Another revolver vs. semi for newbies thread.

When I hit 21 & joined my hometown Force as an aux.LEO, my instructor kept harping us about cleaning your revolver each time you use it. That stuck with me all of these years. I clean my revolvers & pistols after every visit when I go to the range & I helped to teach my wife to clean her revolver after each session at our range too. IMHO, I also think revolvers are easier to shoot than Pistols but that's for a different post.
The qustion is very simple. Why do you brush your teeth? To kept them from rotting away. Same goes for your guns.
 
It's ironic that the revolver is both the best gun for the unlearned and the gun best for the expert. This is because it is both the easiest to shoot, and the hardest to shoot well.

In response to the OP, I would say the revolver is better for the "stasher" not because it can better be expected to function without regular cleaning, but because it is easier to maintain in a ready condition. The stasher is unlikely to get a gun dirty enough from firing to cause a problem. But it is possible that with an autoloader they may or may not have a round chambered and not even know which it is. They might have a magazine inserted or not. Maybe it's partially inserted. They might remember the difference between the safety and the slide release, or not. The revolver, on the other hand, doesn't have thingies that fall off or stuff you have to do. It will also shoot whatever random ammo they buy and it won't matter if they even know whether it will feed and cycle reliably.

A lot of people think the double-action trigger is the hardest to manipulate skillfully and accurately. A lot of "stashers" are likely to choose little tiny lightweight ones with short barrels because they're easier to hold. They're not going to carry them though, because they're stashers. But they get the little ones because they're easy to hold. They're the hardest to shoot well, but they don't shoot, they stash.
 
I don't get that a revolver is harder to master than a auto. Unless you are talking auto against DA mode in revolver. I've been shooting revolvers and autos since I was a kid. My
interest was accuracy & hunting. I've never practiced DA and never was into rapid fire with
autos. I've got quite a few handguns and only 5 are not target grade handguns. Just for the
purpose of accurate shooting one is no better than the other. Many 1st timers do well with
a k22 or K38 over a target auto RF or CF. For people not focused enough to handle an auto
a revolver is best. For those who want to put forth some effort an auto may be best.
 
Semi-autos are more complex when they malfunction.
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I'll disagree with that; WHEN an auto pistol malfunctions, a tap-rack-bang will usually get it back in action, even if you don't know the cause.
A revolver malfunction usually requires good light to assess the problem, if it's not merely a single misfire, and revolvers are usually more complex internally, with more things to go wrong, even if there's a belief that they rarely do go wrong.
 
WHEN an auto pistol malfunctions, a tap-rack-bang will usually get it back in action, even if you don't know the cause.
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While this is often true, if you don't know (or have some idea) of the cause, a tap-rack-bang could be a tap-rack-KABOOM! :eek:

I understand the need for "training as real as it gets", and how one does need to be proficient getting the gun back in action rapidly. However, I think its a mistake to train a beginning shooter to do this, as an automatic, unthinking response. Save the emphasis on combat drills until they are a little further along.

When you are training, target shooting, plinking, or even hunting, when the gun malfunctions (for any reason) it should be "game over" until the reason is determined. Failure drills should be done, but these should be planned events by the instructor, for safety. Keeping them unknown to the shooter helps train them for the unexpected, but the instructor should have set them up. Misfires, hangfires, and squibs are rare but they can, and do happen, and have even happened with factory ammo.

Consider that, while clearing a dud, getting a fresh round in the chamber and firing might be needful when someone is shooting at you, that "dud" might have been a squib, and if the bullet is far enough in the barrel to allow chambering another round, firing that round could be a disaster. Acceptable risk in a firefight? sure. Acceptable risk on the firing line? Not worth the risk, I think.

When working with complete "newbies" don't try to teach them to run before they can walk. Neither of you will be pleased with the results.
 
Some pistols-the Browning designs, the M1911, the High Power were designed to be easily disassembled for maintenance and cleaning, some, like the Ruger 22s-aren't. Revolvers are rather tricky, require at minimum a very good set of screwdrivers and several good manuals. Fortunately there are many good easily accessible videos these days.
An argument for revolvers for novices is that they are somewhat easier to handle and make safe, and a good instructor can deal with flinching by loading alternate chambers with fired cases then handing it to the student.
An analogy is with the bolt action rifle for a novice-like learning to drive with a stick shift, they have to learn and go through the motions, they can't skip them.
 
I don't get that a revolver is harder to master than a auto. Unless you are talking auto against DA mode in revolver. I've been shooting revolvers and autos since I was a kid. My
interest was accuracy & hunting. I've never practiced DA and never was into rapid fire with
autos. I've got quite a few handguns and only 5 are not target grade handguns. Just for the
purpose of accurate shooting one is no better than the other. Many 1st timers do well with
a k22 or K38 over a target auto RF or CF. For people not focused enough to handle an auto
a revolver is best. For those who want to put forth some effort an auto may be best.
Click to expand...

Interesting. My last 6 years in law enforcement I was the chief firearms instructor for my department, responsible for training and qualifying a little over 400 armed personal. Everyone from reserved deputies and the Sheriff's Posse to the SWAT team. I can guarantee you it is easier to train someone with a semi auto than a DA revolver. Or stated another way, with the same training time and rounds fired someone shooting a semi auto will be a better defensive shooter than his/her classmate shooting a revolver. There are individual exceptions but this applies as a general rule.

I started my LEO career with a revolver, competed in PPC competition for two years with a revolver, competed in IDPA with a revolver, collected N-frame Smith & Wessons for a number of years and am currently carrying a S&W 386 Night Guard. In all that time I hardly ever shot DA revolvers anyway but double action. I've never even cocked the hammer on the 386 NG with my thumb, only by DA trigger pull.

YMMV,
Dave
 
Or stated another way, with the same training time and rounds fired someone shooting a semi auto will be a better defensive shooter than his/her classmate shooting a revolver.
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I won't argue with this, as I've never trained anyone to shoot defensively. I have introduced and "trained" a number of people to shoot recreationally, and I hold that, absent a dire need (imminent threat, becoming a police officer, etc.) that one should start recreationally, learning shooting, handling, and safety there, THEN moving on to more specific defensive training, WHEN they are ready, if they choose to do so.

Revolvers, and shooting single action have advantages in this, semi autos strengths become more important later, I feel.

One can train complete beginners to be combat shooters, many do it that way. But if there isn't an immediate need, why not teach them just to shoot for enjoyment first? There is more to handgunning than just combat/defensive shooting, why not expose them to that, as well as what to do in gravest extreme?
 
I can attest to the difficulty of dealing with a revolver malfunctioning. I have a little DAO snubbie in .357 that I was shooting .38 spcls through it and the cylinder didn't cycle completely and a little bit of the copper jacket from the bullet sheered off and completely locked the gun up. If I had been in trouble I would basically just have had a rock to throw at the bad guy. I would not consider myself to be physically weak and I couldn't force it open with my hands. I ended up having to tap it open with a rubber mallet. It has worked fine since then but it certainly freaked me out since I had been carrying it off and on for a couple years. So if a revolver malfunctions, you better hope for God to come down and smite the bad guy, because you won't be saving yourself. Better to have 30 minutes of instruction with a semi auto in my book. And I like revolvers far more than semi-auto so I wouldn't consider myself biased in favor of semi auto handguns.
 
Generally semi autos have more minor malfunctions than revolvers (they have much more to do). Generally minor malfunctions in a semi are relatively easy to clear.

Revolvers don't suffer the kind of minor malfunctions semis do, and when a major one happens, it usually ties up the gun beyond a simple "clearance drill" level fix.

And a major malfunction will tie up a semi auto as well.

Over all, I don't think one outweighs the other. But, that's just me...;)
 
Yeah, for whatever it is worth from an old timer and a fan of both, if the weapon is for basic self-defense and the recipient isn't going to be attentive to cleaning and learning how to clear a malfunction I'd suggest a double action revolver with a couple of speed loaders.
 
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