My favorite thing about revolvers (over semiautos)

[Tennjed]

I am a revolver guy at heart, but I have been on an Autoloader kick lately. Been reading a lot more post about auto guns as a result. I noticed everytime I click on a thread about how great such-n-such semiauto is the first sentence is usually something like

"Went to the range today with my new gun and NOT ONE MALFUNCTION. It ate everything I fed it"

Never see this on the revolver threads for some reason. Yet I hear alot about how far semiautos have come and reliabilty is not too much of an issue......but (and maybe it is just me) but it does seem like the first words of praise about an autoloader is reliabilty. Six shots without a stovepipe, FTF, or FTE sure beats 12 jams

[Mike]

Never see this on the revolver threads for some reason. Yet I hear alot about how far semiautos have come and reliabilty is not too much of an issue......but (and maybe it is just me) but it does seem like the first words of praise about an autoloader is reliabilty. Six shots without a stovepipe, FTF, or FTE sure beats 12 jams

They never get run hard enough. Start shooting and really running the gun hard and they will malfunction just like a semi auto. The difference in a revolver malfunction and a semi auto is that a revolver usually requires tools to fix. There are immediate action drills for revolvers too. Get ready to send it to a gunsmith after you do them though. They are short term fixes and usually end up damaging the revolver in the process.

Mike

[glockster157]

I have never had a revolver fail. I maintain my revolvers, I only keep quality revolvers, and O have yet to have a stoppage. I wish I could say that about my autos. Glock is number one. Had one bad 36, Beretta would be next, and every 1911 I have ever had has been magazine or ammo finicky except real mil-spec guns with good mags and hardball. I like my autos, I carry my autos but when I need 100% +, I grab a revolver.

[Tennjed]

They never get run hard enough. Start shooting and really running the gun hard and they will malfunction just like a semi auto. The difference in a revolver malfunction and a semi auto is that a revolver usually requires tools to fix. There are immediate action drills for revolvers too. Get ready to send it to a gunsmith after you do them though. They are short term fixes and usually end up damaging the revolver in the process.

Mike

I got to disagree with the never get run hard enough comment I run very heavy 45 colt loads through my Ruger Blackhawk pretty constantly. I shoot alot of 300 gr bullets going 1200 fps. I would not be suprised if my son does the same out of the same gun. Again I love autos also and like I said have been on a semi kick lately....but my all My Ruger Blackhawks can take punishment and never seem a gunsmiths table

[Mike]

I'm not speaking of heavy loads, I'm talking about high round counts, odd manipulations of the revolver and demanding drills. These things put more stress on the revolver and shooter than any high powered load ever could.

Not downing revolvers, I love them. But they have many drawbacks.

Mike

[Tennjed]

I'm not speaking of heavy loads, I'm talking about high round counts, odd manipulations of the revolver and demanding drills. These things put more stress on the revolver and shooter than any high powered load ever could.

Not downing revolvers, I love them. But they have many drawbacks.

Mike

I still don't know if I am with you on the high round count part. A couple of my favorite Ruger's prob see about 6,000 rounds a year....no signs of slowing down. They are not all high powered heavy loads, but a lot of them are. They still lock up fine and have no timing issues.

I agree that if one was to start having timing issues it would need a trip to the gunsmith, but I honestly don't think they can be worn out if I do regular cleaning and care.

The odd manipulations and demanding drills I can agree with you on....but of course that is because you do not need to do odd manipulations to them.

Like you I am not downing Autos....I love them also. both have there pros and cons. But again the reason I started the thread was that I prefer revolvers because I don't have to worry about relaibilty and malfunctions....at least not with a Ruger Single Action......I feel pretty confident in saying they can easily pass the 100,000 round count......double actions maybe not

[Mike]

By high round counts I mean over 500rds in a day of training. Not overall.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I won't get into which is better or worse because

I don't do drills, but I can get plenty of shots in a

day. About the most fun and the more accurate

shooting comes from one of my two wheel guns.

Yesterday was most pleasurable with only six

rounds of my recent acquisition, a 29 Smith.

That was the first six shots I made with it and

it will probably get a little brother. The most fun

shooting I had at the range in a while. I can't

quantify it any better than that, except it beat

the fifty or so rounds through the Glocks and

1911's. I doubt I would ever carry anything

other than my G30, and I now have plenty

of backup Glocks and a couple of decent

1911's, but the fun is in that cannon.

That Model 29 Smith is definitely a beauty.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guest oldslowchevy]

there is nothing like the look on the bad guys face when you pull the hammer back and sees the round in the cylinder getting loaded to the barrel.

game over.

[Jonnin]

I like both. I love the triggers on revolvers, and they feel great. Most semi auto malfunctions happen early, with a new gun that has not been lubed, magazines with a new stiff spring, rough spots on the internals, new recoil and hammer springs.... and guess what someone does with a new gun? They shoot it with a bunch of whatever crap ammo was cheapest. The combination of cheap (usually weak) ammo and new, rough, unlubed parts makes the posts "I got a new gun and it worked" a true praise for the gun. I am willing to bet that almost any brand new auto that was torn down, lubed up, slide racked by hand few dozen times and stored for a week locked open, magazines stored for a week fully loaded, and fired with reputable self defense loads would not malfunction. Yes, that is a bit more complex than a revolver which can be fired out of the box with any ammo, but they are orders of magnitude more complicated machines and complexity breeds problems. I have close to 20 autos and not a one of them has had problems after being broken in. The first few hundred rounds, yea some of them jammed or did stupid things, but none have given any problems after the first 1000 rounds, most were fine after 200 or so.

[Guest bkelm18]

I'll agree with Mike. Go into a training environment where you shoot 500-1000 rounds of inexpensive/dirty ammo out of your revolver in one day, combine that with dirt from the area, etc., you might start seeing malfunctions. Revolvers aren't infallible. They can and do fail, but usually, as Mike said, when they fail it's not easy to remedy.

[glockster157]

Once again, I began shooting revolvers in 1981 while I was stationed in Warner Robbins Georgia. I also started reloading and bullet casting to save money. A friend and I would load up about 500 rounds of hot 38's(we were poor Airman) and head to the sand pits on Saturdays. I have put 500+ rounds of dirty, lead bulleted loads using military brass(got it free) and Unique, many, many times. I had a SW 28 most of the time, he had a Colt Python and Trooper. We would shoot those things till they were grease covered messes and never had a malfunction. I would be happy to take my 686/GP100/19/66/28, etc through a 500+ round day of any of shooting with factory level ammo. Since I have never had a breakage in 30 years, I think I am pretty safe.

As to the 200 to a 1000 round auto break in period....forget that. I don't have the patience or the wallet for that much non-sense. Buy a new car and tell the customer, "Oh, it will fail to start, stop in the middle of the road for the first 500 miles, etc", or work those doors, trunk lid, hood, until they stop squeaking and popping, put a little lube on them.....Yeah, see how that goes over.

[Trekbike]

Revolvers aren't infallible. They can and do fail, but usually, as Mike said, when they fail it's not easy to remedy.

Yep. Ask me how I know...cause my EDC S&W 642 is currently at S&W with a broken hammer pivot pin. Snapped off from the frame. How do you like them apples?

[Jonnin]

Once again, I began shooting revolvers in 1981 while I was stationed in Warner Robbins Georgia. I also started reloading and bullet casting to save money. A friend and I would load up about 500 rounds of hot 38's(we were poor Airman) and head to the sand pits on Saturdays. I have put 500+ rounds of dirty, lead bulleted loads using military brass(got it free) and Unique, many, many times. I had a SW 28 most of the time, he had a Colt Python and Trooper. We would shoot those things till they were grease covered messes and never had a malfunction. I would be happy to take my 686/GP100/19/66/28, etc through a 500+ round day of any of shooting with factory level ammo. Since I have never had a breakage in 30 years, I think I am pretty safe.As to the 200 to a 1000 round auto break in period....forget that. I don't have the patience or the wallet for that much non-sense. Buy a new car and tell the customer, "Oh, it will fail to start, stop in the middle of the road for the first 500 miles, etc", or work those doors, trunk lid, hood, until they stop squeaking and popping, put a little lube on them.....Yeah, see how that goes over.

Buy a top of the line sports car and see if you might need to hit the shop for tune ups and repairs a bit more often than with one of the old jeeps or something. The more moving parts something has and the more precision the fit, the more points of failure, and that goes for cars too... one of my friends always got a chrysler new yorker, and inside 2 years something was inevitably broken, from the electronic shocks to the power windows or locks or other gadgetry. She had money and just replaced it when it started to get flakey, but the car comparison is pretty appropriate if you consider how fancy cars behave after a few years of use If you want a reliable car that will last 20 years without a single hiccup, you don't get one of the fancy models. Same goes for guns, if you want on that you never lube or clean and always works, dont get a finicky custom target pistol that only your personal gunsmith can even take apart without damaging it!

[Guest bkelm18]

Once again, I began shooting revolvers in 1981 while I was stationed in Warner Robbins Georgia. I also started reloading and bullet casting to save money. A friend and I would load up about 500 rounds of hot 38's(we were poor Airman) and head to the sand pits on Saturdays. I have put 500+ rounds of dirty, lead bulleted loads using military brass(got it free) and Unique, many, many times. I had a SW 28 most of the time, he had a Colt Python and Trooper. We would shoot those things till they were grease covered messes and never had a malfunction. I would be happy to take my 686/GP100/19/66/28, etc through a 500+ round day of any of shooting with factory level ammo. Since I have never had a breakage in 30 years, I think I am pretty safe.

As to the 200 to a 1000 round auto break in period....forget that. I don't have the patience or the wallet for that much non-sense. Buy a new car and tell the customer, "Oh, it will fail to start, stop in the middle of the road for the first 500 miles, etc", or work those doors, trunk lid, hood, until they stop squeaking and popping, put a little lube on them.....Yeah, see how that goes over.

Sorry, I suppose I don't put firearms, revolvers especially, on some magical pedestal. I recognize them as they are. Machines. Anything with moving parts can fail. The more moving parts, the higher the likelihood. A Ferrari is more likely to break than a bicycle, but ask any cyclist and they'll tell you things break. Likewise a revolver isn't some mythical thing that never needs maintenance and never fails. To believe so is utterly silly.

[Patton]

I have several revolvers that I shoot regularly and I ll tell you they all have failed to fire at least one time. Normally its where I short stroke the trigger.

[TNWNGR]

A handgun is a tool, any tool can be missused or abused by neglect, hard use or mishandling. When this occur's something goes wrong with the tool at the worst time possible. Pistol, revolver it doesn't matter they'll both go down on you. Some of you fellow's don't sound like you've ever had an empty cartridge case lock up your cylinder ejector by getting trapped under it. How about a a stuck case in the cylinder chamber the cylinder ejector star jumps over during the cylinder dump? I can keep on naming them and everyone of them has happened to me. But, I can name a as many or more things that can and will go wrong with a pistol and most of them have happened to me as well. Train often, do malfunction drills and expect something to go tango uniform with your gear.

[JAB]

To me, the reason I think of a revolver as 'more reliable' is because no one ever talks about how you have to be careful not to limpwrist one, how one gets jammed with empty brass due to firing it at an odd angle or how a revolver went out of battery at the worst, possible moment. From a self defense point of view, I'm not that worried what might happen at the range after 1000 rounds, etc. If I am in a gun battle where I have to fire 500 to 1000 consecutive rounds from my carry weapon then I'm pretty screwed, anyhow, because I'm not going to have 500 to 1000 rounds on me. That is why, with a carry gun, I'm more concerned about getting that second (and third, if needed) shot off if the first fails to stop an assailant and I am shooting one-handed at contact distance and an odd angle while trying to keep from getting stabbed. I am also more concerned about the effort required to get past a 'bad' round in such a situation (having to ask my would-be murderer to hang on just a sec while I do a tap/rack or mag change vs. simply pulling the trigger, again.) Yes, all firearms are machines and any machine can break down. In the previously mentioned scenarios, however, I have more faith that a revolver will get off the five or six shots that seems more likely to be needed in an SD shooting situation. Of course, that is largely a personal thing as in why I generally prefer revolvers, not a universal statement that revolvers are simply 'better'.

That doesn't mean I don't like semiautos. I do and I carry them, sometimes. It just means if I am carrying a semiauto as primary I will probably have a revolver, even if it is just an NAA mini, as a get-off-me BUG just in case.

Edited November 14, 2011 by JAB

[Mike]

I'm not that worried what might happen at the range after 1000 rounds, etc. If I am in a gun battle where I have to fire 500 to 1000 consecutive rounds from my carry weapon then I'm pretty screwed, anyhow, because I'm not going to have 500 to 1000 rounds on me.

The round count is not significant. It's bringing in the law of averages. If you only go shoot 12-24 rounds at a time, odds are you will never have a problem. When you go shoot 500-1000 rounds, especially in a class that has you doing wierd stuff with the gun, I.e. not standing in a line at 10 yards shooting with correct form the whole time, stuff happens. Unburnt powder gets under the extractor, shells get hung up during the reload, you put in a cartridge with a high primer and the cylinder locks up, or you drop things. Any manner of malfunctions can occur.

The number 500-1000 round is not meant to invoke that the revolver can withstand some form of firing schedule. It is a means to see how much you can mess up and do things wrong. It is building in opportunities for malfunctions. I am disappointed when I go to a class and don't get a single malfunction. The more practice i get with them the quicker they seem to go away.

Someone said above that they didn't want a gun with so many moving parts like a semi auto. Semi's have less moving parts than even the simplest revolvers. They aren't timed like a Swiss watch and when they do malfunction they are exponentially easier to clear.

Bottom line, I am not trying to steer anyone away from revolvers towards semi autos. I am just saying that you should train with what you carry, regardless of what it is. Stuff happens, machines break, and people make mistakes. Go find out what to do when this stuff occurs BEFORE you have to do it for real.

Mike

[Tennjed]

i started this thread more in good humor pointing out that it SEEMS like the first thing mentioned on gun forum auto threads is reliability. . . . Thats not the first thing mentioned when talking revolvers. . Take that for what it is just an observation

But i honestly probably started the thread because my wallet is trying to talk me out of my recent semiauto kick. But i do think there is one thing that is undisitputable.

Chasing brass is much easier in revolvers

Edited November 15, 2011 by Tennjed

[TNWNGR]

Tennjed, I think this was a great thread to have started and you couldn't have picked one more important. Topic's like this bring out the best in a forum and people will participate in them. I agree that a S/A revolver or good DA/SA can be fun to shoot and a lot less trouble to keep up with the brass as well. 0-)

[glockster157]

I have several revolvers that I shoot regularly and I ll tell you they all have failed to fire at least one time. Normally its where I short stroke the trigger.

How to you short stroke a revolver trigger? Regardless, this does prove a major point and a major difference in revolver verses pistol. A revolver has multiple chambers, a pistol only one. If a revolver does misfire, pull the trigger again. No tap-rack-bang drills. As to those that have had revolver breakages, they are the exception, not the rule. Most bad revolvers I have seen over the years have come from home gunsmithing. I have seen bad revolvers out of the box from the factory. I cannot recall a revolver breaking in my hands while I was shooting it, that includes ejecting....and as a reloader and caster, I have shot a lot in all calibers. I have had a few things go wrong with my reloads early on while i was learning that caused some sticky ejection, but all I had to to was tap the rod against the table. Never let that happen again. I have never had a rimmed case jump the extractor star.

[Mike]

You can short stroke a revolver by not letting the trigger out fully before squeezing again.

Chasing brass is much easier in revolvers

Got me there.

Mike

[gregintenn]

By high round counts I mean over 500rds in a day of training. Not overall.

So 500 rounds in one day is harder an a revolver than 500 round over a period of time?

[I_Like_Pie]

I have a single six and bearcat revolver as beater pistols....both with untold tens of thousands (yes tens) of dirty, crappy ammo though them and they have been beat up, ridden hard and cleaned only with wipedowns. One of them was used as a hammer by the person carrying it at the time. No kidding there is so much crud on one of them that it looked like I scraped the bottom of a grill with it.

They haven't even thought of malfunctioning yet. I could say the very same thing about any other of the heard of revolvers in my safe if I ever chose to abuse them.

Just as the failures of semi-autos are overblown. Unless you are shooting a crappy revolver - they hardly, if ever fail....ever