how much power is lost on a revolver cylinder compared to a autmatic pistol where the bullet is chambered?

Answer 1

your answer is non, the only thing that may be lost is acuracy depending on the leangth of the barrels. thouse who are going on about gases in the chamber of an auto which activates the next shot, Its not the gases that do this its the theory of enerture, the recoil activates the next shot.

Answer 2

You do lose some power. The cylinder size of the cylinder gap, the burning rate of the powder and the bullet weight are all factors. While an auto does use some of the power of the burning gasses to cycle the slide, only a blow back operated opens before the bullet leave the barrel.

This is demonstrated started by getting a revolver chambered in a round like the .45ACP and measuring the speed of the round against that of a typical automatic that is operated by the tilt barrel system. They should both have the same barrel length and the ammo should be out of the same box. You will normally see that the revolver has a bit slower velocities when measured with a chronograph.

Answer 3

There is no significant loss. Barrel length is much more critical when power is concerned. A 45 acp shot out of a glock with a 3 inch barrel isn't going to have as much power as the same caliber shot from a 6 inch revolver barrel. The pistol cartriges are loaded to be shot from a one inch snub nose or a 30 inch rifle. the shorter the barrel, the less time the projectile has to be propelled by the continuously expanding gases. The shorter the barrel, the more energy wasted. So in short, some of the gas does escape the cylinder of a revolver, but since there was excess gas to begin with, it's not an issue.

Answer 4

Thats sort of a subjective question. Because for one thing, typically your most powerful pistols are revolvers since the action and frames are normally stronger. Also, a revolver barrel is typically longer than a semi-autos barrel; not counting the snub-nosed revolvers. Yes, its true that you lose some pressure with the gap between cylinder and barrel, but it's fairly small. I doubt you'd notice the difference unless you were using a chronograph to track bullet velocity. The revolver having a stronger frame is why you'll see .480 Rugers and the like chambered, but not the semi-autos. The most powerful semi-auto you can find would be along the lines of the .50 AE, 44 Magnum, and the like.

Answer 5

It depends on the size of that gap between the revolver cylinder and the barrel. It also depends on the diameter of the forcing cones in the revolver's chambers. Too tight a forcing cone, and the bullet is squashed down to the point where it doesn't effectively engage the rifling. Too much, and it may enter the barrel at an angle, affecting accuracy. For tight barrel gaps, you'll lose between 25 and 50 ft/sec from test barrel (where there's no gap between the chamber and the barrel, just like in a semi-automatic or a rifle) velocities. For an old worn revolver with a wider gap, the losses will range from 50 to over 100 ft/sec over that of a test barrel.

For example, I have a pair of revolvers in .45 Colt. One is a new Italian (Uberti) replica of the Colt SAA with a 5.5" barrel. The other is a Smith and Wesson 25-5 with a 6" barrel that was new something like 30 years ago. The Uberti has a cylinder gap of something like .004". The Smith and Wesson has a cylinder gap of .010". When I toss an Oregon Trail 250 grain cast-lead bullet over 8.0 grains of Unique and shoot both guns over a chronograph; I get the following numbers:

Uberti Cattleman:
Max: 935 ft/sec. Min: 880.2 ft/sec Avg: 903.7 ft/sec

S&W 25-5:
Max: 938.2 ft/sec. Min: 857.9 ft/sec Avg: 898.9 ft/sec.

The Smith and Wesson has the advantages of a slightly longer barrel, and tighter tolerances in the chambers. But yet, it doesn't manage to out-shoot an inexpensive Italian-replica Cowboy Action gun. In fact, due to the wider barrel gap, the ballistics are sloppier than those of the Uberti. A genuine Colt-made Single-Action Army, or a well-finished Italian-copy assembled by American importers will outshoot my Uberti by something like 25 to 50 ft/sec due to the tighter tolerances and smaller cylinder gaps.

Answer 6

In a revolver you have a cylinder gap between the 6 cylinders and the barrel. It is very small but hot gasses can escape through it; (never put your hand in front of the cylinder gap while firing; it hurts). In an automatic pistol, the escaping gases are used to reload the weapon. In both weapons, gases are escaping that are not being used to push the bullet. It's probably not significant enough in either design to really matter.

Answer 7

It is significant if the auto is a short-recoil. I could see where a gas-operated semi-auto would be similar to a revolevr in power loss due diversion of hot gasses. Another somewhat related subject is the difference in bullet velocity when contrasting the polygonal (hexagonal or octagonal) rifling versus traditional rifling. That is a significant difference as well.

Answer 8

Provided that the revolver is good quality and still 'tight,' less than that lost in a blow-back auto. If it is a Korth revolver, practically no power is lost because the tolerances as so close on Korths.

H

Answer 9

The bullet from the same caliber/powder load/bullet mass shell shot from the revolver will have more energy than that same mass shot from the auto/semiauto weapon. The action of the auto will use some of the power to operate the eject-reload cycle which will lessen the net energy delivered to the target.