It's time to air it out. I've been swimming upstream on this in many other threads.
ALMOST ALL WHO CARRY REVOLVERS FOR PERSONAL DEFENSE SHOULD PARK THEM AND GO SEMI-AUTO
1. If there ever was any reliability difference, modern autos such as HK, Glock, M&P have closed the gap. Revolvers aren't perfect and autos aren't jam-a-matics.
2. A semi auto the same size and weight or smaller than a EDC revolver carries many more rounds. My P365 carries 10+1 with its smallest magazine. Your j-frame carries 5. My G19 carries 15+1. Your 642 carries 5. Your revolver will run out of ammo in seconds, while my G19 or G17 is still laying down the fire. And in three seconds I can jam in my spare G17 mag which carries 17 more. Which leads us to --
3. Everybody talks about the speed loader and the speed strip, but it's mostly hooey. No troll, just fact. Yeah, you can get fairly good at reloading in your bedroom, or on the one-way shooting range. I dare you to try it when sprinting for cover, rolling underneath a car. Has anybody ever successfully reloaded in a short range shootout? You fumble, you die. "But Jerry Michulek . . . " You ain't Jerry, and even he's not getting shot at when he does his thing. That's why Cirillo & Co. of the stakeout squad carried several revolvers for New York reloads. But I could jam a fresh mag into the G19 and rack it fast while running, hiding, etc. if i had to. Much, much easier. (If an infirmity precludes semis, I'd carry three j-frames).
4. Not relevant in urban carry, but out in the sticks? Drop your 686 in the mud. It's locked up; good luck getting it running again. Drop a Glock or M&P in the mud. Strip it, rinse it out in a stream or pond, reassemble, and you're good. Even better if you drip some oil or ATF off your jeep's dipstick for lube. It'll work just fine.
5. Durability? My 686 is one of Smith's flagship guns, and an excellent gun it is. But let's buy two pallet loads of ammo, one .357, one 9mm, and do an endurance test against my G17. No fiddling, just occasional oil. Anybody want to bet who cries uncle first?
6. Cost. Pre-panic, I paid $725 for a new 686, the going rate. They went up in the Panic, if you could even find one. I paid $600 this spring for a G17.5. Money left over for a stash of magazines. You want to price .357 ammo vs. 9mm?
7. Thugs used to be mostly solo rogues. Now they tend to travel in packs: crews of carjackers, smash-and-grabbers, juggers. You're in a cell phone store: three thugs come in, all appear to be armed. Or you're changing a tire on a two lane road and a carload of thugs stops to look you over . . . . you want your j-frame or my G19? In those foreseeable situations, the j-frame guy is essentially unarmed.
So here it is: The DA revolver, even with modern refinements, still has its uses, but EDC for saving your life isn't one of them. Park it and get a quality concealable semi-auto, of which there are many excellent examples.
Semis beat out revolvers for military use a hundred years ago, and for law enforcement use in the 1980s. It's time we EDCers caught up. It's your life.
ALMOST ALL WHO CARRY REVOLVERS FOR PERSONAL DEFENSE SHOULD PARK THEM AND GO SEMI-AUTO
1. If there ever was any reliability difference, modern autos such as HK, Glock, M&P have closed the gap. Revolvers aren't perfect and autos aren't jam-a-matics.
2. A semi auto the same size and weight or smaller than a EDC revolver carries many more rounds. My P365 carries 10+1 with its smallest magazine. Your j-frame carries 5. My G19 carries 15+1. Your 642 carries 5. Your revolver will run out of ammo in seconds, while my G19 or G17 is still laying down the fire. And in three seconds I can jam in my spare G17 mag which carries 17 more. Which leads us to --
3. Everybody talks about the speed loader and the speed strip, but it's mostly hooey. No troll, just fact. Yeah, you can get fairly good at reloading in your bedroom, or on the one-way shooting range. I dare you to try it when sprinting for cover, rolling underneath a car. Has anybody ever successfully reloaded in a short range shootout? You fumble, you die. "But Jerry Michulek . . . " You ain't Jerry, and even he's not getting shot at when he does his thing. That's why Cirillo & Co. of the stakeout squad carried several revolvers for New York reloads. But I could jam a fresh mag into the G19 and rack it fast while running, hiding, etc. if i had to. Much, much easier. (If an infirmity precludes semis, I'd carry three j-frames).
4. Not relevant in urban carry, but out in the sticks? Drop your 686 in the mud. It's locked up; good luck getting it running again. Drop a Glock or M&P in the mud. Strip it, rinse it out in a stream or pond, reassemble, and you're good. Even better if you drip some oil or ATF off your jeep's dipstick for lube. It'll work just fine.
5. Durability? My 686 is one of Smith's flagship guns, and an excellent gun it is. But let's buy two pallet loads of ammo, one .357, one 9mm, and do an endurance test against my G17. No fiddling, just occasional oil. Anybody want to bet who cries uncle first?
6. Cost. Pre-panic, I paid $725 for a new 686, the going rate. They went up in the Panic, if you could even find one. I paid $600 this spring for a G17.5. Money left over for a stash of magazines. You want to price .357 ammo vs. 9mm?
7. Thugs used to be mostly solo rogues. Now they tend to travel in packs: crews of carjackers, smash-and-grabbers, juggers. You're in a cell phone store: three thugs come in, all appear to be armed. Or you're changing a tire on a two lane road and a carload of thugs stops to look you over . . . . you want your j-frame or my G19? In those foreseeable situations, the j-frame guy is essentially unarmed.
So here it is: The DA revolver, even with modern refinements, still has its uses, but EDC for saving your life isn't one of them. Park it and get a quality concealable semi-auto, of which there are many excellent examples.
Semis beat out revolvers for military use a hundred years ago, and for law enforcement use in the 1980s. It's time we EDCers caught up. It's your life.
Right on!!
