Is it time to put revolvers in the museum?

the desert eagle is chambered in .44AMP isn't it? Try finding that at a decent price.
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No, it's chambered in .357 and .44 Magnum, though it's very picky about powder charge, bullet weight, and OAL. Frankly, the platform fails to take advantage of one of the main strengths of those loadings: versatility.

I'm throwing some Bruckner on the turntable and cleaning my Model 28. Nuts to those hippies and their spring-fed automatics :p
 
I don't know how many fights you have been in but I have been in a few and know you can't always pick how you get jumped. And pushing away is fine if you are not being held in a bearhug.
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True...very true. It'd be my luck that some seven foot tall dude with 100 pounds of beer belly grabs me. ICK. My revolver will need some 18 brinell hardness SWC to get through that.

I'm reminded of the times when I take one of my larger magnum revolvers when I'm working a range session. It always seems to throw off the younger folks when someone else takes a LOUD revolver, belching fire and smoke, and clears a qual course-of-fire faster than the folks using less powerful semiautos.
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I like it when they start laughing because the targets to either side are moving from the wind caused by the blast.
 
Well Some things come and go by popularity, However, Don't we all know that Diamonds and Revolvers are forever! :D
 
Just because it's not one man's best choice doesn't mean it's not a good choice for another.
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I really like this statement. Simple and completely true.

Whatever gives you the most confidence (assuming it is reliable and you will actually carry it), go with that. Easy. If the thought of having less than 17 rounds in the gun makes you squeemish, doubtful or uncomfortable, don't carry anything with less than 17 rounds. OTH, if you are like me and you've been able to induce "limp wrist" failures in many autos with ease and it leads to trust or confidence problems, go with a wheel gun. Again, easy.

It's especially easy when what you shoot best is also what you are most confident with, which is also something you'll actually carry and not leave in the car. I consider myself fortunate that I shoot medium to large frame revolvers consistently better than anything else, I have more faith in them working than other guns (yes, they can break) when it counts, and I find them easy to carry.

Disclaimer: I have no hard data to back up the following, this is just my gut instinct on the matter. Most people seem to say that running out of ammo is the most common failure in a gun fight. I actually believe it is when you run out of something else: time. And that is probably just a result of not having the proper mindset (the mindset to "do whatever it takes" to survive), picking the wrong equipment, not being familiar with it, etc.

Perhaps I am mistaken, but that is what I believe and I'm sticking to it, that running out of time (which ties to mindset/preparedness) is the most likely failure in gun fight. That influences my equipment selection. I think that in a gun fight the one who lands the first solid hit is probably going to be successful. Not the first to miss with the first 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 15 shots. Therefore, I tend to prioritize my ability to draw and put well placed shots on target quickly, using the sights or just point shooting. The gun that allows me to do that best gets the nod from me.

So when I pick up a medium to large revolver (particularly S&W K and N Frames), assuming it has stocks on it that agree with my hand (they're easy enough to swap out ... and there's a big revolver advantage that I don't think has been mentioned yet) it just feels right. It aims so naturally in my hand that sight alignment just sort of happens without thought so drawing and shooting happens without a lot of extra concentration.

Autos, OTH (often big chunky butt double stackers and Glocks in particular). I don't know, many just don't work as well for me. I respect Glocks, but for me the ergonomics are just plain dreadful. But you know, others find them spot on. Despite that, whenever I pick up a Glock I try to imagine in my mind what kind of freakish, 7 fingered ape hands Gaston must have ;) .

So in the end of you are hot stuff with a 20 round wonder 9 and you sleep soundly with that choice, by all means, go for it! If in the end you are hot stuff with a 5 shot Chief's Special and you sleep soundly with that choice, by all means, go for it!

Okay, I'll shut up now. :o
 
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Not sure comparing a firearm to the way music and movies have been recorded and played over the years is a good comparison.

If you look at it, the tilting barrels and mag releases used on many modern semi-autos are really no different then when they first came out hundred+ years ago. You technically have "outdated" designs in your modern semi-autos.
 
as it is, I can't even rightfully say that black powder belongs in a museum.

I knew an old guy who used to bring his ruger blackhawk .44 magnum to the class I taught. He signed up every semester just to get access to the indoor range. SOB would bring black powder loads. After a couple of rounds with that, I told him "no more black powder."

So, next time he brought duplex loads of bullseye and enough black powder to stink the range up a bit, and had the gall to tell me it must have been some residue in the barrel from the last time. :rolleyes: (his buddy stood there and laughed.) he eventualy couldn't stand to let his cleverness go unnoticed, and told me about the duplex loads.

I swear, the old guy would have just withered up and died if you took away his horse pistol.
 
6 pages so far, and I still can't wrap my gray matter around these types of threads. I've kept up with and read this thing all the way, but what I hear is "Why don't you all do what I do? Why don't you all carry what I carry? Why don't you all think like I think? Wear what I wear? Drink what I drink? Listen to what I listen to?" Must've been in the back of the OP's mind somewhere somehow, "Hey, I like mag (CLIP!) feeders- I don't like anything else so they need to go away."

Because we're still free enough to have a choice.

Now I'm going to get all constipated by worrying about when somebody's gonna ask if my Zebco 33 is ready for the trash heap.
 
Now I'm going to get all constipated by worrying about when somebody's gonna ask if my Zebco 33 is ready for the trash heap.
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It's a zebco. You can figure the answer out all by yourself, I figger.
 
I think someone who doesn't think revolvers have a place has never shot a really nice one. A combat revolver will often be capable of great accuracy, and a hunting revolver can often outshoot the best handgunners. I'm a fan of Smith and Ruger revolvers, and no longer own any semi-autos. My wife has a RIA 1911 and a Ruger MKII 50th anniversary.
 
Most people seem to say that running out of ammo is the most common failure in a gun fight.
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I doubt those folks have actually been in a gunfight. If I'm expending more than six rounds, I'm in some kind of trouble no handgun is going to end. I've spoken to more than a few folks who've been in shootouts, both law enforcement and civilians, and shot placement is (almost) everything.
 
If you look at it, the tilting barrels and mag releases used on many modern semi-autos are really no different then when they first came out hundred+ years ago. You technically have "outdated" designs in your modern semi-autos.
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I agree. And I believe the biggest contributing factor is that in the past 150 years or so, no one has yet to develop anything better than the metallic cartridge. We've developed guns that can hold more of them and go through them faster, but they almost all still operate on the same principles developed 100 years ago.

Revolvers are still perfectly capable weapons in today's world, and they even offer some advantages over semi-auto pistols. They can chamber very powerful cartridges in relatively small packages, and thought their capacity may be lacking their accuracy and reliability with different bullet profiles are not. And as other posters said, if you need more than 6 rounds you are in some serious trouble that a handgun isn't likely to solve.
 
as it is, I can't even rightfully say that black powder belongs in a museum.
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I knew somebody would bring this up so guess what I shot last night just before sunset.
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Walker, Ruger old Army and my new Walker. May be a little slow on the reload but if I get a solid hit on a boogerman I wouldn't have to shoot him twice. If any of these guns get empty I still have a 4 pound club that would make a bad man see pink elephants and yellow pansies swimming around the front of his dented face. :D
 
I doubt those folks have actually been in a gunfight. If I'm expending more than six rounds, I'm in some kind of trouble no handgun is going to end. I've spoken to more than a few folks who've been in shootouts, both law enforcement and civilians, and shot placement is (almost) everything.
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food for thought. We had a gunfight here about 7 years ago. Punk with a stolen 44 magnum jumped out during a traffic stop (back seat passenger) and fired at the officer, then ran. he was pursued for appr 6 or 8 blocks on foot, by a number of police officers who were shooting 9mm. There were over 40 shots fired at him, he was hit several times, and eventually, when he circled back towards where the fight started, an officer with a rifle took him down.

So many interesting things to learn from that.

The 9 mm rounds didn't kill him. Didn't even disable him.
only about 9% of all those rounds hit him.
the 5.56 can kill a man. Especially if he has already been shot 4 times.
The stolen .44 magnum revolver in the hands of a bad guy wasn't even a good weapon at point blank range.


The guy with the revolver ran out of ammo during the gunfight. The guys with 9 mm pistols didn't.

There were a lot of interesting observations to be made. Everything that happened, BTW, was exactly what would be expected to happen.

Chaos ruled, nothing occurred as expected.
 
"I have a 4inch S&W 686 that I love. It's a great shooting gun. But I rarely
shoot it because of the time it takes to reload..." [Red Dog]

Against 2 capable (and rifle armed) BGs, FBI Agent Mireles fired his S&W 686 dry at the 2 perps, stopping them dead, thus ending the most deadly shootout in FBI history.

Carrying a 686 I would be well armed, more so with moon-clips.

Check your 6.

PS: Had a dud in one of my 45 ACP semi-autos recently...been carring revolvers since.
 
For those of us that can live without having to win every possible gun fight, the revolver is still a great gun. If not, then I guess I'm happily starting my own little museum since I just bought an Uberti 1873 SA 45 Colt Cattleman to go along with my other 2 revolvers (I have 6 semi-autos). I probably will never be carrying this gun to any place but the range but I can't wait to bring it home even if I never shoot it. To me, the whole overall gun - grip, chamber, loading and unloading, pulling back the hammer for SA, big bore (45), empty-chamber safety precautions, etc - just make it a more interesting and fun to use. To me semi-autos are great for what they do but most sure are lacking in personality, except maybe a 1911 and a few oddballs.
 
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