How many Americans own revolvers

I have 3 revolvers....to my many semi auto’s

If I was going to guess I would say older people probably have more revolvers than younger....just based on more years to acquire pistols.


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Here's the breakout of the data: Semi-auto's are the clear preference for all years listed except 1986.

First column is the year.
Second is semi-auto's reported sold that year.
Third column is the number of Revolvers sold that year.
The last column is the Ratio of Semi's sold divided by Revolvers sold.
The last row is the cumulative sales and sales ratio.


Year ...... Semi Autos...... Revolvers .......Ratio SA/R
1986 …….. 662,973 …….. 761,414 …….. 0.87
1987 …….. 964,561 …….. 722,512 …….. 1.34
1988 …….. 1,101,011 …….. 754,744 …….. 1.46
1989 …….. 1,404,753 …….. 628,573 …….. 2.23
1990 …….. 1,371,427 …….. 470,495 …….. 2.91
1991 …….. 1,378,252 …….. 456,966 …….. 3.02
1992 …….. 1,669,537 …….. 469,413 …….. 3.56
1993 …….. 2,093,362 …….. 562,292 …….. 3.72
1994 …….. 2,004,298 …….. 586,450 …….. 3.42
1995 …….. 1,195,284 …….. 527,664 …….. 2.27
1996 …….. 987,528 …….. 498,944 …….. 1.98
1997 …….. 1,036,077 …….. 370,428 …….. 2.80
1998 …….. 960,365 …….. 324,390 …….. 2.96
1999 …….. 995,446 …….. 335,784 …….. 2.96
2000 …….. 962,901 …….. 318,960 …….. 3.02
2001 …….. 626,836 …….. 320,143 …….. 1.96
2002 …….. 741,514 …….. 347,070 …….. 2.14
2003 …….. 811,660 …….. 309,364 …….. 2.62
2004 …….. 728,511 …….. 294,099 …….. 2.48
2005 …….. 803,425 …….. 274,205 …….. 2.93
2006 …….. 1,021,260 …….. 385,069 …….. 2.65
2007 …….. 1,219,664 …….. 391,334 …….. 3.12
2008 …….. 1,609,381 …….. 431,753 …….. 3.73
2009 …….. 1,868,258 …….. 547,195 …….. 3.41
2010 …….. 2,258,450 …….. 558,927 …….. 4.04
2011 …….. 2,598,133 …….. 572,857 …….. 4.54
2012 …….. 3,487,883 …….. 667,357 …….. 5.23
2013 …….. 4,441,726 …….. 725,282 …….. 6.12
2014 …….. 3,633,454 …….. 744,047 …….. 4.88
2015 …….. 3,557,199 …….. 885,259 …….. 4.02

..... …….. 48,195,129…….. 15,242,990…….. 3.16



While wheel gun guys are ardent supporters, the trend is semi's by a substantial ratio. I'm guessing LamarW was looking at 1936 data. :D

Had to add the periods between columns otherwise the numbers run together.
(Yea I know it's a slow news night).
 
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My figures came from pulling them out of my rectum. It was stated in jest thus the stupid wild % at the end of each category. I also believe the edge goes to revolvers.

The truth is I do not know, and I doubt anyone else does either. Lets hope there is never any accurate and/or required accountability of firearms. The exception is accountability of those individuals not allowed to possess them by law.
 
My take, without really making much of a point about anything:
Gun aficionados own revolvers - nearly all of us.
The average owner might.
Most young gun owners do not.

Younger generations and the Walmart culture (whatever it is, it's gotta be cheap!) drive current sales.
They buy cheap semi-autos, and their favorite 'gats' from video games growing up (or even still being played today).

Every single gun owner in my family has multiple revolvers - usually about equal to the number of semi-autos. But we're all "nuts" -- gun nuts.
Step outside that circle, and the numbers change.
Off the top of my head right now... I can count on ONE FINGER the number of friends and acquaintances that I have, born after 1975, that I know well enough to discuss gun ownership details with, that own a revolver. And that one guy? All he owns is a first-run Ruger Super Redhawk in .480 Ruger. He bought it solely to hunt javelina in AZ and, as far as I know, hasn't fired it since.

As a group, the younger generation(s) just don't like revolvers.
If it won't do back-to-back mag dumps, it's boring and old-fashioned...
 
I seriously question the validity of those figures. I know of many farm wives who have had a revolver stashed away somewhere in the house that was never included in any survey. I have visited in many rural homes where there was a Bible placed on the nightstand, and on top of that Book was a Colt revolver...
Click to expand...

This is also a problem in getting accurate data on how many lives are saved with firearms. We can only see the tip of the iceberg.
 
I do not own any Revolvers, used to teach classes with 4" S&W Mod 64/65s Loved the revolver then... Glocks owned from 1984. Police and Security started to change, in the 90s.
Why do I believe in my Glock 19 4th gen? I shoot it well, it never screws up.
Capacity, weight, comfort in the holster. Based on reported rounds fired in a bad guy/good guy shootings? Three rounds should be enough? But way down in these stats? Way down... One lasted the full magazine expended, all 15!

That's why I carry my Glock 19.
 
lamarw said:
My figures came from pulling them out of my rectum. It was stated in jest thus the stupid wild % at the end of each category. I also believe the edge goes to revolvers.

The truth is I do not know, and I doubt anyone else does either. Lets hope there is never any accurate and/or required accountability of firearms. The exception is accountability of those individuals not allowed to possess them by law.
Click to expand...
Dude, you are funny!
 
The question didn't really address whether that meant ONLY revolvers or semiautomatics. Big distinction.

It really should have addressed two different qualifications as well. Do people own multiple guns? what age group is being considered or are we just taking every living person of ownership age? Does that mean only one token revolver among a collection of dozens?

It's hard to imagine even 5% of american males under 21 years of age legally owning a revolver as an only pistol. Those people that do own a revolver at that age who own revolvers will probably own $200 .22 rimfires.

Overall, it's hard to imagine having more than ten percent of american gun owners having revolvers and nothing else. Revolvers are probably most common in people at least thirty years or older. Ownership of revolvers is dropping every day, owners die or sell, the revolvers that aren't destroyed wind up in gun stores, and they disappear into the hands of people who probably already possess several of them, while the whippersnappers are picking out the polymer framed double stacks.

Thirty years ago, there would have been a great question, how many own a bolt gun vs a semiautomatic? Back then? If you stuck to centerfire,it would have been overwhelmingly bolts, semiautomatics barely made a ripple. Would you say that the maybe half of all gun owners now own at least one semiautomatic rifle or shotgun?

I don't collect guns, in fact, I think I have only eight handguns right now. four revolvers. 2x.357, .38, .22. Three semiautos, 9mm, .380, .22. I own a single shot in .221 fireball. (1960s)

I own five long guns. (i think) Three bolt, one semiauto (1964 remington) one lever. a twelve gauge SxS. Three are 30-06, a .22, and a twelve gauge.

So, who here can actually guess how old I am from that list?
 
Ownership of revolvers is dropping every day, owners die or sell, the revolvers that aren't destroyed wind up in gun stores, and they disappear into the hands of people who probably already possess several of them, while the whippersnappers are picking out the polymer framed double stacks.
Click to expand...

I'm doing my best to adopt orphaned Smith and Wesson revolvers whose owners have died.:D

Don
 
Any time you find one that feels all grown up and wants to leave the nest feel free to put him on a bus and send him to me. Some kids just can't get along in big families. Trust me, I'll take good care of him, I take in stray cats all of the time.
 
I would expect that a large number of people own a revolver but don't classify themselves as a gun owner???? Here's what I'm getting at.

Many people have a gun (most likely a revolver) that was given to them by a family member for self-protection/home defense, or they inherited the gun. In many cases, they didn't want or see a need for the firearm. So, it sits unloaded somewhere in their home. They never shoot it, carry it, or even have ammo available. It's like old clothing in the back of the closet.

P.S. for many years, I was one of those people as my wife had a .22 revolver that we never shot and kept hidden away.
 
The manufacturing data was interesting. I would have expected pistols to outnumber revolvers in recent manufacture, but the difference was a bit more dramatic than I expected. While it is true that it doesn't completely reflect ownership, my bet would be that the trend is in a similar direction. I would expect the probability of ownership of revolvers to go up with the age of the person responding, and with the number of firearms owned. For a fair number of younger folk who aren't "gun people," a revolver is quaint, and the only brand of handgun they can name is Glock.
 
My take, without really making much of a point about anything:
Gun aficionados own revolvers - nearly all of us.
The average owner might.
Most young gun owners do not.
Click to expand...

That is about my take as well. I know many gun guys, and am confident most own a revolver or two. I know for sure many do. With that said, my guess is revolvers represent a fairly small percentage of total handguns owned.
 
TailGator said:
The manufacturing data was interesting. ... For a fair number of younger folk who aren't "gun people," a revolver is quaint, and the only brand of handgun they can name is Glock.
Click to expand...

The crazy thing is that S&W, Ruger, & Sig all handily beat Glock in the number of pistols produced. Additionally Ruger and S&W revolvers almost match Glock total production - 246K, 294K & 368K respecitivly.
 
Quote:
My take, without really making much of a point about anything:
Gun aficionados own revolvers - nearly all of us.
The average owner might.
Most young gun owners do not.
Click to expand...

K_Mac said:
That is about my take as well. I know many gun guys, and am confident most own a revolver or two. I know for sure many do. With that said, my guess is revolvers represent a fairly small percentage of total handguns owned.
Click to expand...
If you grew up with revolvers, that might be true. But there are plenty of 'aficionados' that aren't into revolvers, as seen by the 80% of handgun sales going for semi's.
Yes, revolvers are a little less voluminous and don't leave evidence on the floor for a few shots, but that's not what most gun buyers want.

Between limited capacity and most LEO's giving them up for semi's (including FBI), revolvers are becoming a historical item more than a first choice weapon.
 
Hard to say. I think many gunowners have both. I think if revolvers are more common right now it won't be for long.
 
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