What is the difference between a revolver and a pistol ?

Question

In which gun does the bullet travel faster?

Answer 1

A revolver is similar in design to "old west" handguns as you see in movies. They consist of a round cylinder, usually with 6 chambers, that hold individual cartridges. As the hammer is ****** on single action or double action revolvers, or the trigger is pulled back on double action revolvers, the cylinder rotates until one of the chambers line up directly with the barrel, and if the trigger is pulled further back, the hammer is released and the cardridge is fired.

A pistol is also called a semiautomatic handgun, and it harnesses the energy of the recoil to "cycle" the gun and prepare the next round for firing. The cartirdges are usually contained in a magazine, incorrectly called a "clip" that loads into the grip of the gun, usually holding anywhere from 6 to 20 rounds. When the gun is fired, the slide, the heavy metal top part of the gun, is pushed back by the recoil, stripping the fired shell from the chamber and ejecting it. As the slide finishes sliding backward, the next round in the magazine pops up and is stripped from the magazine by the slide returning to the forward position, and is pushed into the chamber, preparing the gun to fire again. Semiauto pistols can either be single action, Double Action/Single Action or double action only (commonly). A single action pistol must have the hammer ****** manually before it can be fired, either by cocking the hammer with your thumb or by the action of the slide. The SA/DA pistols can be fired with the hammer down, which requires a longer trigger pull, or the hammer can be pre-******, resulting in an easier, shorter trigger pull. Both the single action and SA/DA pistols have the hammer remain ****** after the slide is cycled by either manually pulling the slide back and releasing it, or by the firing of a round, so the hammer is ****** and ready for every shot after the first one. Double action only pistols require a longer trigger pull for every shot, as the hammer will not remain ******, it returns to the uncocked position after each action of the slide.

Answer 2

Typically, (there are exceptions) revolver ammunition, like .38 Special and .357 Magnum, headspace on the case rim. The exact length of the case is not too important, which is why you can shoot .38 Special in a revolver chambered for .357 Magnum. Pistol ammunition headspaces on the case mouth, i.e., the length of the case. The exact length of the case is very important. A case that is too long will not fully chamber and may cause excessive chamber pressure and could damage the gun, or you. However, some revolvers are designed to shoot rimless pistol ammunition. So long as the box says .45 ACP you are good to go.

Answer 3

A pistol is a handgun that has the chamber fixed to the barrel. A revolver has multiple rotating chambers behind the barrel. Therefore a semiautomatic pistol is a pistol, a single shot is a pistol but a revolver is not.

Answer 4

By pistol I am guessing that you are refering to a semi-auto pistol.

Revolver:
A revolver works by having several firing chambers arranged in a circle in a cylindrical block that are brought into alignment with the firing mechanism and barrel one at a time. A single action revolver requires the hammer to be pulled back by hand before each shot. In contrast, in a double action revolver, squeezing the trigger can pull back the hammer to cock the gun as well as serving to release the hammer. Most modern double action revolvers can also be fired in single action mode as well, which serves to improve the practical accuracy by reducing the force and distance required to pull the trigger. A few designs, however, have fully-concealed hammers and are double-action-only. Because the effort required to cock the hammer is part of the firing action in double action revolvers, they can generally be fired faster than a single action, but at the cost of reduced accuracy in the hands of most shooters.

Pistol:
A semi-automatic pistol functions by using the energy from the recoil of a single round of ammunition to extract and eject a fired cartridge from the pistol's chamber and load an unfired round from a magazine into the chamber for the next shot.

Most types of semi-automatic pistols rely on a removable magazine for supplying new ammunition to reload the chamber to be able to fire the gun again. The removable magazine is typically located inside a hand grip. Typically, the first round is manually loaded into the chamber by pulling back and releasing ("racking") the slide mechanism, after which the recoil operation of the handgun when fired automatically extracts, ejects, and reloads the chamber. This mode of operation generally allows for faster reloading and storing a larger number of cartridges than a revolver, although semi-automatic pistols are potentially more prone to malfunctions than revolvers due to their more complex design and mechanism.

Answer 5

No matter what anyone says, a "pistol" is literally any weapon designed to be fired from one hand that fires a projectile. The words "pistol" and "revolver" do *NOT* delineate different types of firearms by themselves.

The original "pistols" were hollow candycane shaped 12" pipes with about a half inch bore. They fired a steel spike via a compressed spring. Perfect assassin's tool. Even smaller ones were made to fire a small dagger blade.

When revolvers (pistols with revolving cylinders holding multiple shots) were invented, they were called "revolving pistols". When semi-automatic handguns (pistols with magazines et al) were invented, they were called "self-loading pistols". Both of those terms are still in wide use.

It's only in the past two decades with movies and tv that the current crop of dilettantes have tried to redefine the words.

Answer 6

My understanding is that "pistol" encompasses all semi-auto "handguns". "Handgun" being any firearm that is not a long gun.
A "revolver" is still a "handgun" but but is not considered a pistol because it is not semi-auto. A revolver would be called a revolver because it incorporates a revolving cyclinder in its design.

Answer 7

Simply put, ALL 'handguns' are 'pistols', including single-shots, multiple barrels('pepper boxes'), revolvers, and auto-loaders.

A revolver has a 'cylinder' having two or more 'chambers' which rotates to bring a fresh cartridge into firing position in line with the barrel each time the action is cycled, either by pulling the trigger or re-cocking the hammer.

An 'auto-loader' (either semi- or full- auto) reloads ikts' firing chamber each time the action cycles, either when the trigger is pulled, or when it cycles in fully automatic mode.

Answer 8

Technically a revolver is a handgun that has a rotating cylinder which chambers its bullets. Revolvers are also known as: Wheel-guns.

Technically a pistol is a single shot or multi-barrel handgun such as a derringer or pepperbox, or a handgun that self-loads from a box magazine rather than from a revolving cylinder.

Answer 9

A revolver has a cylinder which can hold anywhere from 5 rouns to 10 rounds, depending on caliber, and it does NOT ehect spent shell casings. A pistol is a semiautomatic handgun which the rounds are magazine fed. When fired, the gun ejects the spent casing and at the same time reloads the next round until the gun is empty, at which time the slide on most models is locked opened for reloading.

Answer 10

A pistol is a generic term for most handheld firearms.

A revolver is a sub group of pistols.

-revolver
-semi auto
-derringer
-bolt (like Savage Striker &Magnum Research Lone Eagle)