For home/personal defense would you choose a pistol or a revolver

Combination

In our quick access safe I have a loaded 9mm Stoeger Cougar and a Ruger LCR for me and My wife has a Taurus 85 snub nose. My concealed carry gun is the LCR. I love revolvers for their simplicity and my semi auto Cougar for the extra capacity.
 
I prefer shooting semi-autos but when it all comes down to it I would trust a revolver a little more. They have fewer ways to malfunction.
 
MY platform of choice is the 1911, with a DA revolver second. That being said, I choose to keep 2 loaded revolvers within easy access around the house.
Reason.....my WIFE is comfortable with them.
So for our family, house protection duty falls on a revolver. For my carry gun, I use a 1911 or a snub .38 depending on mood.
 
I would choose a semi-auto pistol. Wife chooses revolvers. I also like revolvers and have several, so if you ask me on a different day there may be a different answer.
 
My bed buddy is my CZ75B backed with my Ruger SP101 125mag SJHPs as a NY reload, as if 15 shot's of 124g +P HP 9MMs isn't enough, my carry is a S&W 638 J-frame airweight. My desk gun is a S&W is a S&W 37 airweight backed up with a Ruger Redhawk 44mag load hot. Lately I've been carrying my Glock 20 (10mm) in my car on short trips just for the fun of it.
 
Which ever one you can shoot accurately, and reliably. Learning to shoot properly, and a lot of practice can help one decide if they are limited to only one type. I have both, use both at different times, different situations. The importance is being proficient whit what ever you choose.
 
Chris - assuming you asking this question as a newbie to handguns, then the answer is a revolver. That is because you wouldn't ask if you were experienced with them, in particular a semi-auto.

It is difficult enough for a new-ish shooter to deal with the adrenaline-squared reaction to a life-threatening situation. Your primary need is reliability. Think of an analogy in flashlights: one is none, two is one. A shrouded-hammer double-action revolver will fire if you pull the trigger, and if it doesn't, it will fire when you pull the trigger again.

A semi-auto is almost as reliable IF and ONLY IF you have a cartridge chambered. Many, many semi-auto owners are chicken to keep chambered-cartridge semi-autos at the ready. It's true and often for good reason, such as little kids being in the house. But in that circumstance, adrenaline-squared can = pulling the trigger on an empty chamber in a semi-auto, a Wile-E-Coyote moment that can end your life.

Once you consider yourself "gun savvy," and I don't mean that in a macho-challenging sense - more like a 10-handicap guy in golf, then go for the semi-auto. My antiquated but Army-taught rule of thumb is, if you can't disassemble and reassemble your 1911 (semi-auto) in pitch-black darkness, then you are not expert in its handling and use.

If you are protecting yourself and/or your family, ditch all ego issues (not that you mentioned any). Go to a range, rent guns, practice and find what feels and shoots best, feel comfortable that you can repeat most of that in the dark (not including field-stripping), and then you have found a proper self-defense gun.

If I were Johnny Carson as Karnak, I'd see a revolver in your immediate future, followed by a semi-auto later on.
 
Which ever one you can shoot accurately, and reliably. Learning to shoot properly, and a lot of practice can help one decide if they are limited to only one type.
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For how many thousands of folks have asked the same question, this remains the only honest answer.

Also, revolvers are pistols.
 
IMO... Either would work just fine. However the autoloader would require a bit more of a commitment to training, safety awareness, and maybe rotating magazines. While a revolver also requires you commit to some training, it's a lot more simple to store loaded over a period of time.

Much is said about the revolver being the more reliable of the two. My personal experience is that they both give about the same reliability. Modern ammo, in modern semi-auto pistols have mostly eliminated the idea that Auto's are inherently unreliable.

My personal choice is the revolver. For what is called a bedside gun I have a Colt detective special. The revolver allowes the choice of mixing ammo. The first chamber is loaded with snake shot. Many accidental shootings that happen in the home are mistaken ID shootings. This gives me the option of a very less than lethal first shot. Second and third chambers loaded with frangible rounds. I live in an apartment and dont want overpenitration. The last three rounds are semi jacketed +p hollowpoints. If the fight go's past three rounds.. I want some potent medicine to finish it.

IN addition I have a short double barrel shotgun loaded with 12ga birdshot.
 
I would choose the gun I'm most comfortable with. A well made auto can be just as reliable as a well made revolver. I'm comfortable with both but usually keep a Glock 22 close by at night.

Pick a gun you are comfortable with, is reliable and accurate and you've made the right choice.
 
All cylinders firing, oil warmed up...not always

Not everyone wakes instantly alert. Admittedly, I sleep lighter when traveling but at home, handgun is at least one step away from the bed and is either a revolver or a long stroke striker fired Kahr. 'Nite Sights' are a good thing.

salty
 
Dogs first - then either the CZ75b or the Kimber .45acp...

My hand has evolved into a revolver gripping extremity.
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LOL! Mine morphed the other way,,,,
It went from a revolver gripping extremity to a semi auto one.
 
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