Revolver or Semi-auto better when wet?

J

JGON

Inactive
Hi all,

I am researching my next firearm, and having only owned two before, I am looking to gain from those of you more experienced than myself...

This gun will be used for home defense, field carry in the woods and in the rivers and lakes of Wisconsin, and CC during the colder months when I can conceal a gun of this size under heavier clothing. I am doing separate research for my "summer" CC gun (or I might try to conceal the bigger one, we'll see!).

Above all, I am looking for reliability and firepower. I don't mind extra weight, as I am aware that everything is a compromise. I want the gun to be American Made, and I don't want a lot of bells and whistles. I want it to be a gun in the simplest of forms, but designed to operate very consistently, reliably, and through potentially adverse conditions. I kayak and canoe quite a bit, as well as spend many of my winter days outdoors, so the gun needs to work when it's wet or cold as well.

My research keeps pointing me to two different guns...

A good, stainless steel .357 revolver, maybe S&W 686 or a Ruger.

Or, one of the vast array of solid 1911's out there.

Both of these are proven, have been to hell and back, and are still shooting after all this time.

I have fired a few of the revolvers, and I loved them. They were accurate, easy to shoot, and comfortable in hand. I would need to practice reloading them, since right now I am too slow to feel comfortable relying on a revolver, but I could definitely learn and get faster. I am going to the range next week to try out a Springfield Armory 1911 that my local range has for rent. This experience will answer a few of my questions, but I'm hoping to get some opinions from those of you that are experienced with these guns. If anyone has experience in similar conditions with similar uses, your feedback would be invaluable.

Thanks a bunch,

JGON
 
I dont think you can gneralize.Depends on the model of the firearm.

WildsomnearesturdierthanothersAlaska ™©2002-2011
 
I carry my G17 and S&W airweight concealed depending on the time of year. Have hunted and killed hogs with both. Both have been soakin wet and still functioned properly in the woods when needed. They have fired every time I pulled the trigger and neither has had any problems with prolly a combined count of 10k rounds through them. Both are very simple and easy to use. I dont like saftyies on my ccw and neither has one, just point and shoot.

Sounds like the only differance between me and you is I took weigh into consideration. I pack alot of gear when I go into the woods so I got to try and limit myself on them long all day hikes.
 
I'm a revolver man all the way but I do honestly believe that a semi is easier to field strip and thoroughly clean/dry if dropped in the water or mud. A dead heat on reliability when wet IMO.

LK
 
Well heck, why not hit this dead horse another time?

If you want to be practical, how many shots do you think you will REALLY need in a home defense situation or a woodsy encounter of some sort? (Plus for home defense you should have a shotgun.) Now, how many more shots do you get out of a 1911 verses the revolvers you listed? If you’re going for high round count I’d go with Hog Hunter and look at a Glock (I’d RATHER have a Beretta but that’s just me).

Bottom line, if you really like the revolvers, don’t let anybody (even me) talk you out of them.
 
Environmental conditions impact your ammo more than the weapon. And, as some are suggesting, in poor conditions I also would more trust a revolver. But, guys have been running around Internationally in many a bad environment with 1911s and 92s with no issues.
 
I'm a revolver guy through and through. But in adverse weather conditions, I would probably get a Glock or Sig. Ease of stripping being the main reason.
 
I'm a revolver man all the way but I do honestly believe that a semi is easier to field strip and thoroughly clean/dry if dropped in the water or mud. A dead heat on reliability when wet IMO.
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+1. Also, if the gun is submerged in mud and not cleaned- I mean really slathered in nasty, sloppy muck- an automatic is more likely to fire if called upon. It may not cycle, but it should fire at least once. OTOH the cylinder of a revolver must advance to the next round before firing, so it won't fire if the cylinder is jammed up with mud.

DA/SA revolvers with ejector rod shrouds may also have problems with the cylinder closing all the way due to mud in the ejector rod slot. This is cited as a reason why the S&W revolvers adopted by the US military (the M1917 and Victory) had unshrouded ejector rods.
 
JG, 7/2/11

I do a couple of hunting trips into the jungles here twice a month and routinely carry a pistol as well as my rifle. The pistol always gets wet, either from sweat, rain or wading/falling into creeks and rivers. I have revolvers (including the SW 686) and automatics to choose from and always pick a plastic framed pistol for its ease of cleaning. I usually use a HK-USP-45 compact but occasionally a Glock 19. They are light, reliable and accurate and a detailed cleaning is a lot easier than the internals on my revolvers.

best wishes- oldandslow
 
Environmental conditions impact your ammo more than the weapon.
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I'm not convinced that's true. Ammo can be exposed to lots of water and still function just fine. The waterfowl hunters tend to be very hard on ammo. It isn't uncommon to find a shell laying on the bottom of the boat that's been there for years and it works just fine.
 
Welcome.

Just so you know, Springfield handguns are not made in the USA. Their 1911s are made in Brazil and the XD line is made in Croatia.

For your purposes I would recommend either a stainless full size .357 revolver from S&W or Ruger or a S&W M&P 45. The M&P 45 might be a bit easier to carry. Both Ruger and S&W are as American as apple pie.
The FNP 45 USG is also a great gun. The gun is built in the USA, but by a Belgian company.
 
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Having been dunked in muddy, rain swollen rivers a couple of times with a handgun on (1911 each time), and spending more than a few minutes floundering around in it, I dont think Id want to be carrying a revolver in those conditions. The autos are usually much easier to deal with, especially when youre not going home at the end of the day.

All I did with my Colt, was field strip it, and dunk it a few times in a "cleaner" pool, shake it out and wipe it dry. I dont think my S&W's would have fared as well, especially with all that water borne silt getting into the lock work.


As far as ammo and water, Ive had .38's on a speed strip go through the wash on a number of occasions, and they all fired fine at the range later.

Short of storing it that way, most ammo these days is pretty much "waterproof".
 
General handgun carry

Your on the right track. A .357 is an excelent carry, lots of ammo choices, and if you shoot .38 in it it will be very gentle. A revolver is less likley to let you down if it gets dirty, and or wet. Ruger is great. Tarus makes some 6 and 5 shooters that are very nice (I own both but tarus is my woods carry). The 5 shooter will be lighter. Burn some .357 and .38s as to be compentent. Also you can carry CCI snake load in first chamber up to be handy vor those snap shot varments. Also you might be interested in a .44, you can shoot mags, specials and shot loads in it, and you will be very well armed from snake to bear. You won't have this many options with a simi auto, (They just won't feed shot loads). Hope this was helpful.
Capt. Tim
 
Not to hi-jack the OP's question, but being fairly new to handguns, I found most of the replys here very interesting; I would have thought a revolver would be more shootable when all gunked up, but the answers here have me thinking about another auto pistol. Huh, interesting stuff indeed!
 
not an easy debate. in world war one the british troops found that the american issued revolvers sw 1917, colt, etc performed better in the trenches.
trenches were mainly thin to thick mud most of the year. the shot up area in between was the same. they liked the 1911 but they felt they had better functionality all around from those revolvers.
 
There really isn't a best, but for an outdoors hiking camping gun, it's hard to beat a Glock. Easy to break down if it does get wet and overall they are very reliable.
 
Rifletom, it isn't just the "gunking up" that you have to deal with. When you have a weapon that gets totally soaked, you have to get all the water out to prevent rust. With a semi-auto, you can strip the whole thing down enough to get to all the parts pretty easily. However with a revolver, you have to get into the side plate. Anytime you go removing that side plate you are getting into a whole new ballgame. It isn't something you can just pop off and hit with a blast of compressed air to dry. There are all kinds of tiny pieces in there that are held in place only by the side plate. Yes, an experienced home gunsmith can remove and replace the pieces but that isn't something an "average" shooter would want to do.
 
Doyle, thanks for the clarification on the sideplate; didn't know about how intricate the innards of a wheel gun are. Thanks again.
 
There are all kinds of tiny pieces in there that are held in place only by the side plate. Yes, an experienced home gunsmith can remove and replace the pieces but that isn't something an "average" shooter would want to do.
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Of coarse that doesn't hold true for Ruger's Security Six and GP100. Both can be broke down to component level with nothing more than a screw driver to remove the grip panels. But still, I'll hold with earlier statement that cleaning and drying is easier with a semi.
 
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