My choice to carry a revolver CONFIRMED in a big way...

An old fart I am.....and proud of it !!!
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BEWARE the "old fart" who carries a firearm. He probably BECAME an old fart because he knew how to USE that weapon.

MY carry piece is a 1911A! from Springfield Armoury, but if I had to start carrying an N-frame S&W or Redhawk in any caliber over .40" diameter, I would certainly not feel helpless in a fight. I'll never be Jerry Miculek, but I can reload an N-frame S&W .45 ACP only a shade slower than I can change magazines with my 1911A1.

And with a great many things in life, it is often not the implement used that makes the difference, it's the person putting it to use.
 
I'll never be Jerry Miculek, but I can reload an N-frame S&W .45 ACP only a shade slower than I can change magazines with my 1911A1.
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I saw a video of Jerry hitting a target at 1000 yards with a 9mm S&W revolver yesterday.

I'd settle for 100 yards.
 
Good feel good story to post in the revolver forum, but I don't believe everything I read on the internet. Might be on the outside edge of possible but I would have to see it myself before I took as possible such an extraordinary story.
 
I've had similar experiences when shooting IDPA local competitions. At those shoots, I've seen just about every type of auto-loader jam at least once or twice. Glocks, M&P's, Sigs, Berettas, 1911's, etc.

Most of the shooters (several of which are also local instructors) were very competent with their pistols, and tap-rack-banged their way out of the predicament. The shooters often said things like, it was an old magazine, hadn't tried that ammo in this gun yet, etc.

Personally, I think most of the jams were probably caused by worn out mags, and/or less than ideal grips on the guns while having to shoot under or around difficult cover.

I'm not going to go so far as to say the revolver is a defensive superior firearm for everyone. There are some people who have a heck of a time getting the trigger squeeze right.

However, a solid magnum revolver will always be my own personal choice.
 
I've never seen "weapon failures" that high in any classes I've attended - or assisted with.../ but as you mentioned some of them could have easily been shooter errors..vs gun errors. ( like mags not being seated properly, trapping triggers during the reset ....).

I see a lot of "shooter errors" in the classes I've been around.../ getting hands caught in the slides slamming shut, not seating mags properly, trapping triggers, fumbling reloads.... --- if the guns were clean and properly lubed prior to the class, its hard to believe there would normally be a failure rate among guns that high.../ but maybe it was just that kind of a day when nothing went right...??

But congratulations on having a good experience in the class... I like revolvers as well, but I don't carry them much at all ( I'm a 1911 guy 99% of the time) - but carrying a K frame S&W in a 4" is easy to do ( .357 mag would be my choice - in a model 19 or 66 ). I have L and N frame S&W's in 4" as well ( model 686's and 27's ...but I'd never carry them IWB especially).
 
also

While I'm at it, seems to me like most of the "malfunctions and jams" were operator induced. which to me, falls into the category of operator error, and not necessarily a failure or malfunction. I suppose the simple way to look at it is whatever the cause, the semi- pistol did not fire?

The SAP has a more complex manual of arms......and requires a shooter to be more in the game, than a revolver. Which is why the revolver dominated law enforcement in this country for so many years ( thinks I anyhow) and why I often recommend a wheelgun to beginners as a first handgun.

I've attended and run a few courses myself over the years, and have to remark that the rate as advised by the OP seems pretty high. (no discredit intended) But....local IDPA matches often have SAP's now and again that give the operator fits....usually related to ammo or mag problems.
 
I was out shooting my semi-autos last night--and wouldn't ya know it--my lc9s had a jam. Eventually cleared it figured out the problem.

Was firing winchester bulk ammo and the case mouth of the jammed cartridge had a small ding which was enough to keep it from going into battery in the chamber. I figure it probably was damaged in the box by being jostled around.
 
I've attended and run a few courses myself over the years, and have to remark that the rate as advised by the OP seems pretty high.
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Its possible, though unlikely.

Once while out shooting rifles with my father, BIL and sister, 2 AKs an SKS and an AR all went out of action at the same exact moment :rolleyes: .
 
I don't think this tells us anything other than that revolvers are more reliable for people who don't know how to shoot a handgun. When I first started shooting handguns, my revolve never failed to shoot and I had malfunctions with semi-automatics. Once I learned how to properly hold and shoot semi-automatics, the failures stopped and I haven't had any problems in a long time. There was nothing wrong with the guns at all, all of the problems were caused by me as a shooter.

If you don't want to take the time and effort to learn how to shoot properly, a revolver might be the better choice for you.

Also, it you're cheap, a revolver might be a preference. I can shoot a box of ammo in my semi-autos faster than I can shoot a third of a box in a revolver. I can shoot up my 4 10 round mags of ammo in my semi-auto faster than I can reload my SAA six shooter once.
 
Let me clarify something that I didn't clarify in the original post.

The vast majority of these malfunctions were shooter related.

The point the instructor was making with all his comments (and he is a highly dedicated Semi-Auto guy) is that user error can happen, and that in a defensive scenario, far more often than not, it will be a split-second decision followed by split-second action. Add in stress, fear, and adrenaline, and most of us will respond with less skill than we'd like to think.

In that case, for the average shooter, a revolver is a point and shoot weapon. No safety to switch, no limp-wristing, less mechanics to have to think through, such as, "is it chambered already", etc...

This confirmed my decision to carry a revolver after I saw the malfunctions pile up. I went through 600 rounds in the course of the training. The semi-auto guys went through much more than that, as many of the drills were meant to be continued until you went dry.

And for the record, I still have my 1911 and my Springfield XD... they're great guns that have been nothing but reliable. But I choose to train with and carry my revolver.

Everybody take a deep breath. :)
 
but could you at least cite a couple reasons for the semi-auto malfunction epidemic in your class?
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I can give you a couple reasons, without even being there. It was a class that included a wide range of shooter skill and guns, being the biggest one, and overshadowing the other reasons.

I got a kick out of hearing about the police officer, who knew GLocks having such trouble. Clearly he didn't know as much as he thought.

When you take a gun, that is running normally, and clean it, and then it malfunctions repeatedly, there are only two possibilities. One is absolute crap ammo, and the other is that YOU screwed something up cleaning and reassembling it. (and using absolute crap ammo is ALSO a shooter caused malfunction, although of a different kind;))

I would expect that the experienced shooters using semis had the statistical average amount of malfunctions, and it was those folks at the lower end of their personal learning curve that skewed the numbers high.

Both revolvers and semis can have critical parts break, and be out of action until a shop repairs them. Both can be tied up by certain ammo malfunctions.

Right now, other than a bullet jumping crimp in the cylinder, I can't think of an ammo malfunction that would tie up a revolver that wouldn't also tie up a semi auto.

Semis can choke on a lot of ammo issues that a revolver ignores, but are usually quick to get back into action if that happens.

Correctly run, either will get you there, but if you drive a standard transmission, you need to know how to use the clutch!
 
I have been watching this thread and its amazing how folks jump when "their " favorite guns are shown in a not so favorable light ( I'm no less guilty when the "don't like conversions" crowd starts yapping!!). Anyway, the OP has been basically called a liar and all he did was point out problems that various people, from all walks, had with a particular weapon (also predicted by the instructor) when under less than perfect conditions.
As much as a S.A. guy I am (and yes, that is what is with me all the time), I would never tell someone who isn't a "gun person" (or is for that matter!) that a S.A. is the only way to go! Nor would I say " you need a semi-auto for the fire power.
I would tell them the same thing I told my wife and my daughters, " let's go get you a D.A. revolver" !! They don't spend time at the range, they don't spend time trying to find the "right" ammo. They are busy doing and thinking about everything BUT having to use a gun in a self defense situation (just like 95% of all the other women out in the world). But, if the situation arrises and they had to bring a gun into play, pulling the trigger is almost as natural as breathing. They don't have to think about a safty, they don't have to rack a slide and limp wristed or not, their D.A.s will fire untill empty. They are confident, I am confident.
Thanks to the OP for this thread, it reinforces my thoughts, my wife and daughters' decisions about protecting their lives, knowing that they don't spend the time needed at a range for a different kind of weapon. Heck, sometimes I think about getting a D.A. !!!! What?!! Who?!! Me?!! must be slippin . . . . .

Mike
www.goonsgunworks.com
 
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Right now, other than a bullet jumping crimp in the cylinder, I can't think of an ammo malfunction that would tie up a revolver that wouldn't also tie up a semi auto.
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High primers will lock up a revolver, I have also seen revolvers have problems with folks "tuning" thier trigger to the point of light strikes.

I enjoy shooting both, been using revolvers almost exclusively for a number of years. Now I'm trying to master the DA/SA semi auto. It's great that we have so many choices.
 
Reading this makes me want to go out and buy that S&W 327 PC that I had wanted forever.
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Do it!!!

It's a GREAT revolver and I'm thinking none of us has forever. Get it while you can enjoy it.
 
High primers will lock up a revolver, I have also seen revolvers have problems with folks "tuning" thier trigger to the point of light strikes.
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High primers are not an ammo malfunction, they are a manufacturing defect. There is a difference.

When "Bubba" does a trigger job, ANY gun can have problems.

the accepted facts are that auto pistols are more sensitive about their ammo than revolvers are. After all, the auto has to do a lot more with the ammo.

When it comes to ammo caused stoppages, generally the auto will choke before the revolver does, but when the revolver does, it is usually not a simple "tap, rack, bang" to get it back in action, which is usually the case with the semi auto.

I think the arguments that favor the semi because of military (and these days police as well) use are full of holes.

You can make a number of good arguments for the semi auto, but I don't think the fact that everyone's military uses them is a good one.

I am neither military or police at this point in my life. Their requirements, and their priorities are different from mine. Their choices, based on those might not be the best things for me, or for you.

Short of a completely catastrophic blow up, I have at one time or another experienced about every possible gun & ammo malfunction, with about every kind of gun. I would not choose a revolver just because it is a revolver, nor a semi auto just because it is a semi auto.

My personal "ready" guns are one of each. A Colt Agent .38, and a Browning (Sig P220) .45 I have had for 35 years.

I don't trust either because they are revolver or semi, I trust them because they are guns I know, know well, and know how they are maintained. I also know what kind of crap they don't like, and I don't feed them that.

NOTHING works right if not properly cared for, but some things have more tolerance than others.

After my father passed, we found his Colt Govt model in a dresser drawer. Probably hadn't been touched in 10 years or more. Mag fully loaded with hardball. Racked the slide, and it moved slowly forward, stopping about half way shut. Thorough cleaning, removing the oil that turned to sludge, restored the gun to full function.

S&W Highway Patrolman, stored open shelf in a closet, same room, was perfectly functional without anything needing to be done to it.

Does this prove one is better than the other? I don't see it quite that way
 
It's always nice when someone else reinforces and validates a choice of ours, doesn't matter if it's guns, motorcycles or the beer we drink. Doesn't necessarily make other choices wrong.
 
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