Smith & Wesson Forum - View Single Post - The Revolver vs. the Pistol for self defense. Which is better?

Martya · 11-05-2011, 11:39 AM

MY opinion, the semi-auto was developed for war - get lots of rounds downrange fast and be able to reload fast, because there are lots of bad guys coming at you.

The revolver is more of a personal defense weapon, basically foolproof discharge accurately, and needing one or two or three shots to get the job done.

As stated by a few here, your typical citizen's self-defense encounter is usually sudden, up close, and a couple of rounds usually gets the bad guy to change his mind. In this case a 5 shot revolver would the job. A typical semi-auto would have a lot of rounds left.

But, there are of course a lot of other questions to answer in order to make that final determination of revolver or pistol.

What is the likelihood I would encounter a 'gang' need to defend myself, and which weapon would I need to dissuade them?

For CC, what fits what I am wearing?

What caliber do I think makes a big enough hole? And how heavy a gun do I want to go with that caliber choice.

Can I recover my 2-3 shots on target at 0-7 yds within my allotted time with a DA revolver, or do I think I can do better with the semi-auto?

And on and on.

So if you like revolvers and want to carry one for personal protection, consider yourself well armed.

If you want to carry a pistol, consider yourself well armed.

Me? I carry a 642 Airweight when dressed up (not very often), mostly due to the smaller belt. I carry a 4513 all other times, again mostly due to the larger belt. One reload is in my pocket.

And I practice with both at 0-7 yds. I shoot from behind a pretend chair, from my back between my knees, on my knees, from a chair, from a chair sideways pretending I am shooting through my truck window. I try to draw and shoot 2 within 2 seconds and hit the paper plate. I am moderately successful with both guns, but I don't reload the revolver very fast yet.