Revolver better than auto for CCW?

After reading the Civilian Self Defense Blog for years, I realized the probability of needing 20 or 30 or 40 rounds of ammo is astronomically low. It's much more important to know what to do in a situation than it is to have boatloads of ammo. Don't buy a high capacity semi auto and think you're good to go.

Also, if you plan on leaving the scene of a shooting, you need to leave the gun at home. That is a VERY bad plan of action. If it's not legal to euthanize an animal where you live, then don't do it.

Photoman44 said:

After reading the Civilian Self Defense Blog for years, I realized the probability of needing 20 or 30 or 40 rounds of ammo is astronomically low.

Click to expand...

Good point. Also, shooting that many rounds in public will increase your chance of getting sued by the poor civilians in the backdrop. Or worst.

Cruiser RN said:

With the advent of the super nines with 17+1 capacity many times marksmanship goes out the window and we hear all about spray and pray.With becoming a NRA CFI I jumped into the world of semi's ,but my 640 and Detective Special are my go to guns...God Bless...Mike

Click to expand...

Good point. Your main street is not located in Iraq. The military has always emphasize putting out thousands of rounds to suppress the enemy since the Korean war but that tactic doesn't work in your neighborhood.

shootmeselfinfoot said:

Good point. Your main street is not located in Iraq. The military has always emphasize putting out thousands of rounds to suppress the enemy since the Korean war but that tactic doesn't work in your neighborhood.

Click to expand...

I know but in Detroit 5 rounds is not going to cut it. I try to stay out of the hood but times I have to travel through. I do agree most situations is settled in less then 5 rounds. We have had multiple attackers who are drug induced that we may have to deal with. One road rage case had two on one the guy fired his emptied his revolver killed one the other guy backed down but what if he had not? Now I do carry a revolver for lightweight conceal and such but my primary carry is a semi auto pistol.

007BondJamesBond007 said:

I am great with a revolver but rather have 15+1 shots in my Beretta than 5 in my snubbie.

Click to expand...

If you can't hit him with the first 5 shots, what in the world makes you think you can hit him with the other 11? LOL!!

Cruiser RN said:

I have always been and will be a revolver guy.When I started out in the shooting sports I looked @ semi's basically being a "Tool".With a revolver I was drawn to both its simplicity and its function as a work of art.As a CCW it was the right chioce for me.The safety is between the shooter's ears and if TSHTF point and pull trigger.No BOOM? Pull trigger again and BOOM.With civilians capacity will rarely be a issue because statistically we will not have multiple assialiants.If you have to go to your tactical reload you are in the wrong neighborhood and having a very bad day.My instructor was both a NRA and LE Instructor who rammed in our heads 1 target 1 shot.If you have to take a second thier better be a damn good reason.With the advent of the super nines with 17+1 capacity many times marksmanship goes out the window and we hear all about spray and pray.With becoming a NRA CFI I jumped into the world of semi's ,but my 640 and Detective Special are my go to guns...God Bless...Mike

Click to expand...

Well said my friend! I couldn't agree more. I sometimes carry a revolver, and sometimes a revolver. My auto is only loaded with seven rounds of nine, and I ain't worried about capacity. If I cannot defend myself in MOST situations with that then I ought not carry.

I knew I could stir the pot, and now be honest , if you go hunting with a single shot shot gun one day and a auto the next - which day will you get most tree rats? Easy with the single shot, because your mine will tell you I have one shot, with the auto your mine will say hurry up you have 4 extra rounds. How many times have you read or heard of 18 to 96 rounds fired and the bad guy hit once. In the old days if a LE fired more than two rounds was because there was more than one bad guy. Plus if there is more than two, the odds aren't going your way to walk away. When I carry and would need to shoot, I know I will stand sideways and shoot with one hand because that is what I do each week at a bullseye match. Plus it would be a head shoot if I can see it.

I am am old Marine vet, and collector/shooter for 40+ years who has owned darn near everything that goes BANG. My bedside gun is a 64 with Crimson Trace, my carry piece is either a 60, or 649 with Crimson Trace.

I really don't see a protracted gun battle in my future, but if I ever need a weapon for S.D. I am sure of my ability to hit what I aim at. 5-6 rounds, with a speed strip will get it done.

If I was a bouncer in a biker bar, or a doorman at a crack house, I may feel the need for a lot of rounds, and 3-4 spare mags. Neither is in my future.

depends. I have 2 revolvers, both 686 .357, one 2.5" and one 4". neither one will ever see carry in public. My 4" is used as a range gun and for my wife to grab in the low probability that she needs it at home. My 2.5" is for the wife as well, but also for me while i do yard work in case a bear or dog decides to test me. Just saw a bear last week in my yard. My carry gun is a S&W 6906. Flatter, and easier to conceal than the 686 2.5". I used to have a 642, but I hated shooting it, although it was great to carry. I am much more accurate with that 6906.

But, if I am venturing into unfriendly territory, or had a high risk job like a jeweler, a revolver would be nothing more than second gun. In the heat of the moment, 5 shots goes mighty fast, especially with more than one bad guy And I don't understand how that jeweler didn't have his antenna up when those two lowlifes walked in his store. They looked like thugs right when they walked in the door, and the one mutt kept putting his hand in his pocket. I'm glad he survived, but I chalk it more up to luck than anything else. Thugs like that know nothing about cover. and the jeweler was holding an empty gun on a guy who was still armed and not out of the picture yet. What was to stop him from firing a shot before he died?

5 shots was plenty for Bernie Goetz....

Bullseye Smith said:

I knew I could stir the pot, and now be honest , if you go hunting with a single shot shot gun one day and a auto the next - which day will you get most tree rats? Easy with the single shot, because your mine will tell you I have one shot, with the auto your mine will say hurry up you have 4 extra rounds. How many times have you read or heard of 18 to 96 rounds fired and the bad guy hit once. In the old days if a LE fired more than two rounds was because there was more than one bad guy. Plus if there is more than two, the odds aren't going your way to walk away. When I carry and would need to shoot, I know I will stand sideways and shoot with one hand because that is what I do each week at a bullseye match. Plus it would be a head shoot if I can see it.

Click to expand...

If that is the case then you only need a single shot handgun not a revolver. One shot one kill?

I know I can hit a man size target at 50ft with my semi auto. If I can do it at 50 10ft. would be easier. I cannot hit a man size target with a 642 at 50ft. Close up I could. Now at 50ft I can hit a pie pan size target with my 8 in Ruger Single Six but it would be not concealable or practical.

617fan said:

5 shots was plenty for Bernie Goetz....

Click to expand...

I disagree. None of the lowlifes were killed, and they were armed with screwdrivers. Put guns in their hands, and Bernie would be pushing up daisies right now.

007BondJamesBond007 said:

If that is the case then you only need a single shot handgun not a revolver. One shot one kill?

I know I can hit a man size target at 50ft with my semi auto. If I can do it at 50 10ft. would be easier. I cannot hit a man size target with a 642 at 50ft. Close up I could. Now at 50ft I can hit a pie pan size target with my 8 in Ruger Single Six but it would be not concealable or practical.

Click to expand...

You can't hit a man size target in the torso with a 642 at 17 yards? That's not a very hard shot. And if you really want to, put a Crimson Trace grip on that. I used to hit the bullseye at 15 yards (45 feet) consistently with my 642 and laser grips, and that was firing from the hip.

S&W J frame snubbies are my normal carry. I do not feel "under gunned" with 5 shots. The snubbie J frame can ride in my pocket all day and go completely unnoticed.

I also like the safety aspect of a revolver. No chambering a round and having to lower a hammer or decock.

I just think, from a practical point of view, the snubbie J frame is the most practical, all day, everyday concealed carry.

Now don't get me wrong. If I "knew" I was going to need it, and any given time, then I'd carry the biggest gun I could get my hands on.

I've got them all....I just prefer the J frame.

I'm with Gutpile Charlie and Pinkymingeo, I carry a J-frame (340PD) for the same reasons they do. I know from experience that I will be so stressed out by the encounter that I will only be able to "point and click". IF I know in advanced that I need to prepare for a fight then I'll bring a lot more firepower or else get the hell out of Dodge.

Hi:
I was always a "Revolver Guy". The last few years of my LEO career my
Agency issued Sig P229 .40.
Now RETIRED I spend a lot of time sitting in my car with my two puppies while my wife is SHOPPING in various Malls. I have observed that the "Low Lifes" run in Packs/Gangs. That is the primary reason I CCW a high capacity auto, w/extra magazine, plus a BUG revolver.
Jimmy

The J Frame does conceal nicely compared to a Sig 226.

jimmyj said:

Hi:
I was always a "Revolver Guy". The last few years of my LEO career my
Agency issued Sig P229 .40.
Now RETIRED I spend a lot of time sitting in my car with my two puppies while my wife is SHOPPING in various Malls. I have observed that the "Low Lifes" run in Packs/Gangs. That is the primary reason I CCW a high capacity auto, w/extra magazine, plus a BUG revolver.
Jimmy

Click to expand...

We do have a gang problem in my area.

As for revolver not failing see below.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_173_29/ai_n7578382/
Gun lock failure
American Handgunner, Jan-Feb, 2005 by Massad Ayoob
12Next
Integral locks trigger a primal fear among those who know their lives may depend on their gun: "What if it locks by itself?" I know cops who stopped trusting Remington 870 pump guns the day they started coming with a key lock integrated with the safety button.

For many years, these integral gun locks have upset firearms purists in the theoretical sense, but caused no actual mechanical problems. However, I've recently run across three cases where these devices failed during firing. Two spontaneously locked themselves during firing at a commercial shooting range, and one lock managed to depart from the gun while its owner was shooting it.

All three were ultra-light Smith & Wesson revolvers firing very hard kicking ammunition. At the Manchester (NH) Indoor Firing Line, reports owner Jim McLoud, a Model 342 Titanium AirLite being fired with powerful .38 Special P , and a Model 340 Scandium AirLite being shot with full power .357 Magnum ammo both locked-up tight. McLoud determined the parts in their integral locks had shifted under the heavy recoil and locked up. In Rochester, Indiana, detective Dennis Reichard was firing his personally owned service revolver, a Model 329 Scandium with full power .44 Magnum, when the lock's flag mechanism flew out of its slot in the frame alongside the exposed hammer. While the .44 continued to fire, Reichard was less than thrilled with his duty weapon literally falling apart while he was shooting it, and has gone back to his old all-steel Model 629 without the integral lock mechanism.

This is not necessarily an indictment of Smith & Wesson, nor even of the integral lock system that company uses. It may be more of a lesson that extraordinarily light handguns firing extremely powerful ammunition can be damaged by the battering of constant, extreme recoil forces. Still, it gives us pause.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
12

Out of all my guns the only one I had to send back for repair was my 642. S & W replaced the trigger group and springs.

Bullseye Smith said:

How many times have you read or heard of 18 to 96 rounds fired and the bad guy hit once. In the old days if a LE fired more than two rounds was because there was more than one bad guy.

Click to expand...

Bollocks.

As a profession we didn't fire as many rounds back then because we simply didn't have as many at our disposal. The hit percentage wasn't any better then than now. The myth that the profession had more steely-eyed pisoleros is exactly that, a myth.

The best thing to do regarding the high capacity debate is to do some research regarding ACTUAL SHOOTINGS in the REAL WORLD and see how many shots are required to get the job done.