Revolver to Auto

[mav]

I can't really comment since I have never shot a revolver. I hope to one day. Regardless, this has been an enjoyable thread thus far. Plenty of .

[zapfbroad]

There's nothing inherently wrong or inferior about a revolver, six shooters & black powder helped make this country. As the scope of warfare, law enforcement changed greater capacity was mandated accordingly. When I can comfortably conceal carry something with a 30round magazine I'm sure somewould call 10round mags sucky. They all render paper targets holy. As will the fearsome pinky finger of death.

via EPIC4G SRF1.1.0 by Android Creative Syndicate

[JAB]

My take: yes, I suppose that any revolver can jam - but such failure isn't very likely unless you are carrying a beat up, junk gun. Further, I believe that all semiautos will jam (at some point) regardless of how 'quality' the gun is. Revolvers don't care if you have a less than optimal grip or are firing from a less than optimal angle and limpwrist them. Revolvers aren't going to go out of battery if you have to use them literally as a belly gun. Either can fail to go 'bang' due to an ammo problem but, to my mind, pulling the trigger again is a lot quicker than even the whole 'tap, rack, bang' scenario. How many thug assailants are likely to just stand there while you do a mag swap?

I sometimes carry a semiauto as primary but like to have a revolver as a BUG - even if it is just my NAA - because I do not entirely trust semiautos. Inversely, if I carry a revolver as primary, I feel no need to carry a semiauto as a BUG.

I'll be honest - I sometimes carry a semiauto due to the greater ammo capacity and/or ability to reload more quickly. To be truthful, though, how many of those same thug assailants are just going to stand there and let me empty my 10, 12 or even 15 round mag into them? In reality, the 'mob' would either overwhelm me (and end up with my gun with plenty of ammo left in it) or I'll fire a few shots (less than a revolver's worth) and either drive them off or create a break to get away.

If anyone disagrees, explain why the majority of police departments and almost all militaries of the world use semi-autos.

Of course, there were plenty of long-time cops who didn't want to make the swap. There were at least some of them who felt that their revolvers had always served them well and who preferred them to semiautos. In some cases, it was the bureaucrats running the departments and not the guys and gals who actually relied on their duty firearms who made the decision to change.

Edited August 15, 2011 by JAB

[hornett22]

the thing I like about revolvers is you don't leave any shell casings at the scene. Makes for a quick escape.

[Guest eggman]

I have seen Dirty Harry shoot 10 -20 times and he never reloaded. Til that scene at the end " ask yourself did I shoot 5 times or 6 well did I punk!" Why can't you guys do that with your wheel guns? HHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Guest eggman]

I shot my 66 today........also my 9MM and my 22 but nothing is more fun than

a 357

I love that wheel gun. I am going to get me one someday

[Guest WingMan380]

I have a semi-auto and a 30+ year old .38 SPL revolver (which I used to take my HCP class with). Took my 11 year old son to the range the other day and for the heck of it I let him take a crack at the old .38, he emptied all 6 rounds and hardly flinched at all. Only thing he said was "Wow, that is a heavy gun". When I go to the range, I practice with both guns and I am equally efficient and accurate with either gun. I normally carry the semi-auto because, as my son said, the revolver is a very heavy gun.

[hornett22]

Love my Trooper and Anaconda. Never trading them for a semi auto or anything else for that matter.

[Mike]

I remember him saying this:

I'm just happy I don't do all the close quarters gun fighting you guys do. I'll keep my revolver, and you enjoy your plastic toy.

Seriously, barring military combat, how many rounds are the most you've ever fired while defending yourself in a single situation? My answer would be zero. I don't wish to convert you to my way of thinking, but telling someone else their choice "sucks" is being a bit of an ass to put it bluntly.

I do not varnish my opinion.

What was said holds true, I dislike carrying a revolver for personal protection uses if other more viable options are available to me.

I never said I hated revolvers. I said they suck, then clarified that they suck as a fighting weapon. Some have apparently formed the opinion that I have undying hatred for revolvers, that is not true. I love them, I love the design, craftsmanship and appearance. I must really dislike them to have so few in my collection.

To the matter at hand; if you do not like what I have to say, by all means counter it. I speak the truth as I see it from my experiences. No, I have not been involved in a gunfight but I have trained extensively and can honestly say that given the choice I would much rather have a semi auto than a revolver at hand.

Ive said my piece.

Mike

[TNWNGR]

Your entitled to your own view Mike, I really don't believe you have the life experence or training skillset to yet for such an opinion though. None the less it's your opinion, not mine and the world will keep turning. You do have some nice revolver's in your picture's, that's great, I can tell that your very proud of them and I hope you continue to use them.

[Mike]

Your entitled to your own view Mike, I really don't believe you have the life experence or training skillset to yet for such an opinion though. None the less it's your opinion, not mine and the world will keep turning. You do have some nice revolver's in your picture's, that's great, I can tell that your very proud of them and I hope you continue to use them.

I thought about what i was going to say last night. I wasn't going to say anything, but this kind of got me riled up a little.

I've had over 200 hours of training this year alone; not counting competitions or training group time. So you can take that "You don't know anything because your young." crap and go pound sand. Same goes for the rest of you. Judge a man by the content of his character, not by the number under his name.

I'm out.

Mike

[Guest bkelm18]

The whole age thing is kinda juvenile in and of itself. It's pretty much equivalent to saying "Well I don't really have a valid counterargument, so I'm going to try and discredit you based on something completely irrelevant to the topic of discussion." I don't quite understand how age correlates to knowledge of the practicalities of revolvers in a fighting scenario.

Edited August 17, 2011 by bkelm18

[TNWNGR]

I thought about what i was going to say last night. I wasn't going to say anything, but this kind of got me riled up a little.

I've had over 200 hours of training this year alone; not counting competitions or training group time. So you can take that "You don't know anything because your young." crap and go pound sand. Same goes for the rest of you. Judge a man by the content of his character, not by the number under his name.

I'm out.

Mike

Sport, I'm 28 year's older than you with over 25 years on the road as a LEO, close to 3800 hours of firearms training and experience, have shot more than a few competition's, been under fire and in several deadly force incident's. I have a training background and network with professional trainers as well. I'm still learning to this day and maintain the flexibility to change my viewpoint when proven wrong.

I'm certain that you already know the average male subject does not develop a fully adult mind until the ages of 25-27 which can directly affect maturity and judgment. Professional trainers understand this and make allowances. Age, education, training and experience are the foundation of acquired wisdom, there are no shortcuts and you will never stop learning. I suggest that you keep an open mind, it will help you a great deal on down the road.

[ls3_kid]

A revolver wouldn't seem to be bad for defense with this guy.

However I would rather carry a semi-auto and revolver. Just incase.

[gregintenn]

I thought about what i was going to say last night. I wasn't going to say anything, but this kind of got me riled up a little.

I've had over 200 hours of training this year alone; not counting competitions or training group time. So you can take that "You don't know anything because your young." crap and go pound sand. Same goes for the rest of you. Judge a man by the content of his character, not by the number under his name.

I'm out.

Mike

The number under your name doesn't tell me you are a kid; the content of your posts and your know everything attitude stand alone in that regard. I know guys your age who are quite mature; some beyond my maturity level. I don't care how many classes you've attended, or how much paper you've shot. Until you have some experience with live human flesh, you should probably tone down your opinions on personal defense a bit. I've never fired at anyone, and am not an expert on the subject. I do believe that there have been enough people mortally wounded with revolvers to call one a viable defensive weapon. It's great you have formed an educated opinion on the subject. What you need to understand is that opinions that differ from yours aren't always wrong.

[wjh2657]

I find much of the"scripture" about the advantage of the semi-Auto over revolver involves the argument of firepower of 20-30 rounds vs 5-12 rounds in the revolver. Perusing many of the available studies online, including the one below, I find that the National average number of shots per LEO incident by individual officers has leaped from 3 shots per incident to an astounding 4 shots per incident since the advent of the semi-auto as an issue weapon.

I also find that the hit probability has stayed remarkably around the same, namely about 20% or 1 hit out of five, regardless of weapon.

Studying this data I know understand why I should immediately scrap all of my revolvers and purchase a 16 round semi-auto and three spare magazines if I am to survive a gunfight. I love science!

As to shooting multiple shots into a mob of kids, it will earn you a place in history right up there with Charles Whitman and The D.C. Sniper.

http://www.theppsc.org/Staff_Views/Aveni/OIS.pdf

Edited August 17, 2011 by wjh2657

[strickj]

There's advantages and disadvantages to every gun.

Auto loaders are big, are prone to failures under stress and require more training for efficiency and ****-up control. Tap-rack-bang-bus. On the up side, they hold way more and are much quicker to reload-especially under stress.

Revolvers are much less prone to fail and require less training for efficiency and ****-up control, and give more powder for the bang. On the down side, they hold less and can become clumsy to reload under stress.

But neither one sucks. If you feel the need to carry more rounds, then carry an auto loader. If you feel the need for more reliability whilst skimping on rounds carried, then carry a revolver.

For me, I carry both at times. I figure my chances of having to ever fire more then a couple rounds are about as slim as me hooking up with Megan Fox. Ergo, I could care less how many rounds I carry the majority of the time.

To answer the OP; I do sometimes. If I'm downtown Chattanooga late night, where gangs often run loose flash mobs have occurred, I will carry no less then a 1911 and an extra mag or 20.

Edited August 17, 2011 by strickj

[strickj]

The whole age thing is kinda juvenile in and of itself. It's pretty much equivalent to saying "Well I don't really have a valid counterargument, so I'm going to try and discredit you based on something completely irrelevant to the topic of discussion." I don't quite understand how age correlates to knowledge of the practicalities of revolvers in a fighting scenario.

I would normally agree with you as I've been called young and dumb by the old and senile more times then I care to count.

But in the case SD fighting, age and wisdom often has an advantage. Not to mention Mike's post did come across like one of a kid telling another kid his toy is stupid.

No one likes the guy fresh out of collage with all of these ideas of how things should work because his newly found knowledge and 4 years "living on his own" is not real life experience.

Same deal here.

I'll take the word of an old guy that's survived a lifetime carrying a revolver over the word of a young guy with three or four years experience and a training class(es) taught by the tacticool guy of the month.

Sure the old guy may not always be right, but his "this is how I made it through it" story is worth listening to...

[K191145]

I am far from an expert on the issue and never had to pull my handgun on a person, on a charging dog once but didn't have to shoot the poor thing because hesheit was on a chain I didn't see. (soapbox sidenote: dogs chained all their life to a tree are usually and understandably mean, please don't do that.) Anyway, I chose my G21 because it shoots a big round, reliable, and holds 13 rounds. I always thought that I would most likely never need 13 but I always believed in the, "better to have too many than too few" philosphy. When I really started buying and shooting handguns it was in the early 90s and all the gun magizine articals got me into a .45 mindset but i'm slowly changing my attitude. I have never felt underprotected when I carried my SP101 in .357 and lately been thinking about a GP100/4"barrel, still a bulky carry gun but that never bothered me that much. IMO, the odds of fighting a mob of people are far less than taking on a single or maybe two assailents and what I like about a revolver is that they are ready to go, no manual or grip safety, a longer trigger pull (harder to shoot yourself in the a$$ under stress), and reliable. I guess if I go the revolver carry route in the future the smart thing would be is to shoot a few thousand rounds through it, practice defensive scenerios and get good with it.

[laktrash]

Thanks NRA !! For reducing the font size for me on the old dog story

Edited August 17, 2011 by laktrash

[NRA]

Posted per request of laktrash

"sorry for font size I couldn't reduce if someone can I'll delete this one"

A wealthy old Gentleman decides to go on a hunting safari in Africa, taking his faithful, elderlyJack Russell Terrier named Killer along for the company.

One day the old Jack Russell starts chasingrabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old Jack Russell thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep doo-doo now!" Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the old Jack Russell exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?"

Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him, and he slinks away into the trees. "Whew!", says the leopard, "That was close! That old Jack Russell nearly had me!"

Meanwhile, a monkey, who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, fi gures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So, off he goes, but the old Jack Russell sees him heading after the leopard with great speed and figures that something must be up.

The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans, and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!"

Now, the old Jack Russell sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?" Instead of running, however, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old Jack Russell says...

"Where's that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!"

Moral of this story...

Don't mess with the old dogs...age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery! BS and brilliance only come with age and experience.

Edited August 17, 2011 by NRA

[DWARREN123]

I changed from revolvers quite a few years ago for a couple of reasons. The semi auto pistol has less recoil for power, easier to reload, holds more rounds in most full/standard sizes and for me I get a better grip especially with my Glock 22 Gen3 RTF2.

Nothing wrong with revolvers and nothing wrong with semi autos.

[Guest Eagle One]

WOW, A whole lot of diapers got stuck in a wad on this thread. Some of you-all act like you drank out of someone's spit cup and now you are mad at the guy that filled the cup.... Like some of them, dislike others but why be so rude about it....

[Will Carry]

Mike I certainly don't think you hate wheel guns. You can carry any gun you want. I carry semi-autos mostly but I don't limit myself to just semi-auto. Sometimes I go "old school" and carry my Chief's Special. It is THE fastest pistol I own to draw and fire. When I'm in the woods I carry a .357 magnum with hot loads. Other than that, I carry semi-autos.

BUT for shear fun, .357, .41 and 44 magnums can't be beat. But that's just me

Edited August 20, 2011 by Will Carry