CCW: Revolver or Semi-Auto

[xjer]

Ruger SP101 SS 2.25" .357

Mike

 

[tac17]

Glock 19 or 17 depending on how I dress.

 

[355sigfan]

Usually a Semi auto. I do have a Centenial that I use as a deep cover UC gun and as a court and church gun. But if its anything larger than a pocket gun its a semi auto for me. Revolvers will still get the job done but they are generally outclassed in the self defense area by autos.
Pat

 

[mountainclmbr]

Two votes for semi's. I carry a Para Ordnance LDA 12.45 in a Milt Sparks VM-2 IWB or a Kahr MK40 in a Don Hume pocket holster. Many times I have both.

I have been considering getting a 10mm or one of those slick S&W 329PD 44 mags for the fall season when the bears get unruly around here.

 

[ACP]

Always gun -- S&W 642.

Weekend gun -- Colt Combat Commander, S&W 19 (snub), or 686 (4").

But lately I've been wanting to pare things down. I keep re-reading Darren Laur's post here from July 17 "The Anatomy of Fear and How it relates to Survival Skills Training" (I printed it out -- long!). He keeps stressing how combat skills must be gross motor based. To me, that means a pull-and-fire weapon, such as a revolver, a Glock, or a DAO semiautomatic. And I believe the most reliable, powerful, simple, accurate, and rust resistant option is: a 4" K- or L-frame S&W revolver in .357 magnum. FWIW.

 

[ninjaj448]

Charter Undercover in less clothes weather. Beretta 9000S in more clothes weather.

 

[Poohgyrr]

Well, I kinda think of the J frames as "always" pieces. And my favorite is theHi Power in autos, and blued Smith revolvers in real guns ....

And yup. Taffin and those other troublemakers have me dreaming over a certain 38/44 HD redone to .45 Long Colt (or .44 Special) by a certain famous Smith. Or a blued 4" Smith .41 Special.. .......

Then we have Paco and the Lever Rifle crowd causing trouble .....

 

[Schuey2002]

Semi.

Glock 19, but trying out a P7 as I type..

(Sometime in the future a HK P2000 will be inserted in the space above.)

 

[squire]

642 Most of the year.

Winter months K9

 

[Lancel]

Usually a snubnose revolver for CCW. Semi for most other times.

Larry

 

[George Hill]

John Taffin's an SOB aint he? He has me into two wheelguns now!
S&W 66 4" stainless .357 Magnum and a S&W 696 3" stainless .44 Special... but what I am really wanting is a blued .41 Magnum... all because of him!
Dang that guy!

 

[Lancel]

George Hill,
Well at least you can blame Taffin.

I quit using revolvers then fell off the wagon after being tempted by the likes of C.R.Sam, Mike Irwin, Kentucky Rifle, and Tamara.

And they weren't even trying.

Larry

(My name is Larry and I carry a revolver... )

 

[Blackhawk]

Plastic self stuffer.

 

[Border]

342PD. Lightweight. My keys weigh more. Loaded with Federal Hydroshocks. Rather undetectable in an Uncle Mikes. Greater reliability outweighs the advantage of quicker tactical reloads/dropping the magazine, more rounds kinda thing in my opinion. When have you even heard of a private citizen needing to do that?!

 

[355sigfan]

Greater reliability outweighs the advantage of quicker tactical reloads/dropping the magazine, more rounds kinda thing in my opinion.
END

Problem is your assuming revolvers are more reliable than autos and thats simply not the case anymore.
Pat

 

[Tamara]

Problem is your assuming revolvers are more reliable than autos and thats simply not the case anymore.

Problem is, anybody who's fired a significant number of rounds through both systems knows that just ain't so, Pat. You know that as well as I do. Yes, revolvers can and do malf, too, and autos are terrifically reliable these days, with many going thousands of rounds without a hiccup. But how many revolver stoppages, per round fired, have you seen vis a vis auto malfs?

I'll not count the woes I read on the board or hear from customers in the shop, and go with solely personal experiences:

The last revolver malfunction I personally saw was about three years ago, when some warm 240gr loads tied up my Rossi 720. About a year before that, a bent moonclip in my 625 caused the DA pull to be impossibly heavy.

With autos, in the last three years I've seen: A Glock 31 that wouldn't feed from postban mags, a USP9C that jammed on WallyWorld White Box ball, a Delta Elite that didn't like being shot one-handed with target loads, my Pro choke on the last round in the mag because I didn't clean it for a blue million rounds, some Wilson mags with worn springs cause FTF's on the last round in the same gun, a BDM hiccup inexplicably on a round of FMJ, a Detonics that has intermittent FTF problems, and on, and on, and on.


Yes, revolvers can and do malf, but to say that it happens anywhere near as often as a semiauto is just not borne out by experience.

(As far as word of mouth goes: for every revolver brought in the shop for actual mechanical function problems, I'd wager that we see a hundred or more semiautos. On the boards, a quick glance over at the semiauto forum shows "Help!" threads about a SIG P-220, a Walther TPH, a Kimber Ultra CDP, a Taurus PT-92, an HK P7M8, and that's just going by thread titles. How many guys on the revolver forum are complaining about limpwristing, FTF's, double feeds, type three malfs, stovepipes, ammo incompatability, tap-rack-bang drills, et cetera?)

A final note: I am in no way suggesting that a semiauto is not reliable enough for CCW, as there's one on my belt now. But if someone walked into the house right now and said: "If you can have one gun you own fire a full load of ammo with no malfunctions of any type, I'll give you this check for one million dollars," I'd go pick up my Smith Military & Police and start planning on how I was going to spend the money.

 

[VictorLouis]

Mike Irwin, you're SCARING ME!



PAT, it's nice to see you've mellowed in your replies to these sort of posts.

Tamara, what can I say that you haven't already said so well above me? If plagarism were ethical, you'd have that all over the 'net in short order.

 

[buzz_knox]

I figure a bottom feeder is appropriate for a lawyer to carry.

Thanks, C.R. Sam, for the new term.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I'm scaring myself, Victor, but the P7 PSP....

Wow...

 

[355sigfan]

But how many revolver stoppages, per round fired, have you seen vis a vis auto malfs?

I'll not count the woes I read on the board or hear from customers in the shop, and go with solely personal experiences:

END

Taken as a whole I would agree that revolvers tend to be more reliable. But taken on a case by case basis comparing quality autos I stand by my original assessment. I have had revolvers that have never malfunctioned and I have had some that were lemons. Same can be said of my auto's. I have had considerable time on both systems. I respectfully disagree with you on this issue.
Pat

 

[surfinUSA]

Although my primary weapon at work is a SIG 239 in 40 I voted for the revolver because at work I usually carr a Colt DS as a back up and I carry it all the time off duty.

 

[Tamara]

355sigfan,

Taken as a whole I would agree that revolvers tend to be more reliable. ... I respectfully disagree with you on this issue.

Well, which is it? Are they, on average, more reliable, or aren't they?

 

[12 Volt Man]

I voted semi-auto, as right now I do not own a revolver. Not even a Ruger Single Six. Shouldn't everyone have one of those?

 

[355sigfan]

Well, which is it? Are they, on average, more reliable, or aren't they?
END

Like I said as a whole revolvers are a wee bit more reliable because you have guns like Jennings and Lorinc and Highpoint to factor in. But if you only count quality guns like Sig, GLock, HK, Beretta ext for the autos and revolvers like Colt, Ruger, Smith for the Revolvers then they are equal. Fair enough.
Pat

 

[Tamara]

355sigfan,

But if you only count quality guns like Sig, GLock, HK, Beretta

I have had plenty of malfs with Glocks, HK's, SIGs and Berettas in the past three years.

Haven't had a single one with a revolver since November of '00. (...and that was with a Rossi. Haven't had a Colt/Ruger/S&W choke since '99.)

Guess I'm just a big ol' statistical anomaly.