Are revolvers better?

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I wish I could pull up the video (I am computer illiterate, sorry) of the encounter with the Arkansas Sheriff ( God Bless Him and grateful for his service) and the DACA Immigrant he pulled over.

Best I can recollect- about 53 shots fired within 10 to 15 yards & it appears zero hits. 7 shots or 17 shots didn’t seem to matter.
 
I have both, fire both, and feel comfortable with both.

If I am going to take an aimed shot at 50 yards, give me a revolver in an appropriate cartridge where I can fire single action. If I want to be able to put a lot of lead on target in a hurry and reload fast, then a semi-auto. If you have someone else with you that has little or no experience with a firearm, a revolver can arm them while most could not operate a semi-auto nearly as well. Most revolvers don't care about the profile of the bullets you shoot, semis can and do. And so on. If you like a revolver and worry about needing a reload, simply carry two (Mas Ayoob called this the New York reload courtesy of the late great Jim Cirrillo-NYPD Stakeout squad hero). If you like a semi auto, then get that. Your tool should fit whatever circumstances that you feel is necessary in your personal security planning.

Course, if you like black powder, you are pretty much stuck with revolvers.
 
I have a fair number of both SA's and revolvers. I like quality firearms regardless. I favor big bore revolvers for sheer fun. For smaller stuff I enjoy the SA's. It's a toss up for me. Neither is "better" by any definition I would embrace.
 
Six pages, zero consensus. Wonder how the opinions break down as far a generations go? Those who favor revolvers ... I'd suggest ... are probably over sixty years old.

Those who've actually been shot at will favor semi-autos ... at least in my experience.

But I still own, shoot regularly, and love, revolvers; blue steel and walnut, babeee! (picture Dick Vitale here if he would talk about guns instead of college hoops).
 
Agree with you Old Dog, I'm still in my 30s, getting to close to 40s. I've got my semis ready if I ever do need them but revolver will always be my favorite and my first choice. Efficient enough for 99.9999% of the time given the very minute chance of every needing to fire a shot in SD. If I'm heading into war, no handgun is sufficient. Gonna have my AR on me. If I'm down to just a handgun then I'm in big doodoo and the fight has been lost.
 
Yeah mid 40's here and as I said earlier in the thread I started shooting a revolver in competition in 2007 and spent late-2013 thru early 2018 doing everything with a revolver. If I needed a handgun for an activity I only used a revolver for CCW, woods-carry, hunting, and lots and lot of rounds down range in competition (IDPA & USPSA, including a trip to the USPSA Revolver National Match). I love revolvers, especially moonclip fed S&W revolvers. I am comfortable employing them in just about any application I, as a civilian, would use a handgun for including defense of my own life and those I care for. That said I am not unfamiliar with semi-autos. I bought my first semi-auto center-fire handgun in 2004, started USPSA competition in 2005 with a semi-auto shooting Production and Limited-10. I am returning to a semi-autos now as I have moved from Revolver to Limited for my primary USPSA competition rig. Before my single minded foray into Revolvers I also CCW, woods-carried and even hunted with a semi-auto handgun. But... I don't think I will every wholly leave revolvers now as I do so thoroughly enjoy them, especially shooting practical pistol sports with them, as I like to be the underdog.

Despite that dedication to and love of the modern double action revolver I am not so foolish as to think they are better than a semi-autos for any but a few specialty applications. The revolver can certainly be sufficient for nearly any handgun applications but that in no way means it is best. IMHO if you take a step back and objectively look at all the evidence, the sales numbers, competition participation numbers, training focus, ease of training, and employment by LEO and military numbers all point to the semi-auto being better for most users in most applications.

"Your father's lightsaber Revolver. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster semi-auto. An elegant weapon... for a more civilized age."
— Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars A New Hope

"Take a blaster semi-auto Tanya", said Schneider without looking up from his own preparation. "More chance you will hit something with it anyway. Slug throwers Revolvers are for fashion victims."
— Schneider, Broken Angle by Richard K Morgan.


Minor edits to two favorite quotes of mine by yours truly :p
 
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Six pages, zero consensus. Wonder how the opinions break down as far a generations go? Those who favor revolvers ... I'd suggest ... are probably over sixty years old.

Those who've actually been shot at will favor semi-autos ... at least in my experience.

But I still own, shoot regularly, and love, revolvers; blue steel and walnut, babeee! (picture Dick Vitale here if he would talk about guns instead of college hoops).
Those who've actually been shot at will favor semi-autos
When you have a lot of something you waist it, when have less of something you don't.
For military and police the ability to lay down suppressive fire is important, as a regular Joe with a CCW I prefer what works best for me and round count is not a big factor. For a conceal carry weapon I use a 5 shot J frame or a 8+1 Makarov, both are reliable but if I had to make the million dollar shot I would choose the S&W M 36
 
Anyone ever had a revolver jam? I have. When a revolver decides not to lock up, it usually isn't a quick fix. You can get a jammed auto back into service much quicker.
 
Anyone ever had a revolver jam? I have. When a revolver decides not to lock up, it usually isn't a quick fix. You can get a jammed auto back into service much quicker.
Over the years, Ive had pretty much every kind of revolver stoppage you can think of, right down to having the cylinder fall off the gun during a reload, and none of them were fun. Nor were they something you were going to fix in the moment.

The majority of those stoppages can be mitigated with a little Loctite and knowing that they can happen. Not much you can do about things like jumped crimps. Sucks to be you if it happens.

Knowing to reload the revolvers aggressively and "muzzle up" and let the brass fall, helps eliminate the crap under the extractor star, and the worry of whats going on with the brass. The only worry there should be the brass going in.

The big advantage to the autos is, any stoppages are usually quickly solved with a TRB, and youre usually right back in business. Truth be told, if youre using good ammo with either, and maintain your guns, its probably pretty much a non-issue either way.


I own and regularly shoot a number of both autos and revolvers. While I normally carry a high cap auto, if all I had was a revolver of decent quality, I wouldn't be too upset. The biggest disadvantage I see to the revolvers is, they run dry WAY to quick. Especially if you train to shoot in bursts.

I shoot all my DA revolvers DAO, and I actually shoot most of them better than most of my autos, from a pure accuracy standpoint. For some reason, most of the revolvers Ive shot, just seem more accurate.

When shooting more reactively, especially from the holster and while moving, I tend to shoot the autos a bit better. The autos tend to "point" better for me too. Not saying that even at my worst, you'd want to be the object of my ire with a revolver though. :D

They may not be as good as the autos, but they certainly aint bad either.
 
"anyone ever have a revolver jam"

Never ever on the first cylinder full. My revolvers arent' worn out or broken. They are clean and lubricated. Unlike an auto which has to empty and reload itself in around five one-hundredths of a second between shots, I load the cylinder on my revolvers at my leisure. The last thing i do after loading the cylinder and closing the action is to ease the hammer back and spin the cylinder to make sure it spins freely. so, no, never had a revolver jam on the first cylinder full, and that is the one I am most concerned about. If you don't maintain your gun, or you dont empty the cylinder muzzle up on reloads, sure you can jam up a revolver on subsequent cylinder fulls.
 
"anyone ever have a revolver jam"

Never ever on the first cylinder full. My revolvers arent' worn out or broken. They are clean and lubricated. Unlike an auto which has to empty and reload itself in around five one-hundredths of a second between shots, I load the cylinder on my revolvers at my leisure. The last thing i do after loading the cylinder and closing the action is to ease the hammer back and spin the cylinder to make sure it spins freely. so, no, never had a revolver jam on the first cylinder full, and that is the one I am most concerned about. If you don't maintain your gun, or you dont empty the cylinder muzzle up on reloads, sure you can jam up a revolver on subsequent cylinder fulls.


I wouldn't count on meticulous care and lubrication preventing a mechanical failure of some kind. Anything mechanical can fail, and revolvers are no exception. Revolver stoppages are certainly less common than automatic stoppages, but its much easier to get an auto back to shooting. I have only had a revolver seize up and stop working about 3 or 4 times in 40 years of shooting, but in every case, I couldn't get it fixed til I got back home to my workshop and tools.
 
Balrog, just curious, how many times were on the first cylinder full? Sure anything can break, including automatics. When autos break parts they often dont work either. I have been shooting for 50 years. I shoot at least 2,000 rounds a month. I have had revolvers break both trigger and hammer pins at different times, but in both cases the guns were still functional, albeit with a stiffer trigger pull. Have had a few bind up, but again never on the first cylinder full.
 
I have a Glock 17 that just passed 140,000 rounds last weekend. In the 9-10 years Ive been shooting it weekly, the only thing to break, were two trigger return springs, one around 90,000, the other around 131,000. Both times, the gun would still function, as long as you held the trigger for reset as you dropped the slide or shot the gun.

Back when they first came out, I had a couple of S&W 940's, and both those guns went back to Smith, within the first 200 rounds of shooting them, and for the same reason, the guns locked up tight. They broke parts internally and had to be disassembled to get the live ammo out of them to send them back.

Anything can break, and at any time. Assuming your revolver is in good shape, there is always that "jumped crimp" that can ruin your day, and that can happen at any time, the first cylinder, last cylinder, whatever. Ammo can be an issue with autos too, but generally, doesnt tie or lock up the gun when it happens.

With any of them, its best to know what "can" happen, and be well practiced at what you need to do to make it right in the moment, or in the case of most revolver malfunctions, be ready to switch to a backup.
 
AK103K makes outstanding points. You definitely need to be aware of all that can go wrong. If you stay away from shooting rimless cartridges in your revolvers, if you shoot only bullets with cannelures, if you don"t shoot extremely powerful rounds in ridiculously light guns, you won't have problems with jumped crimps. revolvers need rimmed rounds if you want utmost reliability. You can always find a situation that can hose you. For example: a squib load that that lodges a bullet in your barrel is pretty hard to clear with a tap rack. I maintain that well cared for revolver, carefully loaded with appropriate ammo, and checked for a freely spinning cylinder is about the most reliable repeating pistol imaginable for the first cylinder full. I do carry a backup though, just in case. I have owned a pile of autos. was counting up in my mind the other night, no less than 33 different models, including Colt, Browning, Beretta, CZ, Glock, Ruger, Sig Sauer, and Walther just to name a few. Reliabilty wise, some were dismal. some exemplary. Had a Glock 19 that I put 26,000 round through, had to tap the back of the slide to make it go fully into battery twice when it was very dirty from a long day of shooting. Other than that 100%. At one time I was able to shoot .30 splits with maximum winchester 296 loads in a 44 magnum while keeping them all in the A zone at 7 yards. Now age and arthritis have me shooting a 22 only. To me .22 means revolver, so my autos are gone. Still shoot steel challenge a lot with my 22s. Can still shoot high master, low grand master, but have had to put optics on all my guns. Getting old stinks...
 
couldbeanyone, that "Getting old stinks..." could have more to do with any age related divide between autos and revolvers, than many other factors. I think we decide what we are preparing for and limit our choices to what will meet that situation, and then select the tool we like best from that group. My behavior and lifestyle are different from when I was in my 20's. What I prepare for is different as well. Are revolvers better? Sure, I mean if I'm choosing, they can do all the things I want better than automatics. But what I want out of a handgun today is not only different from what someone else might want out of a handgun (I mean, there is a reason law enforcement isn't issuing Model 10's), but what I want from a handgun today is also different from what I wanted 10, 20 or, well what I wanted in the past, back when automatics were better.
 
Balrog, just curious, how many times were on the first cylinder full? Sure anything can break, including automatics. When autos break parts they often dont work either. I have been shooting for 50 years. I shoot at least 2,000 rounds a month. I have had revolvers break both trigger and hammer pins at different times, but in both cases the guns were still functional, albeit with a stiffer trigger pull. Have had a few bind up, but again never on the first cylinder full.


I don't recall when the stoppages would have occurred. May well have not been on the first cylinder. If you shoot 200 rounds through your revolver, there is only one first cylinder of the session. Statistically it would be more likely to be on a cylinder other than the first. But I don't totally understand why that matters... I guess you are saying as long as its not the first cylinder, chances are it wont jam in a self defense situation?
 
IMHO the difference in reliability between a modern quality double-action revolver and a modern quality semi-auto handgun is so small as to be nearly a non-factor is selection of a handgun. Both can and will fail but if properly maintained both are so reliable as to be a non-factor given all the other more important aspects of the comparison.
 
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Crimp jump? While I carry autos because they're light and flat, I've been primarily a revolver shooter since childhood. From .22's to the big bores up to the .500JRH. I don't keep a round count but have a pair of Dillon 650's dedicated to my two favorite revolver cartridges. I have NEVER had an issue with crimp jump. I will occasionally see bullets begin to creep out of their crimp but never enough to become a stoppage. I'm talking about very heavy loads, not your typical self defense load. The bullet has to nearly come all the way out of the case to tie up the gun. You'd have to have one round go for a ride while the other four or five chambers were fired several times for this to even be remotely possible. So I'm going to chalk this up to a BS claim made to discredit revolvers as fighting guns.

IMHO 99.9999% of revolver stoppages are predictable and therefore preventable. In 32yrs of being a revolver junkie, I've only had one revolver break in my hands and not function. It was a US Arms Abilene with a broken transfer bar in the first 50rds of its life. Given proper maintenance and a properly manufactured/functioning firearm, I really don't think there's much of an issue of reliability for either platform.
 
Over the years, Ive had a number of ties ups due to crimp jump, or the bullet moving forward under recoil. All the bullet needs to do, is get past the front of the cylinder just enough that it wont clear the end of the barrel, and your dead in the water.

"Crimp", or proper crimp, also seems to be more of an issue with revolver rounds and problems. Its more of a reloading issue, but its still an issue, and part of the "jump" issue, as well as squibs, or squib related problems. The issues here between revolver and auto are usually just the opposite too.

Another issue Ive had here, that I also believe were due to bad or at least inconsistent crimps, was having the primer ignite on firing, and not igniting the powder charge, yet the power of the primer, was enough to push the bullet into the forcing cone, tieing the gun up, requiring you to have to hammer the bullet back into the case to get the gun open. The powder showed signs of starting to light, but never did.

Now, in the above case, the powder was fresh, as were the loads, and the same powder and primers, were used in both 357MAG and 9mm loads, and all shot on the same day. For some reason, the actual "problem" cases always seem to happen with nickel 357MAG cases, although I have heard and felt the problem with both 38 and 357's in other instances, regardless of brass color, but most still fire. Never been a problem with the auto cases.

Most of the times when I do see the above issue its usually in colder weather, and especially when the rounds have been in the cold for a while. I shot 200 rounds of 38 the other day, when it was in the upper 20's, and had a few "soft" rounds in the lot. They all fired, but you could hear and feel the difference in the rounds when they went off.
 
Over the years, Ive had a number of ties ups due to crimp jump, or the bullet moving forward under recoil. All the bullet needs to do, is get past the front of the cylinder just enough that it wont clear the end of the barrel, and your dead in the water.

"Crimp", or proper crimp, also seems to be more of an issue with revolver rounds and problems. Its more of a reloading issue, but its still an issue, and part of the "jump" issue, as well as squibs, or squib related problems. The issues here between revolver and auto are usually just the opposite too.

Another issue Ive had here, that I also believe were due to bad or at least inconsistent crimps, was having the primer ignite on firing, and not igniting the powder charge, yet the power of the primer, was enough to push the bullet into the forcing cone, tieing the gun up, requiring you to have to hammer the bullet back into the case to get the gun open. The powder showed signs of starting to light, but never did.

Now, in the above case, the powder was fresh, as were the loads, and the same powder and primers, were used in both 357MAG and 9mm loads, and all shot on the same day. For some reason, the actual "problem" cases always seem to happen with nickel 357MAG cases, although I have heard and felt the problem with both 38 and 357's in other instances, regardless of brass color, but most still fire. Never been a problem with the auto cases.

Most of the times when I do see the above issue its usually in colder weather, and especially when the rounds have been in the cold for a while. I shot 200 rounds of 38 the other day, when it was in the upper 20's, and had a few "soft" rounds in the lot. They all fired, but you could hear and feel the difference in the rounds when they went off.

You probably shoot more often than I, but I've not experienced this, and would contact the ammo manufacturer.
 
For me, most of its reloads and brass wearing out and/or nearing failure issue. Not that factory ammo is immune to problems. Most of my function problems with my autos are for the same reason. Great random failure/malfunction practice though.

If you shoot anything enough, you will eventually see the uglier side of things at some point. Just make sure you dont stroke that trigger again on the revolver if something seems "off" on that last shot. ;)

Realistically, I dont think most shoot things enough for most things to be an issue. Assuming a gun of decent quality, lack of maintenance and crappy ammo would probably be the two things that would most likely be the issue.

A few things on a new revolver that need to be addressed are, a "small" drop of LocTite on the ejector rod threads, and side plate screws, especially the one that holds the cylinder in the gun. The strain screw tightened up, if it has one. That right there will stop most problems. Learning to reload the gun properly, and using good ammo, should take care of most of the rest, barring something breaking.

The important thing with whatever you choose is know what it is your using intimately, and what to expect and do, if and when something should go wrong, and how to deal with it. And most importantly, shoot it as realistically as possible, from how you carry it, and do so on a regular basis.

The last thing you want to do if and when the gun stops working is just stand there and look at it. ;)
 
"I guess you are saying as long as its not the first cylinder, chances are it wont jam in a self defense situation?"

Yes, this exactly. Whether its a self defense situation or a charging animal, I want the utmost reliability for the first cylinder or magazine full. I really don't care about the occasional issue if I'm just plinking.
Crimp jump is definitely a real thing. I have experienced it many times in a 9mm Ruger LCR, both with reloads and factory ammo. Taper crimped 9mm doesnt have a whole lot of neck tension. The only way I could stop the crimp jump was to seat the bullets deep enough that I could roll crimp over the ogive of the bu;llet. Needless to say, I have never owned a 9mm revolver for long as it is a problem.

Both revolver guys and auto guys way over state their case in these discussions. The revolver side acts like you can put any crappy untested ammo in a revolver and be good to go. Not true, plenty can go wrong. Any ammo you are going to carry for serious purposes need to be shot extensively and checked for any signs of any bullet movement in your cases. Example : Do multiple 5 shot Bill drills, checking the remaining unfired cartridge in the cylinder for overall length compared to ammo that has never been in the gun. If you will do this and check for a free spinning cylinder after loading the gun for serious purposes, you will be able to rest assured that you don"t have any junk under the star, or any high primers, or that you are going to have a bullet jump crimp.
The auto side likes to act like nothing can go wrong that can't be cured with a tap rap bang. I have on more than one occasion witnessed over diameter cases get lodged in the chamber of an auto preventing it from going fully into battery. I have seen them jammed so tightly the ejecter wouldn"t pull them back out. I have also seen over length cartridges or cartridges with unusual bullet profiles jam the bullet into the back of the rifling causing the gun to not go fully into battery. Often when the action is forced back open, the bullet remains lodged in the back of the rifling when the case was extracted. In both of these cases you are done until you can get a rod to force the bullets back out.
It doesn"t matter if you are shooting an auto or a revolver, you had better be checking the ammo you use for serious purposes. Virtually all of the failures with revolvers and almost all of the failures of autos can be prevented by testing and checking your ammo and firearm, short of a broken part. That being said, I still feel more sure of getting the first 6 rounds out of a revolver than an auto without further gun manipulation, especially at bad breath or contact distances. YMMV
 
As to aging stinks and revolver vs auto choice, yeah it makes a difference. Google Ankylosing Spondylitis. It is a form of hereditary primarily spinal arthritis. During a flare up, any shock to the old skeleton is agony. Shot a 12 gauge a couple of years ago and it didn't hurt my shoulder it hurt my entire skeleton. I also have trouble at times with my hands, although I still have pretty good strength and try to exercise, sudden shocks are not good. So now I shoot only 22s. I don't trust automatics in 22lr, so revolvers only now. I used to go to a steel challenge thinking I had a mighty good chance of winning, I shot autos, easier to shoot well with a 2 pound single action trigger pull. Now, I can't see, I'm stiff and I hurt. I carry a revolver. So now I go to the match to have fun, so I shoot what I carry, A 22 revolver. Still can finish up pretty good, but, no longer think I'm going to win. So, yes, what is important in a gun has changed a bit through the years.....
 
I'm in my early 30s and I came into gun ownership as an adult - I've only owned revolvers. I would never say that they are better than semi-autos, because they aren't, but they're what I like to shoot and reload for. Practicing the various skills involved with revolver shooting, like recoil control with magnums and speedloader drills, is a fun time for me. Also let's be honest, I probably just like them because Indiana Jones carried one in The Last Crusade, which I must have seen a hundred times as a kid:
601px-IJLC-Webley04a.jpg
 
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