried out a brand new Taurus hammerless .357 . After the second shot, it split lead and jammed cylinder, rendering it into a paper weight. Thats why I carry a Glock."

You are honestly comparing Taurus to any other brand. At least pick brands on a manufacturing par with one another...S&W vs Ruger vs Glock/sig/hk/ Springfield et al.

Give me the choice of Taurus anything (semi or revolver) vs a Glock, I'll pick the Glock.
 
Both will not function by those methods. Real life is NEVER let
the bad guy get that close. Really it isn't that easy to hold a
cylinder or hold a semi auto out of battery in a struggle. Not a
move I would make. It is much easier and safer to down the bad
guy then deal with the weapon where a slight movement puts it
back in service with you at point blank:cuss:
 
Really it isn't that easy to hold a
cylinder or hold a semi auto out of battery in a struggle.
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Since I was the one who introduced this scenario, I'll repeat, "It's not my scenario. It was an article written by Bill Jordan for a gun magazine about the desirability of carrying a 380 semiauto." He wrote it while I was at Murray State University which would put the article somewhere between 1976 to 1978.

His was a real life event. A bad guy had grabbed Mr. Jordan's service revolver around the cylinder and was in the process of wresting it away. Mr. Jordan successfully defended himself but started carrying a semiauto (as backup?) after that.

I've never been in the above scenario, but I believe what Mr. Jordan wrote. I do not believe, however, that it is possible to "deactivate" someone's semiauto by merely pushing back on their slide so as to take it out of battery. That scenario is impossible. I.e., if you're carrying in condition 1 and the bg grabs your weapon, you simply pull the trigger.
 
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