Everything made by man can, and at some point, will, fail.
We can cherry pick examples, and trade lifetime experiences all day long, for our entertainment, but that's about all it is. What you, or I feel is right for us, is right, for us.
When revolvers fail, they're almost always catastrophic failures.
This is often true. However, it might also be looked at as "revolvers don't fail, UNTIL it is a catastrophic fail" Autos fail often, but usually earlier, before it is a catastrophic fail. (likea feeding jam).
notAgain, often this is the fault of the ammo, NOT the gun, but sometimes it is the gun, things DO break now and then. And, sometimes it in not the fault of either, but user error, or even more rarely, a combination of all.
Ammo that jumps crimp and ties up a revolver is not a revolver fail, its an ammo fail IN a revolver.
The guy whoi's auto jams constantly in his hands, but not in mine? Limp Wristing??? Maybe. Semi auto fail, or operator fail??
Uncommon situation, but happened to me, case head separation in an autoloader. Gun was done for that day. Same separation in a revolver would not have ended the gun's shooting, only reduced its capacity by one round.
Had a revolver malfunction when a part came off and got lost. But, in that particular case, the gun would still shoot, you just had to push the base pin back in all the way every shot or so.
Had a magazine base plate fail, and break off. Rounds, spring and follower dumped to the ground. If there had not been other mags, that gun would have been a single shot from then on.
EVERTHING CAN FAIL.
one semiauto I have (actually more than one) is a gun I would unhesitatingly trust my life on. Another semi (again, more than one) I would only choose if it was the last working gun I had ammo for, and even then I wouldn't
trust its reliability.
One of the revolvers I've had over the years was absolutely trustworthy reliable at firing 4 rounds out of 6. And, not always the same four!!
(yes, that one needed to be fixed)
Another situation I ran into was with my own father's guns, after he passed on. Didn't use, and probably never even looked at his guns during the last years of his life. (I live on the other side of the country, and was no help for this).
His semi auto (his defense gun) I found in his dresser drawer. A revolver was on a closet shelf. Both had gotten the same amount of care (none) for a good decade or more. The semi, when cleared, stuck with the slide about half closed, due to old dried up (gummy) lube. The revolver cycled perfectly.
Some things stop both of them. Some things stop one and not the other, and other things do the reverse.
Properly cared for, feed good ammo, both work quite well. Until they don't.
Both need to be maintained and operated CORRECTLY, or they will fail.
Choosing a failure of a specific gun, under specific circumstances, and claiming it applies to all guns in that class, in all conditions is a falsehood, and one we should avoid.