Revolvers comeback?

This old wet geezer ;) feels that wheel guns have earned a well deserved rest from the every day rigors :D.

IOW - nah, no come backs on the horizon.

They do still fill a special role in the power & versatility roles though.

A 3" barreled .357 mag is a "one gun does it all" that no semi auto (except maybe a .22) can come close to.
 
When I look on Armslist there's usually about 150 revolvers vs about 1100 semi-autos.
 
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I'm 37 in a couple of weeks. I grew up on semu-auto pistols, and other than my father's old H&R 32 long I didn't own a revolver for a long time. I don't own a ton of revolvers now, but the next handgun I purchase will be a vaquero. I already own a couple of rugers revolvers.

I think even younger folks tastes mature and change with time. There is an elegance to an all metal S&W with a great trigger, or a ruger that is built like a tank and virtually indestructible, that just doesn't exist in a Glock or many other semi autos. Even us middle aged and many of the young bucks either realize that, or will eventually. Most dont see a Glock as an heirloom piece. A well finished revolver? Very much so.
 
This old geezer enjoys the posts of whippersnappers like salvadore. Revolvers are the manual transmissions of guns. There will always be a small market for revolvers and manual transmissions in cars but semi-automatic guns and automatic transmissions do and will continue to dominate the market. Back in the "good old days" of the 50s and 60s, people didn't want to go to automatic transmissions because like salvadore, they tried an early one, didn't like it and decided they were no good. I heard a lot of "I don't like how it feels, I don't feel in control, etc" The hammer fired semi-autos are like the traditional automatic transmissions and the striker fired ones are like the electronically controlled transmissions that dominate the market today.

People yearn for the "good old days" and say they don't make cars like they once did. My brother owns a body shop and when someone says that he says "I'm glad because if they did, I wouldn't work on them because they are so much better now".
 
I've seen a growing number of revolvers in store display cases.

I've seen more revolvers being used in TV shows & Movies (including a lot of the newer S&W's).

As a long time revolver shooter, I'm unsurprised revolvers are being rediscovered by a new generation of shooters.

As a firearms instructor, I lament the passing of the service revolver days, as DA revolver shooters were usually forced to develop better handgun skills in order to shoot DA revolvers.
 
I am a brass scrounger deluxe, and I noticed starting a couple years ago a big increase of .38 sp brass. It used to be I would maybe find a few hear and there, but in the last couple years I've picked up probably 5000-6000 without even looking hard. There is so much I don't even bother with it anymore. My guess is a lot of new shooters are starting out with revolvers in .38sp, especially women. I've noticed women who come in with other women or are getting some instruction invariably are shooting revolvers, while women who come in with men are shooting their men friends/partners semi autos. The only brass I even bother picking up anymore are .357 mag and 7.62x39. I pretty much have a lifetime supply and then some of 9mm, .38sp, and .223.
 
69 y/o here -- really enjoy my two Colt Officers in 22. But, my dozen or so semi autos are more accurate.

.02 David. :)
 
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If the revolvers come back will the quality keep pace with the quantity?

IMO no one makes revolvers as good as they did 30 years ago.

The best revolvers I've laid hands on was older than me.
 
Howdy

I'm a revolver guy. Always have been.

Bought my first Black Powder revolver in 1968.

Bought my first cartridge revolvers in 1975.

I have far, far more revolvers than semi-autos. Probably close to 10 to 1.

The semi-autos I own tend to be classics, like this:

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I just turned 67 today, and yes, my best revolvers tend to be as old or older than me.

Like these:

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Or these:

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Or these:

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I bought a brand new S&W Model 686 a few years ago. First brand new Smith I have bought in over 40 years. Not impressed with the quality, I doubt I will be buying any more new Smiths.

And yes, I drive a clutch. Still prefer the feel for the road with a clutch, have never gotten used to automatics.
 
Having a large collection of revolvers belies an observation that maybe
revolver sales are again picking up.

Collections of older revolvers only addresses the past and not the future.

In a sense, it's not the older shooters or collectors/accumulators that count
but the newer buyers who might embrace the revolver for regular use.
 
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If someone who isn't a "gun person" is going to buy a hamdgun for HD and leave it loaded in a drawer untouched and unused for years or decades at a time, they are better off with a revolver, imho.

I think it's true for anyone who is rarely if ever going to practice. In my experience revolvers are more intuitive for people with little or no firearms experience.

That being said, I don't expect revolvers to sell as well as semiautomatics anytime soon, unless severe magazine restrictions are involved.
 
Most gunners today, have a how many rounds a firearm can hold stigma, the more the merry. I guess it gives them a safer feeling or a feeling of power. But the Revolver is a time proven firearm and has been around for many many years. There is special place in my being for the revolver.
 
I love my revolvers. Big, heavy and very powerful. They will always win the cool factor over my polys. I don't think that they are any less popular, but that there are more options and more people shooting than at any other time in history.
 
Just being purchased as a novelty range toy doesn't signify a comeback, now if the majority of CCers start carrying a revolver, That would be a comeback.


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Having a large collection of revolvers belies an observation that maybe
revolver sales are again picking up.

Collections of older revolvers only addresses the past and not the future.

In a sense, it's not the older shooters or collectors/accumulators that count
but the newer buyers who might embrace the revolver for regular use.
Click to expand...

So you're saying I don't count?

Is my collection not helping the economy, regardless of the fact that I seldom buy anything brand new?

I am an avid collector of S&W, I have more books about them than probably anybody else, and I probably have more knowledge about them floating around in my noggin than most folks here. But seeing the decline in quality at S&W, I will not be helping the company at all with sales. But my money does help the gun industry at large.

Do I think revolvers are making a comeback?

No. I sure don't see it at my club. Most shooters today want to shoot a Semi-Automatic, and that is all there is to it. At my club I am known as The Revolver Guy. By guys my age and younger.

By the way, what ever happened to the term Auto-Loader? I never see that anymore.

My Grandfather had a 1959 Chrysler with push button transmission. I would have loved to have that car, but he sold it in 1969 for $100 to a local kid when my Dad persuaded him to stop driving. If we had known he was going to sell it, we would have bought it.
 
I think it's cycles with everything.

Dad had long hair, kids want short hair. Dad has short hair, kids want long hair. Repeat.

Old is new again and in your youth, you somehow know something "old" people haven't figured out.
 
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