Why would anyone choose a revolver over an auto-loading handgun in todays world of crime ?

Question

For self defence does it make since to have 6 shots when the person endangering you has 15 ? I am a marksman, and I can hit the target when its ness. However, many cases show that showing yourself long enough to take aim will no doubt get you shot. Why only choose 6 chances to win ?

Answer 1

The answer to this is very simple. Most people who own a handgun for self defense do not practice enough to develop the muscle memory to become truly proficient with a semi-auto.

What this means is that in a high stress situation where the lives of you and your loved ones are at stake, a lot of people who use a semi will forget to move the safety lever to fire before trying to pull the trigger, a revolver has no safety........when I pull the trigger, it shoots.
Altho I own many semi-autos and practice more than the average person, I will never gamble the lives of my family. For this reason alone a revolver is ALWAYS my first line of defense.

Also, statistics show that in most self defense situations less than 6 shots are fired. Odds are that you won't need more than 6.

Bottom line.......I'd rather have 6 for sure shots than 15 maybe shots.

Answer 2

Bound's hubby here:

You have two scenarios for the choice. The first, it's what the person has. Chances are alot better that someone has a revolver that was passed down through the family as opposed to going out and buying a new handgun.

Second, my dear departed gunsmith had a favorite phrase, "How many times do you have to kill someone?" If you can hit your target with a revolver, you shouldn't need more than one, maybe two, shots.

Yes, crime is increasing. If you look at it realistically, crime figures are climbing in areas where the private citizen does not have the right to carry. In addition, many of the offenders that are contributing to the spike in crime are young offenders that subscribe to "spray and pray" because it's "BAD". Chances are they couldn't hit the target consistently. They have no discipline. Much of the spike in crime is drug thug activity against competitors, snitches or debtors. These thugs are generally too bad to do anything really right because they have all the right answers.

When I retire, to a land of the people, for the people and by the people, my carry guns will be a .45 Commander and an old Smith Model 57 (four inch .41 Magnum) with hunting loads.... after all they are preditory animals.

A favorite quote of mine is, "Beware the man with just one gun, he may just know how to use it" (anon).

Good luck.

Answer 3

Revolvers are far from dead.

Unless you are carrying a .10mm or .357 Sig. auto (or a behemoth Desert Eagle) you have a 'power' disadvantage with an automatic pistol over say a .357 Magnum revolver.

Revolvers, as a rule, are utterly reliable. They make excellent home defense guns as you have five to six quick shots even if your revolver has been sitting all year long. An auto may jam if you haven't rotated the magazines or kept it lubed. A revolver will shoot pre-fragmentated bullets (Glazier type) without malfunctioning every time. Some autos will only feed ball ammo.

When I hunt I usually carry a revolver with the first two cylinders loaded with snake shot in case a pesky rattler is still out and about. The other four will be loaded with full-power .357 Mag rounds for whatever may be.



H

Answer 4

While it's not entirely true that your adversary would have 15 shots, what is true is that your survivabilty in a deadly force confrontation comes down to how much training you have invested in yourself. Lots of times, being a "marksman" on a range where nobody is shooting back is fine, however, without suffiecent mental preparation, you probably won't hit anything.

As some of the previous posts have reflected, revolvers are much simpler to operate in a "high stress" environment. I know I'd rather get 6 rounds out of my revolver instead of tapping and racking my auto.

As to the child safety comment, the only defense against your children endangering themselves, it doesn't matter what it is, as long as it goes bang, they shouldn't touch it.

Answer 5

This discussion has been going on for a long time!

Here's a good read also. Lots of good points.... I personally like a semi auto over a revolver, but I will probably also buy a revolver at some point...

There are two subjects that when seen on the cover of a gun magazine annoy me to no end. One is the ever present "9mm vs .45" and the other is "Revolver vs. Auto". It is obvious that the neophyte gun owner asks and needs answers to this question, but I believe that the answers they receive in the gun press only serves to confuse them further.

In most articles, the reader is deluged with "performance data tables", "side by side comparisons", "expert's opinions", and so on ad nauseum. What is not presented are the more plain, boring, but absolutely necessary fundamentals and explanations. I understand the need to make gun articles sexy and full of sexy tables and photos, but can't this be done and still stay close to the original intent of the point?

The double action revolver has many good points: It is easy to load and unload, it is easy to see if it is unloaded, it has a consistent (albeit heavy) trigger pull. It requires less physical actions to operate. It is more affordable. The learning curve is less than that of an auto. There are no magazines to misplace.

Its bad points are few: It is a little wider than an auto, making it a little more difficult to conceal. It is slower to reload than an auto. It takes a little more work to clean.

For most home defense situations, a .38 or .357 magnum revolver is a great defense choice. I favor the .44 special and finally bought one for the house.

Why is the DA (double action) revolver a better choice here? First of all, A revolver can be loaded and remain in that condition for many years without a problem. You need to rotate magazines on Autos as the springs will "set" after being fully loaded for prolonged periods. The gun can be grabbed and be instantly ready for firing. Under stress, one can forget his training and not remember to take off a safety, rack the slide etc. With a revolver, press the trigger and you are ready to go.

Many of the Double Action semi-automatic pistols have an initial long double action trigger pull for the first shot but when the slide is pushed back the hammer is ****** and all SUBSQUENT shots are Single Action, a lighter trigger pull. This "crunchentick" action, makes it hard to shoot for defense; under stress (or not) the shooter can pull the hard trigger for a shot and expecting another hard pull, can accidently fire a second shot when he touches that light trigger. Many police accidents have occured when the police officer fires his pistol and then holsters it- with the hammer ******. On a revolver the hammer would have been at rest .

The main advantage over revolvers that Semi-Automatics boast is rapid reload & capacity; a semi-auto shooter can fire more before reloading and he can reload the gun faster. While this certainly is an advantage in Combat-style shooting or if you decide to re-enact the Die Hard trilogy, it is not as necessary in the real world where firefights are over in about 2-3 rounds. Do not get me wrong here, there is certainly a place for the auto in self-defense ( I carry one) but I am urging the uninitated, the little trained, and the citizen who does not have the desire to practice often, to consider the Double Action revolver. Semi-Automatic pistols are sexy and fun to shoot, but for the citizen with self defense in mind, I suggest that he goes to a local range and rents/borrows a good revolver.



There's arguments both ways.

Interesting discussion also in the link provided.

Answer 6

hey milt i got a beretta 92 with 15 for sure shots. Why would i want a revolver with only 6 for sure shots? Athough i do agree that if someone didnt practice enough that a revolver makes sense. On the other hand if a child ever got ahold of your revolver all he has to do is pull the trigger, where a semi auto they would have to pull back the slide and take off the safety, and after all that the da pull on most semi autos is heavier than a da revolver. (also, my firearms are locked away out of my childrens reach, so save your breath).

Answer 7

Reliability and bigger bullets. A revolver will work very well six times, most armed confrontations only take three shots. Revolvers almost never jam.

I have a Glock 20 and 15 round mags, I just know why they do it, I don't agree with them.

Heh, a Glock has no safety, when you pull the trigger it shoots, and you aren't risking running out of ammo before the bad guys have been driven off. Maybe if this was still the wild west we'd have had the revolver/semiauto issue thrashed out long ago. Not many cops trust their lives to six shots and a slow reload these days, the ones I was talking to at the weekend carried three spares each for their glocks. 69 rounds each (4x17 + 1).

Answer 8

I just want to add one thing a titanium snubby is easy to carry and conceal. You can get some autos that are just as easy. They are usually less dependable (walthr ppk). There is another problem they are less intimidating. This is sometimes called the pop-gun effect. Anyway a revolver is scarier. Also I think you get more power in a smaller package.
Also I think a brushed stainless revolver with rosewood grips is gorgeous. That is why it is called a lady

Answer 9

With your philosophy

"However, many cases show that showing yourself long enough to take aim will no doubt get you shot. Why only choose 6 chances to win ?"

Does it matter what firearm you possess if just showing yourself will get you shot?

Answer 10

Gun Control is whether or not you can hit your target!..

I personally prefer my SW99 over the S&W 500 revolver..

In the event I'd have to get a shot off, I prefer the weight of the SW99. The 500 has definitive knock down capability if you hit the target. A street thug would drop if grazed with a 500 where with a 9mm he may keep coming.

it's a matter of choice. I prefer the speed and ease of the auto. But the revolver is still fun to shoot.