Yeah, the very attributes that make the little 5-shot snubs, especially the lightweight ones, so handy also tends to make them difficult for folks to shoot.
In the days when a lot of the firearms trainers carried snub revolvers in their pockets, they also acknowledged that the little snubs were more 'experts' guns, than guns for the beginner, or even many 'average' shooters. Not all full-size revolver shooters could handle the littler snubs with the same skill and aplomb.
Nowadays we're starting to see that the littlest of new diminutive pistols have caused many 'average' shooters to realize that stuffing duty calibers in such little packages comes with a cost, meaning increased recoil and controllability issues. The wheel remains round.
Littler guns, whether revolvers or pistols, tend to demand more of the shooter. Water's still wet in normal temperature ranges.
A well-built revolver or pistol can be reliable, although both designs can be susceptible to various shooter, ammunition and environmental-related issues. As an armorer, I'd much rather repair some of the common pistols than a S&W revolver, although the newer Model S&W's are a lot easier to repair and correct than the older ones, before the days of CNC and MIM allowed for tighter tolerances. The hammer sear in a new S&W, according to what they told us in the armorer class, typically drops into revolvers without any fitting (beyond the original factory cut) 90% of the time. Replacing an older machined hammer sear is more work, often requiring hand-fitting of 3 surfaces on the sear.
Cutting the extractor ratchet points is easier nowadays, too, using the factory-supplied hand-cutting tool. Especially since the new style extractors use the shape of the extractor recess cuts, and cases in the charge holes, to maintain proper alignment. I just realized I have a couple pics of a couple tools, for cutting J-frame extractors. The few extractors I've cut haven't required further hand-filing/fitting beyond using the hand cutting tool in the specific gun.
It used to require 7 different machines during revolver production to make each of the older machined hammers, and now they pop out of the MIM molds and are made to much more exacting in tolerances.
I've listened to some guys who used to work in S&W revolver production and repair discuss the differences between the older and new model revolvers.
Now, if only the human factor could be kept within such exacting tolerances during assembly and inspection. It's still annoying to see some QC issues slip out the door that ought to have been caught and corrected during production. Well, when you no longer need machinists working on the guns, and you get more parts replacement people, that may happen, I suppose. It certainly does with the parts-is-parts pistols now and again.
, touching gas pumps, door handles, shopping carts)
(who is pulling the trigger effects speed of incapacitation):
