Are revolvers ideal or out-dated for personal defense? Not many gun enthusiasts debate this, they rather speak of comparison between 9mm vs .45 but its still worth a discussion. Posted on 07/16/2020 7:32:42 AM PDT by w1n1
Are revolvers ideal or out-dated for personal defense? Not many gun enthusiasts debate this, they rather speak of comparison between 9mm vs .45 but its still worth a discussion.
Chris Baker from Lucky Gunner asked that question a while back and came up with some really good points about revolvers while attending a defensive revolver training class.
The class was conducted by Darryl Bolke and Wayne Dobbs of Hardwired Tactical. Other instructors to help lighten the teaching load were Chuck Haggard and Claude Werner. Each instructors taught different topics related to the defensive use of revolvers.
Some of the sentiments were:
“…the guys at the revolver roundup came across as being a lot more pro-revolver.
The prevailing sentiment…was that the revolver are kind of like the every man gun.
It should be the go-to firearm for the average civilian who wants something for personal protection and semi-autos are probably best reserved for more dedicated shooters.
People who say revolvers never malfunction never shoot their revolvers.
These perspectives might seem pretty incompatible on the surface, but I think there's a lot of merit to both of them.
-this paradox of how revolvers can be seriously flawed but also maybe the ideal self-defense tool for most people.
-He is quick to point out, however, that the revolver is not without its flaws.
-It never ceases to amaze me just how many people are under the impression that revolvers are incapable of malfunctioning.
The fact of the matter is that even though revolvers can be very reliable, they’re also prone to some pretty serious issues that don’t affect semi-autos. Just in the past year, had I’ve had plenty of revolvers malfunction on me and I’ve also seen people on the range have problems, too.
Problems like…
A frozen cylinder from debris under the extractor star or from out of spec primers.
An extractor rod backing itself out preventing the cylinder from opening.
Multiple light primer strikes...Read the rest of revolvers perfect or outdated.
Revolvers belong in a museum, not on your hip.
95% of gun fights occur within 8 feet.
You can fire it in your pocket, or a purse.
Let me put it this way: I’ve never known someone to take a revolver to the range and shoot 200 rounds thru it “to see if it works”! There ARE ways a revolver can jam, mostly due to bad ammo or lots of dirt. I had a 22 whose barrel/cylinder gap was only 0.00 inches...it jammed until I filed it out to 0.005 inches. Apart from that, I’ve had two jams with revolvers. One was purchased reloads with ammo out of spec, and one was after spending a few hours in a BRUTAL sandstorm. The latter was fixed with one spray of solvent.
Depending on where I am going, I carry an LCP, an EC-9 or a S&W Model 60. On RARE occasions, I carry a Beretta 92. The J-frame is probably my carry 50% of the time.
But if anyone prefers to carry something else, have at it!
Surprised you even needed a gun. You should have just marched in and strangled every intruder with your bare hands while chugging a handle of whiskey.
Personally, I favor being smart staying alive over trying to show the world how much of a man I am. But to each his own.
Yet more proof that your caliber of choice should start with a 4..
I have this old revolver that I bought new in the 80s. The last time I fired it, something in the mechanism gummed up and you can't shoot it single or double action. My Glock 23, on the other hand, has never malfunctioned. Even if that revolver still worked, six shots and I'm out of the fight. No way I'd ever be able to reload before the fight is over. So if I was dealing with multiple assailants, which is not an unlikely scenario today, I'd be dead. With my Glock 23, I have 14 rounds before I need to reload. And reloading takes a second or two, so getting back in the fight is pretty much assured. I carry two spare magazines, so I have 40 rounds, rather than six rounds. I like those odds much better.
It is a new world. Today's public threat is nothing like those faced by our fathers and grandfathers.
For me, the decision is always based on what is more effectively concealed. That is usually a climate/wardrobe issue. Otherwise it is a environment issue with appropriate wardrobe.
As the FReeper upthread stated, sometimes one wants a manual transmission and other times an automatic transmission.
“Talk about someone who doesn’t understand the modern SD landscape.”
It depends on where you live! You’d be surprised at how few thug gangs hang out at the tack & feed store at 10 AM on Saturday. And if I walk the streets at night where I live, I’m more likely to meet a rattlesnake than a human of any kind.
ANTIFA? Not where I live!
I find the idea of carrying a full sized weapon with 3-4 extra magazines pretty ridiculous.
You beat me to it.
As far as the other Revolver, it’s always good to be armed and ready, whether the danger is Here, There, or Everywhere!
I had one and want another. Problem is the $1,500 price tag.
I like revolvers as a carry gun only. I can carry it in my pocket holster and safely draw and fire it with one hand. In the home, I think people need something with higher capacity.
“as could happen if someone grabs your cylinder”
At that range, I’ll STAB them!
Yep as long as it isn’t cocked this is the simplest of all guns to take away from someone in a CQC situation.
A must learn for accuracy in double action revolver shooting is gathering up the trigger. Hammer stop drills are excellent dry fire practice...knowing the clicks.
Forensics can Easily determine, whether you cocked the hammer manually as single action, or fired double action, by the impression left upon the primer, as one method strikes deeper than the other. This leads to a DA understanding more details in a shooting. Cocking the hammer shows premeditated action.
Just so you know.
In self defence, best to use double action only.
Also...on many semi auto pistols, just pushing the slide back a 1/4” will prevent it from firing. DANGEROUS move in a takeaway though.
Statistics can say anything you want them to depending on how you slice the data. I'd be curious to know what metric they used to say 'most effective' as 'effective' is not very specific.
My understanding is that the .357 was initially found to be more 'effective' than the .45 by revenuers during prohibition as a means of stopping bootleggers running in cars that, at the time, had doors that the (heavy but slow) .45 didn't penetrate well. The .357 seemed to solve that problem. Now whether the .357 was designed for this purpose or was just developed about the same time I am not sure of.
As to most 'effective' man killer, well, you have to look at the big picture. It would be more effective since the .357 revolver had only six rounds and the average police gun fight was 5-6 rounds when police all carried service revolvers. Today when most police are carrying 15+ rounds in a Glock, the average police gun fight is 15 rounds, or so I am told by Officers I know. Does more rounds for same number of corpses mean its less effective or that the officer had more rounds to stop the threat? So it is hard to say the .357 is a better killer since the shooting habits are different given the change in capacity of the modern handgun.
For the overwhelming vast majority of the citizenry that is probably true.
Interesting about the forensics of SA and DA. Though I dont think anyone is going to have a problem with a family person in a bed room having cocked a hammer in preparation for a perp breaking down the door.
“Cocking the hammer shows premeditated action.”
So does pulling the trigger....and I cock a revolver as I raise it to shoot. Very long habit pattern.
The only time in my life I needed a gun for self-defense was when I had a 22 revolver with me. There were more of them than I had bullets. But they didn’t seem interested in the caliber of my gun. And I KNEW, if I raised the gun, at least one guy was going to get a 22 bullet up the nose.
No one volunteered to be first and I left in one piece, no shots fired. But if they had rushed me? I could have had a Super Glock 57-shot and there wouldn’t have been TIME to get more than 2 shots off.
I carry so that if I go to meet Jesus that day, I’ll be taking someone along with me....
In a stand off, cocking the hammer can be interpreted as threatening behavior. In the spirit of “EVERYTHING you say WILL be used against you and NOTHING you say will be used FOR you”
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