Revolver or Semi Auto

Revolver or Semi Auto


  • Total voters
    254
  • Poll closed .
That's like choosing between your favorite child! :(

But, I suppose if I had to choose, I would go with the semi-auto simply because of higher capacity. There's so many arguments as to why either would be better, but when it comes down to it, 15+ shots vs. 6 shots is the deciding factor for me. (I have both and love both dearly. Believe me, it was a tough decision!)
 
Hello,
First time poster here. I'm looking at buying my first guns and they will definitely be semi automatic. My girlfriend's brother in-law (likely my soon to be brother in-law) let me shoot off several of his guns not too long ago.
I came away from it not liking the procedure to decock the revolvers. I don't like the idea of lightly pulling the trigger and slowly putting the hammer down. I like the semi autos because to me it is a much more mechanical procedure.

Dave
 
I like a revolver because of its reliability, and I like the the looks of older blued ones. Sweet pieces of history...:D

I like the ergos on semi automatics however...Well, not all of them, but in general speaking, grips on semi-autos are much more comfortable for me.
May be if I was raised with revolvers around it would have been a different story, I can't guess...

Magazines & bullet capacity does not mean so much to me...:)



All the best
 
I've been a wheel-gunner all my life.
I have recently added a few autoloaders to my collection and I love a 1911 style pistol and "need" a few more! :D

But when the chips are down I instictively reach for a revolver first.
 
Personal preference

I have three brothers, I'm the oldest. The next younger than me and myself got turned onto guns by our grandpap. I was 6, my brother was 4. Neither of my other brothers own or like guns at all. :confused:

Why do I mention this? Well, 2 brothers, raised by the same grandpap, gun-nuts for life, and he has ALL revolvers and I have mostly semi's in my handgun collection.

I have two revolvers. All my other handguns are semi's. Glock, Beretta, Springfield Armory, Sig Sauer, KelTec, Rock Island Armory, S&W and Davis. My brother is a HUGE wheel gun fan and I just love the semi-auto.

Same blood line but night & day likes and dislikes, far as guns go. He likes the "when I pull the trigger, it will go BANG" of a revolver. I like the looks and ergonomics of the semis. And the added rounds (firepower) available in the semi.
 
I prefer a 1911 45ACP to carry so I voted semi because if it was my only choice my 1911 is coming with me. That being said with my 1911 I want a 357 mod 60 3" revolver as a BUG. I want both on me at the same time. So versatilty:D.
 
Both.

Semi-auto for treading in the concrete jungle and repelling humanoid vermin.

Revolvers for dinking around in the real jungle when furry, four-legged vermin may be about (can be pressed into sevice against humanoid vermin too).
 
I'm iffy...I own several autos and a GP100. The GP100 blows the autos away in terms of feel, fit&finish, and especially trigger. Plus I love the look of DA autos; makes me feel like I'm an afro and ****-star mustache away from a '70's cop show. If it was just dry-firing, the Ruger wins every time.

On the other hand, .357 is a punishing caliber to shoot, and .38 Special doesn't shoot to the same point of aim. So it's semi's on the range.
 
I have owned more revolvers than semis, but the revolvers are all gone now. The extra capacity of semis is attractive to me, and I hate cleaning each chamber of a revolver after a shooting session. The reliability of semis has really improved in recent decades, and that is all I own now.
 
The GP100 blows the autos away in terms of feel, fit&finish, and especially trigger.

One, the finish on a GP100 is not anything special I cant see how it blows anything out of the water on that sense. Two, how can you even say the trigger on your GP100 "especially" blows the trigger of semi-autos away. I have handled a few GP100's and their triggers are nothing to go home about, especially when comparing it to say a 4 pound trigger of a semi-auto.
 
I didn't get that one either, has a hard time sinking in. My S&W 1911 has a better trigger pull than that any day, it is beyond crisp.
 
Davey said:
Hello,
First time poster here. I'm looking at buying my first guns and they will definitely be semi automatic. My girlfriend's brother in-law (likely my soon to be brother in-law) let me shoot off several of his guns not too long ago.
I came away from it not liking the procedure to decock the revolvers. I don't like the idea of lightly pulling the trigger and slowly putting the hammer down. I like the semi autos because to me it is a much more mechanical procedure.

Dave

Welcome to The Firing Line!

The answer to your problem with revolvers is simple. Don't cock it unless you're ready to fire. ;)

Kidding aside, you can also (of you wish) put something under the hammer when decocking. For instance, put your left thumb under the hammer while holding it back with your right thumb and operating the trigger. That way if it slips out from under your right thumb it can't land on the primer. Knowing it will pinch your thumb is even more incentive to hold on with your right. On most modern revolvers once you release the trigger the hammer is blocked and won't cause the gun to fire when it falls or is let down. (Very similar to decocking a semi-auto).

Decocking a 1911 (Not recommended as a necessary operation by me), is done in a similar way but many don't have anything to block the firing pin from striking the cartridge. My 1991A1 has a FP block, but my 1911A1 mil-spec does not. On those I either fire the next shot, set the thumb safety, or unload and clear the weapon.
 
I like semi autos because it is easier for me to carry more ammo and I can reload faster. That is not to say reloading a revolver can't be as fast, it is just that I can't reload a revolver as fast. There was an NYPD Blue TV show that had an episode where the characters with the revolvers had a hard time reloading during an alley shootout while the "new guys" with the Glocks were reloading faster. I think they did that on purpose to motivate the old timers in the NYPD to transition to the semi-auto's.
 
Semi for me. I tend to shoot them easier, especially the SA types. And there's nothing like the sleek lines of a nice CZ-75 or 1911. Capacity ftw too!
 
No strong preference. I own numbers of both. Generally, when picking one from the cabinet I am more concerned with what I want to accomplish than with the action of the pistol.
 
Um, twice as many rounds, faster firing, easier to shoot accurately (for me and probably for most), less recoil, easier to reload.... etc etc etc

Autos for sure.

Also, Revolvers are thick for CCW. I have a 12 or 13 oz S&W which is harder to CCW than my 9 mm Kahr that has twice the firepower.

For fun the choice is even, for hunting a revolver might be better because of the caliber choices, but for self-defense use autos win easily.

Like which would you want in a gunfight? A 30 oz revolver with 6 rounds or an 18 shot auto?
 
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Revolver

I prefer Revolvers - Smith & Wessons, 357 Magnums, I didn't realise there was anything else until I joined the FiringLine Forum. When did they do that
 
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