I shoot both on a regular basis, and these days, the ratio is something like 9:1 auto/revolver. In the last 5 years or so, have had more troubles with revolvers, albeit, they were only a dozen or so, and mostly ammo related, but all the same, that was more than I had with the autos (that werent induced).
The biggest problem with revolvers is, when they do have an issue, the guns usually out of action until you can figure it out. Most autos are back in action with a quick TRB.
Id be willing to bet, that most people dont shoot their guns enough to really ever have an issue (assuming they maintain them of course). So pick what you like, and spend some quality time with it, and learn how to use it, and Im sure youll probably be fine. Personally, with the general atmosphere these days, I dont see going with any of the revolvers, for anything serious. I practice with them to stay on top of them (and because they are fun), and mostly in case I need to pick one up and use it, than anything else.
Most of my experience is with my Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt. I have put a few thousand rounds through it, mostly my reloads, and have never had any type of failure.
I had two .44 Blackhawks back in the late 80's, early 90's, and both went back to Ruger because the cylinder gap was to tight. I currently have my dads .45 Blackhawk of the same era, and it too went back for the same reason. All it took to tie them all up, was a couple of cylinders full of LSWC's, and you were done, until the face of the cylinders were cleaned off. They all seemed fine, out of the box, and if you only fired a couple of rounds, you'd have probably been OK, but its one of those things you only find out, while wringing them out. No different with the autos either.
Shoot enough of anything, and sooner or later, you'll have an issue.
Revolver wise, I mostly shoot DA revolvers, the majority of which have been S&W's, and have had most of the stoppages reported here (and a few others) with them at one time or another. Some of them are tecnique related (reloading the gun), or reload (ammo) related, or parts related, etc, and all were a learning experience, most of which have been corrected. The hardest one to get right, are the reloads (ammo), as there are just to many variables. Its easy to Loc Tite screws, learn to reload the gun properly, etc, but ammo can sometimes be finicky, and really give you grief. All it takes is a loose crimp on a worn out piece of brass, and the bullet jumps the crimp, tying up the cylinder, or the powder charge doesnt ignite properly, and the bullet stops at the forcing cone, or in the barrel, and your done. Hopefully, you were paying attention with the last one, and dont send another right up behind it. Thats one scary thing about a revolver, that many seem to push as a plus. Just pull the trigger again! Was it really a dud? Or is the bullet in the barrel? Do you REALLY want to pull that trigger again? At least autos normally dont cycle, and you get a second chance to think about it. (not that any of that really matters in a bad situation. Youre likely to just do the drill anyway, and then go on to plan B).
