The Importance Of Having A Revolver

I'll offer up the odd view; I personally think that for self defense, you're better off having a hand gun and only using that gun. If you want a bigger version of it for the home that's fine but really, I think the best possible real world way to be prepared for SD whether it's in the home or for carry is to pick a gun and stick with it. If you have another, make it the same manual of arms. No LEO's or military mix and match autos and revolvers. Of course that's not the best logic becasue we're not LEO's or military (at least not anymore :smile:).

I mean get the gun and love it but I think we over think our SD. I personally think a single type of gun that you practice with all the time and carry and put in the nightstand and have with you in the truck, etc. is the best possible preparation for the one in a million chance of ever having to actually use it. If I'm on a farm I'd add the long gun but for most of us, a good revolver or an auto, whatever we practice with. Personally I think the Auto is king becasue of the combination of accuracy, recoil, reload, and reliability.

We tend to repeat internet whit but the truth be told no modern fighting group uses revolvers becasue over all the reliable modern auto is far more advantageous.

Don't me wrong, I LOVE and carry revolvers, I'm just saying if we strip away our desires and a lot of the "over thinking", a simple reliable auto that without external controls and safeties is probably the best over all SD solution.

Yes, there will be exceptions, I'm just talking the big broad stroke of the brush here.

And yes I'm a hypocrate becasue I just like having guns, all kinds. When I was a kid I shot out the barrel on a red ryder BB gun. I got so good with that one gun I could shoot bumble bees flying through the air by point shooting. Got older and had one shotgun until I left home. I got so good with that one gun I almost never missed anything.

You get the point.

Anyway that's a great gun and a good price so get it but at home I'd want higher capacity.

Not that I've stirred the pot I'll go :)
Gideon

Oh boy, here we go. My opinion based on your criteria of "simple to use and maintain" is that your thought process is based on old, no longer relevant info and downright falsehoods. Sorry, but you asked. If you want one b/c you just want one, nostalgia, are getting a good deal (which you are), go for it; but here's the support for MHO:

Simplicity: You are only taking into account picking up an already loaded gun and ignoring everything before closing the cylinder, ignoring the process after firing all available shots, and ignoring a huge population of semi-autos on the market that are just as simple starting from the already loaded condition - glocks, XD, any DAO, .... My Smith has about 40% more parts than my Glock, if I remember right (50? vs. 34), and some are more "delicate" (timing hand). About the same number of controls (hammer, cylinder release, ejector rod, trigger vs. slide release (which you don't really need), mag release, trigger - or you can count the cylinder and slide as controls as well). Reloads - line up six cylinders (rounds) with six tubes (chambers) vs. 1 big stick with 1 big hole. When was the last time you compared one handed reloads - wheelie vs. auto?

Do those rims you see from the side represent live or spent shells? Spent shells are gone with a semi (when was the last time you put empties in a magazine?)

It's easier (or just plain possible) for people with weak hands to pull the trigger on a 16 shot 9mm than a 6 shot revolver (assume they're both already loaded) and are in the fight longer before reloading. Inexperienced shooters are more accurate w/o having to deal with a DA trigger pull and are unsafe with a very light SA trigger pull.

If your revolver goes down there is no immediate action, it's out of the fight; not so with a semi.

Shoot staighter? Please, I can hit a man's torso sized target at 100 yds, offhand with my Glock. WRT this forum, that's more accuracy than a person needs.

When I hear semi-auto lovers down revolvers, I love to ask...... and what handguns are recommended if you are in the woods and a bear is attacking you ? They are all revolvers and revolver calibers.

A nice beefy Ruger .357 will handle .38 like it's nothing... also check out a GP100. If you aren't planning on carrying it concealed, having the hammer is a nice extra. Shotguns are also something to think about.

I don't see a hammer as a detriment to concealed carry, other than maybe pocket carry.

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Originally Posted by Eagleks

When I hear semi-auto lovers down revolvers, I love to ask...... and what handguns are recommended if you are in the woods and a bear is attacking you ? They are all revolvers and revolver calibers.

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Thank you! As someone who lives in the NW and has family ties to AK, in the many times I have spent in the woods up there. Guess what you see 99.999999999999% of the time on peoples hips when in the woods? You guessed it, revolver baby!

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Originally Posted by Eagleks

When I hear semi-auto lovers down revolvers, I love to ask...... and what handguns are recommended if you are in the woods and a bear is attacking you ? They are all revolvers and revolver calibers.

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a Glock 20 would work just fine.

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Originally Posted by GoBigOrange

a Glock 20 would work just fine.

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10mm: 650-900 ft-lbf of energy

454 Casull: 1700-2000+ ft-lbf of energy

One will stop a bear, the other will stop a bear dead. Facing a bear I'll take the revolver if a 12 gauge is not handy. Don't get me wrong, the 10mm will eventually take a bear down, just don't expect to be telling any tales about it when it does keel over because you'll both be standing in the next life...

I like revolvers and semi-auto's, I do carry a 642 most of the time, my Kahr PM9 sometimes, however, the g19 gen4 is not reliable enough after 450 rounds and poor customer service I would not trust it to go bang.

The 642 has gone bang every time for 400 rounds, the PM9 has gone bang every time for 850 rounds.

I have had 3 Glocks, none of them have gone bang every time, especially the G19 gen 4, so I guess everyone has a different opinion based on their personal experience with firearms.

For me I am done with Glocks.

Speaking of bears and big revolvers here's an interesting read. This quote from the article I want to know more about also, apparently his Ruger .454 jammed after 4-5 shots?


Charging Bear Killed in Alaska | Field & Stream

*edit* (my link starts you on page 3 where I found the quote below, go back a couple pages for the full story)

The bear was moaning, his huge head still moving, as Brush aimed the Ruger to fire a finishing shot. “By then my gun had jammed,” Greg says. “I frantically called my wife on my cell phone and told her to bring a rifle. When she arrived I finished the bear.”

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Originally Posted by GoBigOrange

I love revolvers too(especially my LCR) but it's important to realize that even revolvers can fail and when they do it can be a catastrophic failure. Just something to consider!

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Yeah when a revolver fails sometimes it isnt as easy as pulling the trigger again. You cant rack the slide and put in a new mag... it could be game over, that is why I carry a NY reload when I revolver carry.

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Originally Posted by MichSteve

I like revolvers and semi-auto's, I do carry a 642 most of the time, my Kahr PM9 sometimes, however, the g19 gen4 is not reliable enough after 450 rounds and poor customer service I would not trust it to go bang.

The 642 has gone bang every time for 400 rounds, the PM9 has gone bang every time for 850 rounds.

I have had 3 Glocks, none of them have gone bang every time, especially the G19 gen 4, so I guess everyone has a different opinion based on their personal experience with firearms.

For me I am done with Glocks.

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My G17gen 3 has over 10K without a hiccup, the past 6K without lube or cleaning.... for what it is worth.

Life rules:
1. Buy land! they don't make anymore
2. Buy revolver because everyone should have at least one
3. Buy all the other guns you can
4. Repeat as often as possible

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But don't be fooled into thinking that a revolver can't/won't fail you...they CAN lock up.

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No, what we have are very insecure people on the Internet who really get upset at the idea that revolvers are far and away incredibly more reliable than semiautos. And so, to justify their choice of semiauto (and we're usually talking Glock people here), they buy into some fantasy about revolvers breaking all the time, or jamming because a piece of dust got into them, or something equally ridiculous.

That basically doesn't happen - not with solid, high-quality, proven revolvers that are well maintained and cared for.

I've had Glocks fail on me. So I know they are basically a crap shoot. And they're supposed to be "the most reliable" semiautos. And in the dark, under pressure, a revolver is comforting in that you pull the trigger, it goes bang. Dead simple. You can't limp wrist it.

My bedside HD choice is a S&W .357. For CC I like the Ruger semiauto. Maybe the real distinguishing characteristic difference is that a large-bore steel revolver feels like you're holding Excalibur in your hand.

Can't go wrong with a S&W 357. I carry both a revolver and a Glock 36 and I feel secure with either one.