Revolver or Semi-Auto for EDC?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Do you really believe that? No offense but statements like that show some naivete about about stopping power and handgun usage under stress.

Fair enough. Under duress my accuracy may be off the charts. Who knows. So I will give you that. I would like to hope my aim and accuracy wouldn’t suffer to much from duress.

What I do know is that I have shot a coyote from 10 yards with it, and it did major damage and killed the coyote instantly from that distance. That much I do know. My accuracy is almost always usually pretty much right on point.

if I was on Target with a human I am pretty sure it would take most humans down. Of course there’s always exceptions. There have been people who have survived a 45 point blank to the head too. So I will give you that.

There are always exceptions to every rule and very little in the world is ever 100%.
 
There are people, recently (2015) that come to mind that survived (for years) being shot 8 times with a .45 at "point blank" range. There are people that have continued to fight after receiving headshots with a 5.56x45 rifle round. There are people that have famously been shot as many as 12 times with service handgun cartridges and shotgun rounds, and continued to fight and kill multiple others, like Michael Platt. A minature buckshot cartridge from a short barrel is more likely not to immediately incapacitate a person than it is. A hit through the brain or that severs the spinal column are the only hits that would incapacitate them immediately, and buckshot from a short barrel is unlikely to have sufficient penetration to assure either of those. Jack Twinning was shot in the forehead with a 00 buck pellet and it made him "mad as hell." He killed highway patrolman George Michael Alleyn afterward and went on to take hostages and more. Even a shot through the heart won't necessarily stop a killer for many seconds, possibly even more than a minute. They can fight and kill many in just a few seconds.
 
In regards to the OP's question I usually carry a semi-auto. Yes, it usually has a black plastic frame. I generally carry either a M&P 2.0 40 Compact with a 4" barrel or a Kahr CM9. 99% of the time it is the M&P. I do own one revolver it is an old Dan Wesson .357. It has been a while but I have carried it while deer hunting (I was hunting with a rifle). The Dan Wesson revolver & my Ruger SR 1911 are probably my nicest handguns. The black plastic striker fired pistols are smaller, lighter, easier to conceal & work well. Not criticizing anyone else's choice but personally I don't like snub nosed revolvers. They aren't for me.
 
Ok. Last week it was Smith 986 P.C. snubby. Before that Dan Wesson Guardian 45. Today and for awhile to come EDC is Colt Night Cobra....

Whichever gun is on my hip is the gun I shoot at the range four or five times a week.

I like variety. And I like to shoot.

For me, it is not an either/or choice.

BOARHUNTER
 
I carry a revolver everyday because I shoot them well and I just like them. I have all sizes and decide which I will carry depending on weather, where I’m going or just because but always a revolver. I own semi’s but just like the versatility of revolvers. Yes I am old.
 
For belt carry, I prefer semi-autos.

For pocket carry, it's a j frame for me. The rounded shape of the cylinder prints less in MY pocket.
 
For pocket size, I like revolvers. I’ve had reliability issues with micro semi autos. Sometimes it’s caused by me being unable to get a good solid grip on the small frame. Any semiauto the size of a S&W Shield or larger have had no problems with reliability though.
 
Ok. Last week it was Smith 986 P.C. snubby. Before that Dan Wesson Guardian 45. Today and for awhile to come EDC is Colt Night Cobra....

Whichever gun is on my hip is the gun I shoot at the range four or five times a week.

I like variety. And I like to shoot.

For me, it is not an either/or choice.

BOARHUNTER
Do you wear the Colt Night Cobra iwb or owb?
 
If I were to begin again, I would start with a large, duty-size gun (revolver or semi-automatic). Then I would train (in classes with a trainer) and practice. If I were ever to be in a situation where I needed to use a firearm to fight, I would not regret those choices.

Reading the guns you've listed as owned or considered, my advice is to sell them all and follow what I've written above. I'm not trying to shame you or intimidate you or anything. It's just my informed opinion. Gunfighting is something that the overwhelming majority of people come into in uninformed ignorance. There's vast amounts of opinion formed with very unrealistic expectations. Even a person with experience in numerous gunfights cannot tell you what yours will be like. Presuming it will be so fortunate for you that minimal tools will serve all your interests best is only undertaken at grave risk. On the other hand, it is perfectly sensible to equip yourself with a standard/normal duty/service weapon or two. And training (with a trainer) using this equipment will result in a better experience. Just go to one class with one of the junk guns you mentioned like the S&W 642, Beretta Puma, G2C, the 856, or the pocket .380 you mentioned, and you will quickly see what a disadvantage you will be at. I'm pretty sure they would not even let you take Gunsite 250 with any of those guns because they know enough to protect their students interests even if the students would otherwise be ignorant. If a wise person wouldn't waste their money on a weeklong class with such a gun, why would a wise person carry one for when it really counts?
Thanks for your advice, labnoti. I appreciate it. I will keep the guns I have and probably buy more along the way. I really do think I will go with a snubbie for edc and I meant it when I said that I think the Sig P365 is beautiful. I am going to shoot one first chance I get. These days, I seem to change my mind about guns the way I do about purses. I don't want a large, duty-size gun and I don't want to be in a gunfight. I just want something for protection when I am out and about, running in city parks or hiking in the mountains or alone on an extended road trip, etc... Again, thanks.
 
At work, I carry a North American Arms Sidewinder .22 mag in my pocket. Anything larger just is not practical in my work environment.

When not working, I generally carry some sort of semi auto in an OWB holster. Usually it's a Taurus TCP .380 or Ruger SR1911 in .45 acp. But the Sidewinder stays in my pocket as well.
 
I pocket carry a S&W stainless Centennial .38 Spl.
Five shots and it can be shot right through a coat pocket.
That's a comfort if there is no time to draw or if I find myself in a dangerous area I can have in my hand without brandishing.
 
I have almost no experience with revolvers. I've never carried anything but a semiautomatic. Currently the gun I carry the most is a Glock 26. When I'm not carrying that it's a Glock 19.
 
I will have to search for it again, but here is another study about caliber with similar statistics.



That's not a study that's a YouTube video.

The reason that I'm so picky about that is because the FBI doesn't track civilian self-defense shootings. They never wrote a paper on it, they never submitted any statistics about it.

Nobody's really sat down and collated all that data.

Tom Givens has kept track of his students who have been involved in self-defense shootings and he recommends 5 rounds per bad guy but even his data set is a really small sample.

ETA I went and watched the video. I have a lot of respect for Greg Ellefritz and I trust the data that was presented but I'm not seeing anything in there that says three shots is the average.
 
Last edited:
I just recently started to carry a revolver the 686+ Smith & Wesson. I just fell in love with the revolver and cheated on my full size 1911 I was very familiar with since my early days in the military. No reason really, I love guns and own several so whatever my whimsical nature points me too is what I will carry.
 
For your EDC why did you choose a Revolver or Semi-Auto, or do you rotate between the two?
I choose the one appropriate to the situation. Wearing a suit? My S&W Shield rides on the belt, under the jacket. Cargo pants on the weekend? LCR in the pocket.
 
I had carried a Ruger LCR .357 for the past year mainly because of its light (17 oz unloaded) weight but just got a Sig P365 and I knew I wanted one of those since my brother showed me his last April. It is only an ounce or so heavier but packs 11 rounds of 9mm without reloading, lays a bit flatter and draws from my pocket holster more smoothly. I am a decades long fan of the wheel gun but these new generation sub-compact 9's make a compelling argument to switch to them.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top