Are revolvers going the route of manual transmissions?

[TAC]

I'll add:

-As you get older, the revolver is easier to use. It can be hard to grasp a slide when you have arthritis, and racking a slide takes two hands and arms with a certain level of strength.

Age, pain, couldn't agree more!

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

I like the wheel guns, S&W 44 special with 4 inch barrel, 240gr JHP. That being said, an early 90's Springfield 4.25 inch acp is also
within reach most times. Do not like the stricker fired plastic guns.

 

[steamloco76]

I would guess that the ratio of revolvers to automatic produced might be on line with manual transmissions to automatics.

I have no math to back that up, though. A stick-shift will get the job done, same as your three-five-seven.

I'd have to say in the USA, the revolver/automatic ratio is much higher than the manual/auto transmission ratio. Most car and truck dealers don't even stock manual models. Any decent gun store has several varieties of revolvers in stock, and they sell too.

 

[petemacmahon]

I'll add:
-My revolvers look like works of art. My pistols look like tools.

Yup, you nailed that one! I always tell folks that despite being the ugliest handgun I own, my G19 is one of the best tools in the box. It's also my least cherished.

 

[AzShooter]

My revolvers will be the last guns I get rid of. I love shooting them. Especially in competition. It's a real pleasure going to a USPSA match and beating the bottom feeders at their own game.

Takes confidence and accuracy to win.

With all these new laws being proposed, they are all anti auto and semi auto. The revolver will be the dinosaur but will survive.

 

[Mister X]

I'll add:

-As you get older, the revolver is easier to use. It can be hard to grasp a slide when you have arthritis, and racking a slide takes two hands and arms with a certain level of strength.

-The revolver has tons of options for grips -- more than almost any pistol except the 1911. Trying different styles of grips is fun.

-Hand-loading .38 Spec with modest loads makes a Centennial a joy to shoot for long periods of time. Reloading 9mm or .45 with modest loads makes a pistol that won't cycle the slide.

-There is no striker-fired pistol that has a trigger as good as a reasonably average S&W revolver. This aids accuracy and to some extent control.

-There is no such thing as "Revolver Foot" but there is a thing called "Glock Foot."

-My revolvers look like works of art. My pistols look like tools.

Revolvers are here to stay and will be rediscovered by successive generations as they age and mature.

Good post.

Age/injury/disability will catch up to us all one day. I think the simplicity of a revolver makes it the best choice for arthritic hands and aged minds. For some, it's truly the only practical choice.

My elderly mother got her concealed carry permit a couple of years back. She never had much interest in guns, but now that she lives alone, concerns about personal protection made her decide to get one. She wanted a small lightweight revolver from the start. She took the required class to get a permit, but she said the instructor(NRA certified) kept pushing her to get a Glock 26 despite the fact she was completely unable to rack the slide. She said he kept talking about situations like being in across the street shoot-outs with multiple armed gang members and that a 5-shot revolver was inadequate in such scenarios. Talk about being out of touch. Luckily, my mother has a fair amount of common sense and dismissed his nonsense.

She ended up chosing a S&W 442. She said even it gets heavy for her when carrying it all day. She will shoot it once in a blue moon and is able to make hits as realistic self-defense distances, but that's about it. She won't maintain it, so that's left up to me when I visit. Even if she could have racked the slide on the Glock 26, she wouldn't have been been safe with it. The light enclosed-hammer revolver is a great fit for her.

 

[ruger 22]

I would say yes that revolvers are going in the same direction as standard transmissions--i.e., there will always be a fair number of shooters that prefer them and as a result they will always be with us. (I live in an area where the Subarus are very popular and roughly 40% of them are sold with stick shift). The club I shoot at has a large number of shooters and many of them use revolvers, especially for concealed carry. Many of our young shooters have them along with their autos and most prefer them since they do not spit their shells all over. Actually the only complaint I have heard recently is that they are so much more costly to buy.

 

[5Wire]

I'll add:
-There is no striker-fired pistol that has a trigger as good as a reasonably average S&W revolver. This aids accuracy and to some extent control.

HK P7s, Walther P99s have nifty triggers.

 

[dwever]

Yup, you nailed that one! I always tell folks that despite being the ugliest handgun I own, my G19 is one of the best tools in the box. It's also my least cherished.

I agree. A handgun is a tool not a jewel, and should be deployed according to it's ability to be the most competent tool in a given situation.

I can celebrate and appreciate the purchase of a handgun when it is made primarily for appearance and pride of ownership, I would just point out that is an entirely different discussion than the one you have to determine your best self-defense posture, and the tool(s) you employ to achieve that posture.

My two favorite off-duty tools are pictured below (586 L-Comp and 627).

 

[BB57]

Mister X's post is again dead on.

The instructors who promote the war on terror or gang me,her multiple assailant shootout scenarios are pretty much out of touch, unless they are living and teaching in the sand box or a really bad neighborhood. For the rest of us, the 5, 6 or 7 rounds offered by a revolver are plenty,and for those that worry, about needing more, a speed loader and lots of practice will address that very, very low probability contingency just fine.

My mother had a similar experience with handguns and concealed carry permit choices at the age of 80. A semi-auto made no sense for her for a variety of reasons, where a J-frame with standard pressure loads worked just fine.

----

I do support the right for people to choose a semi-auto, even if I don't agree that there is a realistic need for most concealed carry permit holders to carry a 15 +1 pistol and two spare magazines, but what ever floats their boat.

Personally, if semi-autos were banned tomorrow I wouldn't feel under gunned carrying the same K frame I'm carrying today.

It is frankly just as effective as the 7 shot 1911 I started carrying when I first got a concealed carry permit 31 years ago, but easier to carry and conceal.

 

[Mehutch]

Revolvers forever, no magazines to lose or damage.

 

[tdp1]

Took my CCL test with my 686 SSR. Swapped out the wood grips and put the rubber ones on, glad I did. Got my needed score on my first target (out of 3 possible targets).

Of the 6 of us I was the oldest by far (64) the rest of the whippersnappers were in their late 20's early 30's. All had semi-auto's, Glock's and one HK. One person had feed problems and the RO had to help her out.

When I got back into shooting this year I went straight to a Smith .357. The selection was limited, most of the dealers in my area had at least 3 to 1 semi's to revolvers.

Although I do have a Buckmark Hunter and a Dan Wesson .45 on order I still like my wheel gun. Although there are things about the semi I like.

These damn kids and their fancy guns. And get off my lawn!!!

Well, real sports cars and real drivers prefer manual transmissions.

 

[roundels]

"If you are willing to put up with their obvious limitations (low round count and slow reloads)"--

The second part of this sentence isn't necessarily true. I ate, slept and lived K frames for the better part of my working life and I can reload with Comp IIIs, which I used to carry in a modded speedloader holder, at a speed that would baffle the average revolver user. Not as fast as a competitor or skilled operator can with a semi-auto, of course, but quite a bit faster than even a reasonably competent square gunner. I've done it on the range many, many times. I also once qualified on the FPS course of the day with a Ruger Vaquero, but that's another story.

 

[hogblue]

I retired from law enforcement after 31 years of service. Started out carrying a model 10. Used sevrally other smith revolvers and was finally issued a glock 22 as my last weapon prior to retirement. The only thing I have to say is Wheel guns are real guns!

 

[TiroFijo]

I like both revolvers and autos. For me, for purely defensive use in a service size handgun, the semiauto wins. For backup, a J frame is great, magnums revolvers are great as multipurpose (defense/hunting/backwoods/fun) guns, and classic revolvers in non magnum calibers are just fun, accurate and too beautiful to give up.

BTW, in most parts of the world manual transmition rule, by far (about 80% are manual). Cheaper, lighter, far simpler, better fuel economy in most cases, and fun to drive. Performance is just as good or better tan automatics, unless you get into very expensive, exotic cars.

 

[Model25Man]

As a gunsmith for 35 years one of the saddest things I see is the use of heavy springs in the modern revolver. You wouldn't believe how many S&W revolver sales I've seen 'lost' because a woman, or an old timer like me, has a hard time pulling the trigger double action and keeping on target. I can convince a person that I can make it a lighter pull, and I've done hundreds if not thousands over the years, but when I tell them it may void the warranty a lot of potential buyers buy a semi-auto.

The funny thing about them buying the semi??????????, they come to me asking if I can lighten and shorten the trigger pull, and make the slide easier to rack.

My daily carry gun is a revolver with an action job. I'd rather have the warranty on my gun voided, than the warranty on my life voided.

 

[revolver4954]

Revolvers

Ha, thanks for the laugh. I, too, was the only one in my CHL class who shot a revolver (S&W 686 Plus 2.5"). I also shot a semi-auto because here in New Mexico one must qualify with the type (revolver or semi) and caliber of gun that one wants to carry. Several marveled at the revolver like they hadn't seen one before. I'm an old guy and prefer revolvers for their absolute reliability ... As well as cool looks.

 

[petewoodland]

Simple, Reliable, and Easy To Use

I think revolvers will always be around, for many reasons
- revolvers are the old reliable that is simple and not going to break
- they make such good pocket guns
- revolvers are simple to use so for the people that want protection without spending a lot of effort to learn, they will work.

I was planning to post but when I saw this one, it gets the message across. I have carried concealed for 48 years, most of them with a Model 60. I briefly carried a 442 as it was much lighter but that was a detriment when firing. If it were not so large I would carry my 625 Mountain Gun in 45 acp. Moon clips make reloading as fast or faster than a semi auto.

 

[ltj9296]

Of course semi-autos have some advantages over revolvers, but the wheelgun has advantages also. On two recent high profile non- LEO shootings, the shooters semi-autos jammed after the first shot. Imho, a revolver would have preformed better in both of those situations.

 

[AveragEd]

There is a gun club to which I belong that is primarily an indoor handgun range. It requires potential members to demonstrate some proficiency with a handgun before being voted in. The night I joined, and that was several years ago, I was the only one of 17 applicants who used a revolver, a 4" Model 617 no-dash. The instructor acted like he never saw one before.

Ed