[WayneS]

I have a “basic” firearms question:

Can you or someone else please explain why G. Gordon Liddy and some others are so adamant about NOT using the term “pistol” to describe a revolver? GGL insists that “pistol” is accurate for semi-autos, but that a revolver is not a pistol. I realize revolver is the more precise term for that type of weapon, but isn’t “pistol” a technically correct term for them as well?

I know the term “pistol” has been around since WAY before the invention of the semi-auto handgun, so it certainly didn’t come about as a way to describe that type of weapon. For instance, braces of “matched dueling PISTOLS” have been available since the late 1500s +/-. These usually consisted of a very nice, possibly ornate, presentation box containing an identical pair of handguns in a type/style that were in general usage at the time of their construction: flint lock, cap and ball single shot, cap and ball revolver, cartridge revolver, etc. I have NEVER heard anyone refer to a pair of “matched dueling revolvers”. And yet, I once heard Mr. Liddy get quite agitated (polite, but agitated nevertheless) when a caller to his radio show referred to a S&W .357 magnum as a “pistol”.

So, when did this differentiation between “pistol” and “revolver” come into usage, and does it REALLY matter? Thanks.

[Dead Corpse]

Maybe Mr. Liddy can explain to us why Saint John Browning called his new .45 cartridge a “Automatic Colt Pistol”/ACP cartridge?

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"For instance, braces of “matched dueling PISTOLS” have been available since the late 1500s"

Yes, you are correct. The revolver is a cylinder fired handgun that was invented by Sam Colt. He got the idea from his sailing days. The ships wheel became the cylinder for his revolver. I believe the first one he invented was the 1836 patterson (built in New Jersey) revolver. If you had one, it would be worth a mint.

[Disambiguator]

So, when did this differentiation between “pistol” and “revolver” come into usage, and does it REALLY matter? Thanks.

It's not a critical difference, but if you're around people that are sticklers for technical accuracy, it helps to differentiate between them.

The term "handguns" can be used to refer to revolvers and semi-auto pistols in the aggregate, but when referring to them individually, I like to used the proper terms. I even go so far as to specify DA or SA when talking about revolvers.

[TheOldLady]

Um... I’m not sure, but wouldn’t a revolver be one that has a revolving mechanism to present the cartridge to the firing pin and barrel? Then everything else would be a pistol? Dueling pistols were just one shot, right?

[Petruchio]

The way I have always thought of it is a revolver has multiple chambers on a revolving cylinder. A Pistol has only one chamber, period.

[El Gato]

I have NEVER heard anyone refer to a pair of “matched dueling revolvers”.

Maybe because they were not revolvers. They were generally single shot muzzle loaders, with various sorts of "locks". Wheelock, flintlock, caplock, and the earliest ones were probably matchlocks. Doom on he whose "match" goes out. :)

Wheelock

Flintlock.

Caplock

Last two are non-firing replicas.

[smokingfrog]

Pistol = A handgun whose chamber is integral with the barrel. (a revolver has multiple chambers)