I want to talk about revolvers. First, I don’t have nearly as many revolvers as I do auto loaders and I don’t shoot them as often. But years ago in the military I used to teach military members, mostly pilots, how to shoot, clean, and maintain the Smith and Wesson K-38 Combat Masterpiece, Revolver Model 15. It is honestly the only revolver I am real familiar with. Even more so than the two revolvers I own! Many people have heard that revolvers are very reliable. That is true. But some say they do not malfunction. This not true. They malfunction often enough to be close to autoloaders in my opinion. They have different problems than auto loaders. Those who say revolvers don’t have malfunctions have never really shot a lot of revolvers. These are some of those problems:
Light primer strikes.
A frozen cylinder from debris under the extractor star or from out of spec primers.
Broken cylinder release latch.
An extractor rod backing itself out preventing the cylinder from opening.
Triggers spontaneously dragging or freezing up for undetermined reasons.
Various user-induced problems like short stroking the trigger or all the different ways you can fumble a reload.
The only easy fix is the light primer strike.
Reliability aside, the capacity of ammo is a big con. Revolvers have 5 or 6 shots, where compact auto loaders can carry 13 to 18 rounds. Reloading in a revolver is a real challenge. It’s easy to mess it up.
I am not dumping on revolvers. It’s not that I don’t like them, but for my purposes, I don’t get a lot of use out them.
Don’t get me wrong, auto-loaders have their fair share of problems. But I feel that most of their problems can be fixed with a tap and rack drill. Revolvers don’t usually have that easy of a fix.
There are some positive aspects to revolvers. Concealed at close distances revolvers may have less problem with clothing or others things stopping its use. With a slide moving around sometimes it’s more difficult to keep the gun ready to shoot. A revolver doesn’t have that problem.
Another advantage a revolver has over a semi-auto is that a revolver has no slide that a shooter must rack before firing. That’s significant for older folks, or folks with weak hands. No one wants to hide in a corner while a marauder roams through his house, trying feverishly to chamber a round in his gun but unable to do so because the slide is too hard to rack. Better to have six shots that will go bang than 17 that won’t.
Reliability is another issue. Put an autoloader in a box, holster, or drawer for a year and then try and use it, you run a risk. With a revolver you don’t have the same issue.
Take an auto-loader to a range and shoot 500 to 800 rounds and you may not have an issue. But with a revolver that is not the case. Auto-loaders also are more tolerant of neglect. I’m not saying you should ever neglect a gun. You should be shooting, handling, and maintaining said gun.
The downsides to a revolver are simple: significantly less firepower and a thicker profile. The first means that you have fewer bullets to shoot at bad guys, and it takes longer to reload. The second means that they can be harder to conceal. That’s pretty much it.
The downsides to semi-auto handguns can be summed up in just a few sentences: They can be harder to operate (racking the slide). If you possess the grey hair and wisdom of years gone by, you might be better served by a revolver but not necessarily.
I know I didn’t help your decision much. I like auto-loaders better because of my experience with them and ammo capacity. But there are some who really prefer a revolver. I say any gun is better than no gun. But you must be proficient with whatever you decide will be your gun. As an instructor I shot expert with a revolver for several years. I still prefer auto-loaders…
You must get your own experience and decide for yourself.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
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