Is a Revolver a Pistol?

Is a Revolver a Pistol?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 203 69.8%

  • No.

    Votes: 88 30.2%
  • Total voters
    291
  • Poll closed .
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Of course it is. Samuel Colt's first patent was the Paterson Revolving Pistol. Just because some ATF dip defines a pistol as a semi-auto doesn't make it true. If you've never read George Orwell's 1984, you should do so. The power of the government to control vocabulary is their power to control speech and thought.
 
Colt

I agree about the Colt definition. If the guy who invented it and gave it a name called it a type of pistol, that's hard to disagree with sensibly.
Pete
 
i thought they were different, even colt's website(and others) differentiate between the brand's pistols, and the brand's revolvers. smith and wesson, taurus, etc. maybe thats where i got it from....looking thru their catalogs. never really thought too much bout it.
 
would anyone call a colt 1911 a revolver? of course not, it's a pistol, not a revolver.

Pistols and revolvers are both handguns, but not all handguns are revolvers or pistols. The 3 words are not synonymous.
 
It all seems to boil down to semantics. But, regardless of the "realities" of either word, it seems generally accepted that there is a true distinction between "revolvers" and "pistols". If I went into a gun shop and asked to see their selection of "pistols", I doubt they would break out the revolvers. If, on the other hand, I asked to see their "revolvers", they probably would not break out the 1911's, Sigs, Glocks, XD's, etc., etc. Now, if I asked to see their selection of "handguns", they would probably ask me whether or not I was looking for a revolver or a pistol. You get the idea...

So, I will base my poll response on current distinctions, whether mis-guided or not.....
 
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In my mind pistols are either revolvers or semi-automatics. But in modern parlance, I think handguns is the generic term for (a) revolvers and (b) pistols.

I don't think that it really matters all that much.
 
A revolver is a handgun. A revolver is a pistol.

A semi-auto handgun is a handgun. A semi-auto handgun is a pistol.

Semis and revolvers are two different things, but "handgun" and "pistol" are synonymous.
 
No.

It's a strawberry blintz.

Of course a revolver is a pistol in the same way that rifles, carbines, and shotguns are long guns.
 
My take is that handguns (pistols), as opposed to rifles, fall into two catagories as has been stated. There are pistols (revolvers) AND ( semi/full-auto), all are handguns.
 
I consider "revolver" and "semi-automatic" as sub-classes of the family "pistol".

Kingdom: Mechanical devices
Phylum: Weapons
Class: Firearms
Order: Handgun
Family: Pistol
Genus: Revolver

Pistol includes semi-automatic pistol, revolver, single-shot pistol (i.e. percussion pistols) Very (flare) Pistol, etc.

One can argue that "Derringer" should fall under Pistol, yet the usage of "Derringer" may be specific enough to be a family of its own.
 
Technically, yes.
Government beaurocracywise, no

________________________________________
He who dies with the most toys, still dies.
A man's got to know his limitations- Dirty Harry
 
Hmmm, all revolvers are pistols. Not all pistols are revolvers.

From Historynet.com (and many other sources over the years) about famous "Pistoleers"

But even without such publicity, Hickok would have made his mark, for he was a man whose personality, strength of character and single-mindedness set him apart. Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer described him as a’strange character, just the one which a novelist might gloat over… a Plainsman in every sense of the word… whose skill in the use of the rifle and pistol was unerring.’ Many others besides Custer regarded Wild Bill as the best pistol shot on the Plains–a man whose quick-witted reaction to danger enabled him, according to one account, to draw and fire his Colt Navy revolvers ‘before the average man had time to think about it.’
Click to expand...

Wild Bill Hickok: Pistoleer, Peace Officer and Folk Hero
 
Based on the divergent opinions found in various resources I made of small effort to determine when pistols were first defined as "chamber integral with barrel". I don't claim any particular expertise but the earliest I found was good old oft-amended 18 U.S.C. Chap. 44.

If correct, that means it was so defined by gun controllers and I intend to afford it the same respect as "semi automatic assault weapon" which is to say, "none".

Hence, the "yes" vote.

If anyone shows me where anyone authoratative, like our military, so defined it prior to GCA 68 I'll change my tune. Until then, revolvers are pistols.
 
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