The Revolver vs. the Pistol for self defense. Which is better?

if you only knew how may times ive seen guns on the department range jam cause they were never cleaned??? tons. dont know if the civillian world would keep theres to eat off of, of course more rounds the better BUT off duty im not looking for a fight i i walk into a robbery in civ clothes ill bet i can put 4 out of 6 full house magunms in you really fast shoot approx 100 rounds every 2 weeks in this gun runs like a watch, heck on patrol all a duty guns good for is to buy me time to get to my ar in the trunk THEN the fun starts...

Im partial to autos.
Of course I maintain my arms better than most.
Autos tend to be flatter which makes them easier to live with as a CCW.
being a 1911, I have a total of 9 magic moments + 8 more in a spare mag.
that of course is only a bonus fortifying the important things. Those being accuracy, dependability, and conceal-ability.

It depends!

Hook686 said:

THe one you are more comfortable with.

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That sums it up nicely. I grew up with revolvers and feel very much at home with one in my hand. I don't feel the same way about pistols simply from lack of practice, hence I carry a wheel gun. If I was as familiar and comfortable with an automatic that would probably be my first choice but at my age I'm not going to change. Go with what you know best.

That's like asking, "Which is better, a B-52 or a Piper Cub?"

What's "best" depends upon the task(s) you wish to perform and the conditions under which you wish to perform them.

For me, either a revolver or semi-auto are perfectly adequate and I carry both.

Working in a CPZ, I don't carry as much as I used to, but I mostly carry a Model 36 in a pocket holster because it's the smallest firearm in an effective self-defense caliber which I own. A small semi-auto like a sub-compact Glock in 9x19mm would work as well.

My first handgun was a revolver, a Dan Wesson .357, pistol pack at that. I paid under $200 for that thing in the late 70's and I loved that gun, thought it was the only gun to have.

Then I had a lengthly affair with a Colt 1911 and it was semi-auto's for me since then. Wish I still had that Dan Wesson though.

the one you carry is best for defense...the one you leave at home is useless.....I like both but revolvers seem to never fail...pull the trigger they go bang every time

I am a recently retired Chief in Colorado. I started with revolvers in 1971 and carried a model 66 for about 10 years. I went to a Browning HP for a short time and then to custom 1911's for about 27 years. I love both semi's and revolvers. Now retired from LE I carry an M&P 340 all the time and have many S&W revolvers, no semi autos at all. I often think that I should be carrying something larger with more rounds but love the compactness of the J frame for every day carry. I personally like the handling characteristics of a small revolver over small pocket semi autos.

Tom

I live in a pretty low crime area in rural Missouri. I carry because I can, more than I do because I have a real need to. I switch around my carry guns quite a bit. Today I will be in a place where I will need to be dressed up, and also I will have my coat off, and with me. The 638 will be carried in a jacket pocket.
This afternoon I will be checking a tree stand before deer season, and I will probably have my 4" S&W 64 on.

I was a Reserve Deputy for 15 years. I carried a 610 revolver most of that time. I had 2 reasons, Power, and the Tex Shoemaker semi breakfront revolver security holster. Most of my gunfights were with deer hit by cars. The 10mm with a tritium front sight was accurate, and had plenty of power to get the job done. I still know highway patrolmen who carry a 357 under the seat just for deer and cattle hit by cars. My bottom line, I have carried revolvers for years, and I like them.

Later on as a Police Chief I would carry an XDm when in uniform at night. I would switch off between my 638 and 1911 for day carry out of uniform.

I carry a revolver most of the time.

Small Guns: So far I have not found a small semi automatic I like better than a 638 or 642.

Larger Guns: I think that you can carry most larger guns ok most of the time, you just have to work out the bugs. I know several younger guys who conceal carry Glocks, M&P's and XD/XDm's just fine. You just need to dress in a manner that will conceal what you are carrying. Most older guys I know carry a 1911. I have been carrying the 310 Night Guard with no issues at all. It is fast becoming a favorite carry gun.


Your figure can also have an impact on what you carry well.

Then we have a big one. As was said numerous times above, most self defense situations happen in a hurry, and close up. You need to carry whatever you carry in a manner that you can get it on target fast and accurate. I try and carry everything just behind my right hip. I like pancake holsters for all my revolvers, and either IWB or an Askins Avenger for my 1911. I want whatever I am carrying to be where I am used to it being. The exception being pocket carry.

Spare ammo. I think this is a very good idea. I have a 5 round speed strip in my left front pocket at the moment. I have 2 in my jacket in pockets I had sewn in for the purpose.

As I switch around between a 638, 310 Night Guard, 625 3" , 64 4" and 610 4" I carry spare ammo differently. I carry 45 and 10mm moon clips in 2 shoot the moon carriers infront of my holster. In jacket weather I will carry a couple Comp I speed loaders in a jacket pocket for the 638 and 64. In warm weather the 38's will have spare ammo in a speed strip. You need to practice reloading with whatever you are using. Doing your first tactical reload while being shot at in a 7-11 is not a wise plan.

For semi auto's I wear either a single or double magazine pouch on my left hip.

I may start carrying my XDm concealed some this Winter just to try and get the bugs out of carrying a big, wide body gun. A good well researched holster may be the answer. Losing a few pounds to put a little more slack in the pants waist band would probably not hurt either.

As was said above carry what works best for you, and your situation. Carry it in a manner that you can get it into play if the situation ever should come up.

Bob

Lost Lake said:

Put your self in a grocery store where the bad guys come in, maybe two of them, on the run from the law, looking for hostages. They grab a girl and shoot 3 others, no witnesses. You run for your life and they shoot at you, you return fire running, at distance, at two guys. You use four of your five rounds and haven't hit a thing. You still have two bad guys coming at you.

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I saw that movie!
Read about in one of the Hunter novels, too. Earl Swagger, I think was the good guy.

redlevel said:

I saw that movie!
Read about in one of the Hunter novels, too. Earl Swagger, I think was the good guy.

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I think you're right. Some people on here think they're Jack Bauer or something. Maybe wtach too much SWAT TV. And the shootouts he is referring to are usually from convenience store cameras in high crime urban settings. if i worked in that envirnonment, I'd carry a high capacity semi auto with extra mags, too. But since i don't, i can't imagine terrorists taking over the Walmart when i stop in for a quart of milk and some diapers. My new carry gun is a Ruger LC9. 8 rounds total, if I top off the mag before i head out, and i usually don't. Doesn't offer much more capacity over a revolver, but i like a safety on my semi auto's, and i also like the mag disconnect. Now some mall ninja is gonna chime in that I won't be able to do my super cool under fire tactical reload and i will be a dead man because of that mag disconnect. Somehow, I think I'll survive.

Lost Lake said:

Which is better?

Why not ask the FBI, CIA, Navy seals, Army Rangers, Military, and Secret Service, along with a couple million law enforcement officers who depend on their weapon to save their life every day and see what they carry?

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The gun that has been deemed most diplomatic or the gun deemed most idiot-proof(some choose one, some choose the other)?

kbm6893 said:

Now some mall ninja is gonna chime in that I won't be able to do my super cool under fire tactical reload and i will be a dead man because of that mag disconnect. Somehow, I think I'll survive.

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I have a LC9 too....well, in theory anyway...my wife has taken to calling it "her" gun. Anyway, I don't see the problem with a reload in a pistol with a mag disconnect...but whatever. I have never had to use, or ever draw, a gun in a self-defense situation (and I certainly hope it stays that way.) I also have 1911s and a H&K USP Compact 45, and they all carry 8 rounds. I do have an M&P 9c that holds 12 rounds. I've never felt under-gunned with anything I carry...since I've never needed to fire even a single round.

As Pete from the Armory Channel says, if you need more than 8 rounds, run!

GKC said:

I have a LC9 too....well, in theory anyway...my wife has taken to calling it "her" gun. Anyway, I don't see the problem with a reload in a pistol with a mag disconnect...but whatever. I have never had to use, or ever draw, a gun in a self-defense situation (and I certainly hope it stays that way.) I also have 1911s and a H&K USP Compact 45, and they all carry 8 rounds. I do have an M&P 9c that holds 12 rounds. I've never felt under-gunned with anything I carry...since I've never needed to fire even a single round.

As Pete from the Armory Channel says, if you need more than 8 rounds, run!

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I've never seen a problem with mag disconnects either. But some will insist you are at a substantial risk if you choose to own a gun with this proven life saving feature. Many of those are the same ones who think you're gonna be fighting for your life in a supermarket after 2 bad guys have shot one person and are intent on taking you hostage and you're 'only" carrying a revolver.

kbm6893 said:

I've never seen a problem with mag disconnects either. But some will insist you are at a substantial risk if you choose to own a gun with this proven life saving feature. Many of those are the same ones who think you're gonna be fighting for your life in a supermarket after 2 bad guys have shot one person and are intent on taking you hostage and you're 'only" carrying a revolver.

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Well, maybe I'm ignorant (I've encountered more than a few people and a mother-in-law in my life that seem to agree) but I don't see what that matters for the average civilian. I am not SWAT trained, nor was I ever a SEAL or Ranger, or anything like that...my firing experience has been at the range or out in the country, plinking at cans, etc. So, if I am in the situation you describe above, I am certain to be scared. If there is shooting, I will almost certainly be shooting to slide lock (or if I have a revolver, until it goes "click" instead of "bang") without counting my shots. Once the slide locks back, I hope my impulse is to drop the magazine, insert a new one, sling shot the slide, and keep firing. If I am carrying a revolver, and if I have either a speed loader, or speed strips, I'd have to open the cylinder, dump the fired rounds, and then reload the cylinder. (This is why I favor a pistol for carry over a revolver...a pistol reloads faster and easier for the average person.)

I just don't see how a magazine disconnect makes a difference...I can see it if you want to fire a pistol without a magazine in it, but I don't see me firing one and reloading it simultaneously.

about the only issue I see with mag disconnect is a hasty and somewhat fumbled draw where its possible to drop the mag in the draw and lock up your gun when you need it the most ... when your hasty and fumbling.
I suppose it may be worth consideration when you have less experienced shooters in your equation who dont quite grasp the "cleared weapon" concept and believe dropping the mag = unloaded.
while untrue with or without mag disconnected it could keep someone from an extra and unintended orifice.

Civilians, Learn how to use a revolver, fast, accurately, and learn to reload it too. This requires PRACTICE-PRACTICE-PRACTICE.

LEO'S, Military, Rambo's do whatever you're sure will work for you under severe DURESS and SURPRISE as in under fire.

Ah geez, I should know better but.......

The 3 shot/3 seconds/3 feet thing is bull. I've never been aware of any disinterested third party who calls time out, marks the relative positions, whips out a stop watch and then calls time in. Looking at the stats for LEOs, the average shooting requires 3.5-4.7 rounds and the average gunfight (bullets going both ways) runs 6.2 (or so) to 11+ rounds. There are NO STATS for non LEO shootings.

I've been carrying firearms for a paycheck since 1969. Short version:

While revolvers tolerate neglect, they don't tolerate abuse and when they do malfunction, about the only effective immediate action drill is to find another gun. Squib loads, cratered primers and crud under the extractor can lock the gun up, broken firing pins turn them into clubs.

Semis tolerate abuse and really nasty conditions better and generally hold more ammo and are faster to reload than revolvers. They do require more training, so that immediate action drills for stoppages become reflexive and more periodic maintenance but if fed quality ammo from quality magazines and properly maintained are at least as reliable as revolvers.

The big difference seen is in hit probability. Again, going by LEO stats, the round gun generally ran around 20% hit probability nationwide. This went up to mid 60% when agencies started using semis.

Make the choice on what works best for you in your environment.

sirrduke2010 said:

I think this ranks as one of the most controversial subjects in gun safety.

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Nope. When it comes to "gun safety," there is only one right answer, and it is obvious even just from the rest of your post.

Each has it advantages and disadvantages. The revolver advantage is that you don't get confused by the safety in an emergency, there is a lot less chance of it jamming, and you can just point and shoot. There is a lot less risk of it firing if dropped although automatics now have a safety for that. The one big drawback is the rounds that are available which is often a lot less than in an automatic in a lot of cases.

The automatic has a lot larger round capacity, it is easier to reload with magazines, it has a safety to help protect the shooter with hammer drop, and it can be a lot more compact and flatter than a revolver. The big drawbacks are a load jamming in the chamber possible making your weapon unusable, the possibility of it going off it is dropped unless your pistol has safeties for this which many of the new weapons have, and in an emergency situation less advanced shooters can forget, in a high pressure situation, to load the chamber or take off the safety. This can make these people more vulnerable to attack.

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As to which is better overall, that depends on at least several variables, some of which are personal qualities, some circumstances, some other. I trust each individual to be more likely than I to assess his own characteristics and circumstances correctly, thus I am not very quick to make pronouncements regarding what choices strangers or even acquaintances should make. I might even go so far as to recommend the same attitude to others.

WR Moore said:

The big difference seen is in hit probability. Again, going by LEO stats, the round gun generally ran around 20% hit probability nationwide. This went up to mid 60% when agencies started using semis.

Make the choice on what works best for you in your environment.

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Just a guess: That '60%-20% ' stat wouldn't happen to be something Glock put out sell more handguns?

The last numbers I read, from the Justice Department, stated there were 2.2 rounds fired in the average firefight.