Six for Sure

[petepeterson]

The title repeats what many revolver enthusiasts maintain. FWIW, my K frame, with less than 2000 rounds through with this new hammer, broke its hammer nose. Only the 2nd one I've had break in 60+ years of handgun shooting, but it happened.

So, what ya gonna do if it happens to you????????????????????

If you factor in the mathematical percentages of:
A. Needing the gun
B. Needing to fire it
C. The hammer breaking when you do (assuming you've not had an issue before)

I'd say at that point, it's just not your day. Not sure I'd be toting an extra handgun just for that eventuality. There has to be a limit somewhere. No reason to think that second gun couldn't fail, too, ya know?

 

[MSD2343]

I shoot about 6,000 handgun rounds per year through a mix of revolvers and semi-autos. In general, the semis are much more tolerant of high volume shooting between cleanings. I just about always clean my guns after each range session, but during the longer sessions, the semis seem less prone to dirt-induced issues. My older revolvers, which tend to have the narrowest cylinder gaps, seem most prone to problems as the range session goes on.

Obviously this shouldn't be a factor for well maintained revolvers carried for self-defense.

 

[alwslate]

Take a lesson from the military forces around the world. Semi autos for the hard duty, revolvers for light duty away from the trenches.

 

[ladder13]

Wait, revolvers break too?

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

This was my Christmas Eve Church Carry.

This was my Christmas Day Carry.

I think you get the idea.

I see you are a belt and suspenders type of guy!

My EDC is a 49, when I feel the need for "more" I add a 220 or 1911 (in God's chosen cartridge). If I still feel the need for more, I grab a 12 gauge pump! (Or more likely change my plans and go elsewhere!)

Ivan

 

[chief38]

There is no such thing as a fail proof mechanical devise! No matter how carefully it was produced, inspected and assembled, parts are sometimes flawed in a manner we can not see or know about until they fail. This is not just with guns but with every mechanical devise ever manufactured.

Yes, I would agree that revolvers were and still might hold the slight reliability edge against semi autos, but there is no denying the gap has narrowed. Narrowed enough now that I no longer EDC a revolver. The advantages to a good quality semi auto so far outweighs carrying a revolver, I have retired my 5 and 6 shooters for EDC.

I have stated here before that I have had several S&W revolvers fail to function and had broken. Broken Trigger and Hammer Studs, Hammer Noses, Springs, Sears, etc do occur.

Again, back in the day, yes revolvers were generally 5 or 6 "for sure" as they said, mostly, but not always true! Today's SA's have just about caught up! While SA's have gotten so much better, revolver technology has not changed much.

While back in the day manual transmissions were so much more reliable than automatic transmissions, that is no longer really true. Considering the numbers in which they are made, automatic tyranny's are now quite reliable!

While SA drills and clear jams are prudent & essential, if a revolver breaks, the only immediate use for it is as a set of brass knuckles. Hopefully everyone here has thoroughly tested and vetted their carry loads and know they are reliable and accurate.

 

[Dump1567]

I see you are a belt and suspenders type of guy!

My EDC is a 49, when I feel the need for "more" I add a 220 or 1911 (in God's chosen cartridge). If I still feel the need for more, I grab a 12 gauge pump! (Or more likely change my plans and go elsewhere!)

Ivan

Not really. I just run a Wilderness or 5.11 belt. Never had an issue. And I even have other things on the belt. The only time I ever really notice the weight is when I'm running a steel Gov. model.

 

[Miracle Man]

There's a fellow I work with at my part time just to have something to do job, selling guns haha. Anyways he's a defensive firearms instructor around here somewhere and he shocked me one day telling a customer that revolvers are banned from his classes!!

He says to her "they're a death trap", and he's not a play station kid youngin, probably mid to late 40's.

I haven't had the chance to dig deeper into why he thinks revolvers are a "death trap" but I can't wait to find out their reasoning?

 

[Marshal Tom]

Just Watched John Correia, Active Self Protection youtube video(Revolver vs.Pistol) last night. He makes some great points. I have many S&W revolvers and love them. I occasionally carry a J frame for quick outings, around the house and field as well as in my coat pocket in the winter for a quick town trip. Most often these days it's a 9mm striker fired pistol of medium size. Capacity over small and light in todays world makes more sense to me plus I shoot most of the semi autos more better!

 

[jbull380]

Just Watched John Correia, Active Self Protection youtube video(Revolver vs.Pistol) last night. He makes some great points. I have many S&W revolvers and love them. I occasionally carry a J frame for quick outings, around the house and field as well as in my coat pocket in the winter for a quick town trip. Most often these days it's a 9mm striker fired pistol of medium size. Capacity over small and light in todays world makes more sense to me plus I shoot most of the semi autos more better!

I find no reason to not carry a 9mm semiauto these days. Nothing against a revolver I just have more reason to carry a modern polymer higher capacity pistol.

 

[Naphtali]

The title repeats what many revolver enthusiasts maintain. FWIW, my K frame, with less than 2000 rounds through with this new hammer, broke its hammer nose. Only the 2nd one I've had break in 60+ years of handgun shooting, but it happened.

So, what ya gonna do if it happens to you????????????????????

Which is more likely to happen to you, your children, and your grandchildren: breaking your revolver's hammer or pretty much any other part; or a failure to fire with any semiautomatic pistol?

In my judgment that is the reason that only the highly trained should EDC semiautomatics. Total, possibly terminal, helplessness will occur for a great percentage of all civilian EDC-ers. For nearly all who have become Constitutional Carry first timers helplessness is a certainty. For people like me who are more concerned about failure to fire when using a semiautomatic pistol than needing more than a cylinderful of shots at target, there is a 5-, 6-, or 7-shot 357 Magnum to meet our needs.

People with significant arthritis or hand weakness for whatever reason are more than foolish to be using a handgun that they would require many seconds to restore to firing status.

 

[wheelyfun66]

The title repeats what many revolver enthusiasts maintain. FWIW, my K frame, with less than 2000 rounds through with this new hammer, broke its hammer nose. Only the 2nd one I've had break in 60+ years of handgun shooting, but it happened.

So, what ya gonna do if it happens to you????????????????????

Fixed blade knife, is my backup plan...
But, with an all-steel revolver, more likely to just start thumping them on the noggin'

 

[Buford57]

This was my Christmas Eve Church Carry.

This was my Christmas Day Carry.

I think you get the idea.

That's one way to make sure all the kids get to church.

 

[Imissedagain]

When the gun fails:
If you learned Taekwondo
you're always ready to go.

I've told several Chief Instructors of the martial arts,
who knew nothing about firearms, if you get involved
in a bar, with a guy/gal argument between others,
your katas are no match for katas number 45 and 38 Special.
I had to explain.

 

[Heinz]

What seems to be missing from this discussion is the failure to fire rate of the ammunition being used. That is, did the revolver (or auto) malfunction, or did the ammunition ftf. In my experience, the most likely cause of a failure to fire is an ammunition malfunction. I will admit that I fire more 22 rimfires than center fires and that I never buy "cheap" ammunition, so I may have a sampling bias.
From a misfire standpoint, the revolver is a minor inconvenience solved by a second trigger pull. The automatic is more complicated, although clearing the action usually suffices. Perhaps even a second pull if it has a double-action trigger
So to make some sense of the reliability of the revolver v automatic controversy we would need some failure analysis with some reliable statistical data.
As to the New York reload, that is a good approach when you run out of ammunition, but not so good when you have to decide whether to discard the gun in your hand and draw your backup gun, instead of trying to clear the ftf.
I owned a S&W 22A that never successfully fired a five-round string without a misfire and I constantly searched for ammunition that would be reliable because, when it went off, it was accurate.

 

[eb07]

The title repeats what many revolver enthusiasts maintain. FWIW, my K frame, with less than 2000 rounds through with this new hammer, broke its hammer nose. Only the 2nd one I've had break in 60+ years of handgun shooting, but it happened.

So, what ya gonna do if it happens to you????????????????????

same thing you will do if the firing pin on your semi breaks I guess RUN

 

[brucev]

Been shooting revolvers since 1980. Been shooting semi-autos since about 1981. Have broken three hammer noses of S&W revolvers, one hammer on a Colt Python, a firing pin on a Marlin 1894, and have had to replace firing pin/spring on a couple of 1911's. For a long time I've kept spare hammer noses on hand w/ rivets to make necessary repairs. Have taken to replacing hammer noses as a maintenance item on the S&W's that I shoot heavily. Have never had a frame mounted firing pin ever break in a S&W, Colt, Ruger, etc. Not once. Nowadays, most of my shooting is w/ a 226 Legion, S&W 18, 19, 586. I will continue to change out the hammer noses on the S&W's as it avoids inconvenient down time at the range. If i were going to be using any of my revolvers or pistols for serious purposes or for extended times in the woods and fields, I would install new hammer noses/firing pins and springs before leaving the house. Figure that would just about guarantee full function while away from repair parts, etc. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[Onomea]

FWIW, Grant Cunningham states that one should use snapcaps with Colt revolvers to avoid firing pin breakage. I believe him and have followed that practice since I learned that this is his view.

 

[jeffrefrig]

Two guns for Christmas Eve party and two for Christmas Day...that's one tough neighborhood. But, it makes sense anywhere now, I guess. Nobody was carrying that day a few years back at the Tree Of Life Synagogue over in Squirrel Hill.

 

[WardenRoss]

Guns break. I was shooting this 1976 Series 70 Colt and the thumb safety just broke off. I've never seen such a thing.

If I had been shooting at sassy bandits instead of paper targets I would consider it a sign to depart forthwith.

Something similar happened to me

I had a very expensive single action autoloader that the thumb safety broke-off. It actually broke-off while depressing it to fire.

It did release the safety and I fired the gun and only discovered it when I attempted to place it back to "safe" before re-holstering.

"Where's the safety lever?" Dang!"

What if that had happened and it was stuck in "safe"?

I sent the pistol back to the manufacturer. They replaced everything except for the frame, grips and sights. Everything. No charge.

I guess nothing mechanical is foolproof. I'll never get over it.


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