My $ .02 on revolver ccw

[Handyman]

I've heard all the talk about what's best , higher round capacity for semi auto's or goes " bang " every time for revolvers . I have a Ruger SP101 for a ccw . Lately I've been considering getting a 45 acp semi auto for a ccw . But last night I was watching one of those cop video shows . What happened convinced me that the choice I made to carry a revolver was the right choice .
The cop and the bad guy were wrestling on the ground . The bad guy managed to take the cops gun away from him . The BG pointed the gun at the cop , who was on the ground , and pulled the trigger . Fortunately for the cop , the SEMI AUTO JAMBED . The police dog that was with the cop attacked the BG [ good dog ! ] and gave the cop time to draw his backup REVOLVER before the scumbag got the gun to fire . The cop shot and killed the badguy .
I still might get the 45 acp , just because I want one

I was just thinking , if the cops primary weapon was a revolver then he , and probably the dog , would have been shot . I guess I should have thought about this more before posting . I suppose this is more about carrying a BUG .

 

[goalie]

As a general rule, I would not make firearms decisions based upon anything I see on TV.

 

[DougW]

I am afraid that my Glock 19 is a little too reliable for that cop show.

 

[sacp81170a]

I think what probably happened was that the BG put the semi against some portion of the cop's body and pulled the trigger. If a semi is out of battery, it won't fire(unless something's wrong with it). A revolver is never out of battery and therefore doesn't suffer from this problem at contact distances. Just another thing to consider.

 

[Spot77]

Gun wasn't chambered perhaps?

 

[orionengnr]

On the other hand, if the BG (or GG!) can stop the cylinder from turning, then the outcome is the same....

 

[Ric]

I would like to think that the cop got to the magazine release and dropped the mag, having a magazine disconnect the gun wouldn't fire. (I would really like to think that)
the thing that gets me to carry a revolver more than my auto is the idea of a "belly gun" having 5 or 6 shots with a revolver or maybe a single shot auto.

 

[JMusic]

I have shot them both and carried them both (Semi auto/ revolver) and frankly I see NO difference in reliability. You have a good revolver if you like it use it. I don't watch cop shows there is about as much realism in them as there is in a presidential debate.

Jim

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

Was the "cop video" real footage, or a reenactment?

The auto pistol is far more sensitive to how it is held than a revolver is. This is undeniable. If the bad guy was in a weird position when he fired, without a proper grip, it may well have jammed after the first round.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

I have shot them both and carried them both (Semi auto/ revolver) and frankly I see NO difference in reliability.

Quality control has gone way down on revolvers lately. Back before around 1990, though, you take 100 brand new Smith & Wesson revolvers, all models, and 100 auto-pistols, your choice of brand, and then fire one hundred hollow point rounds from each weapon from ten different positions and postures, and I would put serious money on there being fewer malfunctions with the revolvers than with the auto pistols.

 

[Pilgrim]

I think what probably happened was that the BG put the semi against some portion of the cop's body and pulled the trigger. If a semi is out of battery, it won't fire(unless something's wrong with it).

Not long after the California Highway Patrol transitioned to the Smith & Wesson 4006, an officer in the Coalinga office experimented with this piece of information as an officer safety/survival tool. After proving to himself that out of battery the pistol will not fire, he demonstrated to his partner how this works by pressing the muzzle up against his belly and pulling the trigger.

BANG!

Soon to become the CHPs most experienced firearms expert, he shouted, "I've shot myself!"

His partner said something like, "You sure did, you dumb sh*t."

Pilgrim

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

Wow! Pressed against the body, all the gases exploded into his guts too. Did he survive?

 

[OpFlash]

A Glock IMO is less likely to jam from dirt/grit/lint, etc. getting into the action than a revolver. A revolver's timing mechanisms are more delicate and can jam if a little sand, etc. gets in the right place.

What you saw on TV may have been somewhat common 15-20 years ago, but a modern quality semi auto that has been successfully broken in and maintained is a very reliable handgun.

 

[ccw007]

I carry both. It depends on my mood. I have back problems and days my back is hurting I carry my lightweight snub nose and is a dream come true. However, I carry an auto more often than my snub noise.

Limiting yourself to one platform is not a good idea IMHO. Both platforms are reliable and have a time and place over the other. Yes there are lemons out there, but the probability of a tested and properly maintained firearm failing in a gunfight is remote.

Two things we do not know here is did the cop drop the magazine and a mag safety stopped the gun from firing? Also we have no way of knowing if the gun had been maintained properly. Cops are not always gun people. I have heard of some not cleaning their guns like they should.

 

[Handyman]

1 . The cop video was real footage from the video camera in the cruiser .
2. I believe it was fairly recent because of the cruiser video camera [ a fairly recent development in L.E. ] and because the cop had a semi auto .
3. The BG was standing over the cop a few feet away when he attempted to shoot . The cop was lying on the ground .
4. They said the gun had JAMBED
5. When the dog attacked the BG. , the BG hit the dog with the gun . Maybe thats why it jambed . I don't think hitting the dog with a revolver would have made it jamb
6. For now , I will trust that my revolver is the most dependable handgun I can carry .
7. I have nothing against semi auto's - I plan on buying one when I can afford it - but I think I will always trust a revolver more .

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

I have nothing against semi auto's - I plan on buying one when I can afford it - but I think I will always trust a revolver more.

I'm with you on that, although I have several semi-autos that have never jammed, and I have carried a 1911 type handgun concealed for many years, and still do. I still believe that revolvers have the slight edge on reliability, and would feel extremely well prepared to stop an attack with a Model 10 Smith & Wesson or a Colt Detective Special, if one were my carry gun. Stick with the revolver. It's a good choice. No need to switch if you are comfortable with carrying it. It does have a slight reliability edge in that in less than ideal situations, postures, positions, it is no less likely to go bang than in ideal situations, postures, positions etc., unlike the auto pistol, which is sensitive to the way it is held when fired.

Just an example of what I mean: Cop is tackled, and struggling on the ground. He manages to reach his pistol while the attacker is on top of him. He left arm is trying to stop the knife from coming down on him, and his right hand has managed to grab his service pistol. He presses it against the attacker, pulls the trigger, and nothing happens because contact has knocked it out of batter. He pulls it away a little, and pulls the trigger again, it goes off, grazing the attacker, but an attempted second shot fails because the gun jammed due to not being held firmly enough for the first shot. Neither of those problems would have occurred with a revolver.

 

[DMK]

4. They said the gun had JAMBED

I'm not disagreeing with you, but technically in order for a semi-auto to "jamb", it has to fire at least once.

It sounds like one of the following happened, none of them except #9 actually being a jamb. Half of them could also happen to a revolver with #3, #6, and #8 being very unlikely unless the gun was very, very poorly maintained.

I vote for #1, #2 or #3

1) a round was not chambered
2) the magazine was dropped and the gun had a magazine disconnect
3) the slide was stuck out of battery in the scuffle
4) the safety was on and the attacker didn't realize of know how to disengage it
5) It's a single action and the hammer was down, was on half cock or somehow got dropped without the round going off
6) the firing mechanism of the gun was damaged in the scuffle
7) a bad primer in the round (gun oil in the primer could kill it)
8) the firing pin was broken or missing
9) a round was fired earlier, missed and the gun had an FTE or FTF.

 

[jad0110]

Carry what you like and make sure it is reliable. It's that simple. I am very confident carrying my S&W 642 - it will be my primary CCW for the forseable future.

It does have a slight reliability edge in that in less than ideal situations, postures, positions, it is no less likely to go bang than in ideal situations, postures, positions etc., unlike the auto pistol, which is sensitive to the way it is held when fired.

True.

Even if you carry a semi as a primary, a revolver makes a great BUG. If you are badly injured and cannot avoid limp wristing your shots , the semi is certainly more likely to experience a FTF. Especially if you are down on the ground firing up at an odd angle. That's where the revolver makes a great BUG.

One day I may get a Springer Mil-Spec 1911 for CCW in the winter. My trusted 642 would certainly be riding shotgun though!

 

[EmGeeGeorge]

I know the video... actually what happened is he cops pistol's barrel at some point in the struggle got pushed into the muddy grass... dirt and such jammed the slide back enough to prevent battery and firing... the cop actually draws a small semi-auto out, and fires at the fleeing bad guy (still with the cops gun)... the dog was a "sniffer" dog, not a patrol, which is why the dog didn't just "paw" the bad guy his a$$.

I would carry a 7 shot 686 if given the opportunity, machined for moon clips fro faster reloads... or a sig... in .45 which seems to be the new prefered for sheriff's deputies up around here...

back-up would probably be a j-frame in 357...

 

[longeyes]

No matter how many guns you carry, make ONE a revolver.

 

[gbran]

You can compromise if you want to stay with a roscoe. The Taurus model 617 has 7 rounds of .357 and is unbelievably compact. It is very carryable. They make it in blue steel and titanium. I had the titanium and wished it was the heavier steel model. BTW, my daily carry is a Glock, but I still like the 7 rnd Taurus.

 

[OpFlash]

Since it was a malfunction caused by foreign objects entring the gun from jamming it into the ground, it could also have easily been a pebble lodged between the cylinder and the barrel or frame of a revolver.

 

[V-fib]

A few weeks ago I saw a show where they had the typical police dash cam videos and the semiautos jammed on 3 separate occasions. The first a BG shot at an officer when the officer came up to his car for a traffic stop. The BG’s first shot hit the officer but when he got out of his car to finish off the officer the gun jammed. The second an officer and a much bigger BG were on a running fight and when the bigger BG finally got the officer’s gun and tried to shoot him it jammed. And the third was an officer returning fire and his semiauto jammed after a couple of rounds. After that I thought to myself that choosing a revolver for CCW was a very prudent choice.

 

[OpFlash]

V-fib was that a compilation of jams put together on purpose? It is certainly possible to make anything look unreliable with selective processes.

Regardless, of these three examples, only the last one sounds like it definitely was the pistol's fault IMHO. The first one could easily be the result of poor or non-existent maintenance or even simple operator error (wrong sized rounds, not inserting the mag fully, etc.) on the part of the BG. Your typical thug knows or cares very little about how to properly operate or maintain a firearm. The second one could have happened through some action of the officer's, such as possibly releasing the mag on a gun with a magazine safety before the BG got it away from him. Sometimes just the fact that the gun has an engaged external safety will confound the BGs attempts at firing, at least long enough for a cop to take cover. recover the weapon, or access his backup weapon.

 

[gandog56]

I don't think that there is any real right or wrong here. I personally don't own any gun I don't expect to go bang when I pull the trigger, at any time. While I have both revolvers and semis, I find I do not shoot so well with snubbies, which is what I would probably use for a CCW if I was forced to. On the other hand, I shoot my 6' Taurus 66 .357 magnum better than any other gun I own. But I consider a 6" revolver WAY too big for CCW. My Dan Wesson 10mm is probably way too much gun needed for any situation I would face on the street, along with overpenetration issues. My Ruger KP944DC 40 S&W is a nice gun, but just a little too bulky for CCW, as is my Ruger KP89DC 9mm. I think if the lousy state of Illinois that I live in would allow CCW, I would get a Dan Wesson CBOB, .45 semi-auto.