I love revolvers because...

Marko Kloos

Inactive
...they will digest any bullet shape, and shoot any power level ammunition, as long as there's enough powder to drive the bullet out of the barrel and not so much as to shake the gun apart.

...they can cycle upside down, limp-wristed, and weak-handed.

...they will fire repeatedly from a coat pocket or jammed into an attacker, without hanging up or going out of battery.

...they can be instantly verified as loaded or unloaded just by glancing at the cylinder.

...they can be instantly made safe and rendered inert just by swinging out the cylinder.

...they are easy to teach to new shooters.

...they don't have magazines to lose, break, or wear out.

...they don't shower your range stall neighbor with brass, or deposit it between your eyes or in your collar.

...they let you collect the brass neatly and without bending down.

...they can be had cheaply in the age of tacticality.

...they can be left loaded for decades without any springs to wear out.

...they encourage marksmanship and deliberate shooting.

...they don't attract the spray-and-pray crowd shotgunning their targets with the latest tactical extreme hardware.

...they show the bad guy what's lined up to pass through his anatomy if he does not see the error of his ways.

...they can be had in much more powerful calibers than you can get in a bottom feeder.

...they don't require any function tests with defensive ammo (the first box of rounds out of a bottom feeder is for function, the first box out of a wheelgun is for grouping).

...they have more adaptable grips that can be changed to suit just about anyone's hand.

...they inspire confidence. (How many semiauto shooters carry a wheelgun as a backup piece, versus wheelgunners who carry a semi for backup?)



Feel free to continue the list...
 
Nice write-up. I like 1911's for fun, but when I must have something that works and has substantial power, I grab my 3" .357.
 
Right now, I'm trading a ruger p345 for a gp100. My most recent brief foray into the brass puker world is short lived. :barf:

other reasons: the discipline they help build benefits for many other aspects of your life. Revolvers help develop traits like commitment, critical thinking skills, concentration, calm in stressful situations, and long term thinking.
 
All True - Revolvers are Super Simple

And pretty much the same applies to a 12ga short barrel hammergun. Simplicity is a wonderful virtue.
 
Several of those things are very practical and sound reasons to use a revolver. But you left out the intangible. Skeeter didn't write much about autos. Neither did Elmer. Neither did Jordan. All those western movies and TV shows I grew up watching didn't have anybody running around with a Glock and attached laser sight. The revolver is just plain traditional. People don't have to produce a list of practical reasons they prefer to drive a 65 Ford Mustang compared to the latest Saturn. When I pick up a revolver I feel like the latest link in a chain that goes back way over 100 years. And there is a lot of history in that chain.

I use an auto in many cases and situations. But few of them will ever really make me just love to look at them the way a good old Smith revolver does!

Gregg
 
I'll add to your great list.

You don't bust your thumbs loaded a revolver, like many semi-auto magazines can do. Its simple to drop 5-8 rounds into the cylinder, while on a semi-auto you're consistently fighting the magazine spring.



My only pet-peave with revolvers is ammo choices. I LOVE .38 special/.357 magnum....but there are NOT counterparts to .40 S&W, and .45 ACP that are CHEAP. Yes, you can use loaded down .41 magnum or regular .45 Colt, but we are talking high price ammo and few ammo choices in these calibers. And yes, one can get moon clips and shoot .45 ACP, but I HATE moon clips....mostly because they are easy to use and IME not too durable.

IMO, a RIMMED .45 load that was priced as cheaply as .45 ACP and also as common would be ideal, but no such load exists.

Having said this, I'm still a revolver guy by a HUGE margin.
 
Mall ninjas.

I am in the military, so I deal with tactical everyday.
Whether it's BDU pants or vehicle radios, tank tracks or toilet paper, by the end of the day, I'm sick of "tactical".
I get the luxury of tactical training on an almost daily basis, so when I go to the range on my off time, it's for one of two things, fun or accuracy.(sometimes both)
Revolvers are great because they are accurate. They are fun. They're low maintenance, too. They have a touch of class that is usually perpetuated by the people who use them, and by their legacy.
Revolvers helped this country from before the civil war until well into the 1980's. Revolvers are proven performers for tough men who do (did) tough jobs and look good doing it.
 
...I read a field report of a gun that just fired X number of rounds with no FTF or FTE and think "so?".

...I use the same gun to hunt everything from squirrel to deer and wild boar.

...A new auto-loader can shoot a 3 or 4 inch group and I think, "Good God, can't you get that fixed?".

...It can kill anything that walks the Earth.

...They are 6 for sure.

...They are easier to use than a Glock and safer at the same time.

...Their triggers.

...Their barrels can go from 2 inches to as long as you want.

....1/2 inch, 440 grains, 1625 fps.
 
pretty much what is in the first post....

Never had a FTF or FTE in a revolver. just point and squeeze the trigger till she goes bang
 
I've only shot a revolver once. It was quite a pleasant experience indeed. But, I still went with a bottom feeder (I like that term, btw).

I just wanted to say that while wheelguns may foster all of those good mental and physical habits, it's not impossible to develop them with anything. I don't think anybody worthy of being called a shooter, regardless of what he chooses to shoot, is going to consider a fifteen-round magazine to be license to spray like crazy and hope something hits.

Likewise, I watch dudes at the range spray boxes and boxes of ammo downrange and only show fifteen or twenty holes in the paper. I don't think that putting a revolver in their hands is going to suddenly teach them the importance of deliberate marksmanship.

That said, I heartily agree with everything else. Even if I don't practice it.

+1 on stickying this.
 
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