I have a 625 JM .45 revolver. It's true that there is more felt recoil with the revolver. But, on a good day I can make head shots(5 for 5) at 20 yards shooting one handed double action. That's as good or better than I'll o with my 1911 gun with the 3-1/2# trigger. Used to do it with a 586. Just can't make the revolver shoot 198 times without a reload.
Wheel vs Semi
- Thread starter Doc Holliday 1950
- Start date
Yes.
I shoot my revolvers better in almost every case.
I may do so because I have had revolvers since I was 12, but I didn't use an auto until I was 18 and I was issued one in the USMC. I learned to shoot the 1911 exceptionally well, and I could and did shoot VERY high scores with it, but I never could shoot as tight a group, or hit moving targets as fast with the 1911 as I could with my privately owned K and N frame S&Ws, or my dad's Ruger Security Six.
I do carry autos most of the time when I go to town, but around the property here, I am still carrying revolvers and I always carry a revolver when hunting in preference to my autos.
The revolvers carry fewer rounds and are far slower to re-load (for me) but I have never found those 2 "limitations" to be true limitations.
I, for one, feel just as well armed with a good revolver as I do with a good auto. I like autos more for carry in town just because they are flatter and more compact, and many of them are somewhat lighter too.
But I categorically reject the idea that is thrown around so much today, that "fire-power" is needed (or wanted) in a fight with a handgun. See, as a civilian (or a cop) you must realize that you are not in a war zone and there are no "lines" so EVERY round you fire will hit ----- something! ................or someone!
You CANNOT fire a lot of rounds and miss without a severely high chance of hitting something or someone that is not the intended target and ALL rounds you fire are 100% your responsibility, civilly, criminally and economically.
If you keep cool and shoot well you reduce or eliminate the threat fast and with only the rounds fired that hit. Fast noise makes your gun go empty and gives away your position (if not already known) and both of those things do NOT help you EVER!
So as I say over and over and over (like a broken record) it's not the gun that matters as much as it's the gunner.
There is no right way to miss and there is no wrong way to hit.
I for one would tell anyone that shoots a revolver better then an auto to carry the revolver if they can. If the revolver is too large or heavy, then you may need to carry the auto, but neither is good if you miss and neither is bad if you hit.
Only hits count and unlike target shooting, a miss is not a zero. It's much worse. It's a negative. Sometimes it's a HUGE negative.
I shoot my revolvers better in almost every case.
I may do so because I have had revolvers since I was 12, but I didn't use an auto until I was 18 and I was issued one in the USMC. I learned to shoot the 1911 exceptionally well, and I could and did shoot VERY high scores with it, but I never could shoot as tight a group, or hit moving targets as fast with the 1911 as I could with my privately owned K and N frame S&Ws, or my dad's Ruger Security Six.
I do carry autos most of the time when I go to town, but around the property here, I am still carrying revolvers and I always carry a revolver when hunting in preference to my autos.
The revolvers carry fewer rounds and are far slower to re-load (for me) but I have never found those 2 "limitations" to be true limitations.
I, for one, feel just as well armed with a good revolver as I do with a good auto. I like autos more for carry in town just because they are flatter and more compact, and many of them are somewhat lighter too.
But I categorically reject the idea that is thrown around so much today, that "fire-power" is needed (or wanted) in a fight with a handgun. See, as a civilian (or a cop) you must realize that you are not in a war zone and there are no "lines" so EVERY round you fire will hit ----- something! ................or someone!
You CANNOT fire a lot of rounds and miss without a severely high chance of hitting something or someone that is not the intended target and ALL rounds you fire are 100% your responsibility, civilly, criminally and economically.
If you keep cool and shoot well you reduce or eliminate the threat fast and with only the rounds fired that hit. Fast noise makes your gun go empty and gives away your position (if not already known) and both of those things do NOT help you EVER!
So as I say over and over and over (like a broken record) it's not the gun that matters as much as it's the gunner.
There is no right way to miss and there is no wrong way to hit.
I for one would tell anyone that shoots a revolver better then an auto to carry the revolver if they can. If the revolver is too large or heavy, then you may need to carry the auto, but neither is good if you miss and neither is bad if you hit.
Only hits count and unlike target shooting, a miss is not a zero. It's much worse. It's a negative. Sometimes it's a HUGE negative.
Last edited:
Comfort counts
Generally I'm far more comfortable when shooting a wheel gun than an semi-automatic and just feel better armed with a wheel gun than my automatics. I imagine it's all in my head but there it is nonetheless.
I don't have a problem carrying a semi-automatic and have several, both SA nad DA/SA versions in 380, 9mm Mak, 9mm as well as 45 acp but still just feel more comfortable and better armed with a 100+ year old 5 shot 38S&W then with an 8 round 45ACP.
Generally I'm far more comfortable when shooting a wheel gun than an semi-automatic and just feel better armed with a wheel gun than my automatics. I imagine it's all in my head but there it is nonetheless.
I don't have a problem carrying a semi-automatic and have several, both SA nad DA/SA versions in 380, 9mm Mak, 9mm as well as 45 acp but still just feel more comfortable and better armed with a 100+ year old 5 shot 38S&W then with an 8 round 45ACP.
OneFreeTexan
New member
Who smith, you make great sense... I carried a revolver, 38 special for almost 30yrs, never fired it in duty, but practice with it three or four times a week,, alway shot SA,, very accurate at the distance I needed,,,,,
unclejack37
Moderator
When I shoot the Ruger 357 revolver or RIA 1911 slow; they are equal, but If I try to speed it up the 1911 is way ahead of the wheel gun. The weight of each gun is about equal so the follow up shots are just about the same. It's just that the 1911 has a real smooth short stroke before it goes bang. The DA of the revolver takes a little more time and strength to make it go bang and my accuracy suffers because of that.
Doc Holliday 1950
New member
Once again I took just one gun to my
range today. This time I took my 2”
357 in magnum revolver & had similar
results to last weeks use of my G43.
I mostly shot SA at 15 & 25 feet respectively
The only difference this time was I taped
a 3x5 index cards on my target at various
Spots. This gave me a better understanding
of how accurate I was. My 2” & my G43 are
my 2 carry guns 98% of the time. My other
2 are my G19 & my 686 + 3” 357 in magnum.
Both are a tad uncomfortable to carry concealed
but are doable. Both of these I am more
accurate do to length & weight of both in my
humble opinion.
The best advice that I can come up with is
to practice practice practice with whichever
you carry. I’ve only once ever drew my Revolver
and hope I never ever have to do so again.
range today. This time I took my 2”
357 in magnum revolver & had similar
results to last weeks use of my G43.
I mostly shot SA at 15 & 25 feet respectively
The only difference this time was I taped
a 3x5 index cards on my target at various
Spots. This gave me a better understanding
of how accurate I was. My 2” & my G43 are
my 2 carry guns 98% of the time. My other
2 are my G19 & my 686 + 3” 357 in magnum.
Both are a tad uncomfortable to carry concealed
but are doable. Both of these I am more
accurate do to length & weight of both in my
humble opinion.
The best advice that I can come up with is
to practice practice practice with whichever
you carry. I’ve only once ever drew my Revolver
and hope I never ever have to do so again.
I believe that there are very few people who can perform well and equally well with two different guns.
you can find people of extreme talent, and you can find people who have gone to great lengths to be 'ambidextrous,' so to speak., but as a general rule, I have not met anyone who can get accuracy and speed performance with a revolver that he can get with a semiautomatic.
You do have a long trigger draw that stumps some people. even so, that trigger pull takes longer than a semi auto pull. even if it's just a half second, time is time.
Every shooter owes it to both himself and the shootiing community at large to learn. To be capable of understanding and using as many weapons as possible.
Figure it this way. You're driving past old leonard's house and to your amazement, a cougar has his wife trapped up the old cottonwood tree. Darn it, you left your super blackhawk in your other suit. you had better find and use one of old leonard's guns, and quickly, because she's having to swat at the thing with a stick.
What I have found is that leonard always drives a stick, hides his remotes, and hunt's deer with an antique rolling block that is as stubborn as his wife. Can you save her? or are you still going to be trying to load the fool thing while her wet corpse is being dragged into the bushes?
you can find people of extreme talent, and you can find people who have gone to great lengths to be 'ambidextrous,' so to speak., but as a general rule, I have not met anyone who can get accuracy and speed performance with a revolver that he can get with a semiautomatic.
You do have a long trigger draw that stumps some people. even so, that trigger pull takes longer than a semi auto pull. even if it's just a half second, time is time.
Every shooter owes it to both himself and the shootiing community at large to learn. To be capable of understanding and using as many weapons as possible.
Figure it this way. You're driving past old leonard's house and to your amazement, a cougar has his wife trapped up the old cottonwood tree. Darn it, you left your super blackhawk in your other suit. you had better find and use one of old leonard's guns, and quickly, because she's having to swat at the thing with a stick.
What I have found is that leonard always drives a stick, hides his remotes, and hunt's deer with an antique rolling block that is as stubborn as his wife. Can you save her? or are you still going to be trying to load the fool thing while her wet corpse is being dragged into the bushes?
I shoot my semi-autos both faster and more accurately than my revolver but I normally carry my revolver for 2 simple reasons. It is a hammerless 357 Magnum snub nose and I know it is not going to have an accidental discharge due to my actions and I know it will fire regardless of the circumstances. To me, safety and reliability trumps speed and accuracy at self defense distances.
"I have not met anyone who can get accuracy and speed performance with a revolver that he can get with a semiautomatic."
You haven't met me, but I can. As a teenager I was allowed to roam the local woods and fields shooting my Ruger Single Six 22 after I had proven that I always followed the basic safety rules. When I was 21 my two SD handguns were a 4" 357 and a 2"38.
As a middle-aged man I own slightly more semi-automatics than revolvers, but I feel more comfortable with the revolvers and tend to be more accurate with them. Obviously I can blast out more shots faster with my favorite CZ75 than I can with my favorite revolvers, but given the same amount of shots in the same amount of time, I will shoot my preferred revolvers better.
By the late 1980's, I not only owned the above-mentioned revolvers, I also had a Beretta 92, a Russian Makarov, and a BHP. They are all excellent pistols that I still own. I shoot them well. For whatever reason I shoot my best revolvers a little better than my best semi-automatic pistols.
Maybe they just fit my hands better or something?
You haven't met me, but I can. As a teenager I was allowed to roam the local woods and fields shooting my Ruger Single Six 22 after I had proven that I always followed the basic safety rules. When I was 21 my two SD handguns were a 4" 357 and a 2"38.
As a middle-aged man I own slightly more semi-automatics than revolvers, but I feel more comfortable with the revolvers and tend to be more accurate with them. Obviously I can blast out more shots faster with my favorite CZ75 than I can with my favorite revolvers, but given the same amount of shots in the same amount of time, I will shoot my preferred revolvers better.
By the late 1980's, I not only owned the above-mentioned revolvers, I also had a Beretta 92, a Russian Makarov, and a BHP. They are all excellent pistols that I still own. I shoot them well. For whatever reason I shoot my best revolvers a little better than my best semi-automatic pistols.
Maybe they just fit my hands better or something?
stephen426
New member
I think a lot has to do with the trigger and sights.
A nice single-action trigger on a revolver is hard to beat, especially compared to a stock Glock trigger. The Glock trigger can be improved significantly with the many after-market triggers on the market.
As for sights, Glock sights are great for rapid sight acquisition, but is not the most precise. The front post on Glock is fairly wide and the rear sight opening is fairly wide for rapid sight acquisition. How are the sights on your revolvers?
The other thing to consider is the sight radius. While the barrel on the revolver may be shorter than the barrel on the Glock, the sight radius can be pretty close to the semi-auto since the rear sights are behind the cylinder.
A Ransom Rest would eliminate shooter error and maximize the precision.
A nice single-action trigger on a revolver is hard to beat, especially compared to a stock Glock trigger. The Glock trigger can be improved significantly with the many after-market triggers on the market.
As for sights, Glock sights are great for rapid sight acquisition, but is not the most precise. The front post on Glock is fairly wide and the rear sight opening is fairly wide for rapid sight acquisition. How are the sights on your revolvers?
The other thing to consider is the sight radius. While the barrel on the revolver may be shorter than the barrel on the Glock, the sight radius can be pretty close to the semi-auto since the rear sights are behind the cylinder.
A Ransom Rest would eliminate shooter error and maximize the precision.
peacefulgary
New member
But that's comparing apples to oranges.
A revolver single-action trigger has very little travel and very little poundage.
But when you compare a revolver double-action trigger to a Glock trigger, the revolver does not shine so brightly.
13 pounds finger pressure combined with 1/2" of trigger travel does not contribute to accuracy IMHO.
#1) that is also an apples to oranges comparison. If you want to be fair comparing DA trigger pulls, you need to compare revolver DA to semi auto DA triggers.
#2) GLock triggers are not always the "perfection" claimed by their marketing dept. Now, maybe I got my hands on the "only" one that wasn't perfection to come off their assembly line in the last 20 years, but I kind of doubt it...
I forget the exact model #, but the gun was a compact .45. I put 250rnds through it, and the trigger pull was horrid. It was inconsistent, literally changing every shot, or every couple. Every combination of long, short, heavy, and light were randomly encountered. EVERY time the trigger was pulled a different combination occurred. There were a few times the trigger felt the same for two consecutive shots, but never 3 shots in a row.
No pistol should do that. It was bought new on Friday, shot on Saturday, and sold slightly used on Monday.
My point here is that there are examples of exceptions to every "rule" of performance you care to name, so I don't think its particularly useful to compare anything other than actual individual guns.
Don't leave out the differences between people, it's the most variable, and important part. Shooters range from the guy who can bend 1/2" rebar with his bare hands to someone who is lifting 1/4 (or 1/3!) of their body weight picking up a 30lb bag of dog food. And, physical capability is just one variable. Skill is another. All possible combinations exist, so blanket statements have lots of "holes" in them...