Is it time to upgrade carry gun? Training question...

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I'm not great with any handgun's really but now and then I get a kickout of shooting DA revolver's, I have a few of them. With an auto loader I'm worse but something I found with an auto loader, they can be far smaller and lighter without much recoil and self defence doesn't require a lot of accuracy out past maybe 10yds. Re-arrainged my thinking and went from trying to aim the semi auto to pointing it, I got much better with it. Not great mind you but at 10 yds a watermelon is in great trouble. I have two semi auto's, a Ruger P89 and a S&W Shield c9. I carry the Ruger rarely and the S&W daily. Problem with the Ruger is it's big and heavy and harder to conceal. Advantage to the Ruger is it hold's 15 rds against 8 in the S&W. I have convinced myself that in most case's that won't matter because I suspect a gun fight will be over in 8 rds or probably less What I want is something light weight, hides away easily and low recoil. And a watermoelon should be in grave danger at 10 yds! :-) I think if I were to go to Portland for some reason I can't imagine, the way to go would then be the Ruger for fire power. But easier than carrying the Ruger is avoiding Portland and any other area like it. Best way to avoid confrontation with a gun is learn area's to avoid. Then even in those area's there are still areas to avoid and learn to be aware of where you are all the time. If I were to OP I would get something like the S&W Shield c9 or what ever brand you want. I think I'd also have something with more capacity for an unplanned trip into one of america's war zone's! Much as I like my revolver's they are simply to bulky and low normally on fire power and hide ability. One exception to size would be somrthng like a Detective Special. I fired one in 38 Spec with factory ammo one time and didn't like the recoil at all, numbed my hand pretty good. Had a Colt Trooper years ago with a 4" barrel and used 38 Spec loads in it and carried it all over the country. Weight didn't bother me then and reciol wasn't bad in a 357 using 38 specials. Of course that was 40 years ago! Two things change I'm sure of with age, the color of your hair and tolerance! Anyway, I did not select my carry gun's based on what I like to shoot but rather what I felt would serve me best and I could still work with at closer range, semi auto won that one hands down! Rephrase that, compact semi auto won hands down. I carry my Ruger now and them just for grins Hard to believe the difference the weight makes all day and the insecurity of thinking the thing isn't hidden well enough.
 
My advice?

Get a practical semi auto ( a glock or similar) and enjoy your next class. It aint rocket science.

Could you take a class with a revolver? sure. Are revolvers good EDC weapons? sure. Are you likely to give your trainer a headache and potentially lag or hinder the training if you use a 6 shot revolver? yes

Can you find a class that is specific to revolvers? sure

Are they prevalent? not really.


Which brings us back to what I have already suggested
 
Thanks for the advise from every one. I think I’ll stick to my 627(s). Thunder ranch is about 1 day drive for me so I think I’ll sign up. They are booked out along way but it will be fun.

It is the gun I carry every day of my life, any where the law will allow so I think it should be the gun I practice with.
 
> I find that the vast majority of self defense pistol class only accept semiautomatics.

Frankly, if an instructor has his head that far up his posterior concerning what kind of gun you're using, I wouldn't be able to put much credence in the rest of what he was teaching either.

It's not just revolvers; I've seen reports of other classes prohibiting 1911s, "modified guns", etc.

Look for someone who is teaching what you want to learn, not proseletyzing their own One True Way.
 
Frankly, if an instructor has his head that far up his posterior concerning what kind of gun you're using, I wouldn't be able to put much credence in the rest of what he was teaching either.
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If the class contains material on basic gun manipulation then it makes perfect sense to restrict what the students are using to insure that the material is relevant to them.
It's not just revolvers; I've seen reports of other classes prohibiting 1911s, "modified guns", etc.
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Some of this is the previous issue (insuring that the material covered is relevant to the student and their choice of firearm) but some of it is safety. The other option for restricting "modified guns" to insure they are safe is to have a gunsmith examine them--but that would add significantly course cost since you have to keep a staff of pretty experienced gunsmiths to be able to adequately inspect every possible type of gun/modification that might show up for a class.

Personally, if I am going to take a class with a firearm, I want the class to be as relevant to the firearm I'm using as possible. And I want it to be relevant to the firearms the other students are using--I'm not interested in constant interruptions to the tune of "But I (am using a XXX/changed out that part for a whizbang aftermarket upgrade) and what you told us to do doesn't work right when I try it."

And I want the folks taking the class with me to be using guns that are safe and functional. The safety issue needs no explanation, but the functionality issue is important too. One person with a gun that doesn't work or needs frequent remedial attention steals time (money) from the rest of the class and ultimately will reduce the amount of training they receive by taking up instruction/training time.
 
John makes some great points. I’d like to add some examples from my experience.

The point about time and money is a good one. An old adage is train how you fight. That’s a fair point, in my mind. One problem, however, can be when 1-2 students in a class are using revolvers or say micro pistols and the rest of the class is using duty pistols. Absent those 1-2 students having a lot of magazines or speedloaders, they will need to reload those magazines or speedloders constantly. Part of this is the function of how many shots are in a drill’s course of fire, but frankly most drills are repeated a few times after being introduced so even reducing the round count per drill doesn’t remedy this completely. What does an instructor do in this case? Should he or she wait for the students to get done reloading before giving more instruction (a new drill)? Is that fair to the rest of the students? Even if that instructor just goes ahead then when those students get back the instructor will need to repeat the instructions for safety because these are firearms.

I’ve personally seen two examples of this. One was a man with a SIG P238. He was in a reflexive shooting course where most everyone else was using duty pistols. He had 6 magazines and the mag pouches to support it. It looked a bit awkward but he kept up with us just fine and didn’t slow the flow of the course, which in a 2 day course can be a big deal. He also did very well shooting wise, but more so he was respectful of the time of the rest of the students. If he did run out of rounds for a drill he ran it dry to get reps in and understand what was required, then waited for a pause in the line to step off and reload and then hurried back.

The second was a man with a S&W Shield. This was an intermediate shooting course for general development. He had only the two magazines with the pistol. He would vocally complain when a drill kept going and he was out of rounds. An actual safety issue presented itself during one drill. The drill was about moving and then shooting. We started shooting at 25 yd, jogged in 5 yd, shot again, and kept repeating until we ended at the 5 yd line. The man in question ran out and needed to reload. However, he reloaded when the shooting line was moving to the next position. Rather than move with the line for safety, even if you reload on the move, he stopped and reloaded while we went ahead of him. That left him with a loaded firearm behind the line and him at a ready position. When the instructor talked to him and explained that safety wise it was better for him to move with the line, the man responded that tactically it didn’t make sense to move with an unloaded firearm. The instructor tried to explain that in a course setting you sometimes trade best tactics for safety. The man wasn’t very receptive.

I think depending on your personal attitude shooting courses can be done with firearms with lower round counts, both revolvers and pistols. But John is right that there are time (money) considerations and in addition to the safety concerns John mentioned there can even be safety concerns that result from having a low round count firearm depending on the dynamics of the course. As I mentioned earlier, I really think talking with the instructor beforehand is the best bet. Schedules are usually posted some time ahead. Call or email and ask them candidly.


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A number of posts that were completely off the topic of this discussion have been removed. The question has been answered and the OP has decided to stay with his revolver, so there isn't any need to continue this discussion.
 
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