My favorite thing about revolvers (over semiautos)

[Skribs]

Less to clean.
Give the barrel and cylinders a wipe down and your good.

After watching my Dad spend hours getting his .22 Taurus revolver to consistently turn correctly, and watching my Mom spend a fair amount of time getting her SP101 shiny (granted, it was reloads), and then remembering my own time spent cleaning my XDm, which was basically to take off 3 pieces, wipe it down, and put it back together (if it's simple enough that I can do it, it's simple enough that anyone smart enough to follow the safety rules can do it) and then I'm done. Meanwhile, my Mom is still scrubbing to get the residue off of the cylinder, near the joints.

The ONLY reason I carry a revolver is to have a duty-size weapon without the semi-auto butt. A revolver conceals easier under a t-shirt. However, I still have mixed feelings, since my LCP can hold 1 more than my SP101, and it's even easier to conceal.

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

All firearms have their moments. Any firearms that take extended care need to be traded.

I've had the ejector rod come loose and cylinder drop out in competition but being aware of the possibility has eliminated a repeat. Same for the mainspring tension. I use moon clips rather than speed loaders and clean running ammo, so no problems on reloads at all.

Using jacketed or plated rounds reduces revolver cleaning routine considerably. If I clean after each range visit/300 or so rounds it takes little effort. More time/rounds, more effort.

But then what do I know, I've only shot 30,000 rounds with two problems. Just a beginner.

Meanwhile I've seen many more jams and problems with semi autos. There should be few problems in a match with production semis as the ammo is best fit. Race guns are edgier and prone to problems.

 

[Skribs]

Actually, the OP says what he likes about revolvers over semi-automatics, and makes the point of a quote he sees in regards to semi-automatics and compares it to revolvers. So it's perfectly acceptable for me to do the opposite - compare semi-autos to revolvers.

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

Yes, my mistake.

 

[kayak-man]

Not to be a buzzkill, but I have been having some failure to feeds with my 642. YES, a FTF with a revolver!

When reloading, I can't always fit the rounds easily into the cylinder. I'm thinking its either an issue with my resizing die, or the lead bullets are clogging up the chambers so much that its not loading/ejecting correctly.

 

[Shoot66]

I do not have to look for and pick up the cases!

 

[minutemen1776]

I see lots of the same old stuff here from revolver lovers. Modern autoloaders are not notoriously unreliable, and revolvers are not infallible. Many here, but not all, seem to acknowledge these things. Also, no matter how much you like a revolver, I cannot buy the idea that they have more "personality" or "soul." Not only are these things inanimate objects, but such statements are purely subjective. I think this is just traditionalism speaking. Honestly, I don't know why we all can't just like something for its own sake and not try to make our guns into something they're not, whether they're revolvers or semis. I have some really cool autoloaders (and revolvers) that I enjoy shooting, but it's certainly no transcendent experience.

 

[reppans]

Less to clean.
Give the barrel and cylinders a wipe down and your good.

Interesting... I find revolvers more difficult to clean with the multiple chambers. Then there's that dang crud ring you get if you shoot specials from a magnum.

But I find shooting revolvers to be more fun than SA, more involvement and control, kinda like a stick shift vs and automatic car.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I spend less than 10 minutes cleaning a revolver. Crud ring? Never had one. I brush thru the chambers after every shooting session keeps that from happening.

 

[GLOOB]

I like the fact that a DA revolver has a heavy but smooth combat/action trigger. But it's just a good rest and a hammer cock away from being a long range hunting tool, which takes only 1 shot, anyway.

But if you're a reloader, Shoot66 is spot on. The very best thing has to be that you never chase brass or lose any cases.


My 2 cents on cleaning: a locked breech semi auto where the barrel comes out is way easier to clean than a revolver. And it doesn't get dirty nearly as fast.

I spend less than 10 minutes cleaning a revolver.

I spend less than 5 minutes cleaning a Glock. If I spend 10-15 minutes, I can detail strip and clean the entire thing. Striker channel, trigger group, etc. With a revolver, this is often a task for a smith.