Revolvers are passe - Claude Werner

[revolver4954]

No arguing that I'm an old guy and a revolver guy at heart. I've added a Kimber K6s as a carry gun to trade-off with my S&W 3913 9mm and J-frames as the occasion or dress-code requires. They are very concealable and accurate for me. (I bought the Kimber after vainly waiting for S&W to bring back snubnose K-frame 6-shot revolvers.). I like revolvers for a concealed carry gun for reasons that I don't think are passé: absolute reliability, always know what condition the gun is in (cartridge in the chamber and ready to fire right now), will fire even if limp-wristed or against a door or wall, or an attacker's body, not ammo sensitive ...

 

[cometpx4]

Revolver

Honestly this thread is silly. Of course semi autos outsell revolvers. But the j frame is in so many pockets on any given day (including mine) it cannot ever be considered passe

 

[Sistema1927]

If loving revolvers is wrong, then I don't want to be right. (With apologies to Luther Ingram, Barbara Mandrell, Rod Stewart, and others.)

 

[Chukar60]

Revolvers are passé? So what?
Does passé affect accuracy or reliability? If so I may worry about it. Other wise, meh.

 

[MJK-MOD-547]

What is the most reliable and most accurate 3 inch barreled 9mm ???

The Smith and Wesson Model 547

 

[Mrnurse]

Well I went from CCW Glock to SW 642. I am NOT LEO, I do not plan on a long gun fight, My Glock works fine as my smith, the Glock in 45 acp is a bit more powerful then the 38 spl BUT...BUT Here is the difference... The Glock ( 7 rd mini size forgot mdl number) is a bit big to conceal, the 642 a bit smaller, I Practice shot placement at 10 Yds Monthly. I also carry a .32 Kel tech another 10 yds and less weapon. Shot placement. I had a 300 Lbs man come to the ER with 1 .22LR round through the Left eye...was DOA... Autos in large frames are fine for Military and Police... Not for a CCW in my world. Wheel guns simply go boom when you pull the trigger.

 

[Philadelphia Patriot]

I'm 41 years old and have been shooting competitively for 25 years, and CCW-ing for over 20 years. I have more revolvers than I have semi-auto's with an absolute affinity for .38 J and D frame snubs for street and hot .44Spec and Magnum for woods. It's all about the right tool for the job. Say a 10:50pm race to CVS to get children's cough medicine before the 11pm closing time where we live in the burbs... that's a pair of 5 shot J frames with hot full wad-cutter hard casts. When going downtown Atlanta to visit my accounts that's a CZ P-01 9mm with 16+1 capacity with a spare magazine. Nightly dog walks and that's a 3" N frame stoked with 200grain .44Specials and a reload for coyotes or something out of place (we have had trash recently come this way to prey upon the nicer parts/unsuspecting people)... At the Mountain Home where we have an already relocated and destructive Black Bear... Its the same 3" N frame stoked with Hard Cast Keiths in .44Special or Hard Cast .44Mag Keiths from Underwood. A "Katrina" situation and that's always a short barreled AR15 or AK... You get the picture.

Revolvers have a very valid place in the carry rotation in my life and aren't going anywhere!

I really like your style. When I am on duty or going to heavily populated area (the city, a shopping mall, etc) then I like a "high capacity" Glock. Running to the food store, tractor supply, etc and I am comfortable with my Ruger LCR 357. Whether I carry a semi auto that holds 17 rounds or a 5 shot snubbie, I always carry a reload regardless. I've put my Glocks through dirt, mud, sand, snow, rain, etc and they always go bang. If they jam (only happens when I intentionally put dummies in my mag), the fix takes 2-3 seconds. That being said, I see revolvers as pieces of art.

 

[two-bit cowboy]

What is the most reliable and most accurate 3 inch barreled 9mm ???

The Smith and Wesson Model 547

I'll agree with you for now. I like my short 547, but if I ever find a 3" 940 we might have to sit down and discuss it. I'm mighty partial to my 2" 940.

 

[Mzuri]

I have been looking through the ATF report that Werner's blog post links to. ATF divides firearms into pistols, revolvers, shotguns, and miscellaneous. From looking at the miscellaneous category, the big producers in that category are outfits like Anderson, Aero Precision and Palmetto State so I am assuming that much or most of what falls into this category are AR lowers. Are there other types of firearms that might fall into this category or is miscellaneous pretty much synonymous with AR lowers?

I have a bunch of .38/.357s. I have one .380--a $200 LCP. Occasionally I carry a 36 or my treasured pre-40, but 90% of the time it's the LCP. It is so thin and light even with the extended 7 round mag that it virtually disappears when carried in a remora holster. I find revolvers inherently appealing. I study them, shoot them, reload for them, and like tinkering with them. The LCP is about as appealing as a can opener, but it does what I need it to do.

 

[two-bit cowboy]

.... The LCP is about as appealing as a can opener, but it does what I need it to do.

If you're hungry and only have a can of beans and a can opener,
that last item could be mighty appealing.

The ccw cliché, "If you need it and don't have it...." comes to mind.

 

[photoman]

I have been looking through the ATF report that Werner's blog post links to. ATF divides firearms into pistols, revolvers, shotguns, and miscellaneous. From looking at the miscellaneous category, the big producers in that category are outfits like Anderson, Aero Precision and Palmetto State so I am assuming that much or most of what falls into this category are AR lowers. Are there other types of firearms that might fall into this category or is miscellaneous pretty much synonymous with AR lowers?

My guess would be that includes the short barrel "not shotgun" shotguns that have been so popular the last few years.

 

[bmcgilvray]

Summary line found within the article.

"Aficionados might be experiencing a 'revolver resurgence,' but the general public just isn't interested."

Is this suppose to validate the trend somehow?

"Revolvers are passé ... At least to the general public… "

The general public's views on entertainment, politics, behavior, and morals amounts to abject nitwit-ism more often than not in today's America. What "the crowd" deems appropriate should not enter into any life decision requiring a choice.

The gist of this article is: Follow the feckless crowd for you don't want to appear to be out-of-style.

 

[hkcavalier]

Most people just interested in self-defense will choose a $200 .380 over a $400 J frame or LCR. They will also choose a $500 15 shot Glock 19 over a $750 7 shot 686.

We laugh at it now, but the main reason the .32ACP was more popular than the .380ACP 100 years ago was the additional round in the magazine of most popular pistols of the time.

The trend is obvious and pragmatic. The biggest segment of gun buyers by head count, the non-enthusiasts, will choose guns that intersect in that zone of least expensive/highest capacity/smallest size.

My oldest daughter loves revolvers, but it has more to do with ergonomics than anything. She's too small to pull back a slide on anything but a .22, and the recoil of a centerfire auto is hard on small hands. If you have kids, raise them to appreciate good things, not just inexpensive or popular things.

 

[two-bit cowboy]

SHEEPLE

The last two commentaries tell the story extremely well.

 

[ABPOS]

Yeah, nearly every girl in my family has issues with pulling slides back. And the .380 M&P with the super easy action for people that struggle has not had a stellar reputation for reliability so far.

I'm not sure why Chuck has an aversion to this issue. He is entitled to his opinion and I get the idea of carrying the weapon that seems the best choice for a gun fight. But for some of us it's just not going to be what is best for the general populace or what is the most popular.

I have several reasons that I find compelling as to why I choose revolvers. But that's not to say I think autos are a bad choice. I think in general they are the better choice. But one thing, I got tired of getting bonked in the head by brass. Late Gen III things changed and they just aren't the same gun any longer. At least that is my opinion and observation. (speaking of Glocks) And even if they still did run as good as they used to, I might still choose a revolver for other reasons.

I will say they were easier to rack slides than a lot of autos. The only gun I saw my wife do with some regularness was a G26. She could do my M9 but only sometimes.

 

[gman51]

When I bought my S&W 627-5 a few years ago I asked the counter men if he would throw in a magazine since I paid around 9 bills for it.
With a straight face totally serious he said the gun doesn't use a magazine. I expected he would have at least laughed and said sure and he would order one but it might take a long time to get one. I guess he didn't see my sense of humor. He perhaps saw a person that doesn't know jack and shouldn't have the gun.

 

[Wise_A]

I'm not sure why Chuck has an aversion to this issue. He is entitled to his opinion and I get the idea of carrying the weapon that seems the best choice for a gun fight. But for some of us it's just not going to be what is best for the general populace or what is the most popular.

He doesn't. He's simply stating that small-frame revolvers and .38 Spl are waning in production and popularity.

You should note that Warner writes for two demographics. The first is what I'd call the "CCW enthusiast"--folks who spend leisure time studying and talking about CCW. More or less the CCW hobbyist. Consumers.

The other group are instructors, or at least the ones that spend time on continuing education. That's who this piece is written for. He's telling us that the market is moving in a certain direction, and if you really read between the lines, that the new shooter market (a lucrative demographic for instructors) is big on small .380 autos. As such, it's probably a smart idea for an instructor to get familiar with little .380s if they aren't already.

So if you were all "who the hell is Claude Warner", it's totally cool, you're just not in Column A or B.

 

[Kiwi cop]

Well my feeling is that like a 1911 pistol, a revolver is a gun aficionado's choice.

The "plastic fantastic" craze started by the G17 in the early 1980's captivated the attention of the general public. Who remembers the metal scanners being overcome by the bad guys carrying "plastic Glocks with ceramic barrels and no metal parts" in the Die Hard 2 movie? As more compact models were released and more people in the US opted for concealed carry they became more popular and sold well. But I would guess that most were carried regularly but seldom fired at all.

Just like the .40 epidemic in the 90's where if you carried a .40 you were considered a lot cooler than if you carried a 9mm (well at least in the movies ).

Like the 1911, revolvers suffer from the stigma of holding less number of rounds. They also tend to have a slightly longer sight radius and be more accurate than the Tupperware guns and 01/02 CZ's.

Today the most common pistols I see in holsters at competitions are the CZ SP01 and the SP02 Shadow. But give those shooters a 1911 (like I did yesterday with a young lady shooter) or a nicely set up revolver, and they start to realise just what they have been missing.

I have just come off a 12 stage 1 1/2 day competition where the squads were mixed with Classic (single stack), revolver and production (CZ) shooters all in the same squad. My 10+1 9mm 1911 times, accuracy and scores more than held their own against the 16+1 CZ crowd, but when the revolver shooters were on the line my envy was clearly showing. Fast, smooth and accurate, those wheel gun shooters made it look so easy.

I doubt that the revolver will pass from general use anytime soon.

PS: that young lady shooter is going home this evening to put her SP01 away for now and start playing with her dad's 9mm 1911. She will be back on our range in 5 weeks to shoot it in my club's annual Classic Division Match. And as I told her father he should prepare for her to want to switch divisions afterwards. Her comment after firing half a mag out of my Kimber? "I really like this gun. It is so much easier to shoot than mine".

 

[spistols]

Look what is being idolized on TV, movies, and kid's video games. Way back when, it was Revolvers...then Beretta 92fs, then Smith 3rd gen, then Glock. Then the Sig pistols, HK's, etc., etc., etc.

But really, how many of us will conceal carry a Desert Eagle?

Walking Dead Rick brought back the Colt Python and the prices shot up. The next couple of hit movies/TV shows that resurrect the revolver, especially the crazy big bore stuff, you will see the popularity rise again. It is just like fashion- if the more popular people use them, then everyone wants them!

Hell, I bet the sales of the Ruger Mini 14 went bonkers after the A-Team TV series debuted!?!

 

[Bill In Texas]

There are always several schools of thought. So we have accomplished a great thing here - we have disagreed without being disagreeable. Well done, y'all!

I won't say I never carried a plastic fantastic pistol because I have but NOT in .380. 9mm if I carry a pistol, even in a compact pistol I can get between 9 to 12 rounds depending on the gun. Okay, 7 if I carry a CS-45.

Still, most days I carry a M649. A better shooter than a lightweight J frame and just as easy to conceal.


Totally agree! The only difference would be most days my carry gun is a 640-1!