What caliber is your favorite revolver?

JayFramer · May 31, 2020

Makes me utterly sick and disgusted so many newfangled whippersnappers here ignored the trusty .45 Long’s Colt’s.

Paladin and Wayne are spinning in their graves!! What with these confounded “double action” wonder guns shooting the itty bitty .38 central firing SMOKELESS(???) cartridges??

What will come next?? Guns that don’t even HAVE cylinders???

cowboy4evr · May 31, 2020

If they would of listed 44-40 , I just might of went with that one instead . It was Winchesters first metallic case center fire cartridge , according to Wikipedia . Interesting as it's the same yr that Colt introduced the 45 Colt . After all these years both still going strong and the argument still continues , " which one really won the west " ? Personally , I have and like both . Regards Paul

Model1567 · May 31, 2020

.44-40, the cartridge that put the Winchester lever action rifle on the map.
#1 deer rifle/cartridge combo until surpassed by the '94 Winchester in .30-30 sometime after WWI.

Skeet 028 · May 31, 2020

Actually using the brain we were given the rifle is truly the GUN that won the west. so for cartridge civilian rounds...probably he 44-40 won the west..but the military subdued the native americans in a fairly short time period.. so the 45-70 or it's carbine round kinda won the west...at least militarily. Don't think the 30-30 had much impact on "winning the west" and the 44-40 was the 44 mag of it's era. Hate to load those darn things though

cowboy4evr · May 31, 2020

Actually I enjoy loading for the 44 WCF (44-40) . Yes I find I have to slow down and get it right first time , no 2nd chances . I enjoy reloading the older cartridges as I also have a "94 " Winchester chambered in 38-55 . It left the factory in the early part of 1897 . I'm lucky as my 1894 Marlin chambered in 44-40 , made about 1893-94 ( has a mid range 3 digit serial #) has perfect dimensions . The barrel slugged .426 and it has a tight throat so my bullets sized .427 are perfectly sized for it . I just use the LEE steel dies , rub a little Imperial sizing wax on the case before resizing and I use the LEE cast bullet 200 gr RNFP -.427 to reload . Regards , Paul

Dave Lively · May 31, 2020

seldon14 said:
Surprised by the turn out for 41 and 44 special.

The 44 special being more popular than the 44 magnum surprised me too.

I suspect some people read the question as "What is your favorite revolver cartridge" instead of "What caliber is your favorite revolver".

My S&W 69 is a 44 magnum but I do not shoot a lot of full power 44 magnums through it. I see a lot more guns chambered in 44 magnum than I do 44 special.

Model1567 · May 31, 2020

Skeet 028 said:
Actually using the brain we were given the rifle is truly the GUN that won the west. so for cartridge civilian rounds...probably he 44-40 won the west..but the military subdued the native americans in a fairly short time period.. so the 45-70 or it's carbine round kinda won the west...at least militarily. Don't think the 30-30 had much impact on "winning the west" and the 44-40 was the 44 mag of it's era. Hate to load those darn things though

Actually, historians now pretty much agree that "The Gun that won The West" was the black powder muzzle loading double barreled shotgun.
Primary tool used by the settlers, who started coming west in the 1840's.
The revolver and lever gun are remembered because those companies used their old west lineage as a main point of a lot of their advertising.
.30-30 was developed from the .38-55 in 1895 as a "long range, flat shooting" hunting round for the Winchester rifle...and in its time, it was just that.
Yes, the .44-40 came before the .30-30 and while it was a popular cartridge, it didn't necessarily "win" the west, but it may have helped maintain the status quo in later years.
In fact, its off-shoot, the .38-40, was favoured by The Arizona Rangers during The Indian Wars, because (in their words) "it shot harder".....define that as you may.

Skeet 028 · May 31, 2020

Model1567 said:
Actually, historians now pretty much agree that "The Gun that won The West" was the black powder muzzle loading double barreled shotgun.
Primary tool used by the settlers, who started coming west in the 1840's.

Which is exactly why I stated cartridge round. The major portion of the aforementioned "west" was already tamed by the time self contained cartridges were in wide use. I guess they finished the job. I can see why the Colt black powder revolvers would have been in WIDE demand. To heck with single shots

bmcgilvray · May 31, 2020

Man, I can't pick!

I've long admired the .44 Special, thought of myself as a .44 Special kind of guy, and a couple of revered .44 Specials live here.

But, then there's .38 Special and I love ol' .38 Special. There are snub .38 Specials, long-snouted .38 Specials, small, medium, and large .38 Specials. Old .38 Specials, not so old .38 Specials, .38 Specials from every decade of the 20th century. Blued .38 Specials, nickel .38 Specials, stainless steel .38 Specials, alloy-framed .38 Specials, and rusted .38 Specials. There are police .38 Specials, sportsman's .38 Specials, military .38 Specials. There's my first ever handgun which is a .38 Special and Mrs. BMc's .38 Special. Smith & Wesson .38 Specials and Colt .38 Specials, even a .38 Special automatic, nearly 30 of 'em all together.

But then what about a positively torrid love affair with .32-20? There's a couple of them on hand. Oh and .41 Long Colt. Am keen on .41 Long Colt and have a pair of them to play with.

We won't even talk about the .22 rim fires, .357 Magnums, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .45 Colt or the rest of the also-ran calibers.

It's hopeless to try to pick.

I can decisively commit to revolvers though. I think I'm safe in that.

38SPL HV · May 31, 2020

Seeing the poll results, we like the 357 Mag and 38 Spl...1st and 2nd places respectively!

Model1567 · May 31, 2020

Nothing wrong with that, but I'm still puzzled why .22LR doesn't rank higher.
I guess this crowd just favours centerfire rounds.

tops · Jun 1, 2020

Model1567 said:
Nothing wrong with that, but I'm still puzzled why .22LR doesn't rank higher.
I guess this crowd just favours centerfire rounds.

The original question is what is your favorite revolver caliber. I listed .357M because it is my favorite caliber and in my opinion the best revolver caliber ever made. If the question had been which revolver caliber do you shoot the most I would have picked .22. If I was rich I would never shoot another .22 but poor people have too do poor ways. Larry

Dave Lively · Jun 1, 2020

tops said:
The original question is what is your favorite revolver caliber.

Actually the question was what caliber is your favorite revolver.

For a lot of people their favorite revolver is going to be in their favorite caliber. But I would have expected more people to have a 22 that was passed down through their family and has a lot of sentimental value. Or has a 12 ounce 357 they carry but hate to shoot and a 22 they really enjoy shooting. Or a 22 they are teaching their kids or grandkids to shoot with. Or a 22 they can afford to shoot all the time when they do not feel like buying factory ammo or taking the time to reload.

brucev · Jun 1, 2020

Favorite caliber is .22 LR. Pretty simple reasoning. I consider the S&W Model 18 to be just about ideal for my purposes when out and about in the woods and fields. It is just the ideal understudy to my Model 15, 19, 66. I can go out and shoot 300 -500 rounds in an afternoon w/o having to break a $20 bill for ammo. When I get home I haven't got hours ahead of me processing brass and reloading everything so that I can go shooting later when I've got everything ready. Because it is a .22LR, I can shoot it SA or DA fully aware that the results on target are my doing ... not the consequences of fatigue due to recoil, noise, etc. Because it is a .22 LR, I've been able to shoot it so much that I have developed my DA shooting skills to where my SA shooting skills used to be. Even w/ vision problems, I can shoot very good scores on my favorite nemesis ... B-27 ... which makes things a lot easier when I get to attend a local match. Once ... when I had no other revolver, I was allowed to use my Model 18 in a match where I should have had to use a centerfire. Some of the fellows were of the opinion that that little .22 LR revolver would have trouble at the longer distances. That morning they learned a lesson that I'd already learned many years before ... the .22 LR is just about ideal for everything on needs to do with a handgun short of stopping speeding trains, standing down a bear charge on Main Street or surviving a zombi apocalypse. Sincerely. bruce.

bananaman · Jun 1, 2020

DR505 said:
Favorite revolver for me means different things. For shooting it would be my 6" 25-9 in .45 Colt. For sentiment it would be my 4" 27-3 .357 magnum I picked up for my 1st police academy. For CCW it would be one of my 3" 657's in .41 magnum. So that is 3 different calibers!

I really like the 25's myself. Yours like looks super nice! I have a 6" 25-15, and it is 1 of my favorite range guns. Bob

ATL686 · Jun 1, 2020

My 686 6" .357 Magnum is my go to. It's my favorite to shoot, I find it has good balance of weight and accuracy. I never tire of using it.

pistolpete10 · Jun 1, 2020

The Model 19 is my favorite revolver. Not because of caliber.

BB57 · Jun 1, 2020

Just checking in to see that the .357 Mag is still king. And rightly so...

woodsltc · Jun 2, 2020

Kurusu said:
I don't have one favorite revolver.

And they are not all of the same caliber.

So, .22 to.45.

Mike said:
The one I currently hold in my hand........All are favorites OR I wouldn't own them.

I'm fortunate to have several revolvers in different calibers and like Kurusu and Mike, SC Hunter I really don't have a particular favorite.....I like all of them from .22LR to .44Mag. Whatever I'm carrying or shooting at the moment "is" my favorite.

Don

Bob L · Jun 2, 2020

Currently I have more 38/357 than anything but I do line my 22 and my 44s. And I would still like to get a 32 and some 45 Colts. But for now, the 38/357 would have to be King.

What caliber is your favorite revolver?

What caliber is your favorite revolver?

22 LR

22 Magnum

32 H&R Magnum

32 Federal Magnum

38 Special

357 Magnum

9mm

10mm

41 Magnum

44 Special

44 Magnum

45 ACP

45 Long Colt

454 Casull

460 magnum

500 Magnum

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