I'm pushing 50, and have ditched all of my semi-autos in favor of wheel guns. I have to admit that some of the older semi-auto designs, like the 1911, the Hi-Power, and the PPK still appeal to me in a modest way. I much prefer revolvers, but for me it is less a question of revolver vs semi-auto and more a question of old-school design/quality and new-school mass-production and hi tech materials.
If you pick up a ginsu knife, and a Henckel, you can tell the difference immediately. They both cut well, and will both serve the purpose, but so will Rachel Welch and Rosanne Bar. Both female, but you get the picture. I collected swords and knives for many years and it isn't difficult to learn the feel of good quality steel over cheap stuff. It looks and feels different. I admit that many of the newer semi-autos like Glocks, Sigs, and XD's are reliable, accurate, sericeable handguns, but they do not come across as a piece of mechanical artwork in the way a Smith 38-44HD or a Browning Hi-Power does.
The older design semi-autos, like revolvers, feel like they belong to a better time, when police officers were "peace officers" not storm-troopers (no offense to you police officers out there), and you didn't require sixty rounds of ammo just to feel adequately protected on the street. A time when Colt could put exquisite hand-fitting and tuning into it's revolvers and still afford to pay American labor to do the work. A time when things were designed to last a long time and then be repaired so they could keep on being used.
Polymer frames feel disposable. I know they work great and last a long time, but where I come from plastic is for wrapping the actual product, not making the product, unless it is intended to be disposable. I would never want to leave a glock to my son, or grandson. I don't prefer revolvers because I think autoloaders don't work well. I prefer them because them feel more substantial and mechanically elegant to me. They are predictable, methodical, and efficient. They feel like they come from a more sane, slower-paced time.
Sorry to ramble. Just trying to articulate a feeling that is hard to quantify. I'm glad more folks like semi-autos. That leaves the more older revolvers for geezers like myself to buy and cherish.
but sometimes one can handle it, and he usually wants to buy it....but this gun is not for sale, and never will be; this gun has been on the bottom of the Conasauga River three times and I was attatched to it all three times, it has fallen out of treestands, fell off the tailgate of the truck while I was driving, rode to McDonalds on the top of the truck, stolen from me while I was in Utah, only to be returned to me six months later in Georgia. My wife bought this gun for me seventeen years ago, and it is special, it is accurate, and it is mine. I have a Glock, I have had the SA's, I have owned the Smith autos too, but they have not the character of a wheel gun. This is a true representative of everything a revolver should be. I like the autos, but I will keep my old shcool cause it always work...go bang everytime, never jam, and goes where I point.
