Why do you like Revolvers?

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A pause for the COZ

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I have been trying to figure this out.
Its not that I dont like Semi Autos ( I have more than a few)
But its not the same. I dont love them like I do my revolvers.

I will sell/trade a semi any time any place just to try some thing different.
And yes a semi is available for protection. Two 17 round mags might come in handy.

But my Model 19 is right next to my bed.
And I bet I would break a finger if I ever tried to sell one.
I guess my Son will have to deal with that some day.

Its just some thing about them. You can handle a revolver.
They just feel right.
I know I exhibit two completely different responses to " Hey look at this Glock" heh thats nice.

"Hey look at this Revolver." Ewwww gota get me one of those...
 
Logically I live in Alaska, spend all the time I can on my boat away from town and can't really meet my needs with a semiauto.

I suppose if I had a bunch of free time and stack of dollars I could shoot enough to feel proficient with both semiautos and revolvers, but I don't have either.

At the end of the day sometimes I need my Redhawk with me, and I need it loaded stout.

Plus, revolver. They are just cool.
 
Each type has advantages and disadvantages. Generally for combat I believe the auto is superior. For sport the revolver has the edge in most cases.

For me, I love the feel and aesthetics of the revolver. They are round, autos are angular. Round is prettier. They are historic, nostalgic, and romantic. Have I packed a wheel gun? Sure. Am I confident with one? Yup. But the auto is better.

For general panache and style, no contest.


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When I was a young fellow, I used to pour over dog eared copies of "Shooters Bible" and "Gun Digest." I'd drool over all those Colt, Smith & Wesson and Ruger revolvers. And some I'd never seen or heard tell of.

This was in the late 60's, 70, early 80's, just before the rise of the "Wundernines". Automatics (nobody called them "semi-auto's") were curiosities. Sure the 1911 was around and the Luger, and a handfull of others, but nobody I knew took them seriously. Cops, Cowboys, and Crooks all carried revolvers. That's what I wanted.

Still do.
 
I've always had a soft spot for revolvers, though my tastes have changed over the years. Initially it was bulky large frame revolvers like the New Service and N frames, SAA Colts and S&W breaktops. My personal carry weapon for nearly 30 years has been a J frame of some type or other.
 
Like both bottom feeders and wheel guns. There are plenty of "classic" autoloaders. Pick up a Colt 1903 or 1911, an old Mauser, or a Walther PP. And, they're flat and pack more rounds if you carry for self-defense. But there are a lot of more interesting calibers available in revolvers, they aren't very picky about ammo, and, of course, no .45 Colt in an auto. Must have a .45 Colt.
 
I love the accuracy of a good wheel gun. Can't beat a smith or colt trigger. Also like the fact that I can't burn through ammo as fast. Seems like I get impatient with my autos and rapid fire too much. Not that there's anything wrong with that !!!
 
Maybe it's a sign that I don't shoot enough, but I can shoot revolvers better. I've run through a few club PPC matches with both revolvers and automatics and I will shoot 40-60 points higher with a revolver.

None of them are race guns.

And yes, I like not having to chose hither and yon to try and find all of the brass from the autos. Those self-littering guns are just not as civilized.
 
1. I don't have to pick up brass.
2. I don't have to pick up brass.
3. I enjoy the ability to simply load the gun one round at a time.
4. I enjoy slowing down the shooting process and concentrating on accuracy.
5. Most of the amazing classics that I inherited were revolvers.
6. The feeling that I get with a good revolver on my hip when compared to a polymer wonder (and I CC a M&P9C or M&P40).
 
There is just something about dry firing them or live firing them. You get to see the entire action in motion. The cylinder rotates, the hammer moves, the break is crisp. Very simple to operate. And they can handle the big bores. :cool:
 
I'm kind of old school. I didn't come from a firearm household; my father was in the army (Korea) and certainly wasn't opposed to guns. But we didn't have them in the house.

Something always fascinated me with guns. When I finally got a chance to shoot one during a camping trip, it was a 22 single action revolver. I was 11 or 12 years old and knocked the crud out of those soda cans, right from the get-go - nobody had to show me how to do it. Everybody took notice.

When I turned 21 I bought my first gun - a Colt Python, 6" blue. I still have it (safe queen). I hardly considered a semi-auto at all. At the time, all that was available (or so it seemed, at least) was 1911 45's, and various 9mm's. Not knowing much about guns, I assumed they were complicated and unreliable. Besides, I grew up in a time when the bad guys in movies always had semi-autos, and the good guys always had revolvers. I was a good guy.

Fast forward 31 years. . .

Turns out, I got it right. I love revolvers. I think they shoot more consistent - both in accuracy and reliability. They're sturdy and powerful. I like "operating all the machinery" with the trigger and so they feel "real" to shoot. There's something "sterile" or "artificial" about a semi-auto trigger - it's like it's cheating or something; hard to explain.

Revolvers are much more fun to reload, and - and - and you do don't have to hunt down your brass. I don't mind picking up brass per se`, but I don't like culling out mine from my shooting neighbors. I have my share of semi-autos, but when I take them out for a shoot at the range, I always go early on a weekday morning so I don't have to deal with other people and their brass. If I want to go shooting during a busy time, I grab a revolver.
 
There are several ways of answering that for me.
None of them easy to describe.

Firstly there is the feel. I like the weight, weight distribution and ergonomics. I like the look. They have more presence than a semi-auto, IMO.

None of this is to say I don't like semis. I am very fond of my CZ, but if I want to grab a gun to hold and examine, I tend to go for my revolvers.

Then there is the feel of operation. This I liken, perhaps ineffectively, to the difference between riding a bike and driving a car. I have both and enjoy both, but a bike, like a revolver, is a more user involved process. In a car, I turn the wheel and it turns. I apply some gas and it goes faster. Job done: holes in paper ensue.

With a bike, I can feel the engine doing its job, open the throttle I feel the acceleration pull at my wrists and shoulders. Lean into a bend I combine counter-steering, gas and peg pressure to keep the bike planted and clipping the apex. As with a revolver, I feel so much more part of the whole process.

So in short, I feel a greater connection, as the user, with a revolver than I do a semi.
 
I like the feel and look of revolvers. My first handgun is a S&W Model 17. But that isn't the end of the story, I have revolvers in three different calibers (four if you count 38SPL and 357MAG) but all my auto pistols are 9mm. And I have an equal number of both.
 
first gun I fired was my dad's .38. First handgun I bought with my own money was a S & W model 19-4. didn't start shooting semiautos until I was in my twenties. I bet a lot of people out there started out with a similar story.

And of course, if I'm absolutely honest, a big factor in my desire for a revolver as a young man had to do with tv and the movies. I mean, let's be honest here, who wasn't watching every John Wayne movie, Clint Eastwood Sergio Leone spaghetti flick, the Rifleman, Bonanza, etc., etc.

I mean, the number one reason I bought my S & W model 29 was the movie Dirty Harry. Whatever anyone thought of the movie, that was one awesome looking gun, right?
 
I like the mechanicals of revolvers.
Linkages, springs and things turn!
It's just a mechanical thing.
I also like the reliability.
ZVP
 
I like shooting revolvers. Why? Lessee...in no particular order:

1. Ammo versatility:
a. From my 686, I can shoot everything from full-house .357s to target wadcutters to standard Short Colt to Speer primer-only rubber bullets with no FTFs, FTEs or cycling issues.
b. I can experiment with powder charges, crimps, OALs, and bullet style with no FTFs, FTEs or cycling issues.
c. Due to the relatively low pressure, I can reload my brass a bunch of times.

2. The double action trigger:
a. It's tough to master (we never really master it), but there's a certain Zen to it.
b. It's not easy to shoot a DA revolver accurately in DA. It's not easy to shoot a DA revolver fast in DA. And it's definitely not east to shoot a DA revolver fast and accurately in DA. I enjoy the challenge and feel a sense of accomplishment when I'm doing well. It's also not something a lot of people can do, which adds to the sense of accomplishment.

3. Reloads: Same as the double action trigger. See 2a and 2b.

4. Dry fire: Revolvers are very amenable to effective dry fire and reloading practice.

5. Aesthetics: They just look right to me.

6. Grips: For at least popular models, there are plenty of grip options, so it's possible to fine-tune the gun to me, rather than the other way around.

7. Competition: Watching a good wheelgunner in a match is like poetry. With few exceptions, every stage must be treated as "limited", i.e. no makeup shots. And yet, at local level matches, a good wheelgunner can often hang with semi-auto shooters of the same class because they did the basics well.


Conspicuously missing from my list are...:
1. Reliability. Push a revolver hard enough, and they'll have issues, too.

2. Not having to pick up brass. Not really an issue for me:
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